Our chocolate peanut butter no-bake cookies are easy to make without sacrificing the can’t-resist cookie taste. They’re perfect to make when it’s too hot to turn the oven on or when all your oven space is taken up by your Christmas cookie-baking storm. These cookies have a rich and nutty chocolate-peanut butter flavor and a hearty texture thanks to the heaps of oats. They’re so easy to customize with other add-ins or toppings, although we love these cookies just the way they are.
Ingredients for Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies
- Sugar: Sugar hardens the mixture slightly to help give the cookies their shape while providing sweetness.
- Butter: Butter adds richness to the cookies and prevents the sugar from completely solidifying.
- Milk: Milk adds moisture and flavor to the cookies.
- Baking cocoa: Baking cocoa is used to give these cookies their delicious chocolate taste.
- Creamy peanut butter: We tested this recipe using no-stir creamy peanut butter. If you’re using natural peanut butter, make sure to give it a good stir before using in this recipe.
- Old-fashioned oats: Old-fashioned oats soak up excess liquid and give these cookies their structure and a lovely, hearty texture.
Directions
Step 1: Cook the base
In a large saucepan, stir together the sugar, butter or margarine, milk, baking cocoa and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook and stir for three minutes.
Editor’s Tip: Try not to go too crazy with stirring so nothing splashes on yourself. Hot sugar can be very dangerous!
Step 2: Stir in the peanut butter, vanilla and oats
Remove the saucepan from the heat, and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until blended. Stir in the oats.
Step 3: Form the cookies and chill
Drop the mixture by the tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate the cookies until they’re set. Store in airtight containers.
Editor’s Tip: Chilling time will take about an hour or longer.
Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies Variations
- Add mix-ins: Once you’re ready to scoop the cookies, stir in mini M&Ms, toffee bits or mini marshmallows for added fun.
- Make them nut-free: Nut allergy? Swap the peanut butter for sunflower butter or Biscoff spread.
- Use a different nut butter: Creamy almond butter or Nutella make great replacements for the peanut butter.
- Add caramel and pecans: If you love turtle recipes, fold chopped pecans into the cookie dough right before scooping and top the cookies with salted caramel sauce after the cookies chill in the fridge.
- Top with decorations: Make these cookies a little more colorful and add on some fun sprinkles or one of our favorite edible cake decorations. Sprinkle them on after scooping the cookies and right before they chill in the fridge.
- Go gluten-free: Use certified gluten-free oats to make these chocolate peanut butter no-bake cookies celiac-friendly.
How to Store Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies
Place these cookies in an airtight container, and stack the cookies on top of each other in the container between pieces of wax or parchment paper. Store the cookies in the fridge for up to one week. This goes against the usual method on how to store cookies because these cookies need refrigeration to keep their shape. They can also last in the freezer for up to two months.
Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies Tips
Why won’t my no-bake cookies harden?
Your no-bake cookies may not be hardening if you don’t boil the ingredients enough. Be sure to bring the sugar, butter, milk, cocoa and salt mixture to a boil and then cook and stir for three minutes as instructed. If your cookies still turn out gooey, it’s possible they were not left in the refrigerator long enough to fully firm up. Next time, let your cookies harden in the fridge for at least one hour before serving.
Can you use instant oats instead of old-fashioned oats in cookies?
Yes, you can use instant oats instead of old-fashioned oats in this cookie recipe. However, these two different types of oats will produce a different cookie texture. Old-fashioned oats (AKA whole rolled oats) are flatter, larger and yield a hearty, chewy texture to your cookies. Instant oats (AKA quick-cooking oats) are smaller and cut into pieces, producing cookies that are softer. Anything thicker than old-fashioned oats or thinner than instant oats will not hold a nice texture in these no-bake peanut butter chocolate cookies.
