These old-fashioned Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies are filled with creamy peanut butter and a few other simple ingredients! They take less than 20 minutes to make and your taste buds thanking you in no time!
Easy Peanut Butter Cookies
This recipe for peanut butter no bake cookies is so easy! I mean, does it get easier than having “no bake” in the title?
These classic old-fashioned peanut butter cookies are the perfect snack and they satisfy the sweet tooth, without being overly rich or sweet. Making them is as simple as mixing up your ingredients of peanut butter, butter, sugar, vanilla, and milk along with quick oats.
Then comes the hardest part… waiting! You’ll have to let them cool and dry before you can enjoy them. But in just a little while, you’ll have a yummy dessert to enjoy. Best of all, you can make more than one batch of these and save some in the freezer for any occasion!
OPTIONAL Why We Love This Recipe
- No-bake cookie recipe
- Quick and easy to make.
- Only uses 7 ingredients.
- Freezer friendly
- Classic cookie recipe
Ingredients
- 1 stick of butter – I recommend unsalted butter. However, if you only have salted butter on hand it’s ok to use this as well. Just make sure that if you do so, you omit the dash of salt from the recipe.
- 2 cups of sugar
- ½ cup of milk
- 1 cup of peanut butter – For this recipe, you’ll want to stick to classic peanut butter, not natural. Since natural peanut butter tends to have a different texture, it can really affect the overall consistency and end product for these cookies!
- 2 tsp of vanilla
- 3 cups of quick-cook oats – it’s best to use quick-cook oats instead of old-fashioned oats in this recipe! Just as natural peanut butter can change the final product, using old-fashioned oats will do the same thing.
- ¼ tsp salt (omit if you use salted butter)
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How to Make Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies
- In a large bowl stir together oats and salt. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, over medium-high heat, whisk together butter, sugar, and milk. Bring the mixture to a boil for about a minute and then remove from heat.
Pro-Tip: When bringing your mixture to a boil in the instructions above, it’s important that you start to time out your 1 minute when you’ve already reached a rolling boil, not when you initially see bubbles forming. If you start the minute countdown too soon, your cookies may not set correctly. If your cookies are too hard you likely boiled the mixture too long. If your cookies are too gooey, you likely did not boil the mixture long enough.
- Whisk in peanut butter and vanilla until well combined.
- Pour the peanut butter mixture over oats and stir until combined.
Pro-Tip: I recommend pulsing your oats in the food processor to make them smaller before adding them into the mix. This step isn’t necessary but I do think it makes your cookies better in the end! - Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Drop the cookies onto the wax paper using a medium cookie scoop.
- Let the cookies cool on the countertop. Store in the refrigerator once cookies are cool and dry.
Pro-Tip: It’s very important that you leave the cookies out to let them cool on the countertop before putting them in the fridge or it can cause your cookies to become gooey.
Frequently Asked Questions
You could totally add any ingredient that goes good with peanut butter to these cookies to spice them up. You can get really creative here! Some of my favorite things to add are:
– Mini M&Ms
– Resse’s Pieces
– Mini marshmallows
– Mini chocolate chips
– Coconut flakes
You could also simply drizzle chocolate (milk, white, or dark) over the top of each cookie, too!
When you’re not enjoying them, it’s best to store your cookies in the fridge. You can also store them in the freezer if you plan to save them for a future occasion. Just make sure they are in an air-tight container or freezer bag to prevent them from getting freezer burn.
These are easily one of the quickest and easiest to make cookie recipes in my arsenal. Once you master this recipe you can put these together in no time at all. I also love how versatile they are. You can add just about anything and create a new cookie each time you make them!
Other Easy Peanut Butter Recipes
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Ice Cream
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Lasagna
- Disneyland Peanut Butter Sandwich Bars
- No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cup Brownies
- Peanut Butter Cornflake Cookies
Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter
- 2 cups sugar
- ½ cup milk
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 cups quick-cook oats
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl stir together oats and salt. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, over medium-high heat, whisk together butter, sugar, and milk.
- Bring the mixture to a boil for about a minute and then remove from heat.
- Whisk in peanut butter and vanilla until well combined.
- Pour the peanut butter mixture over oats and stir until combined.
- Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Drop cookies onto the wax paper using a medium cookie scoop.
- Let the cookies cool on the countertop. Store in the refrigerator once cookies are cool and dry.
Jenn’s Notes
- I recommend pulsing your oats in the food processor to make them smaller before adding them into the mix. This step isn’t necessary but I do think it makes your cookies better in the end!
- When brining your mixture to a boil in the instructions above, it’s important that you start to time out your 1 minute when you’ve already reached a rolling boil, not when you initially see bubbles forming. If you start the minute countdown too soon, your cookies may not set correctly.
- If your cookies are too hard you likely boiled the mixture too long. If your cookies are too gooey, you likely did not boil the mixture long enough. This can take a couple of tries to get it down just right, so it’s good to make notes on your own recipe!
- It’s very important that you leave the cookies out to let them cool on the countertop before putting them in the fridge or it can cause your cookies to become gooey.
How can anything with PB & Chocolate NOT be 5 Stars?? Yum!