Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bars

These peanut butter marshmallow bars are big-time joy bringers featuring mini marshmallows and crushed cookies tied together with a mouth-watering mixture of chocolate and peanut butter. 

These peanut butter bars with marshmallows are a little out there, but they are the best fully-loaded and texture filled dessert ever.

Table of Contents

1. Why you’ll love this recipe
2. Ingredients needed
3. How to make peanut butter marshmallow bars
4. Tips to make the best recipe
5. Flavor and recipe variations 
6. Storage instructions
7. More easy no bake desserts to try
8. Frequently asked questions
9. Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bars

Why you’ll love this recipe

• The easiest dessert ever. All you do is mix everything together and wait for it to set- that is it!
• Just 6 ingredients. And they are super easy to customize, too.
• Perfect texture. You get some crunch, some softness, and everything combined melts in your mouth!

What I love most about this recipe is that there is no need to melt the marshmallows. If you have ever melted marshmallows, you know it can be a rather messy process, with the marshmallows burning in an instant. 

Ingredients needed

This grab-and-go dessert calls for the following ingredients. 

• Chocolate chips. Use any chocolate chips you like. Milk and dark chocolate work really well for this recipe. 
• Peanut butter. Any peanut butter you have at home will work, be it crunchy or creamy. You can use unsweetened peanut butter or go for a salty one if you like combining sweet and salty flavors. 
• Maple syrup. Pure maple syrup sweetens the bars without adding any refined sugar to them. Any other sticky sweetener will work, including agave nectar and rice syrup. 
• Coconut oil. Use refined coconut oil if you don’t want any hints of coconut flavor or scent.  
• Cookies. Crushed graham crackers work perfectly for this recipe. If you have leftover homemade cookies, don’t hesitate to use them for these marshmallow bars. 
• Mini marshmallows. Use rainbow mini marshmallows to make the bars more fun. Thanks to their small size, mini marshmallows are also easier to mix with the remaining bar ingredients. 

Find the printable recipe with measurements below.

How to make peanut butter marshmallow bars

These bars come together with minimal effort and time. Here’s how you make them. 

Step 1 – Crush the cookies and mix them with mini marshmallows. Crush the cookies into pieces nearly as big as the mini marshmallows. Don’t reduce them to crumbs. Add the crushed cookies to a mixing bowl along with the marshmallows and mix. 

Step 2 – Melt the chocolate chips and peanut butter. Add the chocolate chips, peanut butter, maple syrup, and coconut oil to a microwave-safe bowl and heat until fully melted. Pour this mixture over the crushed cookies and marshmallows and mix well. 

Step 3 – Press firmly into a pan and refrigerate, Transfer the marshmallow mixture to a baking pan lined with parchment paper and press firmly in place. Refrigerate until firm and slice into squares or bars. 

Tips to make the best recipe

• No worries if you don’t have mini marshmallows. Regular-size marshmallows will work too. Lightly oil a pair of scissors and cut the marshmallows into smaller pieces. 
• You need to press the bar mixture really firmly to ensure that the bars stick and set properly. Use the back of a clean glass to do this. 
• Add a dash of vanilla extract to the chocolate mixture for a richer flavor and a delicious vanilla fragrance. 

Flavor and recipe variations 

As they are pretty fully loaded as is, the flavor and texture of these bars don’t need any changes. But if you want to improvise, here are a few ideas. 

• Use butterscotch chips. If you like butterscotch’s buttery and rich molasses flavor, swap the chocolate chips in this recipe with butterscotch chips. 
• Use crushed pretzels. Replace the cookies with crushed pretzels for the ultimate sweet and salty combination. 
• Mix in rice cereal. For more crunch, mix some rice cereal into the bar mixture. The puffed rice will also make the bars lighter. 
• Make them vegan and/or gluten-free. Use dairy-free chocolate chips and use any GF cookie of choice.

Storage instructions

To store. Store the bars in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Leaving these bars at room temperature will cause them to soften and possibly fall apart. 

To freeze. These bars can be frozen for up to 3 months. To prevent the bars from sticking to each other, wrap each bar with parchment paper before putting it in an airtight container or bag. 

More easy no bake desserts to try

• Chocolate coconut bars
• Chocolate coconut balls
• Crunch bars
• Kit kat bars

Frequently asked questions