Give the oven a break! Whip up a batch of these 8 ingredient chocolate peanut butter no bake cookies. This family favorite recipe is super simple.
Today I’m bringing an older family recipe back into the spotlight. I make these peanut butter chocolate no-bake cookies more than any other cookie recipe on my website.
Why This is My Repeat Recipe
- No mixer and no oven
- Little clean-up
- Only 8 basic ingredients—nothing weird
- Chocolate + peanut butter
- Shockingly easy, joining 30+ others in my collection of Quick Dessert Recipes
- Dairy free + egg free if needed
I married into a food-loving family. My husband grew up baking zucchini bread, soft pretzels, and these no-bake cookies with his siblings. He said he made these no-bakes so many times growing up that he could mix them together in his sleep. Partly because they’re so easy and partly because everyone craves chocolate and peanut butter at bedtime, right?!
Simply put, these are awesome cookies. They’re as classic as a good batch of chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, or rice krispie treats. And after one bite, you’ll understand exactly what the fuss is about. Let’s do it!
There are a billion and a half recipes for no-bakes on the internet and most of them call for the same ingredients as our family recipe. What makes each recipe a little different, though, is the ratio of ingredients. More butter, less sugar, more cocoa, less peanut butter… you get the idea. Our recipe, in my eyes and on my tastebuds, perfects that ratio. There’s just enough sugar, just enough cocoa, and definitely enough peanut butter.
Ingredients in No Bake Cookies
- Butter: Like all the best desserts, butter and sugar make the base of this recipe.
- Sugar: I swear by 1 and 1/2 cups of regular granulated sugar here. Over the years, I’ve tested several different amounts and even tried brown sugar once. For success, stick with the recipe below.
- Milk: Milk also creates the base of these cookies.
- Cocoa Powder: Cocoa powder not only flavors the cookies, it acts as a thickener and binder. Remember this post on dutch-process vs. natural cocoa powder? Fun fact: Since we’re not using a chemical leavener, you can use either in this recipe.
- Peanut Butter: For best taste and texture in baking recipes, I usually push you to use standard commercially processed peanut butter. While I typically use Jif creamy here, you can substitute your favorite natural peanut butter. Same option goes for these flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies, too. Give it a good stir before measuring and using. Nut-free? Scroll below.
- Vanilla Extract & Salt: A little salt and a splash of vanilla extract adds flavor. Bonus: You can use homemade vanilla extract if you have it!
- Oats: I used to use quick oats in this easy cookie recipe, but lately I swear by using whole rolled oats. The difference between quick oats and whole oats is their size and that can definitely affect the success of a recipe. Surprisingly, these work with either type. (Just another reason to love this recipe!) You need 3 cups of oats.
If using certified gluten free oats, these cookies are gluten free. For my gluten free readers, you’ll also appreciate this recipe for no-bake chocolate fudge oat bars. You can also browse all my favorite gluten free dessert recipes here. After you make these cookies, of course.
Overview: How to Make Easy No-Bake Cookies
Have I mentioned yet how easy these cookies are? Besides using super basic ingredients, the method couldn’t be simpler. Whisk the butter, sugar, milk, and cocoa powder together in a medium (3 quart) pot until the butter melts. Once boiling in the center, start a timer. Let it simmer for 1 minute. After that, immediately remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla extract. Once combined, stir in the oats.
Grab your timer again and let the mixture cool for 4-5 minutes. This gives the oats some time to absorb the liquid, which makes scooping and shaping much easier. If you used a super thin natural-style peanut butter, let it sit for about 10 minutes.
Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Drop 1 Tablespoon sized mounds about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Feel free to slightly flatten down the cookies with the back of a spoon. Let the cookies set in the refrigerator for about 30-60 minutes. That’s it, we’re done.
Best Part of All
If you haven’t realized by now, there’s no turning on the oven for no-bake cookies. Instead, the cookies firm up in the refrigerator. I love that! They’re perfect if you’re having a marathon baking day and other items need the oven.
