Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies (2024)

Home | Recipes | Cookies | Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies

Written ByDorothy Kern

Updated OnMarch 31, 2024

Jump to RecipeLeave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, read my disclosure policy.

Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies are a classic cookie recipe that are oatmeal cookies full of peanut butter flavor – no oven needed! If you’ve been looking for no bake cookie without chocolate, this is the post for you. These set up perfectly every time!

Why This No Bake Cookie Recipe Works

I’m a big fan of old-fashioned no bake cookies, especially during the summer! Not having to turn on the oven is always a plus in my book. This is basically that recipe without the cocoa powder! Easy no bake peanut butter cookies are an all-time favorite of mine. Peanut butter is the star in this recipe!

This is an easy no-bake cookie recipe with just six ingredients. They have the best texture – a slight soft crunch with chew from the oats and so much peanut butter flavor. The key is to use a thermometer and boil the mixture for the right amount of time. A thermometer takes all the guesswork out!

Ingredients Needed

Unsalted butter – I like to dice it, so it melts quickly when you make the dough.
Granulated Sugar – not only is this important for sweetness but the chemical reaction between the sugar and butter helps these set up.
Milk – Nonfat milk is what I normally use but regular milk is fine too (or nondairy milk)
Creamy peanut butter – use regular peanut butter and not a natural kind that needs stirring.
Quick cooking oats – don’t have these? Learn how to make your own quick oats from old fashioned oats.

Be sure to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!

How to Make Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies

Be sure to read the entire recipe and follow the instructions for success. Before you make the cookies, it’s very important to have all of your ingredients prepped, measured, and ready to go. This is a quick recipe once you start, so have everything ready. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.

1. Melt the butter in a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Once it’s melted, add the sugar and stir.

2. Add the milk and whisk until smooth.

3. Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil and bring it to a temperature of 230°F. This usually takes about a minute and a half, but use a thermometer to be absolutely sure. If you don’t boil it long enough, your cookies will not set up correctly.

4. Take the pan off the heat and add the peanut butter, salt, vanilla.

5. Mix in the oats. Stir well to combine.

6. Use a cookie scoop to form two tablespoons of dough for each cookie. Place them on the prepared cookie sheets. Leave them at room temperature to set.

Why did my no-bake cookies not set?

Usually, the reason the no bake oatmeal cookies don’t set is that the mixture wasn’t boiled long enough. This is why a thermometer is so helpful! The temperature should be 230°F when you take the pan off the heat. Any lower than that, and the cookies won’t set properly.

Can you make these Gluten-Free?

Make gluten free no bake cookies by using gluten-free oats.

Tips From Dorothy

Expert Tips

You can use creamy or crunchy peanut butter as long as it’s the regular kind and not natural peanut butter.
Prep and measure your ingredients first. This isn’t the kind of recipe you can measure and mix as you go.
For best results, use a candy thermometer or instant-read thermometer when you boil the mixture. It makes it so much easier, and you don’t have to worry if you boiled it long enough. This is my favorite instant read thermometer!
If you want to add some mix-ins, chopped nuts or m&ms work well for this recipe!
Store these in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. They’ll last a week in the refrigerator, and you can freeze them for up to 3 months.

FAQs

Can I make no-bake cookies without peanut butter?

Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies Recipe

4.94 from 75 votes

Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies are a classic cookie recipe that never goes out of style! If you’ve been looking for no-bake cookies without chocolate, this recipe is for you!

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Chill Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Yield 24 cookies

Serving Size 1 serving

Save RecipeRate RecipePrint Recipe

Equipment

Ingredients

▢ ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter diced
▢ 1 ¾ cups (350g) granulated sugar
▢ ½ cup (118ml) nonfat milk
▢ ½ cup (133g) creamy peanut butter
▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
▢ 3 cups (243g) quick cooking oats

Instructions

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
It’s very important that all your ingredients are measured and ready to go before you start and make sure you’ve read the directions before making these cookies. The process goes fast!
Melt the butter in a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the sugar and milk. Whisk until smooth then bring to a boil and cook for about 1 ½ minutes, stirring occasionally. NOTE: you MUST boil them long enough or they will not set. To be sure of this, boil the mixture until it reaches 230°F on a candy or instant read thermometer. If you do not have a thermometer, this will take about 1 ½ minutes on medium heat.
Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter, salt, vanilla, and oats.
Use a cookie scoop to drop 2 tablespoon size balls of cookie mixture onto the prepared baking sheets. Let sit to set or chill to harden quicker.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

You can use creamy or crunchy peanut butter as long as it’s the regular kind and not natural peanut butter.
Prep and measure your ingredients first. This isn’t the kind of recipe you can measure and mix as you go.
For best results, use a candy thermometer or instant-read thermometer when you boil the mixture. It makes it so much easier, and you don’t have to worry if you boiled it long enough. This is my favorite instant read thermometer!
If you want to add some mix-ins, chopped nuts or m&ms work well for this recipe!

