3 Ingredient No Bake Peanut Butter Oat Squares
These simple 3 Ingredient No Bake Peanut Butter Oat Squares can be thrown together in minutes. Use all natural/organic ingredients, if you prefer, for a healthier version! Either way they are simple are delicious.
Easy can not even describe these bars.
And simple is so over-used…by me especially…that I’m afraid you might not buy it.
But I promise ya.
These are the simplest, easiest, no brainiest bars ever to be.
There are literally 3 ingredients, no baking…only measuring. And you only have to measure 3 things, so…
PLUS, these 3 Ingredient No Bake Peanut Butter Oat Squares are kinda-sorta not even that bad for you!
I’m certainly not going to call them healthy…because there are health police out there who like to assure you that Peanut Butter from Skippy isn’t so health-ful.
But in my world, these are the perfect treat for my kids after school…full of fiber and protein, plus the honey makes them sweet and delicious.
So yeah. Try them.

See..3 ingredients…

Also, trying to get honey out of a huge container when there isn’t much left is pretty much the worst day of my life.
But I overcame.

I heated my honey and peanut butter together so they would be smooth. You can totally do this in your microwave too.

Then just mix in the oats. Also, yes, you could use quick oats, but they are cut and smaller in size (hence why they cook faster), and I prefer the large whole oat in these. Whatever.

Kinda pretty, yes?

Then press the mixture into a lined 9×9 pan, that is sprayed lightly with cooking spray to prevent sticking…
Let the mixture set up. I popped mine in the fridge (and actually stored them there too to keep them firm). Then cut into bars!

Again, if left at room temperature they will soften a bit, so I like to keep mine chilled…but if you prefer them softer and gooier go for it!

So yep. 3 ingredients!
- 1 cup peanut butter
- ½ cup honey
- 3 cups rolled oats
- Line a 9x9 pan with foil. Spray lightly with non-stick spray.
- Melt the peanut butter and honey together until smooth, either in the microwave or stove top. Combine mixture with oats.
- Press into prepared pan. Place in refrigerator until set. Cut into squares.
Here are a few other 3 Ingredient/No Bake recipes I have…
Key Lime Pie Dip…3 Ingredients AND it’s Fat Free!
This S’mores Snack Mix is also only 3 Ingredients!











