How is it already Memorial Day this weekend? This month, especially the last two weeks, flew by! The past week was spent in Florida where I attended the Food Blog Forum conference. After the conference, we headed to St. Pete Beach for a mini vacation. It was so nice to not have a schedule for a few days. Just sit at the beach and do nothing! We just got back at 1 am Thursday morning, so I am glad that this weekend is 3 days long! That way we can slowly ease back into the reality of actually having a schedule with no random walks on the beach!
Do you have any plans for Memorial Day? We’re hoping to grill out if the rain stays away. If you saw my burger recipe on Monday, you know what I like to eat when we go on picnics and many of those foods will be present on Monday! If you’re planning a picnic, you need to add these chocolate frosted peanut butter oat bars to your menu. (Oh, and make sure you make those chili lime feta burgers from Monday!)
You can’t go wrong with a chewy, peanut butter oat base and creamy chocolate peanut butter frosting! The oat layer tastes just like a chewy peanut butter oatmeal cookie and the rich chocolate frosting is swirled with a sweet, peanut butter frosting. These bars are the perfect companion to any picnic. They are easy to handle and pack, making them easy to bring with you to your next outing!
- ⅓ C sugar
- ½ C brown sugar
- ½ C butter, softened
- 1 egg
- ½ C peanut butter
- 1 C all-purpose flour
- 1 C oats
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 C confectioner's sugar
- ¼ C unsweetened baking cocoa
- ¼ C peanut butter
- ¼ C milk, divided
- Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray a 9x13 baking dish.
- In the bowl of stand mixer, cream together sugars and butter. Add in egg and peanut butter and beat until well-combined. Stir in flour, oats, baking soda, and salt to combine.
- Press dough into the bottom of prepared baking dish. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until just starting to turn golden brown. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.
- To prepare frosting: Stir together confectioner's sugar, peanut butter, and 3 tablespoons milk until creamy. Set aside a ⅓ C. Stir baking cocoa into the remaining frosting. Add another 1 tablespoon milk and mix until creamy. You may need to add another tablespoon of milk to reach desired consistency.
- Spread chocolate frosting over the top of cooled bars. Drop peanut butter frosting by tablespoon full over the top of the chocolate frosting. Swirl peanut butter frosting with a knife to create a marbled effect.
- Allow frosting to set and cut into bars.
This recipe is slightly adapted from Betty Crocker.
Tieghan says
That conference sound like so much fun and these boars sound incredible! Peanut butter +chocolate + oatmeal? What could be better?!
Hope you have a great Memorial day!
Kathy says
I have a similar recipe and they are so good and completely addicting!
Elaine @ Cooking to Perfection says
I love chocolate and peanut butter together! This is a great snack recipe, perfect for on-the-go. I’m heading to the beach for Memorial Day weekend later this evening, so I hope to have enough time to make these and bring them along. They’d be a great addition to our snacks and munchies for the road!
Deborah says
These are so pretty, and they sound delicious, too!
Ashley says
1. These sound amazing. 2. I love that peanut butter swirl! Have a great long weekend!
Charmaine @ All in a Soiree says
So happy I stumbled your site love all these dishes!
Julie @ Julie's Eats & Treats says
Love the swirled frosting! And don’t you hate the fact sometimes you need a vacation to recover from your vacation?!
Nora @ Buttercream Fanatic says
I absolutely love the familiar tastes in a less familiar form – great idea!
Joy @ Baking-Joy says
Oh yum. These look delicious 🙂
tanya says
The time is going so fast! I am not ready to bet into my bathing suit!!! Maybe I’ll skip the pool and make these bar instead! Love the frosting Jessica. Hope you had a great trip!
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says
I love these bars!! I seriously can’t believe that it’s the end of May. What the heck?
Georgia @ The Comfort of Cooking says
Jessica, these bars look so scrumptious! Perfect for bringing something sweet to a BBQ this weekend. Thanks for sharing and enjoy yours!
Hayley @ The Domestic Rebel says
Oooh, yummy! Chocolate and peanut butter swirls.. that’s the stuff dreams are made out of!
Sarah K. @ The Pajama Chef says
a pb & chocolate frosting? oh yum- my favorite flavors!! these look so good.
Amber @ Dessert Now, Dinner Later! says
Jessica, those are absolutely gorgeous! Great photos & great recipe!!!
Jennie @themessybakerblog says
Mmm, these look so good. Vacations are wonderful. If only there were more of them. Enjoy your three day weekend.
Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. says
I love those swirls! Can eat 10 of these?!
Amy (Savory Moments) says
You definitely can’t go wrong with these! They look fantastic!
Valerie @ From Valerie's Kitchen says
These are perfect for this weekends festivities. We are all craving sweets around here! So many great people went to FBF this year – I wish I could have been there!
Nicole @ Daily Dish Recipes says
mmmmm… chocolate and peanut butter with oats is fabulous. I would totally take that St. Pete’s vacation and could certainly use it right about now. 🙂 Glad it was awesome!
Gwen @SimplyHealthyFAmily says
Goodness! I’m afraid I would eat the whole pan!
marcie@flavorthemoments says
These bars look delicious and beautiful! Love the swirl!
laurasmess says
Aw yum!!! These look amazing. They have all of my favourite bar ingredients in one delicious bar… genius! Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂 x
Hannah @ CleanEatingVeggieGirl says
These sound SO good! I truly believe that chocolate and peanut butter are one of the best combinations around. They are just made for one another :).
Miss Messy says
yum yum yum! 🙂 lovely combination
Karissa K. @ Sweet As A Cookie says
My boyfriend would love these! Maybe I’ll surprise him with them tonight!
Suzanne says
These peanut butter bars look so yummy, I wish I had a few of these. Enjoy your long weekend!
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
Ooooh I love these! You def. can’t go wrong with all of these flavors together, mmmmm
Jen of My Tiny Oven says
Uhmmm YUMMY! I need to make these, like right now!
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie says
Those bars looks perfectly dense and chewy, and with peanut butter = yay!!
angela @ another bite please says
peanut butter and oats oh and chocolate if i made these before the feta burgers i’d mostly likely not have room for the burger. LOL
Jennie @themessybakerblog says
I’ve made these bars twice already. OMG, they’re so freakin’ delicious. Make them… Now!
Mercedes says
These bars are what my dreams are made of! The frosting sounds delicious and you made it look so pretty!
Nicole says
These look so pretty! I’m sure that they taste amazing too.
Anna @ Hidden Ponies says
I looooove oat bars, and this base looks absolutely perfect!
Sherone says
I made these today!!! I am addicted! I cannot stop eating them! How many calories and fat are in these? I lost 70 pounds and cannot handle these in my home! I will be taking them to all parties from now on! Great-tasting and easy!
Jessica@A Kitchen Addiction says
Yay! So glad you like them! I’m afraid I don’t know the nutritional value of these bars…I always make sure that I’m making them when I can give most of them away because pb & chocolate is hard to resist! 🙂
Christel says
Made these and they were great! 🙂
Just a question though — how do you make the gorgeous swirl effect? I attempted it but it turned out really ugly..yummy nonetheless!
Jessica@A Kitchen Addiction says
I’m so glad you liked them!! Thanks for letting me know! I spooned the peanut butter frosting randomly over the top. I then ran a knife back and forth lengthwise through the frosting. Hope that helps!