Recipe Nutrition

Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Author Dorothy Kern

Did you try this recipe? Click the stars to rate the recipe below

My Thermometer

There are cheaper versions on amazon but this is the one I love.

Get Thermapen

Other No Bake Recipes

No Bake

Easy Rocky Road Bars

No Bake S’mores Bars

Recipes

No Bake Reese’s Peanut Butter Bars

Recipes

No Bake Banana Pudding Dream Dessert

These Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies are made with oats and peanut butter and set up perfectly every time! They are such an easy cookie to make when you need something delicious, fast!

Last Updated on March 31, 2024

Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

Learn More About Me

43 Comments

I don’t buy nonfat milk and was wondering what else can you use.I buy whole and 2% milk
Reply
1. I would go with 2% over regular milk.
  Reply
  Cookies set up well but not enough peanut butter flavor. I used skippy peanut butter. Ended up using a cup of it
  Reply
  These are the best no bakes I ever made!
  Reply
  Sounds great and I want to try these cookies!
  Reply
  These are my NEW favorite cookies!!! I didn’t have a thermometer, and 1 1/2 minutes was the perfect time. They set up nicely and my husband LOVES them!!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!
  Reply
  Comment navigation
  Older Comments
  Featured In
  '),b.insertAdjacentHTML(d,e));return document.getElementById(a)};c.prototype._repeatDynamicAds=function(b){var a=[],d=this._removeRecipeCapExperiment.result&&"Recipe"===b.location?99:this.locationMaxLazySequence.get(b.location),e=b.lazy?u(d,0):0;d=b.max;var f=b.lazyMax;e=Math.max(d,0===e&&b.lazy?d+f:Math.min(Math.max(e-b.sequence+1,0),d+f));for(f=0;f
  =d;a.push(y(y({},b),{sequence:g,lazy:h}))}return a};c.prototype._locationEnabled=function(b){b=this._clsOptions.enabledLocations.includes(b.location);var a=this._clsOptions.disableAds&&this._clsOptions.disableAds.all||document.body.classList.contains("adthrive-disable-all"),d=!document.body.classList.contains("adthrive-disable-content")&&!this._clsOptions.disableAds.reasons.has("content_plugin");return b&&!a&&d};return c}(),Za=function(c){function b(a,d){var e=c.call(this,a,"ClsVideoInsertion")||this;e._videoConfig=a;e._clsOptions=d;e._IN_POST_SELECTOR=".adthrive-video-player";e._WRAPPER_BAR_HEIGHT=36;e._playersAddedFromPlugin=[];d.removeVideoTitleWrapper&&(e._WRAPPER_BAR_HEIGHT=0);return e}v(b,c);b.prototype.init=function(){this._initializePlayers()};b.prototype._wrapJWPlayerWithCLS=function(a,d,e){void 0===e&&(e=0);return a.parentNode?(d=this._createGenericCLSWrapper(.5625*a.offsetWidth,d,e),a.parentNode.insertBefore(d,a),d.appendChild(a),d):null};b.prototype._createGenericCLSWrapper=function(a,d,e){var f=document.createElement("div");f.id="cls-video-container-".concat(d);f.className="adthrive";f.style.minHeight="".concat(a+e,"px");return f};b.prototype._getTitleHeight=function(a){a.innerText="Title";a.style.visibility="hidden";document.body.appendChild(a);var d=window.getComputedStyle(a),e=parseInt(d.height,10),f=parseInt(d.marginTop,10);d=parseInt(d.marginBottom,10);document.body.removeChild(a);return Math.min(e+d+f,50)};b.prototype._initializePlayers=function(){var a=document.querySelectorAll(this._IN_POST_SELECTOR);a.length&&this._initializeRelatedPlayers(a);this._shouldRunAutoplayPlayers()&&this._determineAutoplayPlayers()};b.prototype._createStationaryRelatedPlayer=function(a,d,e){var f="mobile"===this._device?