Chocolate & Peanut Butter No Bakes

I made so many batches of no bake cookies when I was growing up! We always had the ingredients on hand and they were just so darn simple to whip up that they were sort of my go-to recipe. Especially since I didn’t need my mom to help me get pans into and out of a hot oven.

Truthfully, anything involving peanut butter and chocolate is pretty much a slam-dunk in my book.

But it’s the addition of quick oats that completes the trifecta of chocolate, peanut butter, and oatmeal in these classic no bake cookies.

I am a huge fan of oatmeal cookies in all their delicious varieties. It’s that wonderful chewy texture and oat-y flavor that just speaks to me.

If you have the same feelings about oats as me, then you need to go make these oatmeal rolled sugar cookies and toffee oatmeal chocolate chip cookies soon!

But unlike those options, these chocolate peanut butter no bake cookies are naturally gluten-free, so long as you make sure you are cooking with gluten-free oats.

I did add coconut (1 cup) and used butter instead of margarine. They set up better with butter. (let’s face it, everything’s better with butter) These are always a hit

1/2 c butter

4 Tbsp cocoa

2 c sugar

1/2 c milk

1 tsp vanilla

Heaping spoonful peanut butter

3 c regular oats

Measure out the oats in a separate bowl. Melt the butter in a saucepan, pour in the cocoa and combine. Pour in the sugar and milk. Let boil for 2-3 min then take off the heat and add vanilla and peanut butter. Pour over the oats and mix together. Spoon cookies out onto foil and let set. Makes 15-17 medium size cookies.

Be sure to use Quick Oats. I tried using rolled oats, but didn’t like the results. They were crumbly and dry.

I use creamy Jiff Peanut Butter for the best results.

Work quickly once you add the oatmeal to the chocolate mixture. The cookies will thicken once the mixture starts to cool.