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Easy Buckeye Bars

A rich layer of chocolate on a thick layer of a peanut butter and graham cracker mixture makes these amazing Buckeye Bars!

Several pieces of no bake buckeye bars showing a side view with a rich layer of chocolate on a thick layer of peanut butter and graham cracker mixture.

Buckeye Bars Recipe

This easy no-bake dessert is the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter!  With only 5 ingredients these chocolate and peanut butter Buckeye Bars with graham crackers are fast, easy and DELICIOUS! 

Also called Buckeye Bars, Flat Buckeyes, Pan Buckeyes and No-Bake Buckeyes these are the easiest version of copycat recipe for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups that I’ve ever had!  If you love white chocolate you’ll also have to try our White Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars.

My friend Cheryl from Bible Study pulled three amazing and well-used recipes out of her box to share. Her other go-to family favorite recipes are these Almond Bark SpecialsBlueberry Muffins, and these no-bake Chocolate and Peanut Butter Dessert Bars.

Overhead view of a piece of rich and delicious no bake chocolate peanut butter dessert that tastes like a homemade Reeses peanut butter cup.

This recipe has a graham cracker crumb base and we have another similar recipe for Buckeye Cookie Bars with a Lorna Doone cookie base.

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Why This Recipe Works

  • When chocolate and peanut butter are mixed together in a no-bake dessert the recipe is worth trying! 
  • This recipe belongs on every holiday dessert tray – but it’s also great to share all year long.
  • Friends are one of the best places to find great recipes. When a friend shared this as one of her family’s top 3 all time best recipes you know it’s good!
No bake buckeye bars with a coating of chocolate on a thick peanut butter layer stacked up on a cutting board.

What’s Needed To Make Buckeye Cookie Bars

  • Butter – real butter is much better for full flavor over margarine.
  • Peanut butter – creamy is the only type we use in this recipe.
  • Powdered sugar – also known as confectioners sugar.
  • Graham cracker crumbs – we like the container that comes ground up, but you can crush full graham crackers if you like.
  • Chocolate Chips – we lean towards semi-sweet, but milk chocolate or dark chocolate work too.
Ingredients to make buckeye bars are powdered sugar, graham cracker crumbs, peanut butter, butter and semi-sweet chocolate chips on a wooden counter top.

How to Cut Copycat Reese’s Peanut Butter Bars

These chocolate and peanut butter bars are really easy to mix up, there’s only one challenge.  Cutting these bars is the hardest part. 

If you cut them too soon they’re gooey.  If you wait for the chocolate to fully harden or freeze it may break in oddly shaped pieces.

So the goal is to cut them about an hour after preparing. The best time to cut is just after the chocolate loses gooeyness and just before it hardens.

Board covered with 5 ingredient chocolate peanut butter no bake dessert on a red and white plaid napkin.

Using a bench scraper does making cutting bar cookies easier.

Regardless of how set-up the chocolate is they taste amazing! We may have had a time or two where a good portion of the pan was eaten before having time to set up.

How to Make Buckeye Bars

  1. Melt butter and mix in peanut butter, confectioners sugar, and graham cracker crumbs.
  2. Spread in a lightly greased 9×13 pan.
  3. Melt chocolate chips and pour over peanut butter mixture.

Step By Step Instructions

In a small or medium microwave safe bowl melt butter.

Glob of peanut butter added to a bowl with melted butter.

Then stir in peanut butter until smooth and melted.

Melted butter and peanut butter stirred together in a white mixing bowl.

Add graham cracker crumbs and powdered sugar and stir well.

Graham cracker crumbs and confectioners sugar stirred into a butter and peanut butter mixture in a white bowl.

Spread in the bottom of a 9 x 13″ pan lined with waxed paper.

Graham cracker and peanut butter mixture spread in a wax paper lined 9 x 13 pan.

Melt chocolate chips and pour over the graham cracker mixture.

Melted semi-sweet chocolate chips in a small white mixing bowl.

An hour after letting set up use the waxed paper and remove from the pan. Set on a cutting board and use a board scraper or butter knife to cut.

Batch of buckeye cookie bars on waxed paper removed from dish and set on a cutting board and cut into squares on a red and white napkin.

Store in an air tight container separated by layers of waxed paper in the refrigerator. Enjoy!

More Easy Chocolate and Peanut Butter Desserts

I’m so grateful for friends that share great recipes.  We hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we have!

Printable Chocolate & Peanut Butter Bar Recipe

Close up square nobake dessert called buckeye bars with a smooth chocolate layer on a rich peanut butter mixture on a beige board.

Buckeye Bars

Servings 24 bars
Author: Jennifer
A rich layer of chocolate on a thick layer of a peanut butter and graham cracker mixture makes these amazing Buckeye Bars!
5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Time to Set-up 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup butter melted
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
  • 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions
 

  • Melt butter and mix in peanut butter, confectioners sugar, and graham cracker crumbs. 
    1 cup butter, 1 cup creamy peanut butter, 2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • Spread in a waxed paper lined 9×13 pan.
  • Melt chocolate chips and pour over peanut butter mixture.  Gently shake or tap pan until chocolate is smooth. Allow an hour for the chocolate to set up, then cut into pieces.
    12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Notes

  • I melt the chips in a microwave-safe bowl using 30-second increments and stir every 15 seconds once the chips have started to melt.
  • Have the peanut butter mixture spread out in the pan and ready so that melted chocolate can be poured immediately.
  • 1 or 2 tablespoons of oil can be added to the chocolate to help keep smooth if desired
  • Cut into bars about an hour after preparing – before chocolate sets-up and becomes hard

Nutrition

Calories: 292kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 4gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 155mgPotassium: 156mgFiber: 2gSugar: 20gVitamin A: 243IUCalcium: 22mgIron: 1mg

Nutritional Disclaimer

“Plowing Through Life” is not a dietitian or nutrition professional. Any nutritional information shared is an estimate and can vary greatly depending on specific products are used. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator of your choice.

Tried this recipe?Mention @PlowingThroughLife or tag #PlowingThroughLife!

Originally shared on December 10, 2018 with updates made on January 24, 2024.

Collage of 5 ingredient chocolate and peanut butter no bake bars

11 Comments

  1. If you add a little oil to the melted chic chips, they keep chocolate at better consistency for cutting. Not too gooey, not too hard. A tbsp or so should do it

  2. Just made this last night, but I swear the recipe said pretzel crumbs and less peanut butter?? Am I going crazy? Turned out amazing either way, lol!

    1. So glad the recipe turned out great! I’m going to have to try this with pretzel crumbs, thanks for the idea!

  3. Susan Young says:

    5 stars
    I made this last night and the family loves it

    1. Great! Thanks so much for letting us know!

  4. Could you tell me what size a bag of chocolate chips is? How do I measure that?
    Thanks!

    1. Jennifer @ Plowing Through Life says:

      Yes! I use a 12 ounce bag of chocolate chips for this recipe. Hope you enjoy it!

  5. I just made these bars with gluten free graham crackers. It was really good. It took a couple of hours for the chocolate to harden.

  6. Stephanie says:

    Excited to make this! Do you leave on the counter to set, or put in the refrigerator to set?

    1. Jennifer @ Plowing Through Life says:

      Thanks! We usually leave on the counter to set, but the fridge can help speed up the process. Hope you enjoy 🙂

  7. 5 stars
    These were delicious!!!

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