No-Bake Chocolate Oat Cookies
Chocolate, peanut butter and oats set into fudgy drop cookies with no oven. The one-minute boil is everything.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 5 min
- Total
- 40 min
- Makes
- 24 cookies
These old-fashioned no-bake cookies set as they cool, no oven required. The single most important step is boiling the sugar mixture for one full minute once it reaches a rolling boil.
Why timing matters
- Too short a boil: the cookies stay sticky and will not set.
- Too long a boil: they turn dry and crumbly.
- Humid days can make them softer; boil for an extra 15 seconds.
No-Bake Chocolate Oat Cookies
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 5 min
- Rest & wait
- 30 min
- Total
- 40 min
- Makes
- About 24 cookies
Ingredients
Method
Line two baking sheets with parchment and measure out all the ingredients before you start.
In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, milk and cocoa. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring.
Once it is boiling hard, set a timer and boil for exactly 1 minute without stirring.
Take off the heat and stir in the peanut butter, vanilla and salt until smooth, then the oats.
Quickly drop heaping tablespoons onto the parchment. Let them set at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
A new recipe from our editors: times are estimates and have not yet been confirmed in our own test kitchen. Use the doneness cues and temperatures above.
Questions, answered
Why did my no-bake cookies not set?
The mixture did not boil long enough. Bring it to a full rolling boil and time exactly one minute from that point.
Why are my no-bake cookies dry and crumbly?
The mixture boiled too long. Next time, stop at one minute.
