Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Bars with a Creamy Chocolate Frosting. A chocolate peanut butter lover's dream!
We have an annual tradition to head up to a cabin with friends. We love it because we are surrounded by great friends, eat amazing food, and always laugh a lot! It is so nice to go to the woods and get away from technology and just spend good quality time with family and friends. One of our favorite things to do there is EAT! We take our menu planning pretty seriously and there is never a shortage of treats.
My dear friend, Stephanie, always brings up her famous chocolate peanut butter bars and they are a huge hit! She doubles the recipe and brings a huge pan of them and we just eat slivers of the bars all day long. If you eat little pieces all day long, there is less guilt! 🙂 But after the first year at the cabin I told her that I needed the recipe stat.
These Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Bars are a soft, chewy homemade peanut butter oatmeal cookie baked until soft. Then the peanut butter finger bars are topped with a fluffy peanut butter glaze and a creamy milk chocolate frosting. The peanut butter cookie pairs perfectly with the light chocolate frosting.
How to make Chocolate Frosted Peanut Butter Cookie Bars:
- Cream together butter, sugars, vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Use regular or crunchy peanut butter in this recipe. I wouldn't suggest using natural peanut butter as it won't be sweet enough.
- Stir in quick oats, flour, baking soda, and salt just until mixed. Spread in a 9 x 13 pan and bake until cooked through but still soft and chewy.
- Whip remaining peanut butter until light and fluffy -- about 4 minutes. Spread on slightly cooled cookie.
- Make the chocolate frosting. This can be made in a saucepan. Melt the butter and add milk and cocoa. Carefully spread over the peanut butter layer. Cool completely and slice into bars.
If you love Peanut Butter, check out these other recipes:
Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
Peanut Butter Blossoms (with a Hershey Kiss)
Levain Bakery Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
5-Ingredient Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies (no-flour, made with all-natural ingredients)
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I hope you love these Frosted Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars! Happy Baking!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Cookie Bars:
- ¾ cup Butter (1 ½ sticks)
- ¾ cup Brown Sugar
- ¾ cup Sugar
- 2 large Eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoon Vanilla
- 1 ½ cups Peanut Butter (divided)
- 1 ½ cups Quick Oats
- 1 ½ cups Flour
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Chocolate Frosting:
- ½ cup Butter
- 4 Tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 3 ¼ cups Powdered Sugar
- ¼ cup Milk or Heavy Cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, sugar, eggs, vanilla and ¾ cup of peanut butter until light and fluffy -- about 4 minutes. Reserve remaining ¾ cup of peanut butter.
- Stir in oats, flour, baking soda, and salt. Spread into a 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes.
- In a mixing bowl, whip remaining ¾ cup of peanut butter until light and fluffy and spread all over cookie layer.
Chocolate Frosting:
- Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the cocoa and milk and whisk together, stirring constantly. Heat just until boiling. Remove from heat and gradually add powdered sugar, whisking well after each addition. Gently spread the chocolate frosting over the peanut butter layer. Cool completely and cut into bars. May refrigerate.
Robin
Love this recipe so much! So easy to make and the ratio of pb to chocolate is heavenly.
Nancy
This recipe is delicious! The oats give it a fantastic texture. It almost has a toasted coconut texture without the coconut taste. I always add about 10 min to the cooking time. The recipe is forgiving- if you over bake it tastes great and likewise with under baking. I made this at Thanksgiving and it disappeared quickly. My picky daughter loves it. These bars are one of my favorites and are used heavily in my rotation.
M Wooten
This ended up being excellent, but it does not look like the pictures. Maybe I over-creamed the cookie dough - I'm not sure - but the dough seemeed more moist than it should be, and even though I cooked it fo the full 15 minutes at 350, it stayed kind of moist and dough=y. It firmed up as it cooled off, and it tasted great, but I don't think it was as cookie-like as it was supposed to be.
Also, I felt more "on my own" with this recipe compared with others I've baked on this site (and LOVED them!). No video, and very little instructions. Is it salted or unsalted butter? Should the butter be softened, frozen and shaved, etc.? I'm thinking I'll stick it in the refrigerator after spreading the peanut butter next time, so the peanut butter firms up before I apply the warm icing (when I did it it threatened to mix together completely).
Regardless, I will be trying this one again and hopefully it will turn out even better!
M
Carrie Bloomquist
Easy to make! My husband loved it!
Mj MacGregor
Holy smokes ... these were awesome. Making them again this weekend!
susan beck burns
cam i use old fashioned oats?