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5 from 25 votes

The BEST Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars Recipe

These Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars are the EXACT recipe they once served in schools! These peanut butter bars have a soft, chewy peanut butter cookie base, creamy peanut butter center and chocolate buttercream on top. These are the best peanut butter bars of all time!
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: 5 easy dessert recipe, Chocolate peanut butter dessert, Dessert, lunch lady peanut butter bars, peanut butter bars
Servings: 24 servings
Calories: 459kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

Peanut Butter Bars

  • 1 cup butter softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar firmly packed
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2½ cups peanut butter divided
  • 2 cups old fashioned oats
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Frosting

  • ½ cup butter softened
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 4 Tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 3 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar and brown sugar together.
  • Add vanilla, eggs, and 1 cup of the peanut butter; stir to combine.
  • Add oats, flour, baking soda and salt and mix until well combined.
  • Spray a baking sheet (half sheet jelly roll pan that is approximately 17.8 x 12.8 x 1 inch) with nonstick cooking spray and spread out dough in an even layer.
  • Bake for 15 minutes and remove from oven.
  • Drop remaining peanut butter (about 1 1/2 cups) by very small spoonfuls (we use a baby spoon) all over on top of warm bars. Let set for about 5-6 minutes and gently spread when peanut butter has begun to melt. It will spread easily when the peanut butter has softened on the warm bars. Don't try to spread it while still thick.
  • Then let the bars cool until peanut butter has set up.
  • While cooling, mix together frosting ingredients with a hand mixer until smooth and spread on top of bars.
  • Cut into bars and serve.

Video

Notes

  • These bars are made in a half sheet pan and you can cut them into as many bars as you need.
  • We like a bigger bar, so we typically cut a pan of these cookie bars into 24 squares, but you could easily cut them into 48 for a smaller serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 459kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 44mg | Sodium: 377mg | Potassium: 248mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 35g | Vitamin A: 378IU | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 2mg