Easy Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Crumble Bars – Deliciously moreish, nutty, gooey, chocolatey, crumbly, oaty treats. Gluten Free. Optional Dairy Free.
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Crumble Bars – A perfectly delicious treat
Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Crumble Bars are incredibly moreish. A crunchy, oaty biscuit base… followed with a layer of gooey peanut caramel… all topped with a chocolate and nut oat crumble. What’s not to love?
They go back a few years at GFHQ. The recipe originally being adapted from a Marks and Spencer chocolate cook book. Since then, they have been de-glutened, tweaked and (I think) improved to give the recipe I share today.
I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
Chocolate and peanut butter – a classic combination
Chocolate and peanut butter are meant to be together. The combination of sweet and salty… earthy and chocolatey just works! Actually… a sweet and salty taste contrast is something we apparently crave. Our brains are programmed to love them individually… But together they become dynamite. It’s why we love salted caramel… peanut butter and jam… maple and bacon… The list goes on…
And with that, these Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Crumble Bars promise happiness on the most delectable scale. But just to be clear… They don’t claim to be ‘healthy’. There’s no false suggestion that because peanuts offer protein or chocolate helps the heart they are especially good for you… No. These slices are pure decadence. A classic combination to bring a smile and sheer delight. Why? Because we deserve it.
Are Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Crumble Bars easy to make?
Yes. These Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Crumble Bars are pretty easy to make. And to make them less of a faff… They use the same mix in the bottom layer as they do in the crumble top. Clever huh? You simply separate out a bit of the crumbly bit for the top, before adding egg to bind and bake the biscuit base. So as long as you have an oven and a couple of mixing bowls and you’re willing to get your fingers a bit sticky rubbing the butter into the flour… you’ll be noshing on these Crumble Bars in no time!
Can I make Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Crumble Bars dairy free?
Although these Crumble Bars are not suitable for anyone who can’t eat eggs or who has a nut allergy, they can definitely be made dairy free. You just need to make a couple of simple subs… Switch out the butter for a good block dairy free alternative (such as Stork or Flora baking blocks). Change to dairy free chocolate. And be sure to use dairy free condensed milk.
Interestingly, Nestlé now make Vegan condensed milk, which is apparently gluten free. (I understand gluten free oats are used and there are no ‘may contain’ warnings). Although I personally always use the Nature’s Charm Coconut Condensed Milk if doing a dairy free bake.
The coconut condensed milk also makes the most amazing Vegan Flapjacks!
If you can’t eat oats, there are alternative gluten free ‘flakes’ that should work well (although I personally haven’t tried them). I would recommend trying millet, quinoa or buckwheat flakes based on my knowledge of how they act.
What flour should I use to make these gluten free Crumble Bars?
Any balanced gluten free flour blend should work fine for Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Crumble Bars. I used Gluten Free Alchemist white blend A, but an alternative blend such as Doves Freee Plain White Flour will work just as well for this one.
If you areCoeliac don’t forget to make sure the oats used are certified gluten free to avoid any cross contamination risk.
And if you’re not Coeliac or gluten-intolerant, then just use bog standard oats and wheat flour and leave out the xanthan gum too.
Will you make Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Crumble Bars?
So, here it is… My recipe for totally delicious, gooily moreish Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Crumble Bars. Will you make them? I hope so!
If you do, don’t forget to let me know what you think. Leave a comment and if you remember before they’re all devoured, take some photos and tag me on social media with how they turned out. I love seeing your amazing bakes.
Thanks for visiting Gluten Free Alchemist
Other Chocolate and Peanut treats at Gluten Free Alchemist that you might want to try too…
Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Crumble Bars
Key equipment
- 9 inch (23 cm) square non-stick baking tin
- Oven
- large sharp knife
Ingredients
- 350 g plain gluten free flour blend I used GFA Blend A – See NOTES (but alternative flour blends are fine)
- 1 tsp xanthan gum leave out if the flour mix already contains it
- 1 tsp baking powder gluten free as required
- 225 g unsalted butter (or good dairy free block equivalent) cold and cubed
- 350 g soft light brown sugar
- 175 g oats gluten free as required
- 70 g chopped mixed nuts
- 300 g chocolate milk or dark (dairy free as required)
- 1 large egg beaten
- 397 g sweetened condensed milk 1 standard tin – dairy free as required
- 120 g crunchy peanut butter
Instructions
- Base-line a 9 inch/23 cm square baking tin with baking paper.
- Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F/Gas 4.
- Weigh and mix the flour, xanthan gum and baking powder together in a large bowl, making sure any lumps are completely broken down and combined.
- Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
- Add and stir in the sugar, oats and chopped nuts.
- Chop the chocolate into small pieces.
- Put about a quarter of the flour mixture into a separate bowl and stir in the chocolate. Set aside.
- Add the egg to the remaining (three-quarters) flour mixture and stir thoroughly until completely combined and ‘damp’-looking.
- Press this mixture into the bottom of the baking tin with the back of a spoon.
- Bake the base in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Whilst the base is cooking, mix the condensed milk and peanut butter together in a bowl.
- When the base has cooked for 15 minutes, pour the condensed milk-peanut butter mixture onto it and spread evenly.
- Top with the remaining chocolate-flour mix and gently press down to firm slightly.
- Return to the oven and bake for a further 20 minutes until just golden.
- After removing from the oven, leave to cool completely in the tin.
- Once cold, cut into slices. (It will help to refrigerate to enable the bake to firm up to make cutting easier).
Notes
Nutrition
© 2019-2023 Kate Dowse All Rights Reserved – Do not copy or re-publish this recipe or any part of this recipe on any other blog, on social media or in a publication without the express permission of Gluten Free Alchemist
Chocolate Peanut Oat Crumble Bars shared with
- Cook Blog Share 2021 Week 11 with Sew White
- Fiesta Friday #373 with Angie and Of Goats and Greens
- Full Plate Thursday #528 with Miz Helen’s Country Cottage
- Over The Moon #270 with Eclectic Red Barn and Marilyn’s Treats
- What’s For Dinner #308 with The Lazy Gastronome
You really do have a lot of great and diverse ideas for desserts that are adventurously gluten-free – awesome! Thanks again for bringing your taste treats to Fiesta Friday!
Thank you so much. I’m not always seen as the most ‘go to’ GF blogger because I fit ingredients to the recipes needed. But I do try to do what I can to make my recipes as close to gluten versions and as varied as possible xx
chocolate, peanut butter and crumble toppings are all brilliant on their own but together are just wow!
Thanks lovely. Chocolate and peanut are heaven combined in my world xx
So glad to hear you love chocolate 🙂 As you say peanut butter and chocolate are a fab combination – what a great bake to get. I made this, or something very similar recently and it was very moreish indeed. I am puzzled about oats. How can some be gluten free and others not? Thanks for joining in with the challenge.
You're welcome Choclette. The oats issue comes from cross contamination in the growing or milling process. If Oats are grown in a field that has previously grown wheat, barley or rye, you get stray plants growing in amongst the oats and when this is harvested, it contaminates the oats. I looked at an oat field last summer as I was bemused at how much of a risk it was and there were LOADS of stray wheat plants in there! Equally, if milling equipment has been used for wheat etc, this can result in cross-contamination. All of which is a serious issue if you are Coeliac! So you have to make sure you get oats certified gluten free (which of course are more expensive!).
oooh, chocolate and peanut butter… adore these!… they look so wonderful and crumbly and so easy to eat.. such a shame!… thanks so much for the brilliant random recipes entry, it must have been hard to chose just one book! Oh and by the way I have recommended your blog to my sister in law who's daughter has a gluten intolerance and she finds it hard to be a creative cook. x
Thanks Dom. When it comes to chocolate, there are always too many books to choose from! This recipe was definitely a bit of a find…… Thanks for the recommendation. It is a really hard transition to make when you have to avoid gluten, because the world of eating is full of it. Takes a bit of a mind shift….. but I am really pleased to be able to share!
I love peanut butter with anything, but especially chocolate. These look delicious and so indulgant. Yum
Me too…. peanut butter and chocolate is such an addictive combination!