No-Bake Peanut Cookies

These no-bake peanut butter cookies are half cookie, half candy. A sugar syrup cooked to soft ball stage gets mixed with peanut butter, oats, and chopped salted peanuts, then dropped onto waxed paper to cool and firm up.

Hitting the right temperature is everything. Soft ball stage means the sugar syrup has cooked enough to set the cookies firm but still chewy. Undershoot it and the cookies never hold together. Overshoot it and they turn rock hard.

If you don’t have a candy thermometer, use the cold water test: drop a bit of syrup into ice water and squeeze it between your fingers. It should form a soft, pliable ball that flattens when you set it down.

Kitchen Tips

• Drop the cookies fast once you stir everything together. The mixture sets up quickly and gets too stiff to scoop if you wait.
• Use old-fashioned rolled oats, not quick oats. Quick oats turn mushy and the cookies lose their texture.
• Salted peanuts are key. They cut through the sweetness and add crunch that plain peanuts can’t match.
• Store in a single layer or with waxed paper between layers. They stick to each other if stacked.

Variations

• Add a couple tablespoons of cocoa powder to the sugar syrup for chocolate peanut butter no-bakes.
• Swap peanut butter for almond butter and use chopped almonds.
• Stir in shredded coconut with the oats for added chew and tropical flavor.