No Bake Haystack Cookies
No Bake Haystack Cookies are an easy cookie recipe made with creamy peanut butter and butterscotch, crunchy Chow Mein noodles, and salty peanuts.
These delicious No Bake Haystack Cookies bring back a lot of childhood memories. As a kid I remember thinking that cookies made with Chow Mein noodles sounded so weird, but after that first sweet and salty bite I was sold!
I make my chow mein noodle cookies with butterscotch chips, so they look just like little haystacks making them perfect for parties from fall all the way through Christmas.
They are also no bake cookies, which make them very kid friendly. You melt your butterscotch chips in the microwave, so they are a very easy Christmas cookie to make with your kids!
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What is in a Haystack Cookie?
- Peanut Butter – You will want smooth, not crunchy.
- Butterscotch chips – You can substitute with peanut butter chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips.
- Cocktail Peanuts – Make sure they are salted. You can get lightly salted if you want to cut down on salt.
- Chow Mein Noodles – these are the crunchy Chow Mein noodles most often made by La Choy. You’ll find them in the international aisle of the grocery store with other Asian food products.
That’s it! Four simple ingredients for delicious no bake cookies.
There are lots of variations to this recipe. I like butterscotch haystacks, but you may like chocolate haystacks or even peanut butter haystacks. If so, you can substitute chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or white chocolate chips for the butterscotch chips.
Some recipes call for pretzel sticks instead of Chow Mein noodles. A lot of recipes also add mini marshmallows, or substitute marshmallows for peanuts.
If you are making cookies for someone with a peanut allergy who can eat tree nuts you could try it with almond butter and almonds, or cashew butter and cashews.
If you love no bake cookies make sure to try the classic No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies and our traditional No Bake Christmas Wreath Cookies.
How to Make Haystack Cookies
Step 1 – Melt butterscotch and peanut butter – In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine butterscotch chips and peanut butter. Microwave the mixture for 30 seconds at a time. Stir well in between each 30 seconds until it is smooth.
Step 2 – Add other ingredients – In a large bowl, combine peanuts and Chow Mein noodles. Pour the melted butterscotch mixture over them, gently stirring until everything is well coated.
Step 3 – Make piles on parchment paper – Drop the mixture onto parchment paper to form 2-2.5-inch piles. Let them cool until the butterscotch is fully hardened.
Tips for the Perfect Results:
- Use salted peanuts. It gives the cookies a great salty sweet flavor!
- Use parchment paper! Yes, you can use wax paper if needed but parchment paper (or a silicone mat) makes getting them off the paper so much easier. Don’t use aluminum foil as it will stick to the cookies.
- There is no precise way to shape your haystacks. Drop them on to the parchment paper in 2-2.5 inch piles and make sure all of the noodles and peanuts in each pile are touching each other so when they harden they will be stuck together.
- Once your haystacks are on the parchment paper that is where they stay until they are fully cooled and firmed up. It you place the parchment paper on a baking sheet that makes moving them around easier.
Most Chow Mein noodles are not gluten free. However, there are several brands of gluten free Chow Mein noodles you can buy if you are gluten sensitive. You can also sub them out with gluten free pretzel sticks if you prefer.
Everything else in the recipe is gluten free, so with one minor change your cookies can be gluten free.
Yes! Let the butterscotch coating harden. Place them in an airtight container with a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper between each layer of cookies. Store in freezer up to 2 months.
When ready to use, remove from container and let them come to room temperature before storing in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
We let them come to room temperature outside of the container to help prevent condensation from forming, which can make the cookies wet.
How to Store
Once the butterscotch coating has hardened, these cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
We recommend putting a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper between each layer of cookies inside of the container to prevent them from sticking together.
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No Bake Haystack Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup Butterscotch Chips
- ½ cup Creamy Peanut Butter
- 1 cup Salted Peanuts
- 5 oz Chow Mein Noodles
Instructions
- In a small microwave-safe bowl combine butterscotch chips and peanut butter. Microwave the mixture for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between each, until it is smooth.
- In a large bowl combine peanuts and chow mein noodles. Pour the melted butterscotch mixture over them, gently stirring until everything is well coated.
- Drop the mixture onto parchment paper to form 2-2.5 inch piles. Let them cool until the butterscotch is fully hardened.
- Serve or store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Nutrition
Delicious recipe same as my mom made us when we were young. Thanks for sharing!
These are as yummy and addictive as I remember. Have you ever tried freezing these? Just wondering if they freeze well.
I haven’t forzen them but I think they would be just fine. Just let them come to room temp before serving so they won’t be too hard 🙂
These look so good! I’ve never used chow mien noodles in a dessert before!
Can’t find LaChoy chow mein noodles anywhere. All stores are out of them. Otherwise, been making these for many years and they are delicious
I put mini marshmallows in there instead of nuts
Sounds delicious! I best that would be good with a milk or dark chocolate version too!
Just how much is 5 oz of noodles 🤷♀️please ?
Hi April, it’s 142 grams if that helps.
My butterscotch mix is too thick, not pourable. Can you recommend a way to thin it so that my noodles don’t beak when I mix it together please.
Did you add the peanut butter? It should be thick but pourable when hot and it shouldn’t break your noodle up (a few broken ones are bound to happen). If you are really unhappy with the consistency you can add more peanut butter (and make sure you heat everything again) but this is a pretty tired and true recipe so that shouldn’t be necessary.