No-bake chocolate oat cookies
The fudgy chocolate peanut butter oat cookies from every bake sale, made on the stove in 15 minutes with no oven at all.
- 45 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 12
- About $0.45 a serving
- 360 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. Whatever’s left keeps for tomorrow.
Ingredients
For 12 servings.
- 1 stick butter
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup peanut butter
- 3 cups rolled oats, quick oats if you have them
From your pantry
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
Each serving has about 360 calories, 6 g protein, 52 g carbs and 15 g fat, and costs about $0.45 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No milk? Half-and-half works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Line 2 with , and measure out the peanut butter, vanilla and oats so they’re ready.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
Parchment paper. Parchment paper is a nonstick, oven-safe paper for lining pans. Food lifts right off and cleanup is easy, but don’t swap in wax paper or put parchment under the broiler.
How you’ll know: It lies flat in the pan, and the food slides off when you lift it.
Dolly’s tip: Once the pot boils, everything moves fast. Having it all measured is the secret.Put the butter, sugar, milk and cocoa in a medium over medium heat and stir until the butter .
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Medium heat
Turn the heat to medium-high, bring it to a , and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring now and then.
Rolling boil. A rolling boil is a hard, fast boil that keeps going even while you stir. Pasta needs one so the water stays hot after the pasta goes in and nothing sits still long enough to stick.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles churn across the whole pot, and stirring doesn’t calm them down.
Medium-high heatTimer: 1 min
Dolly’s tip: Start the timer when bubbles cover the whole surface. That one minute is what makes them set.Food safety: Boiling sugar is much hotter than boiling water and sticks to skin. Use a long spoon, keep children and pets away from the stove, and let it cool before you touch or taste it.
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the peanut butter, vanilla and salt until smooth, then stir in the oats.
Drop spoonfuls onto the sheets and leave them at , about 30 minutes.
Heaping. Heaping means a rounded mound piled above the rim of the spoon or cup, not leveled off. It’s a little more than the measure, on purpose.
How you’ll know: The pile sits above the edge of the spoon, and you leave it there instead of scraping it flat.
Line a pan. Lining a pan means covering the bottom, and often the sides, with parchment paper or foil before the food goes in. Leave the paper hanging over two sides, and you can lift bars or brownies out in one piece to cut them neatly.
How you’ll know: The paper lies flat against the bottom, with flaps sticking up on two sides like handles.
Room temperature. It means letting something sit out until it’s no longer fridge-cold, about 30 to 60 minutes for butter or eggs. It helps things blend smoothly, but never leave raw meat out over 2 hours.
How you’ll know: It feels cool, not cold, and butter dents easily when you press it.
Set. Set means food has firmed up from runny to holding its shape, from cooking, baking or chilling. Set eggs have no clear, runny white left, and a set pudding stays put when you tilt the dish.
How you’ll know: Tilt the pan or press gently near the middle: it barely wobbles, and nothing runs.
Timer: 30 min
Dolly’s tip: Still sticky after an hour? They boiled a little short. Chill them and they’ll firm up.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop picks a dessert for treat night, puts what you need on the week’s grocery list, and walks you through each step.