Other Flavor Variations
- Nut-Free No Bakes: Swap peanut butter for sunflower seed butter or Biscoff spread.
- Almond No Bakes: Swap peanut butter for almond butter.
- Nutella No Bakes: I have that recipe in Sally’s Cookie Addiction cookbook.
- Sprinkles: Add sprinkles to the tops of each wet cookie before refrigerating.
Success Tips for No Bake Cookies
- Have your ingredients ready: Once the chocolate mixture comes off the stove, the remaining ingredients must be stirred in right away. It’s helpful to have all your ingredients on stand-by.
- Follow the recipe: Sounds like a silly success tip, but it’s worth mentioning. The cookies work because we’re using a particular wet to dry ingredient ratio.
- Avoid crumbly cookies: Don’t overcook the chocolate mixture. Doing so will over-thicken it, which inevitably leads to crumbly no-bake cookies.
- Use a cookie scoop or spoon: 1 Tablespoon of dough will give us perfectly portioned cookies. Use a cookie scoop, a spoon, or your Tablespoon measuring spoon.
Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 24 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: No-Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Give the oven a break! Whip up a batch of these 8 ingredient no bake cookies. Have your ingredients ready and review the recipe notes before beginning.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter*
- 1 and 1/2 cups (300g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (120ml) milk*
- 1/4 cup (21g) natural unsweetened or dutch-process cocoa powder
- 2/3 cup (170g) creamy peanut butter*
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) pure vanilla extract (yes, a full Tablespoon!)
- 3 cups (255g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats or quick oats*
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Combine the butter, sugar, milk, and cocoa powder together in a medium saucepan (about 3 quart) over medium heat. Whisk constantly until the butter melts. Whisking occasionally, bring to a boil. Once boiling, stop whisking and allow to boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat, then immediately stir in the peanut butter and vanilla extract until completely combined. Stir in the oats and salt.
- Allow mixture to sit for 5 minutes. This allows the oats to soak up some moisture.
- During the 5 minutes, line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. And make sure there is enough room in your refrigerator for the baking sheets.
- Using a 1-Tablespoon cookie scoop (or simply a spoon), drop a Tablespoon of dough onto the lined baking sheets. If desired, slightly flatten down with the back of a spoon. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
- Refrigerate the cookies for 30-60 minutes so they set. Remove from the refrigerator and enjoy!
- Cover and store leftover cookies in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Once completely set, the no-bake cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Saucepan | Whisk | Rubber Spatula | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper
- Butter: Coconut oil works instead of butter because like butter, it solidifies when cold.
- Peanut Butter: (updated note) This recipe works best if using a non-natural style peanut butter like Jif or Skippy. However, you can substitute your favorite natural peanut butter if desired. Give it a good stir before using and in step 3, let the oat mixture sit for about 10 minutes to thicken properly. Nut-free? Substitute sunflower seed butter or Biscoff spread.
- Milk: Use your favorite milk, dairy or nondairy.
- Oats: I used to use quick oats in this easy cookie recipe, but lately I swear by using whole rolled oats. Surprisingly, these cookies work with either type of oat! Do not use steel cut oats.
I was rushing through this recipe and accidentally added the peanut butter to the milk and sugar and cocoa etc mixture. Tried to make them anyway, any idea if they’ll still set? Too sticky so far but only an hour in.
This was fast and easy! I’ve never made no bake cookies but I’ve had my share of them.
Love the consistency and the amount of vanilla is fantastic!
