Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies
These Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies are full of peanut butter flavor, only require a few simple ingredients, and are incredibly easy to make!
If I had to choose a favorite cookie recipe from my childhood, it would hands-down be these Classic No-Bake Cookies. I shared the recipe for those cookies last year and ever since then, they have been my top cookie recipe. It makes me so happy that so many of you love the same recipes that I do!
Over the last year, I’ve had several requests for a peanut butter version of my no-bake cookies. So a couple weeks ago I took my no-bake cookie recipe and tweaked it to make a super peanut buttery version. It took a few attempts but I finally got the recipe just right and I have to say, these cookies are just as good as the chocolate version!
These cookies are also ridiculously simple to throw together for those times when you need a quick and simple dessert. You only need six ingredients and about 20 minutes to prepare them!
To make these peanut butter no-bake cookies, you’ll start out with some butter, granulated sugar, and milk. You’ll melt the mixture down then bring it to a rolling boil and allow it to boil for one minute.
Here’s the tricky part with no-bake cookies, sometimes they don’t set up properly. I’ve been making no-bake cookies for years now and I’ve found that one of the main reasons is that the mixture doesn’t boil long enough before you add the rest of the ingredients.
You don’t want to set your timer for 60 seconds as soon as you see a few bubbles. You’ll start to see the mixture bubble around the edges, then bubble a little, then it will come to a rolling boil where the top is completely covered and bubbling vigorously. This is when you want to set your timer for 60 seconds! If you set it too soon, then it’s likely that your cookies will not set up properly.
Once the mixture has boiled, you’ll remove it from the heat and stir in some peanut butter and vanilla extract. When it comes to the peanut butter for no-bake cookies, I have not tested these with natural peanut butter. I prefer to use a peanut butter like Jif or Skippy to make sure they set up properly and aren’t too soft.
And, of course, the final ingredient is some quick-cooking oats. When it comes to baked oatmeal cookies, I love old-fashioned rolled oats. But when it comes to no-bake cookies, I prefer to use quick-cooking oats because they’re smaller. If you only have old-fashioned rolled oats you can pulse them a few times in a food processor to break them down a little more.
One important thing with these no-bake cookies, they do take a little longer to set up. If you’ve made my chocolate no-bake cookies you know that they’ll usually start to set up after about 20 minutes or so. I find that these need about 45 minutes to an hour to really set up because of the extra peanut butter in them.
The cookies will continue to set up even more after that, but they’re still delicious even when they’re a little warm!
Baking Tips for Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies
- Make sure to gather your ingredients and measure everything out before you get started with these cookies, it will make the whole process much smoother.
- Be sure to set a timer for 60 seconds once the mixture comes to a rolling boil (the top should be covered in bubbles and bubbling quite a bit). If you set your timer too soon, then the cookies will not set up properly.
- These cookies take a little bit longer than my chocolate no bake cookies to set up. Allow the cookies about 45 minutes to an hour to firm up. You can still enjoy them while they’re a little warm too!
- If you find the cookies aren’t setting up or seem a little too wet after you’ve let them cool for about an hour, you can place them in the refrigerator to help firm them up. I’ve also had a reader mention that she will microwave the cookies for a few seconds and that also helps them set up.
Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter cut into pieces
- 1 and 3/4 cups (350 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) milk
- 3/4 cup (190 grams) creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 and 1/4 cups (325 grams) quick-cooking oats
Instructions
- Before getting started, make sure to gather all of your ingredients and measure everything out. Line a couple of large baking sheets with parchment paper (I like to just line my countertop with a large sheet of parchment paper, if your countertop is heat resistant you can also do this instead) and set aside.
- Place the butter, sugar, and milk in a saucepan and heat over medium heat, making sure to stir often until the butter is melted and everything is well combined. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil (the top should be completely covered in bubbles and bubbling vigorously) and allow to boil for 60 seconds (make sure to set a timer!) without stirring.
- Remove from the heat, and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla extract until fully combined. Stir in the oats and mix until all of the oats are coated with the mixture and everything is well combined.
- Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto the prepared baking sheets. I like to use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop and flatten the cookies out a little. Allow to cool for about 45 minutes- 1 hour or until the cookies have firmed up, serve, and enjoy! The cookies will continue to firm up more the longer they cool.
Good explanation on why to do that complete length of time of the full boil – its kitchen chemistry. I made it with regular salted butter – still good. Its not worth an extra trip to the store. I even used natural organic peanut butter in a jar and it worked fine for the recipe. It just takes extra prep to recombine the natural seperation of oil and solids in the jar first. The complete boil is needed for this natural butter, too.