The Cookies & Cups Cookbook is full of 125+ recipes that remind you to Always Eat Dessert First! My website has always been dedicated to the very best sweet treats with an occasional family friendly meal sprinkled in and my book is everything you have grown to love about my site and more.
Sign up to get Cookies & Cups recipes delivered to your inbox!
Leave a Reply
189 Comments on "3 Ingredient No Bake Peanut Butter Oat Squares"
Easy, 3 ingredients, and perfect! And PB! Always a win 🙂 pinned
Oh my goodness, those honey containers from Costco will be the death of me! So frustrating, especially cause the honey gets firm so fast. I will definitely be using a fresh container of honey for these babies!
Meriem, I just saw this and wanted to share that you can soften a container of honey by putting it in the crockpot, fill crockpot with water to height of honey, turn on low and just let it go until the honey is liquid again. Doesn’t matter if the container is taller than the crockpot — leave the lid off. Works like a charm.
Raw honey takes longer to solidify…and simply soften by putting in hot water for 10 or 15 minutes.
They get hard because they are using corn syrup as a filler.
Actually, pure honey can and does go hard. My grandpa used to keep bees and my dad still has honey from it; it’s more than 20 years old, and it’s hard.
Does the honey taste get stronger, the older it is?
TOTALLY wrong! No corn syrup in most honeys. I buy mine straight from the bee keeper and it does crystallize. How fast it crystallizes depens on the amount of glucose in the honey. Some people prefer crystallized honey. 🙂 Most stuff can be googled for the answer so try that next time!
Raw honey does go “hard”. It becomes crystallized. That’s a good thing. Means it is raw. Store honey does not because its pasteurized to death! You can set your honey in hot water or let the hot water run on the bottle each time you use it and it will go back to smooth. My husband and I are beekeepers.
I buy store bought, and my honey crystalizes.
Put container in microwave and heat about 30 seconds, this should soften the honey.
Would that not kill the natural enzymes and all the other goodness of raw honey?
I was wondering that myself. I make a facial exfoliant using honey,lemon,sweet almond oil and granulated sugar. Honey has anti microbial properties,lemon is an astringent,the oil moisturizes and the sugar provides the exfoliant. (Recipe came from Cooking Light magazine years ago) If I have to reheat the honey,am I loosing that benefit??
Not a good idea, as the bottles typically are plastic… And will melt, releasing plastic toxins. But glass also gets extreme hot as well.
You can also turn the container upside down, once you get the honey softened up again, and the honey will drip to the tip, making it easier to get it out. I usually put the honey upside down in a mason jar. I do this with other sticky items (agave) in my cabinet too. 🙂
Lovely! So simple and yet looks so yum!
This is so great! It’s heart healthy and delicious. Best combination of all possible worlds!
Such a great treat and only few ingredients! I must try these bars 🙂
These bars are amazing! Only 3 ingredients? Perfect 🙂
Wow. These look great. I’m totally making them this weekend. I think I found something my incredibly picky 5 yr old will eat!
Love these!! My husband buys honey like he’s responsible for keeping bees employed, so I definitely have all the ingredients on hand 🙂
I have these three ingredients in the pantry – they look fabulous!
These 3 ingredients are 45% of my diet. Time to put ’em all together into a dreamy dessert!
Bless you!!! I am off refined sugar this week, so I haven’t had a treat of any kind since Saturday (this is BIG for me.) I can totally do these!
You can also try 1 cup of peanut butter, 1 cup of sugar and 1egg for gluten free peanut butter cookies. Bake at 325* for 7-8 min. Delicious!!
Replace the sugar with 3/4 cup of stevia and you sugar/gluten free PB cookies.
Easy and simple, indeed! Love these.
3 ingredients with 1 of them involving peanut butter?! I am all over this one!
yummm….. that looks delicious!!
http://www.lesley-kim.com
Yay!! A dairy-free recipe! I often adapt many of your recipes to make them dairy-free (which is NOT always an easy task!!), so I’m excited to try this one–sans-adaptations!!
I laughed so hard when I saw your honey container…I can totally relate!
welp, I need these in my life. pinned!
I have been craving rice krispie treats lately and these look so gooood! Plus they’re healthier than krispies, right? 😉
Tonight we will have them for dinner!
Well, maybe after dinner….
Shelly, btw, I have a worldwide giveaway with 2 winners of the cutest lil bee salt/pepper shakers to honour Mother’s Day and benefit the effort to save the bees. Please stop by my blog when you get the chance. Good luck!
I just can’t get over how easy these bars are!! They looks like they would take hours! And 3 ingredients?! Can’t beat that! They looks so good!
There has to be a better way to package honey, it’s the worst getting out of those squeeze bottles! This recipe seems totally worth the effort, so simple and delightful!
I keep mine in a wide mouth mason jar. I can’t wait to try this!
These sounds delish!!! My son is allergic to peanuts… Do you think this will work with sunbutter?!
I would imagine, but I am not super familiar with the texture of sunbutter, so if you try it let me know!
Did you ever try it with sunbutter after this comment- I realize this was 2 years ago, but I am curious!!
Umm these sound divine! I think I might need to make a tray at nap time!
are these crunchy or chewy?
they are soft and chewy
