Perfect for those moments when you are desperately craving something sweet and chocolatey, but don’t have a lot of time (or patience) to make a full-blown batch of cookies. I must really live under a rock sometimes (I know, I said this when I made the coconut macaroons, but I swear it’s true!) because although I had heard of no-bake cookies from my time spent surfing food blogs, I had never had them before! Well, now I might be in trouble. These mounds of sugary, peanut buttery, chocolate goodness are incredibly addicting. They take only minutes to make and if you’re really desperate and don’t want to wait for them to set, you can eat the mixture straight from the bowl – no raw eggs to worry about! These mark my third installment of cookies that you all voted for me to make in the poll I held following the cookbook giveaway. Thanks to everyone for helping to broaden my cookie horizons!
As soon as I took my first bite of these I immediately thought that they tasted like the icing for the Texas Sheet Cake that I love so much. After thinking about it, the ingredients are very similar – butter, sugar and cocoa that are boiled together. The peanut butter and oats help to cut the sweetness and add great flavor and texture.
These really are as easy as they sound, and a great recipe to make with kids if you have any little hands eager to help in the kitchen. I’m sure they’ll love eating the “dough” straight from the bowl! The only suggestion I have is when you drop the dough onto the wax paper-lined sheets, they will pretty much set in whatever shape they are already in, with minimal spreading. After I realized this I used the back of the spoon to smooth them out and flatten them a bit to give them more of a “cookie” shape.
Cookies from the Top 10 I have made:
Almond Macarons filled with Nutella
Chocolate-Dipped Coconut Macaroons
Chocolate Chip Cookies (Thick & Chewy)
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Peanut Butter Cookies
Sugar Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Peanut Butter Blossoms
No-Bake Chocolate, Peanut Butter & Oatmeal Cookies
Yield: 2 to 3 dozen cookies
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cooling Time: 30 minutes
½ cup (1 stick) butter
2 cups granulated sugar
½ cup milk
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
½ cup peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups quick-cooking oats1. Add the first four ingredients (through the cocoa powder) to a 4-quart saucepan.
2. Bring to a rolling boil and let boil for 1 minute.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until smooth, then stir in the oats.
5. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto wax paper-lined baking sheets.
6. Let cool until set.
(Recipe adapted from Ezra Pound Cake)
See more: Chocolate, Cookies, Oats, Peanut Butter
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i love these cookies! for some reason i only ever make them at christmas but i love using them for gifts at work cause they’re so easy and quick and i don’t have to deal with the stove all day!
These are so wonderful – a huge childhood memory. One time, my brother and I made some and forgot to put the peanut butter in. Needless to say, they didn’t harden up, but that was totally fine! We just at it with a spoon!
These look amazing…and dangerous!
These would be good to make on those hot summer days when you don’t want to turn on the oven. The pictures alone are enough to make me want to go but some peanut butter.
I found these a few years ago on the Quaker Oats website… the kids Loved them!
Mmmmm…. when I was growing up we called these “monkey meat.” Don’t ask me why, I have no idea!
I made this exact recipe not too long ago, but just haven’t psted it yet. They are fabulous!
No bake cookies are the best! So simple and delicious! Yours look tasty.
I have to say that I have never done a no bake recipe. I always wondered if they tasted as good as a true baked recipes. But you have shown they absolutely look good. Next would be to try them out. I did try your peanut butter cookies today. I have to say that Jr. Chef almost didn’t allow the dough to make it to the sheet. It was that good. Thanks!
So simple! I’ll have to try this soon!
Hi Mara,
I have to be honest – I don’t think that these are as good as a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie (what is?), but they are very tasty and a great quick recipe! So glad to hear you enjoyed the peanut butter cookies today!
-Michelle
You know, these look great! I have never tried a no bake cookie recipe because for whatever reason they never appealed to me…until NOW…these look really great…I am definitely going to try these!
I love these-but I’ve never made them! Time to give it a try I say:)
I’m coming across s many great no-bake recipes. This one looks amazing and I will have to try it soon.
I love these… in my part of the world most people call them Preacher cookies. I’m not sure why, but that’s just what they’re always called. I think they’re delicious!
