Chocolate Peanut Butter Caramel Oat Bars (Vegan Gluten-Free)

These triple-layered Chocolate Peanut Butter Caramel Oat Bars are the chocolate and peanut butter dream. Fully no-bake, vegan and gluten-free, they are easy to make and so moreish.

I love chocolate and peanut butter together so it’s only natural that I am back with another choco-PB recipe. This one is such a winner as it’s packed with wholesome ingredients like oats and peanut butter while being naturally sweetened with maple syrup and they boast lots sweet and salty flavours.

What are these bars like?

These Chocolate Peanut Butter Caramel Oat Bars really are delicious, they are:

• Rich, chocolatey and peanut butter
• Silky smooth yet crunchy
• Easily made in 3 steps
• Made with 8 wholesome ingredients
• Naturally vegan and gluten-free
• Easily nut-free
• Moreish, delicious and good-for-you
• Better than your favourite protein bar

If you are already in love with these bars, skip ahead to the recipe card below, or first let’s discuss the recipe in more detail.

What ingredients do I need?

The recipe is divided into three sections: the base; the caramel middle; and the chocolate top.

Let’s start with the no bake biscuit base:

• Oats: gluten-free oats or regular oats are fine here and they make up most of the base.
• Peanuts: along with the oats, we blitz these up to a fine meal texture to replace “flour” in the no bake biscuit. Other nuts or seeds will also be great like almonds, cashews or pumpkin or sunflower seeds.
• Cocoa powder: or cacao powder adds a rich chocolatey taste and colour to the base.
• Smooth peanut butter: any peanut butter will be great here although a smooth, runny one is best for the texture. You can swap this for another nut butter like cashew or almond or swap for a seed butter like tahini or sunflower seed butter.
• Maple syrup: for the sweetness in the base. We only use a little to keep the base rich. Other syrups like agave, brown rice syrup or vegan honey will also work.
• Coconut oil: add the melted coconut oil into the base so that when it cools down and firms up, it holds the base together. I don’t recommend swapping this.
• Salt: because salt and chocolate go together so well.

Onto the caramel peanut layer:

• Smooth peanut butter: as above other nut or seed butters will be great.
• Maple syrup: as above you can use other syrups and please don’t be tempted to add less syrup as the caramel won’t set correctly and it will be too hard.
• Coconut oil: we use this liquid (melted) as above so that when it sets it creates the most luxurious quick peanut butter caramel.
• Salt: for a salted peanut caramel.

For the topping:

• Dairy-free chocolate: rich, smooth and delicious chocolate on top make these triple layered bars so amazing. Any dairy-free chocolate will do, I used a dairy-free milk chocolate for these ones but dark chocolate is also great.
• Coconut oil: this helps to set the chocolate layer just soft enough to slice it more easily without the chocolate cracking.
• Peanuts: a few extra on top.

How do I make these Chocolate Peanut Butter Caramel Oat Bars?

They are really easy to make and you just need to make the layers one by one:

• Blitz the oats and peanuts: to a fine meal for the base and stir in the cocoa powder.
• Add in the rest of the base ingredients: to reach a sticky dough.
• Press into a square dish: with parchment paper so you can lift out the bars more easily. Allow to chill in the fridge.
• Stir together the caramel ingredients: until smooth and silky.
• Pour the caramel over the base: and make sure it’s even. Set in the fridge for 1 hour.
• Melt the chocolate and coconut oil: and pour over the set caramel.
• Sprinkle over the peanuts: and allow to set again for 30-60 minutes.
• Use a sharp hot knife to slice the bars: either into 8 bars or 16 squares.

How long will these last?

These are so great as they keep for up to 1 week in the fridge and 1 month in the freezer. You can eat them straight from the fridge so the caramel is firmer but still melts in the mouth or eat them at room temperature when they are squidgy.

A little background to this recipe

I am so excited by these Chocolate Peanut Butter Caramel Oat Bars and they are inspired by the TRIBE chocolate peanut triple decker bar who asked me to re-create their protein bar as an easy, delicious bake ahead of Easter (and all year long). It also celebrates Manilife peanut butter and the oat milk H!P chocolate which is delicious.

Are these gluten-free and dairy-free?

Yes, all my recipes are 100% dairy-free and these bars are naturally gluten-free, just make sure that your oats are GF certified.

Can I make these nut-free?

Yes you can easily make these nut-free or peanut-free, although they will no longer be Chocolate Peanut Butter Caramel Oat Bars. For a nut-free option, swap the peanuts and peanut butter for tahini or sunflower seed butter (or WOW butter if you like it, I personally do not recommend it) and to make them peanut-free swaps the peanuts and peanut butter for another nut like cashew, almond or hazelnuts and the nut butter for cashew/almond/hazelnut butter for example.

I love no bake recipes, what else can I make?

I hope you are going to love these Chocolate Peanut Butter Caramel Oat Bars and for more inspiration, how about my:

• No Bake Almond Caramel Brownies
• Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Tart
• Funfetti Protein Cookie Dough Balls
• No Bake Black Bean Brownie Cookie Dough Bars
• Hazelnut Praline Bars

I look forward to hearing what you think of these Chocolate Peanut Butter Caramel Oat Bars so please let me know in the comments below. If you do make these bars, I’d love to see them so please tag me in your creations. I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest  – please say hello!

With PB caramel bar love x

p.s. the original recipe was created with TRIBE but this blog post is not sponsored and all opinions are my own.