Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies

As someone who has been a baker pretty much all my life, I’m having a great time coming up with all kinds of camping versions of no-bake cookie recipes.

So far, we’ve got Campfire Haystack Cookies, No Bake Cornflake Cookies, and Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies - all fantastic sweet treats you can cook over a campfire.

Today, I’m sharing my recipe for No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies. Yes, the title is a mouthful... but then again, so are these no bake oatmeal cookies!

Also known as preacher cookies or peanut butter delights, these no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies are chewy, flavorful cookies that work up in just minutes.

My husband is a huge fan of the classic chocolate peanut butter combination (seriously, we should probably budget for “road trip peanut butter cups”, at this point!), so this no bake cookies recipe seemed like the logical extension of the Peanut Butter No Bake Cookie Recipe.

To make this quick treat even more camping friendly, I do it up as a mix.

This not only cuts the work time needed while I should be vacationing, but also saves space, and cuts the number of different ingredients we have to pack in the RV.

I love doing baking mixes for camping - aside from the cookie and other dessert mixes, I do them up for Protein Pancake Mixes, Soup Mixes, Bannock, and Cornbread, and more. Really makes life easy on the road!

Also: No need for a candy thermometer!

Anyway, these peanut butter chocolate are a favourite among favourites with us, so let’s get right to it!

Ingredients

This easy chocolate peanut butter cookies recipe uses really common ingredients, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding everything you need in pretty much any grocery store.

Old fashioned Oats

This recipe uses rolled oats, AKA old-fashioned oats. For best results, use that specific kind!

Steel-cut oats, and any form of quick oats - AKA quick cooking oats or instant oats - aren’t going to work the same way in this recipe, as they all behave differently.

Finally, to make these as gluten free no bake cookies, just use certified gluten-free oats - everything else in the recipe is inherently gluten free!

Creamy Peanut Butter

We’ve only ever made this with creamy peanut butter, though I’m sure you could use almond butter, if you can’t do peanuts.

I wouldn’t recommend using crunchy peanut butter in the same amount, though - you’d need some extra peanut butter to make up for the volume lost to the peanuts.

We’ve never made these cookies with natural peanut butter, as I don’t want to sacrifice RV fridge space for a peanut butter that annoys me in the first place!

If peanuts are an issue, feel free to use almond butter instead.

Salted Butter

I use salted butter, but you can use unsalted butter if that’s what you have on hand. Just add a good pinch of EXTRA salt to the recipe - about ⅛ tsp.

Granulated Sugar

I use plain white sugar, but you can use packed brown sugar if you prefer - it’ll boost the chocolate flavour, for a richer taste overall.

That said, if you’re doing these up as mixes - I recommend sticking to the granulated sugar, for best results. It won’t dry out and clump like brown sugar does!

Milk

You can use whatever kind of milk you like to drink. 2% is a good default, whole milk works well, etc.

We tend to make this recipe with dairy-free milk - unsweetened almond milk - and it works just fine!

Everything Else

Rounding out this no bake cookie recipe, you will need:

Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Pure Vanilla Extract
Salt

I don’t have anything to add, as far as these last few go. Like I said - really simple ingredients!

How to Make Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies

The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the end of this post. Here is the visual walk through, with some additional information.

Cookie Mix

Using a Sharpie, label the large freezer bag with the recipe name - No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies - the ingredients and amounts listed under “To use the mix”, and whatever directions you need (see below).

Measure the oats and salt into the large bag, shake well to combine.

Measure the sugar and cocoa powder into the medium baggie. Press out any excess air, and seal.

Place the medium baggie of cocoa and sugar mixture into the large baggie of oats and salt.

Press out excess air, seal, and store in a cool dark place until use.

To Use the Mix:

Get a hot fire going. (If cooking on a stovetop, you can do this at either medium heat or medium-high heat)

As that’s heating up, spread a large section of parchment paper over your picnic table, or line a large cookie sheet or two, set aside.

Dump the bag of oats into a heat safe mixing bowl. (A large bowl)

Measure the milk and butter into a dutch oven (or medium saucepan, if at home), place over the fire and allow the butter to melt. Once the butter is melted, add the packet of sugar and cocoa to the pot.

Bring the chocolate mixture up to a full rolling boil, allow to boil for 2-3 minutes. (2 for softer cookies, 3 for slightly firmer cookies that set up faster!).

Once the time is up, remove the pot from the fire.

Measure the peanut butter and vanilla into the sugar mixture, stirring carefully to melt and incorporate the peanut butter.

Once the mixture is smooth, add to the bowl of oats and salt, stirring to coat everything evenly. Allow mixture to sit for 2 minutes, to thicken slightly.

Using two spoons (or a medium cookie scoop), drop mounds of the cookie dough onto the prepared work surface or baking sheet.

If flies are an issue, I recommend loosely covering the work area with more parchment paper - or wax paper - once the cookies have all been scooped.

Allow cookies to fully cool – cookies will harden and set up as they cool to room temperature.

Note: When made outside, cookies will harden faster on cooler, overcast, windy days, than they will on hot & sunny days.

Once fully set, transfer cookies to an airtight container – these will keep a long time, assuming they go uneaten that long!

More Camping Dessert Recipes

Looking for some sweet treats to cook over a campfire or grill? Here's a few of my favourites!

Apple Fritter Bread Pudding
Apple Fritter French Toast
Banana Boats
Campfire Cones
Campfire Haystack Cookies
How to Make Maple Taffy
No Bake Cornflake Cookies
No-Bake S'Mores Bars
Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies
Skillet Berry Crumble
S'mores Board

... But wait, there's more! Be sure to check out our other Camping Recipes, including Camping Desserts, Camping Snacks, Make-Ahead Camping Mix Recipes, and a ton of delicious Camping Main Dish Recipes.

Also, we had SO much fun designing gourmet jerky recipes for our camping trips, we started a whole new blog for them! Check out Dried & Tasty for all kinds of fun recipes to make in your food dehydrator!