I’ve got the perfect cold treat for you that’s super easy to make on a hot summer day (no oven required!). I saw a similar recipe in a magazine and loved how easy it looked, thinking about how it would be good for when we occasionally break our rules and enjoy a sugary homemade treat.
The only problem though was that the recipe called for WAY too much sugar in my opinion – an entire cup of powdered sugar. Eeek. That would be so sweet I would barely be able to taste the flavors of the other yummy ingredients. So I pared down the sugar quite a bit and tweaked the other ingredients until it was to our liking. I hope you enjoy these No-Bake Peanut Butter Dessert Bars just as much as we do. This one is definitely a keeper!
No-Bake Peanut Butter Dessert Bars
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Layer
- 1/2 cup peanut butter, can sub almond butter
- 6 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
Chocolate Layer
- 1 cup chocolate chips, I like Enjoy Life brand
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
Instructions
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Line a 9" X 5" loaf pan with wax or parchment paper and set aside.
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In a small bowl, stir together the peanut butter, sugar, cream cheese, and warm melted butter until well combined. Drop it by the spoonful (in chunks) onto the bottom of the prepared pan.
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In a small pot, melt together the chocolate and cream on low heat. Stir until smooth, then pour on top of the peanut butter chunks and spread into one even layer.
-
Cover and freeze for 1 to 2 hours or until the chocolate is set. Store the leftovers in the fridge.
Recipe Notes
We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.
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Devin
June 23, 2015 at 9:59 pmThese look so yummy! I’m definitely going to give these a try! Thank you for sharing!
Leah
June 23, 2015 at 10:53 pmThese will be gone within 30 seconds of me taking them out of the freezer. Thanks so much for posting!
Lisa
June 24, 2015 at 9:39 amI know – that’s the problem with these!
Laura
June 23, 2015 at 11:09 pmWhat are the dimensions of the loaf pan you used?
Lisa
June 24, 2015 at 9:41 amIt’s 9″ X 5″ :)
Amber
June 23, 2015 at 11:29 pmI’m thinking that chocolate chips melt and spread okay…could I just melt the chips without using any cream? I never have cream.
Krista
June 24, 2015 at 3:37 amThe cream keeps the chocolate from being too hard to cut into bars or bite through when it sets. You could sub 2 tablespoons butter or peanut butter for the cream.
Amber
June 24, 2015 at 10:29 amThank you. I have both of those. A little peanut butter in the chocolate sounds like it’d be tasty in this recipe.
Amber
June 24, 2015 at 6:23 pmMade it with 2T peanut butter in place of the cream and it cut just fine and tastes great
Jessica W
June 24, 2015 at 12:15 pmDo you think that these would be good with just the peanut butter layer only? I know crazy…..but my DH can’t have chocolate or citrus. So making desserts for him is tough.
Thanks! They do look lovely just like this though but he would be sad to not get some.
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
July 7, 2015 at 9:11 amHi Jessica. Not sure how they would turn out without the chocolate. If you experiment, please share. :)
Nicole
June 24, 2015 at 2:26 pmYum! I think its great that you also share recipes like this that have some sugar in them and aren’t the healthiest thing ever. As important as it is to eat nutrient dense foods most of the time, its also so so important to know how to enjoy a sweet treat once in awhile
hello
June 24, 2015 at 2:36 pmcan you use something else than powder sugar for sweetness
Amber
June 25, 2015 at 5:14 pmI wonder the same thing. I do not like the taste of powdered sugar. It tastes artificial some how.
Cori
June 25, 2015 at 11:46 pmI just made these and subbed maple syrup instead of powdered sugar. Tasted great! I’m sure honey would work as well.
ARu
September 16, 2015 at 12:58 pmWhen i don’t have powdered sugar on hand I just make it myself just put your fav sugar in coffee grinder and you have your self powder ( regular hand blender worked too, just got a bit more sugar dust in the air :D )
Jessy @ the Real Foodie Mom
June 24, 2015 at 2:37 pmOh my gosh these look yummy!! Can’t wait to try. :)
easypeasy
June 25, 2015 at 12:26 amSo madly in love with chocolate and peanut butter so I can’t wait to make this recipe! :) There is no better combination
Irene
June 25, 2015 at 12:57 pmMade these yesterday and they are AMAZING! I can’t even imagine putting a whole cup of powdered sugar in here, they were perfect!
Anna
June 26, 2015 at 5:15 amlooks delicious!!!
Jazzmin Cunningham
June 26, 2015 at 3:09 pmI’d love to make this recipe but am wondering what brand of cream cheese you use and where you find it? I can only find brands like Philadelphia or my grocery stores generic brand, both of which are full of unrecognizable ingredients.
Sally
June 26, 2015 at 10:28 pmOrganic Valley makes good cream cheese, if you can get it. It’s available at normal grocery stores (like Woodman’s) where I live in the Chicago suburbs.
Christy
June 28, 2015 at 3:27 pmCan I sub something for the cream cheese? I can’t stand the taste of if.
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
July 7, 2015 at 9:24 amHi Christy. We’ve not tried substitutions in this recipe.
Tammy
April 11, 2016 at 2:47 pmYou won’t taste it, it’s covered in peanut butter and sugar.
