No-Bake Cookies

These no-bake cookies are easy to make and just as easy to eat—no heat or fuss required. If you love Preacher Cookies, then you'll love this recipe, which uses dark brown sugar instead to draw out the complexities of a bitter chocolate base flavor.

There is a reason why chocolate and peanut butter are a perfect combination for no-bake cookies: crunchy peanut butter and oats add a little extra texture and bite, but the cookie as a whole is satisfyingly chewy and moist.

Learn how to make no-bake cookies, and the next time it's too hot to use the oven—or if you simply don't feel like messing with the fuss of cracking eggs and chilling dough—try this recipe.

Ingredients For No-Bake Cookies

A well-stocked pantry is likely to have everything you need to make no-bake cookies. Here's the list:

• Dark brown sugar: A higher content of molasses in brown sugar lends a complex sweetness and caramel color that offsets the sweetness of the cocoa yet complements it to make a rich, deep chocolate flavor.
• Unsweetened cocoa: Lends the main flavor that makes up the base of the cookie. Stick with natural unprocessed cocoa powder such as Hershey's; Dutch processed cocoa powder will lead to a crumblier, dry cookie, and classic cocoa keeps the bite moist and decadent.
• Kosher salt: Enhances the flavors of the cookie.
• Unsalted butter and milk: While we are not technically "baking" the cookies, it's still important to bring your butter and milk up to a certain temperature—ideally a boil—to allow the cocoa, sugar, and fats of the dairy to fully meld and support the base of the cookie "dough."
• Uncooked quick-cooking oats: Provides the structure and the bulk of the texture of the cookie—since it's not being baked, no egg or flour is needed to bind the crumb together, and oats do the trick.
• Crunchy peanut butter: Adds texture and a nutty peanut butter flavor to the cookie. It's best to avoid natural nut butters with this recipe, as it requires the hydrogenated oils to bind the cookie together.
• Vanilla extract: Adds a subtle vanilla aroma and helps tie together all the flavors of the cookie.
• Flaky salt: No-bake cookies can feel sweet since the sugars don't hit a high temp in the oven, but a touch of flaky salt offsets the sweetness of that first bite.
  

How To Make No-Bake Cookies

While no-bake cookies couldn't be simpler, the most involved part is heating the milk and butter to blend in sugar and cocoa. More detailed instructions are below, but here are the basic steps:

• Step 1. Prepare baking sheets: Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Step 2. Combine sugar and cocoa: Whisk together brown sugar, cocoa, and salt in a saucepan.
• Step 3. Boil butter and milk: Add butter and milk to the saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until combined.
• Step 4. Stir in all ingredients: Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the oats, peanut butter, and vanilla, stirring until just combined.
• Step 5. Shape cookies: Use a tablespoon measure or scoop to drop heaping tablespoons of the cookie mixture on a baking sheet. Simply let sit at room temperature for about 45 minutes, sprinkle with flaky salt, and enjoy.

Our Tips For Making No-Bake Cookies

Even easy cookies like these no-bake ones can benefit from a little extra know-how:

• Avoid natural nut butters in this recipe. Classic, processed, shelf-stable peanut butters, such as JIF and Peter Pan, are great for this recipe, because their hydrogenated oils help sure up and bind the no-bake dough batter.
• Regular processed cocoa is best for this recipe because it emulsifies more easily with the dough mixture for a moist, dense result; processed Dutch cocoa can result in a powdery or dry dough.
• Be careful when working with the milk and sugar mixture at a high heat. Whisk gently to avoid splatters.
• Ensure the cocoa mixture fully dissolves into the milk and butter by using an instant read thermometer reads at least 230°F.
• If you don't like crunchy peanut butter, you can substitute it with creamy peanut butter.

How To Store No-Bake Cookies

There are no ingredients in these cookies that would prevent you from storing no-bake cookies at room temperature up to five days. They'll stay moist and tender. However, for a tougher or "harder" cookie, store these no-bake cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator.