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Get a quick chocolate peanut butter fix with these delicious No Bake Cookies. From start to finish, they take less than 15 minutes to make.
No Bake Cookies are my go-to treat when I’m short on time, but still want a tasty homemade cookie to serve or to eat. My kids love them as an after-school snack with a tall glass of cold milk. My husband whips them up on a lazy weekend afternoon as we’re playing board games or watching movies. And no bake means you don’t need to heat up the house with your oven. Just a little stove top stirring and you’re done!
How to Make No Bake Cookies
Chances are, you have every ingredient you need to whip up a batch of our no bake cookies right now. Once you’ve gathered everything together, here are the steps:
- Measure out the quick oats, peanut butter, and vanilla into a mixing bowl. Don’t stir them together, simply set the bowl aside for now. Spread a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet, or on a clean countertop to prepare for the cookies.
- Next, add salted butter, sugar, milk, and cocoa to a heavy saucepan. I prefer using 2% or whole milk. I feel this helps the cookies set up better. Stir constantly over medium heat. When the mixture comes to a full boil, set a timer for one minute. After a minute, remove from heat. At this point you can either add the ingredients from the mixing bowl to the saucepan, or pour the hot mixture from the saucepan into the mixing bowl. You need to move quickly and stir everything together until it is well blended.
- I like to have an extra set of hands in the kitchen to help with this step – the kids or my husband are usually very willing. Using two spoons, or a cookie dough scoop, swiftly scoop the cookie dough onto the parchment paper to form the cookies.
- The cookies will set as they cool. Depending on the temperature and humidity in your kitchen, this can take anywhere between 10-20 minutes. Keeping everyone away from the cookies as they cool is the most difficult step in this recipe!
Tips for the Perfect No Bake Cookie
Set a timer! When boiling the butter, sugar, milk, and cocoa you want to make sure to boil it long enough that the no bake cookies will set up properly, but not too long or the cookies will turn out dry, hard, and crumbly.
Stick with real sugar. Try to avoid switching out ingredients in our no-bake cookies. Many recipes can swap out sugar for sugar substitutes, but these cookies need the real thing to cook up right.
Use quick-cooking oats. Quick oats work best in this no-bake cookie recipe. You can use old fashioned oats, but they don’t cook as quickly so the texture will be a little thicker and chewier. To avoid this, blend old fashioned oats for a few seconds in the blender. The smaller oats will cook and taste better for these cookies.
Ways to store. Keep these cookies in an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to a week. They freeze beautifully for up to three months.
Add-in options. If you do want to add a little something extra, you could toss in chopped nuts or coconut to give the no bake cookies an extra dimension.
Frequently Asked Questions
They are gluten-free as long as you use gluten-free oats. Not all oats are gluten-free so be sure to check the packaging before preparing these cookies for someone who can’t have gluten. Otherwise, all the other ingredients are gluten-free and you are good to go!
This happens when the sugar/butter mixture isn’t boiled long enough. It should be at a full boil for one minute. Make sure you allow the cookies to cool. They will continue to set up and harden as they cool.
You will have the opposite result, the cookies will be hard and crumbly. The boiling time needs to be exact for the best result.
More No Bake Recipes
When you’re looking to whip up something quick without the oven, yet still wow guests with gorgeous treats, we have more no bake recipes to choose from! Here are a few of our favorites:
No Bake Cookies
Video
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup cocoa
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup peanut butter creamy or crunchy
- 3 1/2 cups quick oats
Instructions
- Measure out oats, peanut butter, and vanilla into a mixing bowl. Don't mix.
- Mix butter, sugar, milk, and cocoa together in a heavy saucepan and bring to a full boil. Allow to boil for one full minute (set a timer). Remove from heat.
- Quickly stir in the rolled oats, peanut butter, and vanilla.
- Drop by spoonfuls or cookie scoop onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper or wax paper as quickly as possible. Cool 20-30 minutes.
Notes
Recipe tips:
- Measure ingredients exactly to get best results.
- Watch boiling time carefully to get best results.
- Use a quality unsweetened cocoa powder for a rich chocolate flavor.
- Any nut butter can be substituted for peanut butter.
- Optional additions: ¼ cup coconut, chocolate chips, chopped nuts.
- Store no bake cookies at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to two weeks in an airtight container.
- Place cookies in an airtight container or a Ziplock bag and freeze for up to two months.
Such an easy and tasty cookie and great for a gift of cookies
It’s easy and tastes great!
Wow this really was easy and ever so good thanks a million
Love these, so easy and quick. Grandkids like them when wr go camping.
These take me straight back to childhood!
Just take a bite of theses cookies and you will understand they are the BEST and the recipe is pretty easy to follow!
this is an easy cookie to make, and provides just enough of a post meal desert, this has been a family favorite for over 70 years. you can adjust the chocolate from normal to extra dark very easily, which changes the taste
These cookies have been around forever. I made these when I was a teen and I’m in my mid 60’s. We always called them Cow Patties. They are easy to make, a good way to sneak in some oatmeal to kids, and are delicious!
These cookies are awesome and couldn’t be easier. Who doesn’t love peanut butter and chocolate! Any cookie that is no bake is the cookie for me!
These cookies take me right back to my middle school cafeteria. I would buy one every single day but had no idea how they were made so could never recreate them. The cookie is taste perfection while also being totally easy to make. This is one of those desserts that my family enjoys too, but I mostly make them just for me. SO GOOD. 🤤
Love this cookie, no bake. My kids live helping too.
Quick and easy and they are good. Recipe is a keeper.
Always my favorite go to to make. Simple and easy, no baking.
My kind of cookie–NO Bake. They always come out better than my baked ones. Good plain cookie.
Love this recipe! I hate baking 😁
Haha – this is definitely the perfect recipe for you then. 😀
These are always amazing! Easy, and the texture is wonderful!
They are always a winner!
Family favorite! Always a great Sunday afternoon treat!
I tried these cookies a few weeks back. They are so easy and quick to make and they taste fantastic. I make little gift boxes every Christmas and we go out and give them to the homeless and people living in the tent cities. They need a little treat at Christmas. We don’t know their stories and why they are homeless or living in tents. It feels great to help. We don’t just help at Christmas we deliver some special weekly.
Wow, thank you for sharing this Patti. What a wonderful thing to do to! This is heartwarming and inspiring. Thank you for sharing!
A family favorite! Lots of memories of happy children.
These have been a favorite for many years to me but this recipe is far better than the one I have. My husband is like the person who would like to just live without sweets, yet he lived these I have caught him sneaking a few off and on.