These no-bake cookies with chocolate chips might just be the easiest cookies you will ever make. Made in one pan with peanut butter, chocolate, and oats, these chewy cookies are a favorite for a reason!
If you are looking for no-bakes made with unsweetened cocoa powder instead of chocolate chips, try these easy no bake cookies.
Peanut butter chocolate no-bakes might just be my family’s favorite cookies. My regular recipe calls for cocoa, but one time we had a hankering for them and I discovered we were out. So I decided to try them with chocolate chips instead.
The first time I made them, they were overly sweet. I realized that because of the sugar in the chocolate chips, I needed to reduce the amount of white sugar by a bit.
The next time I made them, I used 3/4 cup instead of a full cup of sugar, and they turned out perfectly!
What causes no bake cookies not to harden?
For classic no-bake cookies, you need to boil the mixture for a minute to ensure that your cookies set properly. If you don’t cook your chocolate mixture long enough, your cookies will be very soft.
But the chocolate chips in this recipe automatically harden as the cookies cool, so you don’t need to let the chocolate butter mixture boil.
How to make No Bake Cookies with Chocolate Chips
- PREP – Lay out 2 silicone pan liners or sheets of parchment paper or place them inside a cookie sheet. Measure the peanut butter and the oats.
- COOK – In a large saucepan or pot, combine the sugar, butter, chocolate chips, and milk. Heat over medium heat just until melted together. (no need to boil)
- STIR – Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla, salt, & peanut butter, then the oats.
- SCOOP – Use a small cookie scoop to scoop the hot mixture onto the silicone liners. Work quickly, it starts to set up fast!
- COOL – Let the cookies sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes or until set. You can speed up the process by popping them into the fridge for a few minutes.
Leftover cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days. They have never lasted that long at my house!
PRO TIPS:
- Make sure you have your oats and peanut butter measured before you start melting the chocolate mixture. It will start to cool and set as soon as you turn off the heat, so you need to immediately add the remaining ingredients.
- Natural peanut butter doesn’t work as well for these cookies, stick with regular creamy peanut butter.
- Using a cookie scoop is fast, and makes for uniformly sized cookies. But if you don’t have one, spoon up the mixture with a tablespoon and use another spoon to scrape the mixture off the spoon.
- Silicone and parchment work best, but if you don’t have either, you can place the cookies on wax paper.
No Bake Cookies Recipe Variations:
- We like the chewy texture of old fashioned oats for these cookies, but you can use quick oats if you prefer.
- For sweeter cookies, you can use all or part milk chocolate chips instead of semi sweet.
- You can try using almond butter or cashew butter if you need to make these cookies for someone with a peanut allergy.
When you need a treat in a hurry and don’t want to heat up your kitchen, you can’t go wrong with these chocolate peanut butter cookies. They call for simple ingredients, but they are absolutely addicting!
MORE EASY COOKIE RECIPES:
- No Bake Cornflake Cookies without Peanut Butter
- Almond Joy Cookies
- Oatmeal Scotchies
- Raspberry Ribbon Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Graham Cracker Cookies
- Almond Sugar Cookies
- No Egg Cookie Dough
- Heath Bar Cookies
No Bake Cookies with Chocolate Chips
Ingredients
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup salted butter
- ½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips
- ¼ cup milk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 ½ cups old-fashioned oats
Instructions
- Measure out the peanut butter and oats; set aside. Lay out 2 silicone pan liners or sheets of parchment paper. (You can place them inside cookie sheets.)
- Combine the sugar, butter, chocolate chips, and milk in a large saucepan or pot. Cook over medium heat just until the chocolate chips and butter are melted. It might start to simmer around the edges, but it doesn't need to boil.
- Remove from the heat. Quickly stir the vanilla, salt, and peanut butter into the chocolate mixture. Then stir in the oats.
- Quickly scoop the mixture with a tablespoon-sized cookie scoop onto the silicone liners. (Work quickly – they start to set up pretty fast!)
- Let the cookies sit for 15-20 minutes, or until cooled and set.
Notes
Nutrition
This no bake cookie recipe is the perfect solution when you need to satisfy your sweet tooth. I’ve never met anyone who can resist them!
Do you really not have to boil the mixture for 2 minutes? Other recipes say if you don’t the cookies won’t set. I’ve never made these before, I seem to always get the amount of time you boil something( frostings etc) wrong.
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For my other recipe that calls for cocoa powder, you do need to boil the mixture. But the chocolate chips help this version set up, so there’s no need to boil. 🙂
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I have made these per the recipe w a little bit less sugar and they are always devoured. I store in the refrigerator! Most recently I found York Peppermint dark chocolate chips for baking and it was a yummy switch for these little treats
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How long do you heat the sugar mixture? Do you boil it at all?
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You don’t need to let it boil, just cook until the butter and chocolate chips are melted. Because chocolate chips are solid at room temperature, they will help the cookies set.
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Oh my goodness, I’ll have to try them with the York peppermint chips, that sounds divine!
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My cookies never set… why?
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I’ve never had that happen, so it’s a little hard to troubleshoot when I didn’t see you make them. Did you follow the recipe exactly, or did you change any of the ingredients? The chocolate chips and butter both help them set up. What kind of chocolate chips did you use?
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I’d love to use this recipe as I use dark chocolate chips for these cookies. However I do not want to use any peanut butter at all. What would be the recipe without it? I made 2 batches from another recipe today and they didn’t turn out like I expected them to. Please and thank you! Husband loves these and he wants to bring to work.
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The peanut butter is essential to the texture of the cookies, without it they are dry. You could use almond butter or sun butter, but they would change the flavor. You could also try replacing the peanut butter with just butter, but they won’t be as soft. Sorry, I haven’t found anything that works as well as peanut butter. 🙁
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I made these cookies they turned out great. I think they would be better with quick oats instead of old fashion oats. Just my opinion.
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I’ve also made them with quick oats, and a combination of both. We like all the variations! 🙂
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