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People go wild for these No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars! They only take 5 ingredients and 10 minutes (plus chilling time) to make, and they take just seconds to disappear. This is my grandma’s recipe which she dubbed “Almost Reese’s.”
These no-bake peanut butter bars are a must-make for anyone who loves the timeless combination of chocolate and peanut butter.
I’ve had this recipe on my site for years, and it’s always been popular. The only issue is, some readers complained the peanut butter mixture was “grainy” if the brown sugar didn’t dissolve properly in the melted butter.
We reworked the recipe and swapped out all the brown sugar for an equal amount of graham cracker crumbs. I personally think it’s better (sorry grandma!) and there are no issues with graininess anymore. I hope you love it! And if you like the old way better, you can continue to 1 ½ cups brown sugar instead of the graham cracker crumbs.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Butter: Cold butter usually softens up in about 30 minutes when left out at room temperature (much longer if frozen). To soften butter in the microwave, cut each stick of butter in half, unwrap, and place on a microwave-safe plate. Then cook the butter at 10% power (that’s ten percent!) for 1 minute. Afterward, gently press on the butter with your finger. If still too firm, cook for another 40 seconds at 10% power.
- Graham cracker crumbs: The original version of this recipe was prone to grittiness (the brown sugar would not always dissolve completely in the melted butter). To fix this issue, we updated the recipe to use graham cracker crumbs instead of brown sugar, and it’s fabulous. But if you miss the old way, just substitute an equal amount of brown sugar for the graham cracker crumbs.
- Peanut butter: I use store-bought peanut butter for this recipe, and Skippy is my favorite brand.
- Chocolate: I like regular semi-sweet chocolate chips, but you can use milk chocolate if you prefer that.
Step-by-step instructions
- Line an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking pan with a foil sling for easy cleanup and coat with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, cream 5 tablespoons butter, graham crackers, and powdered sugar until smooth. Stir in peanut butter.
- Mix well and press into prepared pan.
- In a small, microwave-safe bowl, heat chocolate chips and remaining 5 tablespoons butter for 1 minute. Stir carefully and continue to microwave in 30-second increments until smooth, stirring after each increment. Pour over peanut butter filling and spread evenly.
- Chill until completely firm, at least 3 hours or overnight. Let stand 10 minutes at room temperature before serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: I calculated the yield based on using an 8-inch by 8-inch pan and cutting the bars into 2-inch squares. This makes 16 bars. Your yield may vary depending on which size pan you use and how you cut the bars. The bars are very rich, so smaller pieces may be appreciated by some guests.
- Storage: Store covered in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 weeks. Or, if you live in a cold climate and the temperature is 40 degrees or less, feel free to store these in the pan in your garage or on your patio.
- Make ahead: These bars need some time to set up, so plan on chilling them at least a few hours, preferably overnight.
- Freezer: The Peanut Butter Bars can be frozen for up to 2 months. You can either freeze them unsliced in the pan, or slice them into pieces and store them in layers between parchment paper.
Recipe FAQs
Some cooks prefer crunchy peanut butter for the bottom layer, and even chop up peanuts for pressing over the warm chocolate before it sets up. Get creative!
If I’m using a 9″x 13″ baking pan for this recipe, I will usually make a double batch. BUT, readers have used a larger pan for a single recipe and have been happy too, claiming it makes a thinner bar that is more like the real thing.
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No Bake Peanut Butter Bars
Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons butter room temperature, divided (see note 1)
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (see note 2)
- 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 cups peanut butter (see note 3)
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or milk chocolate chips (see note 4)
Instructions
- Line an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking pan with a foil sling for easy cleanup and coat with nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, cream 5 tablespoons butter, graham crackers, and powdered sugar until smooth. Stir in peanut butter. Mix well and press into prepared pan.
- In a small, microwave-safe bowl, heat chocolate chips and remaining 5 tablespoons butter for 1 minute. Stir carefully and continue to microwave in 30-second increments until smooth, stirring after each increment. Pour over peanut butter filling and spread evenly.
- Chill until completely firm, at least 3 hours or overnight. Let stand 10 minutes at room temperature before serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Butter: Cold butter usually softens up in about 30 minutes when left out at room temperature (much longer if frozen). To soften butter in the microwave, cut each stick of butter in half, unwrap, and place on a microwave-safe plate. Then cook the butter at 10% power (that’s ten percent!) for 1 minute. Afterward, gently press on the butter with your finger. If still too firm, cook for another 40 seconds at 10% power.
- Graham cracker crumbs: The original version of this recipe was prone to grittiness (the brown sugar would not always dissolve completely in the melted butter). To fix this issue, we updated the recipe to use graham cracker crumbs instead of brown sugar, and it’s fabulous. But if you miss the old way, just substitute an equal amount of brown sugar for the graham cracker crumbs.
- Peanut butter: I use store-bought peanut butter for this recipe, and Skippy is my favorite brand.
- Chocolate: I like regular semi-sweet chocolate chips, but you can use milk chocolate if you prefer that.
