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Why You’ll Love My Recipe

These classic cookies, full of sweet and salty flavours, are a hit at school bake sales. Make a batch and devour them immediately, or freeze some for future holiday parties.

Looking for other peanut desserts that don’t require an oven? Why not try making this Buckeye Recipe (Peanut Butter Balls or these delicious Peanut Butter Marshmallow Squares / Confetti Bars?

Reader Review

I think I first found this recipe in one of my mom’s christmas cookie cookbooks – one of my faves! Excited to see it here! I find if you microwave the chocolate & butterscotch chips & peanut butter for 4 minutes @ 60% power, it melts really nice all in one go 🙂 Made these last night and excited to share them for Christmas!

– Megan

Karlynn’s Recipe Notes

Skill Level: This is a very easy recipe. The hardest part about it is waiting for the cookies to chill before you eat them.
Total Time: These cookies will take you only 10 minutes to assemble and 2 hours to chill.
Variations: Have fun mixing and matching different types of chocolate chips. Add some festive sprinkles to the melted mixture or on top of each cookie. Try melting a different colour of chip to drizzle on top, like white chocolate, butterscotch or peanut butter chips.
Tools Needed: For this recipe, you’ll need a cookie sheet, a large microwave-safe bowl, a spoon or spatula, and some parchment paper.

A festive tin lined with parchment paper is filled with clusters of chocolate-covered nuts. One cluster is cut open to show the nutty interior. Holiday decorations and ornaments are visible in the background.

What You’ll Need For Ingredients

Noodles: Yeah, that sounds strange at first. Don’t worry. You’re going to use steam fried chow mein noodles, crunchy with a tiny hint of salt.

Peanuts: Salted or unsalted peanuts are fine. It just depends how salty you’d like your cookies to be. You probably wouldn’t want to use honey roasted peanuts for this recipe, but if that’s what you happen to have at home go right ahead.

Chocolate and Butterscotch: Go with semi-sweet chocolate chips for balanced flavour, dark chocolate if you’d like a bit less sweetness, or milk chocolate to make everything creamier. Butterscotch chips can be replaced with peanut butter chips if you prefer.

Peanut Butter: Depending on how crunchy you’d like these delicious cookies to be, use smooth or crunchy peanut butter. Maybe even try a dark roast peanut butter if you’ve got one around.

How To Make Haystack Cookies

This is a brief overview of the recipe. The full list of ingredients and step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card below.

A glass bowl with chocolate and butterscotch chips plus peanut butter in the center, surrounded by peanuts, more chocolate and butterscotch chips, chow mein noodles, a wooden spoon, and a red plaid towel on a white surface.

A glass bowl of melted chocolate with a spoon surrounded by bowls of chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, peanuts, peanut butter, and dry noodles on a white surface with a red plaid cloth and holiday ornaments.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper.
Mix butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, and peanut butter in a large bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Microwave for 20 seconds at a time, stirring after each interval, until the mixture is smooth and fully melted.
Mix in the peanuts and chow mein noodles. Scoop 1/4 cup amounts into stacks on the cookie sheet. Chill for 2 hours.

A close-up of three chocolate haystack cookies stacked on a white plate with a red rim. The cookies have a rough, textured appearance with visible chocolate-coated pieces.

Karlynn’s Tips and Tricks For Making Haystack Cookies

Alternative Nut Butters: If you can’t use peanut butter, there are absolutely other options. A good almond butter will give you similar results, as will cashew or hazelnut butters. You could also try something like Sunbutter which is made from sunflower seeds. Those options do tend to be more expensive, unless you catch a good sale, but if you happen to have one of these at home already you’re all set. If you’re using a nut substitute for allergy purposes, make sure you use an alternative to the actual peanuts as well.

Melting: If you regularly melt things in the microwave, then you’ll already know that you need to pay close attention. Stir the chocolate chips and peanut butter frequently, scraping the sides of the bowl and letting the residual heat do its job. Those 20 second burst of time are all it takes to get stuff melting, and if you go much past that you’ll end up with scorched chocolate and a smoky kitchen.

A red polka dot plate with chocolate haystack cookies on a white surface, next to a cooling rack with more cookies, glasses of milk with striped straws, and small Christmas ornaments scattered around.

Storage Instructions

These cookies can be stored at room temperature in a sealed container, but they might start to melt. Keeping them in the fridge will help them stay firm. You can also put them in a sealed container in the freezer and take them out as you’re ready to eat them.

Looking for more tasty peanut Cookie recipes?

Try these Crispy Peanut Butter Cookie or make a batch of Peanut Butter Cup Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie.

Add some banana to the mix with these Peanut Butter and Chocolate Banana Pudding Cookies

There you go. A classic no-bake cookie recipe with an unexpected ingredient. Make some and let me know what you think.

Happy Not-Baking!

Karlynn