I’ll let you in on a secret… I love to put peanut butter in EVERYTHING. I just can’t get enough of it. It goes with sweet and savory both – deliciously. So it can pull together anything from a last-minute sauce or stir fry, to a No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookie, smoothie, or bar. It binds, melts, and packs a nutty flavor punch.
These No-Bake Peanut Butter Bites remind me of one of my favorite peanut butter cookie recipes – without the hassle of the oven. They also need way less sugar than a traditional cookie, making them a popular snack choice when we need something to bridge that late afternoon gap between lunch and dinner. That’s the time of day everyone around here starts to get HANGRY.
These peanut butter cookie bites are BETTER than raw cookie dough. So if you crave the dough, these will do the trick! We’ve just skipped the raw flour, eggs, and potential E. coli that makes us feel a little bit guilty about eating a typical raw dough. Let’s be honest though, we’ve all done it. It’s just soooo good!
Equipment
The first time I made these, I used my stand mixer. Though looking back, I have no idea why! They’re actually really easy to fold together with a spatula, so a plain old mixing bowl easily does the trick. The crumbly texture you see above is from the fast pace of the stand mixer. But it pressed together into balls perfectly.
Making adjustments for texture
Not all peanut butters are equal in texture or flavor. So here are a few ways to make simple tweaks as you go to achieve the right consistency with any peanut butter.
- If your peanut butter is a little on the dry side (ie. the bottom of the jar) start with only 3/4 cup of the oat flour. That will likely be all you need, but you can add it in 1 tbsp at a time while the dough mixes if you need it at the end.
- Crunchy peanut butter? Perfect! Now you don’t need to add in the crushed peanuts separately! But again, start with 3/4 cup of the oat flour and add more if needed at the end. Depending on how many chunks are in your jar, they take up the space of the sticky part so you may need a touch less oat flour overall.
- Processed peanut butter like the green lid kind with the bears on it? Sure! That works, too! It typically works as a 1:1 swap depending on the texture of your oat flour (homemade vs. store-bought). Either way, it’s easy to adjust with a touch more oat flour if they end up too sticky to roll.
These No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bites are…
- Ridiculously easy to make
- Just as satisfying as raw cookie dough
- Safer to eat than raw cookie dough
- Peanut Buttery
- Crunchy
- Slightly sweet
- Freezer friendly – so you can always keep them on hand!
So here they are.. our favorite peanut butter cookie dough bites! We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
No Bake Peanut Butter Cookie Bites
Equipment
- Mixing bowl and spatula
- Measuring cups and spoons or a kitchen scale
- Baking sheet or bowl to store them for chilling
Ingredients
- 1¾ cup natural unsalted peanut butter
- 6 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 cup oat flour or rolled oats (just use your high powered blender to make Oat Flour first or your cookie dough will be chunky – which is still delicious!)
- 1½ tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¾ cup crushed peanuts
Instructions
- add oat flour and salt to the food processor and pulse 3 times to mix the salt throughout
- add peanut butter, maple syrup and vanilla
- run food processor on high until a dough forms
- remove dough from food processor and place in a mixing bowl
- fold in crushed peanuts with your hands or a spatula
- use your hands to shape into bite sized balls
- shaped balls are ready to enjoy immediately or chill in the fridge for a firmer texture
- store in the fridge for 4-5 days or freeze for up to 1 month (just remove from the freezer an hour or 2 before you want to eat them or pack in your lunch to go)
- Enjoy!
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