No Bake Buckeye Bars

These No Bake Buckeye Bars are the perfect make-ahead dessert recipe. Indulgent and creamy, they have a crunchy peanut butter and graham cracker crust, topped with smooth chocolate. Your new favorite easy dessert recipe — it will disappear quickly!

No-Bake Buckeye Bars recipe

Whenever I need a quick dessert that I can pull off before any event, I pull out this recipe for No Bake Buckeye Bars. They're great for holiday cookie plates, too!

They're based on the traditional peanut butter and chocolate truffle called Buckeyes, which are made to look like acorns common in Ohio.

But Buckeyes can be time-consuming to make because you have to dip each one in chocolate, so these peanut butter chocolate bars are much simpler with the same great taste.

These Buckeye Bars are no-bake and they can be prepped in less than 30 minutes. They only need to be refrigerated or placed in the freezer for 30 minutes until they are solid.

When you take a bite, you'll experience the magic of these No Bake Peanut Butter Bars and you'll fall in love with this easy no-bake dessert. 

Peanut butter chocolate bars

When you're serving food for a group, it's always hard to know exactly what people will enjoy, but it's hard to go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate.

Peanut butter and chocolate is just a classic combination, isn't it? It may not have been a classic before Reese's Peanut Butter Cups were invented, but I think our lives are better today because of this iconic combination.

Growing up, my closest friends had a funny nickname for me. Instead of being called Mad, like some friends call me now (and the name of this blog!), some of my closest friends liked to call me "Reese Cup" because my maiden name was Ries (pronounced like the candy).

Maybe that's why the combination of chocolate and peanut butter has always been a deadly temptation of mine.

Whether it's a Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pretzel Layer Cake, Peanut Butter Overnight Oats or M&M Cookie Bars (with peanut M&M's), I am here for all the peanut butter and chocolate desserts.

Ingredients

To make these Buckeye Bars, you will need the following:

• graham cracker crumbs
• butter
• powdered sugar
• creamy peanut butter
• semisweet chocolate chips

It's important to buy creamy peanut butter, such as Jif or Peter Pan. Natural peanut butter will not work as well, but if you do try it, make sure you stir it up well because it tends to settle.

I've made these bars with crunchy peanut butter before, but I personally prefer creamy. Even with creamy peanut butter, you'll still get a crunchy texture in the crust because of the graham cracker bits. 

If you love peanut butter, like I do, you'll also love these Peanut Butter Blondies!

I have not tried this recipe with almond butter or other non-peanut butters, but if you try it, let me know how it goes!

Semisweet chocolate chips are what I recommend for the chocolate layer. You can use dark chocolate though if you want a richer treat.

How to Make No Bake Buckeye Bars

Here's how to make these easy peanut butter bars:

1. Line a 9x9-inch pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Pulse graham crackers, using a food processor, until crumbly.
3. In a large bowl, mix graham crackers, melted butter, powered sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended.
4. Press crust into pan.
5. In a microwave safe bowl, microwave chocolate and remaining 2 tablespoons peanut butter until melted (microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring between). Spread over top of peanut butter bars.
6. Refrigerate bars in fridge for at least 1 hour.
7. Remove parchment paper (with bars on top) from pan and use a sharp knife to cut into bars or squares.
8. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Tips for making the crust

People always ask me what makes the crust of these bars crunchy and buttery. 

I use a food processor to pulse the graham crackers so that there is a good mix of sizes of the pieces for the bars.

They are mostly finely pulsed, but there are some random chunks in there that make the crust crunchy! 

Make-ahead tips

Because these bars are no bake, they are super easy to make ahead of time! You just need enough time for the bars to solidify, which will vary depending on the time of year and where you live. If I'm in a rush for time, I'll pop them in the freezer instead of the fridge and that usually gets them to solidify in about 20 minutes. 

To cut the bars, take them out of the fridge and let them sit out for 5-10 minutes before using a sharp knife to cut them into even sized bars. 

Can you use store-bought graham cracker crumbs?

Sure thing! You'll have a more consistent texture in the bar crust, but the taste will still be delicious! 

How can you get the bars out of the pan easily?

To make it super easy to cut the bars and get them out of your pan, line the pan with parchment paper. Then once the bars are ready to cut, use the extra sides of the parchment paper to lift out the bars out of the pan. Then take a sharp knife to cut them into individual portions. 

I use this same technique for my recipe for Easy Peanut Butter Fudge so I don't damage the pan when trying to get the bars and fudge out. 

More no-bake recipes

• Stained Glass Window No Bake Cookies
• No Bake Banana Peanut Butter Cereal Bars
• No Bake Whipped Cream Pies

No Bake Buckeye Bars

These No Bake Buckeye Bars are the perfect make ahead dessert recipe! They're indulgent and creamy and will disappear quickly! A crunchy peanut butter and graham cracker crust, topped with smooth chocolate. Your new favorite easy dessert recipe!

4.98 from 47 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 25 squares

Author: Madison | A Joyfully Mad Kitchen

Equipment

• Cuisinart 9-Inch Chef's Classic Nonstick Bakeware Square Cake Pan, Silver

Ingredients

• 2 cups crumbled graham crackers
• 1 cup butter melted
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup plus 2 heaping tablespoons creamy peanut butter divided
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Instructions

• Line a 9x9-inch pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
• Pulse graham crackers, using a food processor, until crumbly.
• In a large bowl, mix graham crackers, melted butter, powered sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended.
• Press crust into pan.
• In a microwave safe bowl, microwave chocolate and remaining 2 tablespoons peanut butter until melted (microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring between). Spread over top of peanut butter bars.
• Refrigerate bars in fridge for at least 1 hour.
• Remove parchment paper (with bars on top) from pan and use a sharp knife to cut into bars or squares.
• Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

If you're in a hurry, you can freeze the bars for 30 minutes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 263kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 146mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 19g