No Bake Cookies:
Chocolate no bake cookies are simple and quick. They require minimal ingredients, and are something the whole family loves.
This no bake cookie recipe is great for when you are craving a sweet treat but either don’t have time or don’t want to heat up the oven. There’s just the right balance of chewiness, chocolate, and peanut butter.
From ingredients that are already found in your pantry, you can whip up a soft chocolatey cookies in a matter of minutes. Simple, quick, easy the trifecta of a perfect treat recipe. The only hard part about this recipe is waiting for them to set. Of course, eating it right off the spoon works too, I won’t tell anyone.
What is the best peanut butter for no bake cookies?
The question is really which do you prefer, crunchy or creamy peanut butter? Ultimately, it all boils down to taste, and if you want chunks of peanuts in your cookie. In this no bake cookie recipe I’ve used chunky. It adds a nice crunchy texture to the cookie, almost like a candy bar.
Just keep in mind you DO NOT want to use a natural peanut butter. You need the higher oil content and sugar that are found in the Jif variety type of peanut butter.
For the peanut butter fangirls or boys out there, you can make a peanut butter no bake cookies without chocolate. But I do have to say, the combo of chocolate and peanut butter in this recipe has a flavor similar to a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, and who doesn’t love that?
What kind of oats should I use for no bake cookies?
This does matter. Quick oats are the way to go. Here’s why:
- Quick oats will help your cookies set up quicker without drying out like old fashioned oats.
- Quick oats are smaller and provide a better texture
- And, quick oats are generally considered to have less of a flavor than old fashioned oats, which might seem counterintuitive for a no bake oatmeal cookies but it actually helps balance out the flavors so that the oats don’t overpower the cookie.
Baking tips for classic no bake cookies
My tips for cooking no bake cookies are:
- Wait to start the timer on boil of the butter and sugar mixture until it’s at a rolling boil, not when you first see bubbles break the surface.
- Using an ice cream scoop helps save on dishes and creates a nice round cookie
- When measuring out the peanut butter wrap the measuring cup in plastic wrap, then peel it off and let the peanut butter fall into the pot, eazy peazy, no digging peanut butter out of the cup to clean it.
- If you want your chocolate no bake cookies to set faster, pop them into the freezer for about 30 min.
- This next tip might be a little bit of a wives tale but fun to consider nonetheless. Don’t make these cookies while it’s raining. No bake cookies can be temperamental with temperature changes.
- If you don’t have quick cook oats, also called rolled oats, don’t worry, just pulse your old fashion oats in the blender for a few seconds.
Other No Bake Desserts:
- No Bake Butterscotch Pie
- No Bake Oreo Cheesecake Ice Box Cake
- Lighter No-Bake Peanut Butter Banana Pie
No Bake Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3 cups quick cooking oats
- 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Heat cocoa, sugar, milk and butter over medium heat.
- Bring to a boil very slowly, stirring regularly. When they reach the boiling point boil them for no longer than 90-120 seconds.
- Stir together oats, peanut butter and vanilla with a big wooden spoon
- Pour the hot mix over the oatmeal mix and drop by the spoonful onto wax paper.
- Let set up and enjoy.
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
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