These simple bar cookies are pure peanut butter and chocolate magic! Next time try these Vanilla Brownies!
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
It's a vintage recipe that's as simple and uncomplicated as childhood. Sweet, salty, crunchy, creamy goodness that's ready in minutes. Oh Henry bars travel well for bake sales, potlucks, and picnics, too!
📋 Ingredients
This recipe is made without corn syrup. I've seen many that call for it but this is the one I grew up with. I hope you love it as much as I do.
🔪 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.
- Preheat the oven. Grease pan. Mix oats, sugar and brown sugar in large bowl.
- Mix well.
- Pour in melted butter.
- Stir until the entire mixture is moistened with the butter.
- Press into pan firmly.
- Bake for 20 - 25 minutes. Cool completely.
- Melt chocolate and peanut butter together.
- Stir until completely smooth.
- Spread over cooled cookie base. Chill.
💭 Tips
Expert Tip: If there are allergies to peanuts use almond butter or sunflower seed butter in place of the peanut butter.
- Make sure you break up any lumps in the brown sugar.
- Old fashioned or quick oats are fine - just don't use instant oatmeal. It won't work!!
- Brown sugar- either golden or dark is fine. It's up to your tastes.
- Peanut butter - creamy or chunky - just remember if you use chunky it will give the chocolate topping a lot of texture.
- Oh Henry bars can be made ahead, covered, and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Or freeze them for up to a month. Thaw before serving.
- Double check your products for gluten but these are, as far as I know, gluten free.
- Try butterscotch or white chocolate chips in place of the chocolate.
🎥 Video
Just click on the image below if you'd like to see the full length video on YouTube. It opens in a new tab so you won't lose your place here.
🍽 Equipment
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When you show up at the next church potluck with these homemade bars stacked inside this retro carrier you're going to feel just like Mrs. Cleaver... or Aunt Bee. Hey, party like it's 1965, right?
What’s new? Check out my Restless Chipotle & Co. Store on Amazon where you'll find all kinds of nostalgic goodness! Thanks so much for being a part of Restless Chipotle!
I have my mother's old Better Homes and Garden's cookbook, circa 1939... or something like that. It's crazy old.
It's got a lot of vintage recipes, the stuff I grew up on, but there is something I like better. Stuffed in the pages is a treasure trove of papers that Mom cut, collected, and procured for seven decades.
There are recipes that were my grandmother's, aunts', and ancestors unknown. There are recipes from brands that no longer exist and brands that are still around.
Memories. Memories with all of them.
This recipe for Oh Henry Bars with oatmeal is in there, faded, stained, and kind of frazzled looking but its appearance attests to the popularity of the recipe.
I've seen it called O' Henry Bars and plain Henry Bars depending on which cookbook I'm looking at. They're all the same. Yummy peanut butter and chocolate over a crunchy oat base.
Vintage recipes have a way of bringing back our memories with each nibble. I love making the dishes that I loved as a child and sharing them, along with the memories that go with them, with my kids and grandkids.
Things that no one makes anymore like Butterscotch Buckaroons and Peanut Butter Molasses cookies are flavors that are going to be forgotten and gone forever soon - and that would be a shame, don't you think?
These Rice Krispie Treats are another favorite recipe!
Oh Henry Bars
Equipment Needed
Ingredients
- 4 cups oats, Old fashioned or quick
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup butter, melted
- 6 ounces chocolate chips
- 1 cup peanut butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Grease 13" x 9 ” pan.
- Mix oats, sugar and brown sugar in large bowl.
- Pour melted butter over and mix well.
- Press into pan firmly and bake for 20 - 25 minutes.
- Cool.
- Melt chocolate and peanut butter together stirring to blend.
- Spread over cooled cookie base.
- Chill 1 hour…IF you can wait that long.
- Cut into 2 dozen bars.
Notes
- Make sure you break up any lumps in the brown sugar.
