These simple, no-bake gluten free chocolate peanut butter bars taste like peanut butter cups and are super easy to make. They can also be made dairy free and vegan.
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Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
These gluten free bars are one of my husband’s favorite things that I’ve ever made.
I always ask him to rate my recipes on a scale of 1-10. For him, desserts and savory dishes have a different rating system. I haven’t cracked the savory scale yet, as I’m not 100% sure what it takes to get that perfect 10.
He can be picky, although he doesn’t actually think he is. But he’s definitely great for critiquing because he has no problem giving a recipe a 6, which pisses me off lol.
The effort I put into something is worth more than a 6! But honesty is the best policy (gag me) so it does actually help me figure out how to tweak a recipe to make it gold.
Recipes that never need tweaking? Desserts with chocolate and peanut butter.
The dessert scale is a scale in itself. For Adam, a recipe can ONLY start at a 10 if it has chocolate and peanut butter. So if I make a dessert like my gluten free strawberry shortcake or blueberry crumb bars, they start out at an 8.
You guys, I’m not even joking. I’m dead serious.
If there’s chocolate, it starts at a 9. If there’s peanut butter, it starts at a 9. If there’s BOTH chocolate AND peanut butter, it has a start value of 10. Asking him to rate a recipe is like asking him to judge gymnastics.
Wanna know what these gluten free chocolate peanut butter bars got?
A 12. TWELVE.
Usually, a recipe starts at a 10 (or 8…) and only loses points (too dry, too crumbly, too “I just don’t feel like eating this so I’ll just give it a 7”, etc.). People, these went up in points it was that good.
So run, don’t walk, to the kitchen and whip yourself up a batch of these gluten free bars ASAP!
PS my mom used to call these E.T. Bars when she made them for us as kids. We don’t know why 🤷🏻♀️🤣
PIN THIS RECIPE TO YOUR GLUTEN FREE DESSERTS BOARD
If you want a delicious version that is vegan, paleo AND dairy free, check out these amazing No Bake Paleo Chocolate Almond Butter Bars made by my good friend Demeter at Beaming Baker. She’s the queen of easy no-bake dessert recipes!
Another great no-bake dessert option would be this No Bake Peanut Butter Pie. Just use a gluten free graham cracker crust to make it gluten free!
Or for more chocolate peanut butter recipes, check out my Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Cake, Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Smoothies, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Pie (Pizookie), Gluten Free Peanut Butter Blossoms, or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookie Cups. I’ve also got a recipe for Gluten Free Brownies with Peanut Butter Frosting. It’s seriously amazing!
Enjoy!
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Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
Ingredients
For the Bars:
- 1/2 C butter see notes for dairy free
- 1 C gluten free graham cracker crumbs
- 1 C powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 3/4 C peanut butter I have not used natural in this recipe
For the Topping:
- 1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 Tbsp peanut butter
Instructions
- Line an 8x8 inch baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Add the butter to a large, microwave safe bowl and heat until melted. Stir in the graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, and peanut butter.
- Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan and set aside.
- In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate and 2 tablespoons of peanut butter at 50% power for 1 minute. Stir really well and continue to heat at 50% power for 20 second intervals until the chocolate is completely melted. Pour the melted chocolate mixture over the graham cracker base and evenly spread it across the top.
- Refrigerate for until the bars are set, about 2 hours. Slice into squares and serve at room temperature or cold. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Video
Notes
Recommended Products
Nutrition Information
Disclaimers
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Facts are estimated and aren't always accurate. Please consult a doctor or nutritionist if you have special dietary needs.
I made these last night, lining the pan with foil as in the video (not in parchment paper as in the recipe instructions). They were a huge hit; I cut them into 16 pieces and guests each ate three! But the bars were not as thick as in the photos. And as the plate sat out, the bars became a little soft. I used Pamela’s GF honey grahams. I’ll use Kinnikinnick next time to see if that makes a difference. Also, I didn’t use the salt. Skippy peanut butter is plenty salty!
Made these this afternoon and they were a hit. Super simple.
Thanks for sharing Theresa!
Hi! Is there a reason i’d use Palm Shortening instead of regular shortening for DF?
Hi Lacey! I prefer the flavor of Nutiva shortening over Crisco 🙂
Can almond flour be used possibly instead of gluten free graham crackers. Just trying to use what’s in my house!!
I can’t tell you for sure because I haven’t tried that. Sorry!
do you have to use graham crackers?
The Graham Crackers make the “dough” for this recipe. Without it, the bars will never solidify.
Your mom probably called them ET bars because they are “out-of-this-world” good.
I like that! Glad you enjoyed them 🙂
Could you sub gluten free soda crackers (they are like saltines) for the gluten free graham crackers?
It would probably work but if they’re salty, you’ll probably want to omit the 1/4 teaspoon salt the recipe calls for (unless you want that salty sweet combo).
Where do you find Gluten Free graham cracker crumbs? I’ve never been able to. Thx!
I’m able to find them at my regular grocery stores. Brands I’m usually able to get are Scharr and Kinnikinnick “Smoreables”. I almost always use Kinnikinnick brand: http://amzn.to/2raQtfK (affiliate link)
These look great, can’t wait to try them! The ingredients list has sea salt on it, but it’s not noted in the instructions. Do you just sprinkle it on top or do you mix it into one of the layers?
Thanks for catching that Rachel! Add the salt when you add the powdered sugar and graham cracker crumbs, etc.
How many squares did you get out of these? Trying to figure out what one serving is …
You can cut them into 9 big bars, 12, or 16 – it just depends on how large (or small) you want them to be.
I just made these and they are in the fridge as we speak so hoping they turn out great as I had to use what I had on hand and felt like I changed half of it. I only had crunchy peanut butter, icing sugar and marie biscuits. I did need to add a little more butter and didn’t read that if you microwaved the peanut better you had to wait an extra 15 min. But hoping for the best haha. Thank you for the recipe hubby will be so happy when he gets homw from work. He also loves chocolate and peanut butter.
Sharon … you are tempting me! These. Look. Delicious. Are the crumbs noticeable in the mixture? Should I aim for superfine?
LOL! To answer your question, the crumbs are not noticeable since they soak up some of the moisture from the peanut butter and butter and give the bars structure. You want them to be fine (no big chunks) but they definitely don’t have to be super fine.
Recently discovered your blog and I am in love. Made the coconut custard last week and will be making this peanut butter bars this week.
Thanks Lizzie!
Could I substitute powdered sugar with natural Erithrytol
Hi Mary, I’m not sure as I’ve never used Erithrytol in any of my recipes. If you do try it, let me know how it turns out!