Rich, decadent, and delicious classic chocolate peanut butter no-bake cookies are the perfect summer dessert. Make on the stovetop, or use the microwave to keep your home cool!

This is another recipe I can’t make too often, because I will eat the entire thing in one sitting. For those who aren’t familiar, classic no-bake cookies are a fudgy, peanut-buttery wonderland of melt-in-your-mouth goodness. And the best part: they’re also a fantastic way to sate that sweet tooth without heating up your home. With temperatures reaching 100 last week, that’s a real plus for us! This is one of my favorite cookie recipes of all time!

The standard way to make these cookies is over the stove top in a saucepan. It’s sweaty work in the heat, which means that these cookies were out of reach in the summertime for me. However, after much experimentation, I’ve found a microwaving technique that gives you that same fudgy goodness without any of the sweaty stirring! This makes them one of the easiest cookie recipes I know how to make! I’m looking forward to applying this new technique to some other no-bake favorites, like these avalanche cookies, or these scotchies.

What do I need?

​These cookies come together with just a few simple ingredients: 

• Cocoa: I love Hershey’s Dark Cocoa powder, which lends a decadent depth to these cookies. If you’re not a dark chocolate lover, any cocoa powder works here.
• Butter or margarine: These can be used interchangeably, but be aware that there will be a difference in the consistency of your cookie. Butter has a little bit less water in it, and will give you a thicker cookie. I recommend unsalted butter in this recipe. If you choose salted butter, omit the pinch of salt! Margarine makes a more spread-out cookie. You can fight that tendency a bit by leaving the batter in the fridge longer before spooning it into cookies, and then put the cookies back into the fridge to set up.
• Oats: The kind of oats you use will change the consistency of the cookies. Instant oats are finer, and have less chew to them in the final cookies. In fact, quick oats almost disappear into the rest of the ingredients. Old fashioned oats are going to be less chewy and more obviously there in your cookies.
• Creamy peanut butter: This is the glue that holds the cookie together. You want something like good old Jif. I use the cheap Great Value creamy peanut butter. Do NOT use any natural peanut butter that separates and has to be stirred. It doesnt have enough “stick” to create a solid consistency, and you’ll end up with goopy cookies that never set up. Almond butter, cashew butter, and sun butter can work as substitutes here, but make sure you get a brand that is thick!
• Granulated Sugar: White sugar adds structure to these cookies and keeps them from drying out. You can also sub up to 1/2 of the granulated sugar for brown sugar or cane sugar.  
• Milk: You can use any kind of milk you’d like here. I’m a fan of whole milk, but you can sub 1%, 2%, and even plant-based milks like oat or almond milk!
• Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla extract tastes amazing in this easy cookie recipe. You can also use artificial vanilla extract. Almond and butter extract change the flavor of your cookies, but they also work and create a delicious variation! 
• Salt: Salt acts as an intensifier in a recipe. It brings out all of the flavors. If you’re using salted butter, omit the salt — you’ve already got it in the butter!

How do I make no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies?

Step 1 | Heat the ingredients

Normally, you’d do this on the stovetop, bringing the sugar, butter/margarine, milk, and cocoa to a boil and boiling it for 3 minutes. However, in the new, improved microwavable version, you can mix all 4 ingredients together in a large microwave-safe bowl. Then you microwave for 2 minutes, stir everything really well to make sure it’s completely combined and microwave again for 2 minutes. That’s it. You get a full rolling boil in 4 minutes flat. That’s all the heating you have to do. It’s much faster than the classic recipe!

Step 2 | Mix in the Rest and Let It Rest

Add the peanut butter, oats, and vanilla in to the chocolate mixture. Then, you let the batter rest for at least 15 minutes. I put mine into the fridge to start to set up. I also will leave it for longer so that my cookies are thicker, with the perfect texture, like in the pictures. If you like the thinner ones (like these), you can start scooping sooner!

Step 3 | Scoop and Set

Once the cookie dough has thickened a bit, scoop it onto a wax paper or parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Then, you’ll let the cookies set up completely, which can take an hour if you leave them on the counter, but as little as 30 minutes if you put them in the fridge.

​Variations

This recipe is so versatile — there are tons of delicious variations you can make with just a few adjustments. Here are a few of my favorites!

• Chocolate Coconut No Bakes: Add 1/2 cup shredded coconut to the batter before scooping. 
• Rocky Road No Bakes: Sub almond butter for the peanut butter. Add 1/2 cup mini marshmallows and 1/2 cup chopped almonds into the batter before scooping. 
• Chocolate Mint No Bakes: Sub mint extract for the vanilla extract.
• Salted Caramel No Bakes: Add 1/2 cup caramel bits to the batter before you microwave. Top the finished cookies with flaky salt.