Peanut Butter Finger Bars
a delicious twist to a classic peanut butter and chocolate bar!
Hello, friends!
Valentines Day is less than two weeks away and if you’ve been following along for a while, you’ll know I always make my ‘sweetie’ a little something special for his sweet tooth every year!
Michael is not the pickiest person to please, but he does have one and only one request every year. Whatever I make…HAS to have chocolate in it. And not just any chocolate. It HAS to be dark chocolate. Because that’s his favorite.
So this year I decided to take the classic-the Peanut Butter Finger Bar (my favorite) and turn up the flavor just a wee bit by making a few changes!
If you’re not familiar with a Peanut Butter Finger Bar-it’s a homemade take on the Butterfinger candy bar. The homemade version usually has several layers-starting first with a crust-then chocolate and finally peanut butter. These bars have been around for as long as I can remember and they have always been a favorite treat to bring to family gatherings and potlucks.
what do you need to make peanut butter finger bars?
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For the basic recipe you’ll need:
- White sugar
- Brown Sugar
- Butter
- Peanut Butter (not natural)
- Baking Soda
- Flour
- Oatmeal
- Vanilla
- Chocolate chips (dark chocolate in my case)
But we’re not going to do basic, my friends. Nope not here at Pallet and Pantry.
Here we do OVER THE TOP and that’s exactly what we’re going to do with this classic peanut butter and chocolate combo bar!
So let’s get started!
how to make peanut butter finger bars (our way)
THE CRUST: These bars have a crunchy crust base thanks to the oatmeal we add to it. It also has a wee bit of peanut so..PEANUT-NUTTY CRUNCH. (YUM)
Once you combine the crust ingredients together, you’ll press this buttery crumble mixture into the bottom of a 9×13 pan.
THE FILLING: Chocolate. That’s it. But isn’t that enough? I mean, really!
Nothing fussy here. Just sprinkle the crust with a package of your favorite chocolate chips!
THE TOPPING: (s) A dreamy-creamy peanut butter frosting along with big chunks of chocolate, peanuts, and walnuts!
This creamy-peanut-buttery frosting is SO scrumptious and EASY too! Best of all it adds yet another delicious layer. And I mean LAYER! Because this isn’t just a little drizzling like most recipes call for. Oh no! We’re covering that chocolate up with this frosting. But don’t worry.
Then I add MORE chunks of chocolate, along with salty peanuts and crunch walnuts. This step is TOTALLY optional but again, why not?
Because I’m not going to lie.
These bars are sinful.
And decadent and OH so naughty.
The perfect treat for Valentines Day! Am I right? Because what better day is there to enjoy all things chocolate and peanut butter?
Okay, ANY day is a good day for that.
And any day is a good day to share these yummy treats with the ones you love.
TIP: These bars are called ‘fingers’ because they are usually cut long like the candy bar. I prefer to cut mine in the usual ‘bar like’ square and then cut those in half.
Here’s the full recipe:
Peanut Butter Finger Bars
A Buttery-Oatmeal crust topped with chocolate and a creamy peanut butter frosting.
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup peanut butter smooth-not natural
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup oatmeal
Filling
- 10 ounces bag dark chocolate chips
Frosting
- 3/4 cup peanut butter smooth-not natural
- 6 Tablespoons butter softened
- 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons half and half
Additional topping
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup chopped peanuts
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
To Make the Crust
-
Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, oatmeal, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Set aside. Combine butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl. Beat until smooth. Add in egg, peanut butter, and vanilla. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Spread mixture evenly into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Bake the crust in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove. Sprinkle the entire bag of chocolate chips over the crust. Return to the oven and bake for 1 minute. Remove from the oven. Use an icing spatula to spread the melted chocolate chips evenly over the crust. Allow to cool completely.
To Make the Frosting
-
Combine Peanut butter and butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat until whipped consistency. Add in powdered sugar and half and half. Beat until well combined.
-
Spread the frosting evenly over the top of the bars. Sprinkle the nuts and chocolate chips over the frosting. Cut bars into squares and serve. Store remaining bars in an air-tight container.
Recipe Notes
***We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only.
Since there are just the two of us here for Valentine’s Day, I thought I would share some of these bars, along with some other yummy sweet treats with several of our neighbors. I plan to add them to some cute bakery boxes I picked up at our local Dollar Store.
I hope you enjoy our recipe for Peanut Butter Finger Bars! If you make them we would love to hear about it!
Looking for more Peanut Butter-Chocolate treats?
Thank you so much for stopping by!
Oh my goodness! These look amazing!! My hubby loves peanut butter and I love chocolate, so these would be perfect for both of us!
Thank you so much, Michelle! We four think alike for sure! I hope you enjoy the bars! I’m going to have to treat my family to some or I’ll seriously eat the whole pan! LOL!
This looks amazing, Christine! I’ve never heard of peanut butter finger bars before but peanut butter and chocolate are two of my favorite flavors so I’m beyond excited to try this and to make it for my family. Thanks so much for the recipe. You’re going to make me look really good 🙂 Hugs, CoCo
Thank you! They may just be a midwestern treat, CoCo! I’m not sure. But they are SO yummy! I hope you and yours enjoy the recipe!
Should I make prepared oatmeal or use oats? Thanks!
I use either old-fashioned or quick oatmeal, Laurie! I hope that helps! Happy Baking!
I believe it means dry (unprepared) oatmeal.
I made these twice; first time I saved a bit of frosting, thinned it down, and tried drizzling it on top. The consistency was too fluffy and ended up as thickish ribbons. Everyone loved it and said don’t change a thing, but I’d like to try a thinner , more sauce like drizzle – like what your picture looks like. What did you use?
I don’t see a “recipe” for the drizzle on top. Can you please give that? I tried using the frosting, thinned down a bit, but it didn’t “drizzle” .
Hello, Barb! Thanks for your question! As for that delicious drizzle-all I did was take a bit of the frosting (maybe a 1/2 cup) and thinned it out with a tsp or so of cream. Hope that helps! Enjoy!