Loved the recipe… worked great
Sally I love everything I’ve made on here but this was a fail for me. I used the old fashioned oats that you said work just as well as the quick oats. They did not. I’m not sure if it was the oat or if it’s because I put them in the fridge to set (after the recommended 5 min leave in pan to soften time) but the oats were like I poured them out of the container and threw yummy chocolate on them. They were so chewy and NOT in a pleasant way. Perhaps if I had let them set on the table like I did in a former recipe the heat and chocolate would have softened the oats? Maybe a set on a table time 20 or 30 mins then fridge time of 30 to set the chocolate? I’m not sure. I would definitely recommend this recipe gets looked at again. I followed it EXACTLY. On the plus side the chocolate peanutbutter mixture set beautifully and tasted amazing. Just even my kids passed due to the oats. Like they were eating the chocolate part off and spitting the oats on their plate. Lol. Despite this you are amazing and I’ve learned so much from you.
Hi Cerwyn, thank you so much for the feedback. I am just seeing your comment now and it’s helpful as I look at this recipe again. I always make it as written, and haven’t experienced an unpleasant texture as you describe. It’s an oat-heavy cookie, for sure, but the texture shouldn’t be off-putting. Again, thank you for the feedback. It is helpful.
tastes great… almost like a PB cup!! Do you have nutrition info for these cookies? I looked & didn’t see it
Hi Ann, we’re so glad you enjoyed them! We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
The flavor was really good, but unfortunately the cookies stayed really soft even after being refrigerated overnight, so I couldn’t get them off the baking sheet properly, and they were unfortunatley too soft and shapeless to really serve.
I’ve made no bake cookies a million times. Try this next time: Start your 60 second timer when the full surface of your mixture is at a rolling boil. They will definitely set up.
I have to boil for 6 minutes because of the humidity where I’m at.
I would love to try your recipe as these are some of my favorite cookies to make, because they are so easy. If I am making a triple batch would I let the chocolate boil for three min or stick with the one min? Thank you
Boiling time should be about the same. Enjoy!
Best recipe ever
Hands down the best no bake cookie recipe I’ve ever had. Thank you!
Sally I shared your recipe and a question was asked if coconut or date sugar could replace the white sugar in this recipe? She is unable to use white sugar. This is one of my favorite childhood cookie recipe and I love yours.
Hi Deb, I’m really unsure. I’m unsure if either of those sugars will cook down properly and/or if the baker will be left with granules in the mixture. Let me know if either is tried though!
Absolutely delicious, and so quick!
Hi Sally,
Can I use heavy cream insted of milk?
Hi Kerri, heavy cream could make the mixture a bit too thick. We recommend sticking with milk for best results.
Sally, I used Land O Lakes margarine and the cookies tasted and set up just like butter. I have a family gathering next week and this recipe is perfect for non-chocolate lovers. I also added about 1/4 cup toasted coconut. I would recommend this recipe.
hi sally, i wanted to know if subbing out homemade toasted pecan butter & honey would work? my husband doesn’t do well with peanut butter or a lot of sugar. if so, how much should i decrease the honey? thank you 😉
Hi Sonny, you can certainly try with honey instead of the sugar, but the cookies may not set up properly without this ratio of ingredients. You can use toasted pecan butter in place of the peanut butter, but again, if it’s super oily, the cookies may not set properly and perhaps taste a bit dry. Let us know what you decide to try!
These turned out perfectly! I used almond milk and they still turned out perfect. I added salted carmel pieces and pecans, decadent! Thank you for this recipe!
Hello Sally/ Team,
Two questions:
Could I use dairy free margarine instead of butter in this recipe as I am strongly lactose intolerant?
In the event that dairy free margarine is not suitable and I need to use coconut oil [the same amount of coconut oil is used to replace the butter—1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g], should the coconut oil be measured as a solid, or a liquid? I usually melt coconut oil to measure as a liquid, and just want to check if melting the coconut oil to measure will affect the consistency of the finished product?
Thank you so much for your excellent recipes.
Hi Angela, we don’t recommend margarine, but a few readers have reported success using plant-based butters instead. Coconut oil should also work, since it is a solid at room temperature. You can measure it as a liquid as you normally do (although either way will work here). Hope you enjoy the bars!
There are not hardening, is there anything I can do to save them
Hi Denise, Are you letting them set up in the refrigerator? They can take up to an hour in the refrigerator to fully set.