No Bake Peanut Butter Bar Recipe

Decadent and delicious, these no bake peanut butter bars require only a few ingredients, ten minutes of prep time, and ten minutes of cook time. How amazing is that? In no time at all, you can have this amazing recipe whipped up and ready to serve to guests (or covet all to yourself).

The peanut butter offers a healthy source of protein, and the semi-sweet chocolate chips will totally satisfy your sweet tooth. You can even add a scoop of whipped cream and sliced strawberries on top for a yummy garnish, as recipe developer Nathaniel Lee of Beginner Food did in this recipe. As long as you have a food processor or blender, in addition to a casserole dish or a spring form pan, this will be an incredibly easy dessert you can prepare and dish out in no time at all. Your sweet tooth will thank you!

This recipe is so easy to make, you might already have these ingredients in the pantry. For the hearty peanut butter base, you will need unsalted butter, peanut butter, powdered sugar, and graham cracker crumbs. For the incredible peanut butter chocolate topping, you will need more peanut butter, sea salt, and semi-sweet chocolate chips. But what type of peanut butter should you use? "You can definitely use chunky peanut butter if you like the crunch in there. You can also chop up any real nuts and mix them into the chocolate layer, [but] do not add real nuts to the graham cracker layer, [as] it will make it weaker," says Lee.

This recipe doesn't take much time in the kitchen, so try very hard to refrain from eating the ingredients. (We know it's difficult — who can resist a quick finger swipe of peanut butter from the jar or a handful of chocolate chips?)

First, crush your graham crackers to equal 2 cups. "The easiest way to crumble [the graham crackers] is in a plastic bag. Alternatively, if your blender has a tamper (the stick thing), you can just break them up in the blender while it is running, [which is] my preferred [method]," Lee says. Then, melt 1 cup of unsalted butter. Blitz the butter, crushed graham crackers, and 2 cups of powdered sugar in a food processor or blender.

If you're unfamiliar with blitzing, it means to press the pulse button repeatedly until the ingredients are of a very fine texture. Both a blender and food processor can get the job done. "You are blitzing basically the whole set of ingredients on that line, not just the butter. So basically, [you're] hitting it on pulse till everything is combined," Lee explains.

Grab a mixing bowl, and combine the graham cracker concoction you just whipped up with 1 cup of peanut butter. (Remember: You can use creamy, chunky, organic, or whatever you prefer.) Once thoroughly combined, spread the peanut butter graham cracker mix into a parchment-lined casserole dish or a spring form pan. Press down on the spring form pan to make sure the bottom is flat and set. If you want to infuse even more flavor into this dessert, Lee recommends sprinkling cinnamon into the graham cracker mix, or even cocoa powder. Those two additions would really take this recipe to the next level.

Take another bowl that's microwave safe, and add 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, ¼ cup of peanut butter, and a pinch of sea salt to it. Microwave these three ingredients 20 seconds at a time until fully melted. 

How long will that take, exactly? "This will depend on your chocolate and microwave wattage. For mine, it took 40 seconds total," Lee says. He also notes that semi-sweet chocolate chips can be replaced with dark chocolate chips. It all depends on your preferences.

Stir together the chocolate topping, and spread it over the graham cracker crust. You can sprinkle with more sea salt if you'd like.

Allow the dessert to cool for two hours so that the chocolate topping sets up. Remove it from the pan, cut, and then serve. "[The] secret to clean cuts is to use a knife carefully heated on [the] stove. It will melt through the chocolate," Lee says.

Once the dessert is ready to serve, feel free to garnish it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or chocolate ice cream with peanut butter bites. "Since I had a bunch of bananas foster already, that goes amazingly well," Lee adds. If the kiddos are helping fix this recipe, one way to make it fun is to add colorful sprinkles atop the peanut butter and chocolate topping.