5-Ingredient Peanut Butter Apple Bars
By Sammi Brondo — September 18, 2026
These easy 5-Ingredient Peanut Butter Apple Bars are soft, chewy, naturally sweet, and made with simple pantry staples. Packed with cozy apple flavor and wholesome oats, they’re a great toddler and kid-friendly breakfast, snack, or dessert for busy days.
The top recipe on my blog is, easily, my Peanut Butter Banana Bars.
And a close second? These Peanut Butter Pumpkin Bars.
So naturally, we were overdue for an apple version. And honestly, I can’t believe it took me this long to make these.
Apples don’t last long in my house.
Not only do my kids go through about 5 a day, but I also love baking with them. There’s so much you can do!
I find that apples have just the right amount of sweetness in baking. They get perfectly soft while adding a delicious sweet bite.
And while they’re delicious just eaten as is, there’s just something so good about a baked good that’s filled with little bites of apple (and chocolate!).
We’re planning to go apple picking this weekend and I’m already so excited to whip up another batch of these Peanut Butter Apple Bars.
They make an amazing make ahead snack, dessert, or even breakfast. Because I know I say it a lot, but the best way to satisfy cravings is to eat the food you’re craving. And when you’re craving something sweet, these are pretty great.
A fun thing about intuitive eating is that it isn’t black or white. You don’t always need to satisfy your cravings with a “healthier” version of a dessert. And you don’t always need to eat the most decadent version of a dessert either.
Intuitive eating considers how you want to feel after eating — a concept called body and food congruence (we talk about this a lot in my Food Freedom for the Whole Family course!).
When you want to feel full, satisfied, energized, and nourished, a sweet, more nutrient-dense snack or dessert like this is the perfect option.
Why You’ll Love These 5-Ingredient Peanut Butter Apple Bars
These bars are made with just 5 simple main ingredients: applesauce, oats, peanut butter, apples, and chocolate chips.
They couldn’t be easier to make. You’ll add everything to a bowl, mix, and bake. That’s truly it.
These bars are sweet, without being overly sweet. And they’re full of nutritious ingredients, like apples, applesauce, oats, and peanut butter.
The result is a fall dessert that’s nourishing, sweet, satisfying, and SO good.
If you’re looking for an easy, make ahead recipe for the fall – this is it.
How To Make 5-Ingredient Peanut Butter Apple Bars
Prepare ingredients
Prepare your ingredients to make these 5-Ingredient Peanut Butter Apple Bars. You’ll need unsweetened apple sauce, peanut butter, rolled cooking oats, cinnamon, red apples, chocolate chips, baking powder and salt.
Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
Mix wet ingredients
In a large bowl, add the applesauce and peanut butter. Mix until smooth.
Add in dry ingredients
Add in the oats, diced apple, chocolate chips, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt (reserve some of the apple and chocolate chips for the top of the loaf).
Mix together
Mix until well combined.
Pour into loaf pan
Pour the mixture into the lined loaf pan. Top with the remaining chocolate chips and diced apple.
Bake
Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool and cut
Let the 5-Ingredient Peanut Butter Apple Bars cool completely. Once cool, cut into 8 squares.
Serve Peanut Butter Apple Bars
Serve or eat these 5-Ingredient Peanut Butter Apple Bars for a delicious fall breakfast, a snack or tasty dessert.
If You Love These 5-Ingredient Peanut Butter Apple Bars, Try These
- 4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Banana Bars
- Peanut Butter Pumpkin Bars
- Chocolate Chip Apple Blondies
- Apple Cinnamon Skillet Cookie
- Cinnamon Sugar Apple Beignets
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Applesauce: Use a plain, unsweetened applesauce.
- Peanut butter: I recommend using a sweetened peanut butter in this recipe. Because the applesauce is unsweetened and doesn’t add sweetness like ripe bananas typically do in my other bars, much of the sweetness will come from the peanut butter. If opting to use an unsweetened peanut butter, use 1/4 cup less applesauce and add 1/4 cup maple syrup instead.
- Oats: This recipe uses rolled or instant oats.
- Cinnamon: Although it’s not technically counted in the ingredient list (it’s just a spice!), a little cinnamon pairs so well with the apple to really elevate the flavor of these bars.
- Apple: Keep the skin on the apples and dice them very finely. I recommend using any red apple varieties, like Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, or Gala.
- Chocolate chips: Semi-sweet chocolate chips are best here, but you can also use milk or dark chocolate chips.
- Baking powder: Also not technically counted in the ingredient list (just a rising agent!), baking powder helps these bars to rise.
5-Ingredient Peanut Butter Apple Bars Tips & Variations
- Slicing the bars: Make sure to let the bars cool completely before cutting them, as they’ll firm up a little more as they cool.
- Variations: Try folding chopped walnuts into the batter to make these walnut apple bars.
- Serving suggestions: Eat these bars plain, with a little peanut butter on top, or as part of a Greek yogurt bowl. They’re delicious any way!
- Storage: Store these bars in the airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Frequently Asked Questions
Equipment
- 1 Loaf Pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup sweetened peanut butter
- 1 1/4 cup rolled or quick cooking oats
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 red apple diced very finely
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, add the applesauce and peanut butter. Mix until smooth.
- Add in the oats, diced apple, chocolate chips, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt (reserve some of the apple and chocolate chips for the top of the loaf). Mix until well combined.
- Pour the mixture into the lined loaf pan. Top with the remaining chocolate chips and diced apple.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool completely. Once cool, cut into 8 squares.
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