These No Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies are just like your mama made! This classic recipe is so easy to make and are a crowd pleaser every time. They only take 10 minutes to make on the stovetop, and of course, no baking required! They are fudgy and chewy and full of chocolate peanut butter flavor. The best combo!
Eric just said to me, after listening in on our kids, “I get this sense of inner turmoil whenever I hear the kids pronounce it “Star Wers” instead of Star Wars. On the one hand, it’s super cute. On the other hand it’s very wrong, and makes it sound like they don’t know what they’re talking about.”
Now that he knows I’m writing this down he’s backtracking. “Not inner turmoil! That’s too strong. Just mixed feelings.” Okay Eric, suuuure. I still remember a few years ago when I got in trouble for reading our two-year-old a Star Wars book that revealed exactly who Luke’s father was. Never making THAT mistake again.
We’ve actually been watching the Star Wers movies over the past few weeks. Every Friday we have a family movie night with pizza and a movie for everyone. It’s a lot of fun! Eric is showing them the ORIGINAL original movies, meaning the theatrical version, before there were special editions. I’m sure these details are not totally lost on our children who are all under the age of 10. Gotta start their education somewhere, I guess.
No Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Did you grow up making these No Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies? Most people just call them “No Bakes” I think. My mom never made them when I was a kid (I think she just didn’t know about them. She came over on the day I shot this and was VERY excited.)
My roommate Lauren introduced me to these cookies. She probably made them like once a week. A cheap and easy recipe for college students! Plus there is the bonus of the “dough” not having eggs, and you really can just start eating it out of the pan like an animal once the oats are added.
(Not that this stopped us in college from eating regular cookie dough. I remember one time we made a batch of chocolate chip cookies, intending to bake them, but the bowl got passed around over the course of the afternoon through several apartments as we all visited one afternoon, and pretty soon the dough was gone and there were no cookies to bake. Ha!)
These no bake cookies are so good though. They are actually more like a simple candy recipe than a cookie. Cookies are technically baked, after all. But these have a cookie shape so we will roll with it! They are made with butter, brown and white sugar, milk, cocoa, peanut butter, and oats. The resulting cookie-candy is fudgy, soft and chewy, but more in the way that fudge is chewy than cookies. The oats give them this hearty texture that is just such a good compliment to the fudgy chocolatey-ness!
How to Make No Bake Cookies
It’s a really simple recipe that only requires a few ingredients and a pot on the stove. No oven required, meaning they are the perfect hot-day treat. (I know for some of you it’s cooling off already, but it’s still hot here!)
First start by melting some butter in a pot with sugar, brown sugar, cocoa, and milk.
Then bring the mixture to a boil. Not just the start of a boil, like you can see on the left here.
It needs to be a full rolling boil with bubbles all across the surface, like the picture on the right. Let boil 1 minute.
Add in plenty of peanut butter.
Then stir in some oats and vanilla. I like to use a combination of quick oats and old fashioned oats, but you can use any combination (or all of one or the other) that you like.
That’s IT. Then drop them by spoonfuls onto a baking sheet. The hardest part is waiting to eat them. But like I said, you don’t even have to have salmonella guilt because there’s no egg in the dough. Grab a spoon and dig in! It’s delicious warm.
You can make these cookies as large or as small as you like! They also freeze well. This is such a nice recipe to have up your sleeve for unexpected company! Quick, cheap, easy, fast, DONE.
More delicious chocolate cookie recipes you will love!
The Best Bakery Style Double Chocolate Chip Cookies << these are hands down my favorite chocolate cookie.
Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies << these are a huge reader favorite! Cinnamon + chocolate = love.
Ultra Fudgy Chocolate Crinkles << a Christmas dream come true
Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies << these cookies are also flourless. They are ultra fudgy! Perfect for gluten free friends (or not gluten free friends).
Flourless Chocolate Cookies from Glorious Treats
Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies from Domestic Rebel
Healthy Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups from Amy’s Healthy Baking
More Candy Recipes to Try!
I know we call these no bake cookies, but really they are more like an easy candy recipe. Here are some more!
Oreo Truffles << if you’ve never made these, you are seriously missing out. So easy, and so good!
Easy Penuche Fudge Recipe << Chocolate fudge’s blonde cousin has got it goin on.
My Mom’s Fudge << this is the recipe my mom made more than any other growing up. We are a fudge family through and through.
Caramel Nougat Pecan Rolls << I make these every Christmas for the neighbors. It’s the best!
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No Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, (1 stick)
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter*
- 2 & 1/2 cups quick oats**
- 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter over medium high heat. (I like salted butter, but unsalted works great too!)
- Add 1/2 cup milk, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup granulated sugar, and 1/3 cup cocoa powder. Stir well until combined and continue over medium high heat.
- Bring the mixture to a rolling boil. This means bubbles all across the surface, not just the edges. Once it is boiling, set a timer for 1 minute.***
- Remove from heat and add 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, 2/3 cup peanut butter, 2 and 1/2 cups quick oats, and 1/2 cup old fashioned oats. Then add in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir it all together.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Use a cookie scoop or just a spoon to drop cookies onto the baking sheet.
- Work quickly to avoid having the mixture set up before you can shape the cookies. You want to drop them on the baking sheet while the mixture is still hot. You can make them any size you want. I used my fingers to nudge them into more of a cookie shape.
- Let cool at room temperature for about 30-60 minutes, or you can chill them in the fridge or freezer for an even faster cool. The cookies will maintain their shape at room temperature.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container on the counter for 3-5 days. These cookies freeze very well. You could stash some in a ziplock in the freezer and always have them on hand! Let thaw in the sealed bag at room temperature.
I make a peanut butter no bake cookie and leave out the cocoa. They turn out looking like peanut butter oatmeal cookies – golden brwn. And, they’re delicious.