All praise to the best flavor combo in the universe!

no-bake peanut butter cup cookies I howsweeteats.com

I’m absolutely convinced that chocolate and peanut butter can solve all problems.

At least, all of my problems.

These cookies? They are embarrassingly easy. Taste like heaven. The best late night snack.

And it all starts with… cereal.

no-bake peanut butter cup cookies I howsweeteats.com

YES. Cereal. Please don’t unfriend me. But not only am I putting cereal in your cookies, I’m putting actual peanut butter cups in your cookies. These lovely little trashed up cookies only take four ingredients though, so I think we’re good. Plus, they are surprisingly different from the classic no-bake cookies with oats (that I do love, but have been over since, like, 1997 due to mass consumption) and you can eat them COLD!

Cold, chilled peanut butter chocolate slices on a hot summer night. This might be the new margarita.

no-bake peanut butter cup cookies I howsweeteats.com

First, I feel it’s necessary to say that this is basically the MOST unappetizing looking dough and cookie log I’ve ever made. I made and photographed these four times in an attempt to save some sort of face because I didn’t want to give you a brown blob of cookies.

Not sure that these really make a huge difference than the other photos I took, but I HAD to share them! They are just too simple. And just too delicious. You need to know about this. Yesterday.

And for all the other chocolate peanut butter freaks out there? You’re going to be all WHERE HAVE THESE BEEN ALL MY LIFE.

no-bake peanut butter cup cookies I howsweeteats.com

That’s what I did. I came across this recipe in Food and Wine a few months ago and was instantly… intrigued. They sounded so good and so rich and even looked, sort of… well… COLD in the picture. Not cold, but like they’d be chilled and fabulous in the heat of the summer.

And that’s exactly what they are.

no-bake peanut butter cup cookies I howsweeteats.com

So back to the cereal. The original recipe calls for Corn Pops, but I had peanut butter Panda Puffs and ended up using those. YES, more peanut butter flavor. You also add the actual peanut butter cups into the food processor and blend them with the cereal. Isn’t this insane?!

I used four Justin’s dark chocolate peanut butter cups and regular old creamy peanut butter (well, a “natural” version). The dough looked so wildly unappetizing (and nowhere near as dark as the original photo for the magazine) that I added in some dutch processed cocoa which intensified the flavor in the most perfect way. Rolled the dough in sprinkles, threw the entire thing in the freezer and in an hour or so, sliced up some cookies!

GUYS. This is almost like fudge. But still fairly light, if that makes sense, from the crushed, powdery puff cereal. I am now completely obsessed with this method and idea of making other flavors of no-bake cookies. Vanilla almond butter?! Chocolate coconut cashew?

It’s the best thing ever.

no-bake peanut butter cup cookies I howsweeteats.com

No-Bake Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

5 from 1 vote
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Ingredients

Instructions 

  • Place 3 cups of the cereal into your food processor and pulse until powdery crumbs remain. Add the peanut butter cups, peanut butter and cocoa powder and blend until combined and glossy and comes together. Add in the last cup of cereal and pulse just until the cereal pieces break up.
  • Use your hands to scoop out the dough and roll it into a log that’s about 8 to 10 inches long. I wrapped mine in plastic wrap and rolled it until very smooth. If it gets too sticky, stick it in the fridge or freezer for 15 minutes. Place the chocolate sprinkles on a piece of parchment paper and roll the dough through the sprinkles to evenly coat. Wrap up the log and place it back in the fridge or freezer (just depending on how cold you want it!) for about 30 minutes. Remove and slice into rounds before serving.
  • I do store these in the fridge or freezer if there are extras. They taste wonderful cold. I also find that if they sit out, they can get slightly mushy and just don’t have the texture that I love.

Notes

[barely adapted from food + wine]
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no-bake peanut butter cup cookies I howsweeteats.com

Plus tons of crushed ice coffee. Forever.