Perfectly thick, soft and chewy Peanut Butter Bars with a peanut butter and chocolate glaze
This peanut butter bars recipe has been a huge family favorite for many years. Simply put, they are completely addicting and you will want to eat the entire pan by yourself. Consider that my warning 🙂 .
How to Make Peanut Butter Bars:
Make the batter: In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add the eggs, vanilla, and peanut butter and mix well. In a separate bowl mix together the dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to creamy mixture.
Bake. Press firmly into a greased 9×13” pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 17-21 minutes. Do not over-bake! They will look just barely set in the center, and they will harden as they cool. Allow to cool completely.
Spread with peanut butter. Once cooled, spread a thin layer of peanut butter over the bars.
Top with Chocolate Glaze. Add butter to a small skillet over medium heat. Once melted, stir in cocoa. Remove from heat and add milk, powdered sugar and vanilla. Whisk until smooth, using electric beaters to get out any lumps, if needed. Spread chocolate frosting over the top of the bars.
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:
Peanut Butter Bars will keep well for up to 1 week, stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Freeze, covered well, for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature before serving.
Consider trying these popular “bar” recipes:
- Snickerdoodle Bars
- Butterfinger Cookie Bars
- Caramel Crunch Bars
- Perfect Lemon Bars
- Oreo Cookie Bars
- Butterscotch Blondies
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Recipe
World’s Best Peanut Butter Bars
Video
Ingredients
For the bars:
- 3/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (plus more for spreading over baked bars)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
For the chocolate frosting:
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons milk
- 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and brown sugar.
- Add the eggs, vanilla, and peanut butter and mix well.
- In a separate bowl mix together the dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to creamy mixture.
- Press firmly into a greased 9×13” pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 17-21 minutes. Do not over-bake! They will look just barely set in the center, and they will harden as they cool. Allow to cool completely.
- Once cooled, spread a thin layer of peanut butter over the bars.
To make the chocolate frosting:
- Add butter to a small skillet over medium heat. Once melted, stir in cocoa.
- Remove from heat and add milk, powdered sugar and vanilla. Whisk until smooth, using electric beaters to get out any lumps, if needed. .
- Spread chocolate frosting over the top of the bars.
Notes
Nutrition
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I originally shared this recipe in April 2013. Updated February 2018 and May 2021.
Your ‘best ever’ peanut butter bars were mushy on the bottom and had way too much peanut butter. The peanut butter, along with the salt called for in the recipe, gave these bars a very salty taste. There was way too little icing to really taste the sweetness! A very big disappointment!
Maybe you just suck at cooking lol
These are indeed the best peanut butter bars ever! I follow the recipe exactly and they are perfect every time, and devoured by all. People always ask me for the recipe. The edges are chewy and the middle is soft. Perfect!
Not traditional pb squares. More cake like. Did not care for them at all.
My family and I really enjoyed these bars and I personally ate way too many of them, but I couldn’t help myself! I made them gluten free by substituting King Arthur Measure for Measure GF flour for the all purpose flour and using GF oats. Easy substitutions with great results!
These are delicious!
Fantastic. Everyone requests them. I substituted 1 cup of homemade oat / nut granola for 1 cup of the plain oats. Addictive.
The texture of the bars was excellent. A bit on the salty side for me personally, but that is easily remedied. Dad had absolutely no problems with it, seeing as how he ate more than half the pan. I did use a peanut butter frosting instead of spreading the peanut butter and doing the chocolate frosting ( yeah, I REALLY like peanut butter). Definitely going in the recipe box. Thanks for sharing!