I too have never tasted a no-bake cookie! Your picture makes me want to try one soon!!
I make something similar which is delicious but instead of peanut butter has coconut!
Michelle,
HOw many cookies does this recipe make? Just curious! I may make these for a 4th of July party this weekend. They look amazing!
Hi Eileen,
My apologies, I just realized this morning I forgot to put the yield in here and went to edit it and then got sidetracked! Depending on size you will get anywhere from 2-3 dozen. I hope you enjoy them!
-Michelle
These seem so perfect for the hot days of summer.
Those looks SO good!
Pam
http://www.alovefornewrecipes.blogspot.com
My grandaughter taught me to take the mixture off when it JUST came to a full boil (and not boil them for 1 minute). I must say she’s right. They were much creamier and not dry like they can be. So just in case you have that problem.. this will fix it. I do think these are marvelous gems!
These are my favorite! First time I had them was in the 70′s at my Grandmother’s. She called them “mud cookies” but when we started making them the name “no-bakes” seemed to win out.
When I make them now I just pour them into a lined pan and when set cut them in rectangular pieces.
OMG I remember these from my childhood! I loved them, thanks for the reminder I must make them!
My 4 kids and I made these yesterday. We’re in the midst of “Operation-Eat-Up-All-the-Food-in-the-Pantry” so we substituted almond butter and old fashion oats. They were great! I must admit we dug into them before they were fully set, but they were loved by all. They were gone within 24 hours. Thanks for sharing!
Mom use to make these no bake cookies for us when we were kids. Some recipes really stand the test of time. They are perfect for the summer months when it seems too hot to turn on the oven too!
Hi Heidi,
So glad you and your family enjoyed these! They’re definitely a great recipe to make with the kids. Thanks for coming back and letting me know what you thought!!
I love that these cookies have conjured up so many old memories of having these as children or making them with parents or grandparents. I think it’s great when recipes can trigger all sorts of good memories
I made these tonight, and they were a hit! So easy and quick to make!
These look absolutely delicious – they’re so simple and I can eat them! Yum!
it’s a great gift idea…
Hey Michelle I want to make these but I don’t have wax paper. Is there a substitute?
Hi Erin,
You can use anything that they would be easy to remove them from – parchment paper or a silpat baking mat would work too. Hope that helps!!
Happy Baking
Erin – Definitely try it with a nonstick pan and/or Pam. My only thought is that the cookies may slide a bit, but they should still taste great! If you go that route, please let me know how it worked out!
I love no bakes !!!!!
Try adding shredded coconut too.Delish!!!
speaking of these cookies triggering memories: i’m a teenager who has been going to the same camp for 6 years now. we always have no-bakes, and when i made these today it totally brought be back to camp memories. thanks for the recipe!
I did a search for “No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies” today, and found your site, this is exactly the recipe I was looking for!!! (lost the cookbooks a few years ago, am trying to get back some of my favorites I remember)..
Thank you, and oh, the pictures are tooooooooo much~ *lol*
Have any recipes for German Pancakes?
Loved finding this, I will refer my daughters here too!
LOVE this recipe! I made these cookies this morning and was a bit short on oatmeal so I added about a half cup of Rice Krispies. Very tasty.
mmm…I’ve made something similar to these before and they taste amazing! Best part is no bake time…but there still is the cooling factor. Anything with peanut butter isn’t likely to go wrong!
I love this site, made these cookies and the snickerdoodles for the coast guard mechanics that I work with so that I didn’t eat them all myself haha- they loved them! Thanks again for the great site, the guys apreciate it too
These no bake cookies were great!!!!!!! i am glad i looked these up. I am going to make them for my eighth grade class!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i love this cookie and have been making it since i was a kid. now when i’m Craving that “sweet and salty” thing. i lay those square pretzles on the wax paper, then plop the mix on top. and they kind of set faster too!
I really love you right now! =) Thanks for sharing the recipe~ This would be useful for that time of the month when you want something fresh and sweet and don’t have the patience to do the hard work! ^_^
Hi!
Grate cookies ! I’ll definitely make them ^^
Just a quick question : How long does it take for them to harden and can I put them in the fridge after making them so that I can speed up the process or will hat ruin them? ^^
Michelle-
I am totally craving something like this right now, but alas…..all I have are regular oats. Do you think if I gave them a quick whiz in the food processor that I could use those instead of the instant kind?
