Cherry No-Bake Cookies

Name: Cherry No-Bake Cookies
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: about 5-1/2 dozen.
Ingredients: 2 cups sugar; 1/2 cup butter, cubed; 6 tablespoons 2% milk; 3 tablespoons baking cocoa; 1 cup peanut butter; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1/4 teaspoon almond extract; 3 cups quick-cooking oats; 1 jar (10 ounces) maraschino cherries, well drained and finely chopped

I've always loved my no-bake cookie recipe, but I was never able to place at the fair with it. So I mixed in some maraschino cherries, added a few drops of almond extract, and voila! We won a blue ribbon at the county fair in 2010. —Denise Wheeler, Newaygo, Michigan

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, cubed
6 tablespoons 2% milk
3 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 jar (10 ounces) maraschino cherries, well drained and finely chopped

Directions

In a large saucepan, combine sugar, butter, milk and cocoa. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook and stir 3 minutes.
Remove from heat; stir in peanut butter and extracts until blended. Stir in oats and cherries. Drop mixture by tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate until set. Store in airtight containers.

Test Kitchen Tips

Cherries are jam-packed with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that are good for your health. To sweeten the deal, they’re low in calories, too.

Check out more winning recipes that took home the blue ribbon.

Nutrition Facts

1 cookie: 81 calories, 4g fat (1g saturated fat), 4mg cholesterol, 29mg sodium, 11g carbohydrate (8g sugars, 1g fiber), 2g protein.

Originally published as Cherry No-Bake Cookies in Ultimate Cookie Swap Bookazine 2017

Reviews

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Krista

Jun 24, 2019

Would it be possible to make with something else besides peanut butter?
Nolcha

Feb 5, 2019

Awesome!
Heather

Jan 17, 2019

These are delicious! The only other no bake cookies I've tried have always had chocolate and peanut butter, but nothing else to make them stand out. But these definitely stand out. :) They actually taste a lot like the cherry flavor Mountain candy bars!
menkens

Dec 23, 2018

UPDATE: I have made these several times with "sugar"
LirCat

Jun 12, 2018

I made some substitutions: I used Sunbutter, and omitted the almond extract to make the cookies nut-allergy safe. They are slightly gooey-er, probably the consistency of the Sunbutter, but they are very tasty! When I'm not "baking" for kids that aren't mine, I'm going to try it the original way and I'm really excited to try them that way, too!
Lindyb1

May 15, 2018

Could you use Nutella instead of peanut butter?
njgigi

Sep 8, 2017

Would this work with Splenda instead of sugar??
Penny

Sep 5, 2017

These look like they should be dipped in Chocolate.....yum....maybe only for Christmas....