[400,225]:[640,360],g=G.Video_In_Post_ClicktoPlay_SoundOn;d&&a.mediaId&&(e="".concat(a.mediaId,"_").concat(e),d=this._wrapJWPlayerWithCLS(d,e),this._playersAddedFromPlugin.push(a.mediaId),d&&this._clsOptions.setInjectedVideoSlots({playerId:a.playerId,playerName:g,playerSize:f,element:d,type:"stationaryRelated"}))};b.prototype._createStickyRelatedPlayer=function(a,d){var e="mobile"===this._device?[400,225]:[640,360],f=G.Video_Individual_Autoplay_SOff;this._stickyRelatedOnPage=!0;this._videoConfig.mobileStickyPlayerOnPage="mobile"===this._device;if(d&&a.position&&a.mediaId){var g=document.createElement("div");d.insertAdjacentElement(a.position,g);d=document.createElement("h3");d.style.margin="10px 0";d=this._getTitleHeight(d);d=this._wrapJWPlayerWithCLS(g,a.mediaId,this._WRAPPER_BAR_HEIGHT+d);this._playersAddedFromPlugin.push(a.mediaId);d&&this._clsOptions.setInjectedVideoSlots({playlistId:a.playlistId,playerId:a.playerId,playerSize:e,playerName:f,element:g,type:"stickyRelated"})}};b.prototype._createPlaylistPlayer=function(a,d){var e=a.playlistId,f="mobile"===this._device?G.Video_Coll_SOff_Smartphone:G.Video_Collapse_Autoplay_SoundOff,g="mobile"===this._device?[400,225]:[640,360];this._videoConfig.mobileStickyPlayerOnPage=!0;var h=document.createElement("div");d.insertAdjacentElement(a.position,h);d=this._wrapJWPlayerWithCLS(h,e,this._WRAPPER_BAR_HEIGHT);this._playersAddedFromPlugin.push("playlist-".concat(e));d&&this._clsOptions.setInjectedVideoSlots({playlistId:a.playlistId,playerId:a.playerId,playerSize:g,playerName:f,element:h,type:"stickyPlaylist"})};b.prototype._isVideoAllowedOnPage=function(){var a=this._clsOptions.disableAds;if(a&&a.video){var d="";a.reasons.has("video_tag")?d="video tag":a.reasons.has("video_plugin")?d="video plugin":a.reasons.has("video_page")&&(d="command queue");q.error(d?"ClsVideoInsertionMigrated":"ClsVideoInsertion","isVideoAllowedOnPage",Error("DBP: Disabled by publisher via ".concat(d||"other")));return!1}return this._clsOptions.videoDisabledFromPlugin?!1:!0};return b}(function(c){function b(a,d){var e=c.call(this)||this;e._videoConfig=a;e._component=d;e._stickyRelatedOnPage=!1;e._relatedMediaIds=[];a=void 0;void 0===a&&(a=navigator.userAgent);a=/Windows NT|Macintosh/i.test(a);e._device=a?"desktop":"mobile";e._potentialPlayerMap=e.setPotentialPlayersMap();return e}v(b,c);b.prototype.setPotentialPlayersMap=function(){var a=this._videoConfig.players||[],d=this._filterPlayerMap();a=a.filter(function(e){return"stationaryRelated"===e.type&&e.enabled});d.stationaryRelated=a;return this._potentialPlayerMap=d};b.prototype._filterPlayerMap=function(){var a=this,d=this._videoConfig.players,e={stickyRelated:[],stickyPlaylist:[],stationaryRelated:[]};return d&&d.length?d.filter(function(f){var g;return null===(g=f.devices)||void 0===g?void 0:g.includes(a._device)}).reduce(function(f,g){f[g.type]||(q.event(a._component,"constructor","Unknown Video Player Type detected",g.type),f[g.type]=[]);g.enabled&&f[g.type].push(g);return f},e):e};b.prototype._checkPlayerSelectorOnPage=function(a){var d=this;a=this._potentialPlayerMap[a].map(function(e){return{player:e,playerElement:d._getPlacementElement(e)}});return a.length?a[0]:{player:null,playerElement:null}};b.prototype._getOverrideElement=function(a,d,e){a&&d?