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If you need a sweet fix fast these No Bake Cookies are perfect. The ideal no bake oatmeal cookie recipe for when you don’t want to switch on the oven. These fridge cookies are made with peanut butter and gluten free oats, and studded with milk chocolate chips.
No Bake Cookies are definitely more of a ‘thing’ in the US than the UK, so I was really excited to try making my own no bake oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
And I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised! These chocolate peanut butter cookies are SO easy to make and way quicker than baking gluten free cookies.
Plus making no bake peanut butter oatmeal cookies means you don’t need to turn on the oven – perfect for a hot day.
Because they use gluten free oats they’re completely gluten free and you can also make them dairy free with a few simple swaps.
No Bake Cookies are a really fun recipe to make with kids and after an hour of chilling them in the fridge you get fudgy, chocolately, delicious cookie treats!
I think they’re a bit like a cross between a cookie and a flapjack, with a fudgy peanut butter taste. I can’t get enough of them!
If you’re a fan of my Gluten Free Oat and Raisin Cookies or Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Flapjack then you’re pretty much guaranteed to love these no bake oatmeal cookies.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this no bake cookie recipe. The quantities and method can be found in the recipe card below.
- Butter: I use unsalted butter, but for a dairy free/vegan no bake cookie you can use a dairy free margarine instead. I’ve tested this recipe with coconut oil too – it does work but can yield a strong coconut flavour if you try this instead.
- Brown Sugar: Light brown or dark brown sugar will work. The darker the sugar, the more treacle-like these cookies will taste.
- Granulated Sugar: The mixture of sugars helps to get the right texture in these cookies.
- Milk: I used full fat milk but semi-skimmed or skimmed milk is fine. You can also swap this for a dairy free milk if you need to, such as almond milk or coconut milk.
- Smooth Peanut Butter: I prefer a creamy peanut butter in my no bake cookies. But you can also use a crunchy peanut butter if you prefer. I always recommend using a natural peanut butter which is palm oil free.
- Vanilla Extract: Most vanilla extracts are naturally gluten free.
- Gluten Free Oats: Always make sure you use certified gluten free oats. I used gluten free porridge oats. It doesn’t matter if you use quick cooking oats or old fashioned oats, as long as they are certified gluten free.
- Milk Chocolate Chips: Most chocolate chips are gluten free but always check for may contain warnings. Sub for dairy free/vegan chocolate chips if needed.
How to make No Bake Cookies
Here are some step-by-step photos to show you how easy this gluten free No Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies are to make:
First, add the butter, sugars and milk to a non-stick saucepan and place on a low-medium heat. Keep stirring until it reaches a rolling boil.
Once it has reached a rolling boil, set a timer for 1 minute and allow the mixture to boil for this time, stirring occasionally.
This step is SUPER important – if you don’t properly boil the caramel then your cookies won’t set! So make sure the caramel is boiling before setting the timer.
Remove the pan from the heat and add the peanut butter and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Stir until the peanut butter has melted and you have a smooth liquid.
Add the gluten free oats to the pan and three-quarters of the chocolate chips. The chocolate will melt to create delicious chocolate peanut butter cookies!
Stir through until completely combined and then leave to stand for 5-10 minutes until it’s cool enough to handle.
Use an ice-cream scoop to take a scoop at a time from the dough, and then roll into a ball using your hands. (This is why the dough needs to cool a little first!)
Gently press down the cookie dough balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and repeat until you’ve used all the mixture.
It should make around 12 cookies but you can make bigger or smaller cookies if you prefer. These are great for making with kids so mini no bake cookies can be super fun!
Press the extra chocolate chips into the top of the cookies. Place the baking tray in the fridge and leave to chill for at least an hour before eating.
Storing and Freezing
These No Bake Oatmeal Cookies should ideally be kept in the fridge so that they don’t soften too much. But I’ve found they’ll last 1-2 weeks in there.
You can also freeze these No Bake Cookies, and I recommend doing this between sheets of baking paper so they don’t stick together.