I just made these, I loved the specific directions! I have had sooo many no bakes not set up! These turned out perfectly and are quite tasty 😋
Easy to make , set up great and there wasn’t any left. To put away.
This is an excellent recipe and my cookies turn out every time!! Thank you!!!
Just got done making these!! So easy and quick!!
Superb! I love these cookies (if I could figure out how to make them and hoard them away from my family, I’d do it!)! I have found that for boiling the mixture, timing never works for me so I get the mixture to 230 degrees and it’s perfect. I used to either have them too soft or too hard and crumbly until I started using the temperature method. I think I’ll make more of these this afternoon while everyone is gone!
Can you use water instead of milk?
I don’t recommend it for this recipe.
I used light brown sugar and replaced 1/4 of the oats with unsweetened coconut. They turned out really tasty.
Got hungry for some cookies and decided to look up some recipes. wanted a simple one. One where I don’t have to wash more than a half dozen pans. Followed your recipe per instructions and they turned out perfectly. Good! Good! Good! Happy! Happy! Happy!. Thank you.🤓
I made these tonight cause I wanted something sweet. They were good but just like some people found they were very sweet and not enough peanut butter tase. I ate them hours ago and can still taste the sugar in my mouth. Next time I’m gonna try adding more peanut butter. Super sweet but good
These cookies are absolutely delicious! I cut the recipe in half, on the off chance I would either mess up getting them just right, or I didn’t like the taste. Boy was I mistaken – cooked up perfectly, set up just fine and tasted amazing!
The only difference I made was I used crunchy peanut butter instead of creamy- that’s it!
Thank you for this recipe!!
Easy but super sweet. Is it really meant to be 1 and 3/4 cups of sugar or is that a mistake? Maybe it is a total of 3/4 cup of sugar? Thanks
It’s correct. They’re meant to be sweet and you need quite a bit of sugar to make sure they set up properly.
These are amazing, this is the second recipe I’ve tried from you and I am in love❤️❤️❤️ thank you so so good!!!
Thank you, Sarah! So glad you’re enjoying the recipes!
Not sure if it’s because I measured the ingredients by the listed weight measurements instead of cups, but my cookies taste too much of sugar, not enough of peanut butter for my taste preference. Great texture though, they set up perfectly, and were super easy to make! This is a helpful recipe for my very first time making no bake cookies! Do you maybe have suggestions for how to change the ratio for more peanut butter taste and less sugar? (For those of us trying to limit excessive sugar intake.) If not, no worries. Thank you for sharing!
No-bake cookies are meant to be pretty sweet, but you could probably reduce the sugar by 1/4 to 1/2 cup. Just keep in mind that if you reduce the sugar too much, the cookies may not set up. I hope that helps!
I tried it! I used a third less sugar, added another large scoop of peanut butter, and they did take a bit longer to set up, but they were delicious! Success! Thank you so much!
Thanks for sharing, Adrienne! Glad to hear that they set up!
Yummy, had to add a bit more of tge oatmeal..
This recipe is perfect! These are the best no bakes I have ever made. Instead of making them cookies I lined a 9×13 pan with parchment and flattened it in there and cut them in little squares.
can i use 2% milk
Yes, that would be fine.
Can I substitute peanutbuttet whiskey for the milk
You could probably replace 1 to 2 tablespoons of the milk with it, but I wouldn’t replace all of it.
Can you add some small chocolate chips at the end?
The mixture is hot, so they will probably melt if you mix them in. I would scoop all of them out, then press a few chocolate chips into the top of each one.
These were great! Just a bit too sweet though. I plan to cut out some of the sugar the next time I make these.
Excellent recipe! Easy to follow instructions and everyone loved them.
What are the ingredients for your regular no bake cookie?
You can find my regular no-bake cookie recipe here.
made these tonight, very good!
Made these…tasted just like what my Mom used to make.
These where amazing and fun to make with the children I work with. But are they gluten free I have a coworker who would love to make them but doesn’t want to risk it because they can’t have gluten.
You just need to make sure to use gluten-free oats.
Approximately how many calories and how much protein per cookie?
I’m not sure on the nutritional information, but you can plug everything into an online calculator (like My Fitness Pal) to get an estimate.
Can you infuse these with THC oil or butter?
I haven’t personally tried it, so I’m not sure.
Yes you can my sister does it all the time she makes all her edibles
Yes, works wonderful, tastes delicious
Can you use salted butter, instead of unsalted?
Yes, that would be fine.
Can splenda be used instead of sugar?
I haven’t tried it, so I’m not sure.
I love this recipe and have tried it with alternative sweeteners. Something with erithritol works best. Most other sweeteners won’t cause it to have that hardened sugar effect
Can you use margarine instead of butter?
Yes, that would be fine.