The perfect combination of chewy, crunchy, sweet, and salty, these peanut butter chocolate chip no bake granola bars will be your new favorite! Only FIVE main ingredients too. On top of that, they literally take 5 minutes to whip up and you have a big batch on hand for the week!
I can’t believe I’m just now getting around to sharing this recipe with you! I literally made and photographed these granola bars in MAY, with plans to share them early August with back-to-school season. Clearly, that never happened! I just had so many other more seasonal recipes I wanted to share with you (featuring garden produce, fall recipes, etc.). In fact, I was planning on sharing a pumpkin recipe with you today, but then I ended up making these granola bars this past weekend again…and realized I never even posted it on my blog to reference back to!
The Story Behind the Recipe
These granola bars have a little history behind them. I first tried them when I was in early high school on the cross-country team. Our coach’s wife made these for the team after a cross-country meet one time, and I FELL IN LOVE with them (sorry, Chris. 😜). I adore anything with chocolate and peanut butter, so it’s not surprising that I immediately loved these.
When I later asked her for the recipe, she graciously shared with it me. I made them for my family (back still in high school), and my mom and brothers loved them too so they were made on repeat at our house. Fast forward to college, when I lived in a cooperative house (similar to a sorority, but we all helped with the cooking and cleaning for reduced costs) with 30+ other girls. I made the recipe for the girls in my house, which was easy to make using pantry staple ingredients from our kitchen pantry. Not to mention as a busy college student, having a pan of homemade granola bars in about 5 minutes was a LIFE SAVOR. Study snacks, anyone?
Anyways, these peanut butter chocolate chip no bake granola bars disappeared in literally minutes. I had so many girls ask for the recipe to them make for themselves! These granola bars became so popular they were dubbed “Brittany Bars,” after me! 😂
Oh, and fun fact: while studying dietetics in college (to become a Registered Dietitian, which I am today!), my roommate and I (who was also studying dietetics!) had to do a food demonstration/cooking class for our final in our food communications class. And, these granola bars were one of the recipes we made!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Anyways, on to the specifics of this recipe! I LOVE how this only uses FIVE main ingredients. And they are pantry-staple ingredients I always have on hand too, and I’m sure you do as well! These are the ingredients I used, but the great thing about these no bake granola bars is that the recipe is super adaptable! Feel free to get creative. 🙂
Oats. The base of these peanut butter chocolate chip granola bars is oats. I’ve used both quick and old-fashioned/rolled oats before. Quick oats are what is pictured in the recipe, and they are my preference to use as I find the bars hold together better using quick oats versus whole old-fashioned style oats.
Chocolate Chips. I love using mini chocolate chips here (instead of regular size), as the chocolate is more evenly distributed as well as holding the bars together better! If you don’t like chocolate (who are you! 😉) or prefer to not use them, feel free to substitute them with something else. I’ve tried using raisins before, and other chopped dried fruit (cranberries, dried apple, apricots, dried blueberries, etc.) would all work well!
Sunflower Seeds. I HIGHLY recommend using roasted and salted sunflower seeds here. The slight saltiness balances out the sweetness from the chocolate chips and honey so well. I’ve also substituted chopped pecans. Any chopped nut will work, so feel free to use what you have on hand or what your preference is! No matter what type of nut/seed you use, I recommend toasting them in the oven (if not already roasted when bought), as this really helps bring out so much more flavor.
Peanut Butter. It’s slightly completely ridiculous how quickly I go through jars of peanut butter BY MYSELF. Chris prefers Jif-style peanut butter, whereas I usually go for a more natural/refrigerated type. So we each have our own jars, and let’s just say I go through my jar MUCH faster than Chris does. 😂 I eat peanut butter (and/or other nut butters) literally EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. (often more than once). ANYWAYS, moving on from my love affair with nut butters, the purpose of the peanut butter is to help bind the ingredients together. Any nut butter (or try sunflower seed butter, especially if you have an allergy!) can be used in place of peanut butter. I’m thinking sunflower seed butter sounds delicious…I may have to try that next time!
Honey. 100% pure, real honey please. Bonus if it’s local (YUM!). I’ve tried using other sticky sweeteners, such as agave and maple syrup. I’ve also tried substituting a homemade date paste. None of these have ever held together the bars well, or frankly tasted anywhere near as good. So I recommend just sticking with the honey!
These granola bars should be kept in the refrigerator, as they will get too soft at room temperature. I’ve never tried freezing them, as they never last long! But they do store and keep well in the fridge for up to two weeks. I oftentimes will cut these into bars and individually wrap them. Then they are ready to grab and go throughout the week!
- 4 cups quick oats
- 1 cup sunflower seeds (salted and roasted)
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1 cup peanut butter
- ¾ cup honey
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- pinch sea salt, to taste
- Simple mix all ingredients together in large bowl until well combined.
- Press into 9x13 pan and refrigerate a couple hours until firm before cutting into bars.
This recipe is so easy and the bars are SO SO good! I
Searched for a while before I found a recipe (this one!) that didn’t involve cooking or brown sugar! Thank you so much!
You are welcome! So happy to hear you like the recipe 🙂
I made the No Bake granola bars this evening and they are wonderful! The recipe was super easy and the bars cut so nicely into squares. Thanks!
You’re very welcome!! So glad to year you liked the recipe 🙂
I love these bars Brittany! My favorite granola bars are chocolate chip oatmeal but I never really like the store bought ones. Often, I will just mix peanut butter, oats, and chocolate chips together and eat it 🙂 But this recipe tasted SO good and was easy to make. I like having this type of snack at work in between sessions! Thanks!
You’re so welcome! Yes I love making a batch of these on the weekends to have on hand to grab-and-go during busy work weeks! 🙂
I love making granola bars.. I like to use pecans and half chocolate chips and half mini m & m’s. Makes it very colorful. I ALWAYS have a pan at home for my son at home and every time my son at Purdue comes home he wants to take a batch back.
Yes, I love how adaptable this recipe is too! So happy to hear you make it so often. I’ve yet to hear anyone say they don’t like this recipe! 🙂
Yum! This is perfect for me because I don’t have an oven now. So much better than buying granola bars from the supermarket!
Perfect timing!! Hope you love this recipe! 🙂