Simply defrost at room temperature and if you’re not eating them right away, pop them in the fridge so they don’t soften too much.
Variations
Want to try some different variations of these No Bake Cookies? Here are a few ideas:
- Nut Free: For nut free No Bake Cookies try using sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter. For peanut free, use almond butter or cashew butter.
- Vegan: For gluten free vegan No Bake Cookies you can swap the butter for vegan margarine (or coconut oil) and use dairy free milk and chocolate chips.
- Coconut: Try adding some coconut flakes or desiccated coconut to the mixture for a more tropical version of these No Bake Cookies
- Double Chocolate: For No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies you could 1-2 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder in with the peanut butter and vanilla extract.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some FAQs about these No Bake Cookies. If you can’t find the answer to your question here or in the post above, please comment and I’ll try answer!
Aside from oats, all the ingredients for ‘normal’ No Bake Cookies are naturally gluten free. So as long as you follow this recipe and use certified gluten free oats, your No Bake Oatmeal Cookies will be gluten free and coeliac-safe.
The most common reason your No Bake Cookies didn’t firm up in the fridge is because you didn’t boil the caramel. It’s important for the caramel to reach a rolling boil before you then boil it for one minute over medium heat. If you skip this step to save time your no bake cookies will not firm up in the fridge.
This recipe has been tested to have the right ratio of caramel-to-oats. Trust me, I’ve eaten a lot of dry cookies in the process of getting this right! If you’ve tried to amend the ingredients – such as reduce the sugar content or use a replacement like honey or maple syrup – you won’t get the same results.
To be honest, I’ve kept batches of these in my fridge for weeks and they’ve been absolutely fine. I think the high sugar content helps to preserve them! I’d recommend keeping them for 1-2 weeks but honestly I think they’d probably be fine for longer than that in a sealed container in the fridge.
If you make this recipe and love it, please do let me know by tagging me on my Instagram or using #theglutenfreeblogger. You can also share your creations in my Facebook group! And please do leave a 5* review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ to let others know you loved it too! It would mean the world to me and really helps support my website.
Gluten Free No Bake Cookies
Ingredients
- 60 g unsalted butter, (dairy free if needed)
- 75 g brown sugar
- 75 g granulated sugar
- 75 ml milk, (dairy free if needed)
- 125 g smooth peanut butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 200 g gluten free oats
- 75 g milk chocolate chips, (dairy free if needed)
Instructions
- Add the butter, sugars and milk to a non-stick saucepan and place on a low-medium heat. Keep stirring until it reaches a rolling boil.
- Once it has reached a rolling boil, set a timer for 1 minute and allow the mixture to boil for this time, stirring occasionally. This is SUPER important – if you don't properly boil the caramel then your cookies won't set!
- Remove the pan from the heat and add the peanut butter and vanilla extract. Stir until the peanut butter has melted and you have a smooth liquid.
- Add the gluten free oats to the pan and three-quarters of the chocolate chips. Stir through until completely combined and then leave to stand for 5-10 minutes until it's cool enough to handle.
- Use an ice-cream scoop to take a scoop at a time from the dough, and then roll into a ball using your hands. Gently press down on a lined baking sheet and repeat until you've used all the mixture – it should make around 12 cookies.
- Press the extra chocolate chips into the top of the cookies. Place the baking tray in the fridge and leave to chill for at least an hour before eating.
Notes
- Weighing Scales vs Cups: You can toggle this recipe card to convert the ingredients into cups – I have weighed each item individually to ensure the conversion is accurate as possible. However, I always recommend using weighing scales – these are cheap to buy and much more accurate. And in gluten free baking, a tiny variation can make a huge difference!
- Step-by-Step Photos: Check out the blog post above for step-by-step photos to guide you through how this no bake cookies recipe should look at each stage.
- Storing and Freezing: Check out the post above this recipe card for more information on how to store these no bake cookies and how to freeze any leftovers.
- Like this Recipe? It would mean SO much to me if you could leave a 5* rating and tell all your gluten free friends about this Gluten Free No Bake Cookies!
Nutrition
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