(e=document.createElement("div"),d.insertAdjacentElement(a.position,e)):(d=this._checkPlayerSelectorOnPage("stickyPlaylist"),a=d.player,d=d.playerElement,a&&d&&(e=document.createElement("div"),d.insertAdjacentElement(a.position,e)));return e};b.prototype._shouldOverrideElement=function(a){a=a.getAttribute("override-embed");return"true"===a||"false"===a?"true"===a:this._videoConfig.relatedSettings?this._videoConfig.relatedSettings.overrideEmbedLocation:!1};b.prototype._checkPageSelector=function(a,d,e){void 0===e&&(e=[]);return a&&d&&0===e.length?("/"!==window.location.pathname&&q.event("VideoUtils","getPlacementElement",Error("PSNF: ".concat(a," does not exist on the page"))),!1):!0};b.prototype._getElementSelector=function(a,d,e){if(d&&d.length>e)return d[e];q.event("VideoUtils","getPlacementElement",Error("ESNF: ".concat(a," does not exist on the page")));return null};b.prototype._getPlacementElement=function(a){var d=a.pageSelector,e=a.elementSelector;a=a.skip;var f=da(d),g=f.valid,h=f.elements;f=S(f,["valid","elements"]);var k=ca(e),l=k.valid,p=k.elements;k=S(k,["valid","elements"]);return""===d||g?l?this._checkPageSelector(d,g,h)?this._getElementSelector(e,p,a)||null:null:(q.error("VideoUtils","getPlacementElement",Error("".concat(e," is not a valid selector")),k),null):(q.error("VideoUtils","getPlacementElement",Error("".concat(d," is not a valid selector")),f),null)};b.prototype._getEmbeddedPlayerType=function(a){(a=a.getAttribute("data-player-type"))&&"default"!==a||(a=this._videoConfig.relatedSettings?this._videoConfig.relatedSettings.defaultPlayerType:"static");this._stickyRelatedOnPage&&(a="static");return a};b.prototype._getMediaId=function(a){return(a=a.getAttribute("data-video-id"))?(this._relatedMediaIds.push(a),a):!1};b.prototype._createRelatedPlayer=function(a,d,e,f){"collapse"===d?this._createCollapsePlayer(a,e):"static"===d&&this._createStaticPlayer(a,e,f)};b.prototype._createCollapsePlayer=function(a,d){var e=this._checkPlayerSelectorOnPage("stickyRelated"),f=e.player;e=e.playerElement;var g=f?f:this._potentialPlayerMap.stationaryRelated[0];g&&g.playerId?(this._shouldOverrideElement(d)&&(d=this._getOverrideElement(f,e,d)),d=document.querySelector("#cls-video-container-".concat(a," > div"))||d,this._createStickyRelatedPlayer(y(y({},g),{mediaId:a}),d)):q.error(this._component,"_createCollapsePlayer","No video player found")};b.prototype._createStaticPlayer=function(a,d,e){this._potentialPlayerMap.stationaryRelated.length&&this._potentialPlayerMap.stationaryRelated[0].playerId?this._createStationaryRelatedPlayer(y(y({},this._potentialPlayerMap.stationaryRelated[0]),{mediaId:a}),d,e):q.error(this._component,"_createStaticPlayer","No video player found")};b.prototype._shouldRunAutoplayPlayers=function(){return this._isVideoAllowedOnPage()&&(this._potentialPlayerMap.stickyRelated.length||this._potentialPlayerMap.stickyPlaylist.length)?!0:!1};b.prototype._determineAutoplayPlayers=function(){var a=this._component,d="VideoManagerComponent"===a,e=this._config;if(this._stickyRelatedOnPage)q.event(a,"stickyRelatedOnPage",d&&{device:e&&e.context.device,isDesktop:this._device}||{});else{var f=this._checkPlayerSelectorOnPage("stickyPlaylist"),g=f.player;f=f.playerElement;g&&g.playerId&&g.playlistId&&f?this._createPlaylistPlayer(g,f):q.event(a,"noStickyPlaylist",d&&{vendor:"none",device:e&&e.context.device,isDesktop:this._device}||{})}};b.prototype._initializeRelatedPlayers=function(a){for(var d=new Map,e=0;e
  Rate This Recipe