Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars

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If you’re a certain age and grew up in Utah, you’re likely to have had the opportunity to indulge in one of the best school lunch treats of all time: the Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bar! There are a lot of peanut butter bar recipes out there, but I assure you, this one was received from a former legitimate lunch lady. If you love peanut butter as much as I do, you’re going to love it!

Here’s What You’ll Need:

For the Bars…

1 Cup of Butter (Softened)

1 Cup of Brown Sugar

1 Cup of Granulated Sugar

2 Cups of Smooth Peanut Butter

2 Eggs

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla

2 Cups of Rolled Oats

2 Cups of All Purpose Flour

1 Teaspoon of Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon of Salt


For the Frosting…

1 Cup of Unsalted Butter (Softened)

3 Cups of Powdered Sugar

½ Cup of Unsweetened or Dutch Cocoa Powder

2–3 Tablespoons of Heavy Cream

1 ½ Teaspoons of Vanilla

A Pinch of Salt

Here’s How To Make Them:

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. I used my KitchenAid, but you can also do this in a mixing bowl, no big deal.

Step 2: Add 1 Cup of PB, the eggs, and vanilla to the sugary mixture and mix until smooth. It’ll smell like peanut buttery heaven.


Step 3: Add your dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix until a dough comes together.

Step 4: Now, here’s where things get tricky. Traditionally, lunch ladies made these bars on cookie sheets, but I like mine a little thicker, so I use a rectangular baking dish. If you want yours to be the OG lunch lady way, go with the cookie sheet. If you want thicker bars, ride with me. Just make sure you spray or butter whatever you’re using so it doesn’t stick after it’s done backing.

Tamp your dough into your baking choice. It’s ok if it comes up on the side a little, because that holds in all the delicious peanut butter to come. Trust me. 

Step 5: Bake your PB bars. Go for 15 minutes if you’re using a cookie sheet and 17 minutes if you’re using a baking dish.

Step 6: As soon as you take your bars out of the oven, add the rest of the peanut butter on top of them in spoonfuls. Then, let them melt for about five minutes. Once the PB has melted, spread it all over the warm bars.

Step 7: Try to patiently wait while your bars fully cool. This will take a few hours.

Step 8: Once your peanut butter bars are finally cooled, make some chocolate buttercream. In a mixing bowl with a hand mixer or with the whisk attachment on your KitchenAid, cream the butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla together. Then add the cocoa powder and salt. If your buttercream seems a little thick, add some heavy cream one tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right consistency.

Step 9: Frost your peanut butter bars with the chocolate buttercream frosting. And enjoy!

These taste like heaven when served with coffee or a cold carton of elementary school milk.