- Old fashioned or quick oats are fine - just don't use instant oatmeal. It won't work!!
- Brown sugar- either golden or dark is fine. It's up to your tastes.
- Peanut butter - creamy or chunky - just remember if you use chunky it will give the chocolate topping a lot of texture.
- Oh Henry bars can be made ahead, covered, and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Or freeze them for up to a month. Thaw before serving.
- Double check your products for gluten but these are, as far as I know, gluten free.
- Try butterscotch or white chocolate chips in place of the chocolate.
Nutrition Facts
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We'll never share your email or send you spam. Pinkie swear.First Published: April 20, 2015. Last updated July 9, 2020 for better images, to add video, and better reader experience overall.
Leslie
These are amazing!! They were a huge hit, and so easy to make. I used parchment paper so I could remove them from the pan to cut them, the bottom stayed intact. I pressed the mixture down really well and didn't over bake them. I added chopped peanuts to the chocolate topping and I think it really added to the flavour. It added a nice salty taste and they looked more like an O'Henry bar. I will definitely be making these again. Bonus that they are gluten free.
Susan Armstrong
I had no issues with the recipe. I finished the top with chopped mini Reese’s peanut butter cups. Lined the pan with a sling of parchment paper.
Girlcarver
Base didn't hold together, so dumped it all in a bowl and added the chocolate/peanut butter and some coconut as it still wouldn't hold together, then put the concoction into paper cups and in the fridge to set. Won't try this ever again!
Cathy Bein
Sprayed pan well, then used parchment paper, just in case. Parchment had a couple holes in it, in those places, base was totally stuck to pan and took hours of soaking to loosen it, after I had lifted the rest out with the parchment paper. These are very good, but the base was dry and crumbly. Took care to not overbake it but it was still dry and crumbly. I have a small jar of the base that crumbled off to use for something else. Kind of peanut butter wouldn't matter because it's not in the base, but I did use regular, not natural.
Nathalie
Very good. I didn’t not have any issues. I had crunchy peanut butter and it was perfect.... taste even more peanuty.... 😜. I will try to freeze them now 🤞🏻. Thank you for the recipe simple, sort of healthy and delicious.👍🏼👍🏼
Michelle
Made these tonight with few changes,(mistakes:) ha!
Only had 3 cups Oats so I added 1 cup flour. Mistakes were I didn’t melt the butter and I put peanut butter in the crust. I used parchment paper in quarter sheet pan and baked for 28 minutes. I did do the topping as directed and then chilled for hour.
Family went crazy for them!!! Definitely will
Be making these again.
Thank you!
Jennifer
I made these today. Super easy to make and absolutely wonderful! I will definitely make these again. Thank you for the recipe!
Jon
These are amazing. I took the base out of the oven after 20 minutes. Definitely don’t over-bake, that may have been the problem others had. I also used a glass pan which tends to keep things from browning. These are better than candy bars and my family love them! Thanks for the recipe!
Shanleigh
These are awful. The bottom completely stuck to the pan and is as hard as a brick. The top is okay. I wouldn’t waste my time on these. I am an excellent cook and am very disappointed. I was expecting the bottom to be chewy goodness. Sorry.
Marye
I'm sorry you had trouble with it. I've not had that experience.
Donna
Wish I had read the bad reviews before making these. Didn’t have any trouble site them sticking but base was crumbly and dry. They were just not good at all.
Marye
I'm sorry this didn't work for you Donna. I've tried to replicate the problem several times but they always come out fine for me and for the recipe testers I've used. I don't know why it works for some people and not others.
Evelyn
Okay. I made these and followed the recipe to a "T". Yes, sprayed the pan with Pam. The bars are TOTALLY stuck to the bottom of the pan and Simply cannot be removed. What in the world?
Marye
I've never had that happen... You didn't happen to use homemade peanut butter did you? Sometimes that causes things to stick because there's less fat.