Morgan
June 30, 2015 at 10:06 amLoved these but my thoughts are, if we’re trying to eliminate fake sugar, these definitely don’t need as much as 6 tablespoons. I’m going to try for 4 next time I make these because they were very good and a great treat when you don’t want to fire up your oven on a hot day. Maybe just a bit too sweet– which is saying a lot for me. Great recipe though!
Dolly
July 2, 2015 at 5:19 pmWould like to make these for my son who lives out of state. Do you think I could ship them or do they need to stay refrigerated?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
July 15, 2015 at 12:24 pmHi Dolly. There is a lot of dairy in this recipe. I would keep it refrigerated.
Jen
July 10, 2015 at 9:45 pmI’m wondering about using chunky peanut butter for this recipe. Do you think it will work? I never have creamy peanut butter in the house.
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
July 15, 2015 at 9:43 amHi Jen. I think chunky should work just fine.
Skye
July 11, 2015 at 8:41 pmI just made this tonight and it was delicious! It’s a great sweet treat without going way overboard. A small square is plenty to satisfy you! I love this. Thank you for sharing.
SD
July 21, 2015 at 12:08 pmThanks for a yummy no bake recipe. I used 4 TBSP organic powdered sugar, and subbed 2% milk for the cream since I didn’t have any on hand. I put them in mini muffin tins with paper liners and they were the perfect size.
Mandy
August 3, 2015 at 3:45 pmSOOOOO GOOD!!!
Cindy DuBose
August 21, 2015 at 9:30 amDelicious!
Jan
September 16, 2015 at 1:43 pmWould a milk like almond or coconut work as well as heavy cream? That’s not something that I use often enough to justify the waste…
Tammy
April 11, 2016 at 2:43 pmUse your leftovers for something else. It’s delish on oatmeal. Or I have this amazing potato recipe. Spray a baking dish, pile I sliced peeled potatoes, add cream almost to cover, sprinkle with salt, pepper and if have any parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered in a 450 for about 25-40 mins.
Heather Lewis
June 18, 2016 at 8:10 pmI made these using full fat coconut milk (the kind in a can) instead of heavy cream and they turned out great! I never use heavy cream because I don’t really like the taste of it.
shawn
September 23, 2015 at 9:21 pmYou can use coconut milk in the can. Make sure it says full fat on it.
roy
November 10, 2015 at 6:49 pmWhat can I use in place of powder sugar. Brown sugar or sweetened condensed milk
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
November 20, 2015 at 10:14 amHi Roy. We’ve not tried a sub in this recipe. I would stick with a dry ingredient.
Tori
January 4, 2016 at 3:08 pmDelicious! The peanut butter layer still stayed fairly soft for me so it doesn’t hold its shape very long after being cut but still tastes great!
Amy
January 15, 2016 at 5:37 pmDo you mean a loaf pan or a square pan like the kind you use for brownies?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
January 19, 2016 at 5:50 pmHi. Lisa used a 9×5 loaf pan.
Tammy
April 11, 2016 at 2:44 pmA loaf pan is used for bread.
kendell
January 20, 2016 at 2:47 pmWhat brand of peanut butter did you use ?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
January 24, 2016 at 11:26 amHi Kendell. We look for an organic peanut butter without added ingredients. Just peanuts and maybe a little salt.
judy
February 5, 2016 at 9:36 amHi Linda, thank you for the recipe.
I was wondering which peanut butter you use?
I really like to avoid the bad fats.
I make peanut butter balls at every Christmas and use a smooth style. It is a treat, so I save the recipe for the holidays and wrap them in little candy papers and freeze them. thanks!
judy
February 5, 2016 at 9:37 amso sorry I wrote Linda not Lisa.
Judy
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
February 7, 2016 at 1:24 pmHi. We look for an organic peanut butter without added ingredients. Just peanuts and maybe a little salt.
Rebecca
February 7, 2016 at 1:59 pmMy daughter has a severe peanut allergy. Do you think sunbutter would work as a substitute?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
February 8, 2016 at 3:46 pmYes, we’ve not tried but I think it should work fine.
Andra
June 5, 2016 at 10:43 pmVery yummy and easy to make. I even thought it was a little too sweet, considering the chocolate chips also have sugar in them. I’m going to try it next time with only 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar instead of 6. Also, I used coconut oil instead of butter and it worked and tasted great!
Heather Lewis
June 18, 2016 at 8:12 pmI made these and substituted full fat coconut milk for the heavy cream. So delicious!
Sandy
July 22, 2016 at 10:47 pmCan you give me nutritional info on this? Fat? Calories? Thanks
Nancy
July 27, 2016 at 12:32 pmI would love the nutritional info as well please. :)
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
July 29, 2016 at 10:44 amHi there. That is not information that we provide. This post helps put that into perspective: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/01/04/healthy-eating-defined/.
Ashley
December 2, 2016 at 9:40 amCan you tell me if this recipe works with natural peanut butter (the kind that has to be stirred)? Or does it need to made with something like Skippy?
Thanks!
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
December 5, 2016 at 2:16 pmHi. We use an organic natural peanut butter.