Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies

Loaded with salty-sweet peanut butter and chewy oats, these no-bake cookies are the perfect dessert when you’re craving something sweet but don’t want to bother turning on the oven. These no-bakes are dense, rich, and fudgy . . . can you see why we’re obsessed?

Follow our tips below to make sure you nail these craveable cookies. And if you’re missing the chocolate, check out our no-bake chocolate version!

Pick the right peanut butter.

You can never go wrong with peanut butter, right? Well, in this case, you actually can. For best success, you MUST use smooth, processed peanut butter to make these cookies. All-natural peanut butter (the type that separates in the jar) can be inconsistent in texture, and the lack of homogenization can really throw off the texture of the cookie, which will make it tricky to get them to set properly.

Choose right oats. 

Regular, old-fashioned rolled oats are the way to go. Quick-cooking oats have an almost powdery chew, and steel cut might crack a tooth or two. Old fashioned oats, on the other hand, give these cookies a wonderful chewy texture, similar to a soft, freshly baked cookie. 

Another note about oats: because these cookies don’t use flour, they’re naturally gluten free. However, some oats are processed in factories that also process whole grains and can be cross-contaminated, so if you’re making these cookies for someone with gluten allergies, be sure to choose oats specifically marked “gluten-free.”

Amp up the salt. 

Salt is a crucial seasoning in all cooking, including desserts! While most processed peanut butters already have salt added, it’s not quite enough to balance out the sugar here, so we’re adding an additional ½ teaspoon of kosher salt. It takes these cookies to the next level.

Boil for exactly one minute. 

We know this sounds weird, but boiling the sugar mixture helps the cookies set up without separating! But boil them too long (over a minute) and you risk overcooking the mixture and crystallizing the sugar, which will result in crumbly cookies. 

Leave the cookies at room temperature.

You don’t need to freeze these cookies! They’ll set up at room temperature, and you can even store them at room temperature for 3 to 4 days. If you want to keep them longer (IF they last that long), you can keep them in the fridge or freezer. They actually taste amazing when eaten cold– kind of like dense fudge!

Made these? Let us know how it went in the comment section below!

Editor's Note: The introduction to this recipe was updated on May 23, 2022 to include more information about the dish.