No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
These No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies are quick and easy treats that are wonderfully simple and SO delicious! You only need a handful of simple ingredients and under an hour of your time to make a batch of these no bake cookies.
“No bake.” Those are two of my favorite words ever! As much as I love baking, sometimes it can be really nice to not have to worry about preheating and all that jazz. Besides just being super easy to whip up a batch of, these cookies are also perfect because of how delectable they are. Chocolate and peanut butter anything – yes please!
With flavors of chocolate and peanut butter all combined with old-fashioned rolled oats, these cookies are hard to pass up on. They’re chewy, thick cookies that hit the spot every time. And if you have little ones in the house, they’ll love helping make them! While it’s technically best to use tools that don’t make a mess, it’s also fun to get your hands a little dirty when making these no bake cookies, especially if you’re making them with the kids.
I love making no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies all year long. They’re perfect for cookie exchanges around Christmas, goodie bags during Halloween, and as a chocolatey treat on a summer night. I mean really, what time of the year isn’t made sweeter with chocolate and peanut butter?! Once you taste how chewy and delicious these cookies are, you’ll also be craving them 24/7 like me!
How to Make No Bake Chocolate Cookies
The joys of no bake recipes are unparalleled. No preheating, no warming up the whole kitchen, and no waiting forever for the cookies to bake! These cookies are almost too easy to be true.
- Prepare. Line a baking sheet with wax paper or parchment.
- Boil. Bring the sugar, milk, butter and cocoa to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, then let boil for 1 minute.
- Stir. Remove from the heat once it boils for a minute. Then add the oats, peanut butter, vanilla and salt, and stir to combine.
- Cool. Drop teaspoonfuls of the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet, and let sit at room temperature until cooled and hardened, about 30 minutes.
How to Store Leftovers
In an airtight container in the fridge, these easy cookies will stay fresh for up to 3 days. While I enjoy them cold right out of the fridge, you can also let them adjust to room temperature for about 20 minutes before enjoying if you’d prefer.
Variations and Substitutions
I think these cookies have the perfect amount of sweet flavors and chewy texture. However, there are quite a few things you can switch up or add to really make them your own! Here are just a few ideas –
- Add chopped peanuts for additional peanut taste and a delightful crunch. However, you may need to add a little bit more butter and milk to keep the consistency just right.
- Make these no bake cookies vegan by swapping out the regular dairy milk for a plant based alternative, like almond or oat milk.
- If you want to make these cookies even sweeter, try adding a tablespoon of dark brown sugar to the mix! Of course, you could always add an extra splash of vanilla extract as well.
- Salted or unsalted butter both work well in this recipe, it’s really just up to what you prefer. Salted butter gives the sweet ingredients a nice balance of salty and sweet, while unsalted butter goes pretty undetected and helps only with the consistency, not the flavor of the cookies.
More easy no bake recipes!
- No Bake Chocolate Mousse Pie
- No Bake Peach Pie
- No Bake Banana Split Pie
- No Bake Monster Cookie Dough Bites
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Get the Recipe: No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup smooth peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Equipment
- baking sheet
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with wax paper or parchment.
- Bring the sugar, milk, butter and cocoa to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, then let boil for until the mixture comes to 230˚F on an instant read thermometer or candy thermometer. Remove from the heat.
- Add the oats, peanut butter, vanilla and salt, and stir to combine.
- Drop teaspoonfuls of the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet, and let sit at room temperature until cooled and hardened, about 30 minutes.
- Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Video
94 Comments on “No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies”
230 degrees is way too hot for this I think. I had the same issue with others in the comments. Are you in a high altitude location perhaps?
I am not in a high altitude. This is the temperature we used while testing the recipe multiple times.
I’ve made this recipe dozens of times and it turned out great every time. I’ve made several variations. Like using maple syrup instead of sugar. Using fillings other than oatmeal, such as granola and even rice crispies.
Totally making this with rice crispies! Great suggestion!
I cant find the ingredients or measurements
Hi Tammy, They’re in the free printable recipe card at the bottom. You can either scroll down or click the jump to recipe button at the top of the post.
I think maybe it is a typo…..1 tablespoon is a lot of vanilla. Had I gone with my gut instinct of only 1 teaspoon I would have rated it 5 stars.
Thank you! I think we did use 1 tablespoon and we did the same for the video. I need to go retest it now because it’s been awhile since we made them.
I made these and followed the directions. I mixed the oatmeal and peanut butter into the hot mixture at the same time and it turned into a hard and crumbly mess. I saved it by melting some butter, more peanut butter and marshmallows together and stirring it into the dry mixture. I patted it into a pan and cut it into bars. It was really good.
I will try it again and cook the mixture less, stir the peanut butter in first and then the oatmeal.
Definitely sounds like it may have been cooked too long. A thermometer is a great tool to help with these cookies. I’ve made the same mistake when I forget to use my thermometer.
I boiled the recipe precisely to 230° on a candy thermometer, and immediately removed it from the burner and added the final ingredients. They were a dried mess.
Hmmmm, I’m not sure why that would happen. I’m sorry you didn’t have a great experience making this recipe.
Followed the recipe exactly. Turned out great. Now we can’t stop eating them!! Great to make on a hot day when you don’t want to turn your oven on!
I love that you love them!
Horrible recipe. Made a pot full of crumbly mess. Sticks to my teeth, impossible to make droplets on a cookie sheet. Stuck to the pot and nearly impossible to clean. I will never make this again and I think you should try your recipes before posting them. I wasted a bunch of costly ingredients.
Hi Bruce, sounds like you may have cooked the mixture too long. An instant read thermometer or candy thermometer definitely helps the process. I’m sorry you had bad luck with this recipe, it has worked for many others so that’s my only suggestion.
Hi I made these yesterday and followed the direction , but made them dairy free and added chunky peanut butter instead of smooth peanut butter. They never set I had to put them in the freezer. Everyone loved them, but should I add more oats if I make again?
You may have to cook them longer in order for them to set up properly. It’s more about the temperature of the ingredients so they get to point where they would stay together when room temperature. Sometimes I get impatient and don’t cook them long enough so we put them in the freezer, too!
I didn’t have cocoa powder so I used some hot chocolate powder and they were super tasty and so easy to make. Thanks for the recipe!
What a great swap!
These turned out great! Quick and very yummy
Thank you! I’m so happy you enjoyed them!
Thats funny, you said this recipe yields 12 cookies with teaspoon drops? Ha! I followed the recipe 100% and if i used a teaspoon to drop the cookies id have about 200.
Wrong!
Hi Aaron, thanks for your comment. And that is a typo, thank you for bringing it to my attention.
The cookies are very tasty and delicious. I added chia seeds pumpkin seeds and hemp seeds to increase the nutritional value.
I love your additions! What a great idea!!!