- Yield: I calculated the yield based on using an 8-inch by 8-inch pan and cutting the bars into 2-inch squares. This makes 16 bars. Your yield may vary depending on which size pan you use and how you cut the bars. The bars are very rich, so smaller pieces may be appreciated by some guests.
- Storage: Store covered in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 weeks. Or, if you live in a cold climate and the temperature is 40 degrees or less, feel free to store these in the pan in your garage or on your patio.
- Make ahead: These bars need some time to set up, so plan on chilling them at least a few hours, preferably overnight.
- Freezer: The Peanut Butter Bars can be frozen for up to 2 months. You can either freeze them unsliced in the pan, or slice them into pieces and store them in layers between parchment paper.
I doubled the recipe, got 2 pans cooling in the fridge.
Hi Judith! One for me, one for you I hope? LOL! Thanks for trying out the recipe!
Attempted to make these a couple nights ago for a cookie exchange and they came back out so gritty I ended up throwing everything away. 🙁 will use powdered sugar only next time.
Hi Emily, I’m so sorry about this. I’m going to recipe-test it again to see if combining just the butter and sugars first, before stirring in the peanut butter, makes a difference. A lot of people have had success with the recipe but enough (such as yourself) have had gritty results. It’s so sad! So I have to figure out what’s going on. Sorry for the trouble.
Hi Emily, We tested this recipe extensively using melted butter, room temperature butter, and cold butter. Room temperature butter was the clear winner and we’ve updated the recipe accordingly. I’m so sorry for the inconvenience! Thanks for your feedback. You help make the recipes on this site the best they can be!
Hi, I did make these and they are delicious but when I cut them they broke. Should I have let it stand out of the fridge longer or any addition tips? I did use the foil. Thanks.
Dark chocolate all the way. The darker the better.
I found a recipe just like this a few years ago. Every year since then i make them a few days before Christmas. Last year i tried a different recipe that used sweetened condensed milk. They wouldn’t set even after i put them in the fridge overnight. I won’t make that mistake this year! My family loves these and i usually make a few batches and give to friends and family. Better than Reese’s! I always use semi-sweet chocolate chips too!
these are a great alternative to peanut butter balls, I would mix the brown sugar with the butter first to get a smoother and less gritty texture
Hi Cheryl, thank you so much for this tip! I’m going to recipe-test with your suggestion and see if it eliminates the grittiness. I appreciate you! Thanks again.
Hi Meggan, I noticed the bars in your photo look perfectly cut—any secrets to that? I’d like to make these for a friend’s going-away, and I want them to be presentable. 🙂 Appreciate any insight!
Hi Penelope! Thank you so much, you’re the nicest. 🙂 I made the aluminum foil sling as outlined in the recipe notes so I could just lift the bars directly out of the bottom of the pan. And, obviously the bars are chilled. Beyond that, just use a long, sharp knife (I used my chef’s knife) and clean it between each cut. That last thing, the cleaning part, is not necessary as far as taste goes, but it is one of the secrets to “perfect” looking bars! Please let me know if I can help with anything else! Thanks. 🙂
Hi! The recipe looks great! I have a question though-do these stay firm at all at room temp? I know they need to be refrigerated to set up, and it states to refrigerate leftovers so I’m curious.
I have made a similar recipe in the past and while they were amazing-they were almost gooey at room temp. Far too messy for gifting at the holidays etc.
Thank you!
Hi Maria! These start to get gooey at room temperature. They will last for a bit, maybe an hour, but I wouldn’t set them out for hours on end. If you wanted to take them to a potluck or something, I would probably freeze them in advance. Then by the time you get there and it’s time to eat or whatever, they should still be cold. I don’t think they’d make an ideal gift-giving treat, unfortunately (unless you are having an outdoor party in a cold climate, ha ha!). Glad you asked!
hello.. i’m really looking forward to trying this recipe, however it seems that the 24 servings in an 8×8 or 9×9 pan would be somewhat small and i’d like to share the bars between home and my husbands work so i’d like to make them using a 9×13 cake pan.. could you tell me how I should increase the amounts of the ingredients for this recipe, because I think just doubling them might be a bit too much? thank you for your time 🙂
Hi Danielle! These bites are small but rich, but yes, 24 servings seems to small. First, I’ll change that to 16 servings. Next, I think doubling the recipe would be fine. If anything, the bars might be slightly taller (but not by much) and you could cut them to whatever size you see fit. Thanks for the question and sorry about that! Thank you for your help on the size, too! 🙂
I used Splenda brown sugar because that’s what I had and regular powdered sugar, I did use PB2 made peanut butter with the last of the jar of regular smooth stuff( my kids use the PB2 for smoothies) and dang they still turned out amazing. Slightly and I mean slightly more healthy, as healthy goes!!!
I’m obsessed with PB2! What a great idea. So many great ideas Chari! Thank you for sharing! Even slightly healthy is better than nothing. 🙂