Amazing Peanut Butter Frosted Oatmeal Bars with 3 layers of goodness. Cookie base, chocolate center & cream cheese peanut butter frosting!

Sometimes you want a cookie, no make that a desserty bar, maybe frosted cake??? Alright, lets just say you want dessert!  These Peanut Butter Frosted Oatmeal Bars fit all of the aforementioned categories beautifully.  For chocolate and peanut butter lovers like myself these bars are just perfect, a great blend of flavors in bar form.

I’d venture to say if you brought a tray of these Peanut Butter Frosted Oatmeal Bars to any potluck/BBQ/party, you’ll be coming home with just a platter with crumbs left on it.  They are that good!  So make sure you squirrel one away for yourself, or better yet make 2 batches.

The bottom cookie layer is thick and has just a little crunch to it.  I used smooth peanut butter because that’s what I had, but I think crunchy peanut butter would be great in these.  Add to that the chocolate center layer and the fluffy peanut butter cream cheese frosting-need I say more?  I can personally say they taste fabulous with a cup of coffee, and I may or may not have eaten them for breakfast, yeah I’m that mom.  They do have oats and peanut butter in them so I don’t feel too horribly awful. ;0)

Yield: 20 bars

Peanut Butter Frosted Oatmeal Bars

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Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

Cookie Layer:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 cup oats

Chocolate Layer:

• 1 cup chocolate chips (milk or semi-sweet)

Frosting:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 3-4 T milk

Instructions

1. Preheat the your oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and both sugars until smooth. Beat in the egg, peanut butter, and vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt.
4. Stir into the peanut butter mixture. Next, mix in the rolled oats, dough will be stiff.
5. Spread dough evenly into the prepared pan and bake approximately 20 to 25 minutes or until the edges are firm but not burnt.
6. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle the chocolate chips in a single layer over the top. Let stand for 5 minutes, then spread to cover. Allow to cool.
7. In a small bowl, beat together the powdered sugar, cream cheese, and peanut butter until smooth. Add milk in one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached. Spread over the bars when the chocolate has hardened. (I refrigerated my bars for 10 minutes to harden chocolate layer quicker.)
8. Store in refrigerator.

Notes

Recipe adapted from: Lovely Layers