Hi Hiratana,
Mine took about an hour to set completely, but it will vary depending on the temperature and humidity in your house. You can definitely pop them in the fridge to speed up the process; no harm!
Enjoy the cookies!
Hi Cyndi,
I think running some regular oats through the food processor would be just fine. I think the recipe calls for quick oats since the cookies are not baked and the traditional oats are a bit larger than quick, which would make the texture a little more difficult to chew easily. Enjoy the cookies!
I love no-bake cookies!! my dad loves to make them… its a family tradition!!! but how long do they sit in the fridge?
Can you use regular oats instead of quick oats in this recipe?
oops! just saw the same question. sorry
I used your recipe tonight to make cookies. I don’t know if any of your readers are diabetic, or sensitive to sugar, but there is a product that tastes like sugar called Whey Low. I use it, its low carb, calorie and low on the glycemic index. Thanks for your recipe. My cookies turned out wonderful and I can enjoy an oldie but goodie without getting sick. Thanks again!
I am 52 years-old and will never forget making these with my mom when I was a little kid! They are the first thing I ever cooked by myself! I still love them!
what about using splenda
Hi Paige,
They just need to be in the fridge until they firm up, probably about a 1/2 hour. Just check them to make sure they’re set.
Enjoy!
Hi Micheal,
I have never used Splenda to bake with, so I can’t endorse or reject it, but if you try it in this recipe please stop back and let us know how it turns out!
This recipe is close to one I make. Mine has coconut and no peanut butter. We call them “Specials” and we grew up making them. Definitely a family favorite.
hi these were favorite around our house but we didnt put peanut butter in them when i was a kid
A tasty alternative is to forgo the cocoa and use White Chocolate Wonderland peanut butter (it’s peanut butter with white chocolate added to it), or if Dark chocolate is your thing then they have Dark Chocolate Dreams, too.
Yum! I made this recipe for the 2nd time in a week today. Both times I used soy butter instead of peanut butter and today I used turbinado sugar instead of white granulated sugar b/c I was out. I like to put a tray in the freezer to set up superfast so we can eat them faster!
I just made these today with soy butter because of a child with a peanut allergy. They were awesome! I don’t know that anyone would be able to tell the difference. They were so good!
Hi, I made these yesterday and they were delicious, but way too chewy!
I think I used regular oats. They kind of taste heavy, the mixture is so good though .but I also found it to be a tad too sweet.
Guess I’d have to use different oats next time. Will quaker oats do?
thank you for the recipe, it’s yummy!
Also, would it be possible to substitue the oats for corn flakes or frosted flakes?
Or maybe some sort of cereal?
xo – I use Quaker Oats for these, but yes using the traditional oats instead of the quick oats will definitely alter the texture. I also think you could probably substitute a cereal like corn flakes or rice krispy treats for the oats. Would love to hear about your version!
Thank you for posting this! I was looking for a no eggless quick dessert to make (for fun and practice) I will be adding to my site soon.
My cookies are sitting on the counter cooling.
I am sitting at the computer doing the dishes! You see, my waxed paper was small, and the left-overs have to go somewhere…
Oh, my word! I used crunchy peanut butter, so there are teeny bits of peanut in each bite. I am diabetic, and THESE are what God made Insulin for! (I only used 1.5 C. sugar, but I will have to try this with Splenda.)
Thank you for sharing this recipe! You are my new best friend! LOL
VERY glad you also put a Photo of the cookies as well!
My Mom had this recipe from someone she worked with and me and her during the Holidays made them, but I havent for years.
There was a little Bakery across the street where I worked a long time ago, and they had in a case “Missouri Mud Cookies”!
Thats when I learned to actual name for them . . . and thats what they look like
I just shared the Recipe with 2 Ladies at a Bakery in “Old Town” Monrovia Ca. who will feature them soon!
Can’t wait!
I just made these tonight, so delicious~
My family has made this cookie recipe for years and it’s a real favorite of mine! I’m not the best at baking so this is a perfect recipe for me. Great photos!
