No Bake Chocolate Oat Bars

5 from 7 votes

My easy no bake Chocolate Oat Bars are a balanced treat with protein, fibre and healthy fats. It's a dietitian approved spin on the Starbucks oat fudge bar, with only 15 minutes of prep.

Prep Time15

Chill Time1

Total Time1 15

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: freezer, meal prep, no bake

Servings: bars

Ingredients

½ cup natural peanut butter
½ cup honey
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups oats quick, minute or rolled will all work
½ cup ground flaxseed
½ cup vanilla protein powder
½ teaspoon salt

For the chocolate layer:

⅓ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoon peanut butter

Instructions

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together peanut butter, honey, applesauce and vanilla extract until smooth.
To the same bowl, add oats, ground flaxseed, vanilla protein powder and salt. Stir to combine.
Line a 9x6 inch rectangular ceramic dish with parchment paper. Set aside 1 cup of the oat mixture for the topping. Add the remaining oat mixture to the dish, using your hands or spatula to press it into all edges, creating an even layer.
For the chocolate layer: add chocolate and peanut butter to a microwave safe dish. Microwave in increments of 15-30 seconds, until chocolate is fully melted and smooth, stirring in between (this should be about 1 minute 15 seconds total).
Evenly spread the chocolate layer over the bottom oat layer. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup of oat topping, gently pressing the topping into the chocolate (this helps it stick). Place in the freezer for about 1 hour or the fridge for 3 hours for the chocolate to set.
Slice into 10 even squares, drizzle with additional chocolate if you would like and sprinkle with flakey sea salt.

Notes

Flaxseed can be replaced with ½ cup of blended oats (oat flour) or almond flour.

Applesauce can be replaced with ½ cup of mashed banana.

Protein powder can be replaced with ⅓ cup of additional oats (I would also recommend adding 1-2 tablespoon more honey as protein powder does typically add an additional sweetness).

For 20 mini no bake oat bars you can slice each bar into 2 slices!

*I have included an estimation of the nutrition information for this recipe below. However, always remember a recipe is so much more than just nutritional content and these numbers do not need to dictate your food choices. Please don't forget that both your body and soul need nourishment! The owner of this website is not liable for this estimation

Nutrition

Did you know....rating and sharing recipes is one of the best ways you can support your favourite food bloggers? If you make this recipe, I would love if you clicked the stars below to leave a rating and/or sharing a photo on social media by tagging @nourishedbynic or using the hashtag #nourishedbynic!