No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Bar - Vegan & Gluten Free
Layered No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Bars are chewy, thick, decadent and also happen to be vegan and gluten-free! The perfect warm weather treat.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups quick oats
- 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup coconut cream
- 1/2 cup butter - I used Earth Balance
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup peanut butter - Conventional or natural
Instructions
- Lightly grease a 9x9 inch square pan and set aside.
- In a saucepan over medium-low heat, melt butter. Slowly stir in coconut cream, coconut sugar, vanilla and sea salt. Continue until all the sugar has dissolved.
- Lower heat and mix in the quick oats and shredded coconut. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.
- Press half of oat mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Set aside the other half of the portion for the topping.
- Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter in a double boiler over low heat, stirring frequently until well combined. Pour the chocolate/peanut butter over the oat mixture in the pan, and spread evenly.
- Using your hands, crumble the remaining oat mixture evenly over the chocolate/peanut butter layer. Refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Bring to room temperature before cutting into bars.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to a month.
Notes
- Brown sugar would work ok for coconut sugar substitute.
- Coconut cream is strongly recommended, however other non-dairy creamers should function in this recipe too.
- Either Earth Balance or Melt would be the only two brands I would recommend for this recipe. They both have a high fat content, whereas cheaper brands contain too much water and might not work as well for this no bake recipe. Coconut oil would in theory work, but the buttery flavour would very much be missing.
- I have successfully made this with both natural and Jiffy-style peanut butter. I prefer natural, as I don't have an aggressive sweet tooth. My children however (surprise, surprise!) say they prefer it with Jiffy. Either peanut butter will work here.
- Semi-sweet is the only type of chocolate I have used, but dark chocolate would likely be insanely yummy in this recipe too.