I just made these with my 2 1/2 year old and he loved every bit of it (especially liking the leftovers out of the pan!). He is currently sitting at the counter waiting patiently for them to set. =) Thanks for the recipe!!! Delicious!
My grandma and I used to make these together. For the sake of time, she would spread them in a pan (9×9, I think), and cut them after they set. That is another good way to make them without having to mess around with the shape.
Thanks, these r the best no bakes i have made!!
can i use 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar on this recipe?
Hi Weng, I haven’t tried 1/2 white and 1/2 brown, but I don’t see why not. Would love to hear about your results!
These have been my favorite cookie since my mom made them for me when I was in Brownies(MANY years ago)! I had them for every special occasion:)
Made these yesterday. I don’t think I can ever make them again because I ate way too many!
Joy, joy! I just saw your link from the Skip to my Lou blog. These cookies have been a family favorite recipe for a few generations now. As I make them ‘down here in the South’, not too many people have ever seen or tasted them (but they love them once they try them). I had a big smile as I read that you’re from PA. Explains everything – mom’s family is from Everson (teeny, tiny town). Thanks for posting and sharing this great cookie!
My mom made these when I was growing up… and I LOVED them. I have a similar recipe, and I make it with carob powder, instead of cocoa powder, because I can’t eat chocolate. (I will pause a moment while you feel my pain.) You can’t taste the difference at all when carob is used in this recipe. I have fed it to people who swear to me that they hate carob, and they never noticed, until I gloatingly told them about it later. It makes me soooo happy to be able to have the chocolate taste without the chocolate!
Well, I guess I’m a little late to the party, but these cookies look amazing! Have you heard of anyone using soy or almond milk instead of dairy milk? I know someone who has developed an intolerance for milk, but does OK with butter.
They look really good:)
I love these cookies. I make them often. My nieces ask for them at every get together, if I don’t make them, I hear about it.
I add 1/2 cup of crushed peanuts to mine and they are great.
Give me any recipes that you can make or bake in slow cooker, like pies or cakes. My oven is broke, no money to fix it, so everything we eat, is either slow cooked, boiled or grilled in a skillet or fried. Boy these cookies look so good.
I made these for my kids all growing up, but always included coconut. Makes a fun variation. I’m making some tonight as its too hot to bake and I plan to add some walnuts this time.
It’s ridiculously hot here right now, so I made these tonight. They were great…in fact a little too good – I made huge ones and ate way more than one…ekk! I added marshmellows in to half of the batch and that was tasty too. Thanks for sharing.
Help!! I’m doing something wrong
This weekend marked the third time I’ve made this cookies, and I’ve only managed to get them right ONCE (the first time). This time they wouldn’t harden. Even after 45 minutes on the wax paper, they were still very gooey (we ended up eating a couple of them off the paper, with forks, but they just weren’t the same). What am I doing wrong?? My boyfriend thinks there may have been a bit too much peanut butter. Would that cause this?
Thanks!
The peanut butter really wouldn’t make them not set. I’ve had that problem myself a few times. Make sure they boil. Some one had a good idea, when they get to a rolling boil shut them off instead of waiting the minute. Oh yeah make sure you use quick oats.
I’ve made a few errors making these cookies. Keep trying you will get it right.
Lauren, see my post below.
Hey guys, I’ve been making No Bake Cookies for about 30 years (since I was about 10) and the key to them setting up is to boil them for 2 minutes. Boil two minutes, stirring constantly, and then quickly add your oats and scoop them out on to your wax paper. If you do this they harden almost instantly. Seriously, you will be eating them within about 5 minutes. Don’t boil any longer though or you will have granola! Try it, this is a family favorite and this is how we’ve always done it.
SuzQ, thank you for sharing your expert tips! Much appreciated!
Just made these with Rice Krispies because I didn’t have any oats. They’re cooling right now and they look amazing! Can’t wait to try.
With the weather being as hot as it is, this was a quick and cool treat to make. Plus it tasted great!
I made these cookies once before, but I decide to be brave and make them with Sunflower seed butter (my son is allergic to peanuts). They turned out awesome. I thought he was going to miss out on one of my favorite childhood treats, but no more he thought the cookies were great too.