Haha. The health police. I feel like I can never post anything with regular peanut butter. It has to be natural because I know even when I post a warning saying, “This recipe won’t work with natural!” people will make it with natural anyway and then be unhappy with the results. That’s because natural sucks for baking. That’s the end of my peanut butter rant. 😀
And love that these are no-bake! This is something I’d make at 11:49pm and then not even bother forming into bars. A spoon works well enough for me.
That is exactly what I just did at 10:49. I hope the natural peanut butter will set up since there’s no baking involved. 🙂
I’m so sorry!! Didn’t mean to hit the “thumbs down” button!! Purely accidental! I just wanted to if using natural PB was the reason mi e did t come out well? It’s all I had. I did add melted coconut oil,but still did t help….?
It definitely could have made a difference. I have never made it with natural peanut butter!
Has anyone tried adding dark chocolate chips to this? If so, would you melt them first along with the peanut butter and honey or mix them in whole with the oats? Or would melting and drizzling along the top at the end work best?
I made mine with almond butter instead of peanut butter and I pressed chocolate chips and chopped pecans into the mixture before putting them in the refrigerator to set. Can’t wait to eat them!
Yum! Just made these and I can’t stop eating! I added a few extra things I had on hand to health them up even more… On the softened PB honey stage I added a scoop of protein powder and scoops of both chia and flax seed, as well as some Cacao powder for a little chocolate sensation. Also I did half honey and half melted coconut oil for the honey part, and it came out perfect with a nice hint of coconut! They are so delish and guilt-free! Will definitely be adding these to the regular rotation.
Lara, do you have the nutritional information on your modifications? They sound yummy!
I just made this because I love the ingredients, but when combined…. not so much. I think it’s the texture I’m not liking and it’s very dense.
This recipe is very tasty.
I don’t know if it’s because I used a different brand of peanut butter (used Peanut Butter & Co) than you or what it is, but my honey/peanut butter mix did not cover 3 cups of oats, it only held about 2 and 1/8 cups of oats. Neither did it get that nice gooey look like yours has got.
In the future I may try adding coconut oil like “Lara” said in the comments here.
I also used old fashioned oats. Yum.
Would maple syrup work in place of honey?
Not sure! It seems like it would, but syrup is a little thinner than honey. Let me know if you try it! Maybe just use a little less!
Hello!
Thanks for the recipe! I have tried it, but something isn’t right. Can you maybe, please, write amounts of ingredients in grams? 🙂
Just an alternative–use toasted oat flakes for an even more delicious treat and add almond butter and toasted almond slices for an even better version. One caution–almond butter is runnier than peanut butter so you may have to use less than the recipe calls for.
BTW–for those complaining about the Costco honey containers–save a few jars from whatever, clean well and use for the honey. They are much easier to liquefy the honey in and you don’t have to worry about plastics-chemicals leaching into the honey when you try to warm it up. I am trying bit by bit to use less plastic in my home because of all the negative consequences–the reliance on petroleum to create the containers, the problems with recycling them, the endocrine and hormone disruption they cause and all the other problems associated with plastic in the environment.
Ladies, can someone, please, share this recipe meashured in grams?
Thanks a lot!
These look great! I’m pinning so I can give them a try!
So yummy and easy!
I love high fiber and easy. Thank you for this. Just made them, can’t wait to try them.
I mixed in half a block of cream cheese into the recipe. They are so good!
Can you use white Karo syrup I don’t have honey
I only used 2 1/2 cups of rolled oats and it was so dry. Disappointed. :/
Just got done making these. They were sooo good.
I have the Karo syrup question too. I’m snowed in and don’t have enough honey…can I use have honey and half light karo?
sure!
Too much peanut butter. It made the bars really dense. Some advice for the person making this: don’t put 1 cups of peanut butter.
I make with organic oats, organic maple syrup, organic peanut butter & add chopped peanuts, pecans, almonds or walnuts.
Also dried fruits minced is good too just make sure it’s real dried fruit & not the sugar and chemical dried fruit. I use maple syrup because I’m not a fan of the taste of honey.
I am going to try these with almond butter next time and maybe cashew butter the next to see how they taste. Keep on cooking;)
Oh I forgot I made these for a friend & she doesn’t love oatmeal so I cut the oatmeal in half and added her favorite organic crunchy cereal to it with a dash of cinnamon because she loves it. She said they were great.
Love this sub-out!!
Awesome! Love hearing what you’re adding in!
Has anyone made these with natural (fresh ground) peanut butter?
I just tried and Disaster ! The peanut butter doesn’t melt 🙁
very strange…what type of peanut butter did you use?
Could I use quick oats??
sure!!!
Does anyone know how we can get a nutritional breakdown. I am into healthy eating and watch my.sugar intake closely
Lauren….. warm your honey in a pan of warm/hot water. NEVER in the microwave; doing that will kill off all the good things that honey is so well known for.
Can’t wait to try these. I’ve been using the Skippy Natural peanut butter when making rice Krispy bars and don’t have any trouble with it so I’m sure it will work for these. TFS
I just made these today and they are delicious and so easy to make. I also drizzled a little melted chocolate over a few of them to have as a treat in the afternoon when I need just a little chocolate!