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Chewy, peanut buttery, and easy? Yes, please! Without much effort, you can whip up these No-Bake Peanut Butter Bites.
BURNT COOKIES & THE PARTY IS STARTING
It’s the 1950’s, and you are hosting an open house for the holidays. In an hour, all of your friends will be joyfully crowding your little place, which is decorated to the tee with tinsel. You are the perfect host, drinks are on ice, mistletoe is hanging in a few key spots, and you have cookies in the oven.
Oh no, the cookies…you forgot about them while you were getting dolled up. You run to the oven and yup…they are scorched; blackened to a crisp with no return. The neighbor’s dog would turn his nose up to them.
So what are you to do? The cookies are to be the centerpiece dessert. Being the ever prepared lady you are, you don’t worry one bit. The quick, easy, no-bake recipe up your sleeve, is sure to be a hit.
You open up “Fancy Cookies, Festive Candies: Delicious Goodies for Giving,” and thanks to the magic of Karo Syrup and peanut butter, your party goes off without a hitch.
Okay, obviously I’m not a time traveler. I have no idea if this situation really happened, but doesn’t it seem totally relatable? I know I’ve left things in the oven too long while getting ready for a party…and I (basically) cook for a living!
SAVE THE DAY WITH A NO-BAKE RECIPE
We are all so busy trying to do a million things while also being the perfect host. Things can definitely fall thru the cracks. That’s why no-bake recipes are fantastic for parties.
These No-Bake Peanut Butter Bites are insanely easy. Only five ingredients, and no cooking involved…just a little elbow grease when mixing the dough together. Not only are they easy to make, they are delicious.
You know how wonderful it is to eat spoonfuls of peanut butter out of the jar while standing in the light of the refrigerator at midnight? (Yes, right? Good, I knew I couldn’t be the only person!) This recipe evokes those same magical feelings of eating spoonfuls of peanut butter in the privacy of your home, but you can eat them around your friends, during the day, and not be judged. I promise.
ALWAYS MORE PEANUT BUTTER, ALWAYS
This easy No-Bake Peanut Butter Bites recipe is inspired by a recipe for Peanut Butter Kisses published in the 1956 recipe pamphlet “Fancy Cookies, Festive Candies: Delicious Goodies for Giving.” My Simple Rich Refrigerator Fudge recipe also comes from this pamphlet, and most of the recipes included in it are very easy, and, you guessed it, make great gifts. The only catch is the pamphlet promotes Mazola Corn Oil and Karo Syrup, so every recipe has one or the other.
After testing the original Peanut Butter Kisses recipe, I found the dough to be pretty stiff, and not enough peanut butter flavor. As usual, I changed the ratios for this version a bit. Now my No-Bake Peanut Butter Bites are perfectly peanut buttery. I also added a coating of finely crushed graham crackers, just for funsies.
What do you think about these little bites of peanut buttery goodness? I’d love to hear your thoughts below in the comments!
NO-BAKE PEANUT BUTTER BITES RECIPE TIPS
-You will need to use some elbow grease when mixing the ingredients together! You can do it!
-I prefer to use a creamy, non-separated peanut butter in this recipe (you know…not the “all-natural” variety). You are more than welcome to try it with natural peanut butter, but you may need to up the amount of powdered sugar or milk powder to balance out the extra oil.
Recipe
1950’s No-Bake Peanut Butter Bites
Ingredients
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup light corn syrup
- ⅓ cup non-fat dry milk powder
- ⅓ cup sifted powdered sugar
- ¼ finely crushed graham cracker crumbs
Instructions
- Thoroughly mix peanut butter and corn syrup in a medium bowl.
- Add the non-fat dry milk powder and powdered sugar. Stir until combined (this will take some elbow grease!).
- Take 1 teaspoonful of the dough and roll into a tight ball. Roll in the crushed graham cracker crumbs and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper.
- Chill for at least 30 minutes and serve! These are best stored covered in the fridge.
Larry says
Used to get these in my grammar school cafeteria in the 50's and 60's for 2 cents each. Sooo good
Michelle Weiner says
Fun!
Angelina Marie says
Omg! I've looked EVERWHERE for a recipe like this!! I mean I could not find one anywhere until this one!! The one I used to make had Peanut Butter, Corn Syrup, Confectioner sugar, powdered milk and Vanilla!! THIS recipe is close and I LOVE that it has Graham crackers!!!! Yay!!!
Michelle Weiner says
YAY!!!!! It's so awesome that you found my recipe and it's close to the one you used to make! Glad you loved it!
Angelina says
I know this is older, but back in the late 90s I believe there was a recipe called Peanut Butter Chews. Seems the Internet is legitimately CUT OFF and no longer displays the rest of what should be on there. Ugh. That said I couldn't ever find it again. I do know it called for Peanut Butter/Corn Syrup/Powdered Milk and I don't remember the other ingredients! But they were AMAZING. Michelle it seems these are similar! Has anyone else tried a similar recipe? I think this is so close!
Michelle Weiner says
The internet is going through some crazy changes now with all the AI, so that's probably why it's hard to find that favorite recipe of yours! My recipe might be close to what you're describing! Maybe play with the ratios to get these to the same consistency you remember?
Christi says
Peanut Butter Chews are amazing! We’ve been making them since the 1980’s. The recipe I have for peanut butter chews is:
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup light corn syrup
2 cups non-fat dry milk
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
Mix together. Press the mixture into an 8”x8” dish, cut into desired size squares, and refrigerate.
Michelle Weiner says
Awesome! Thanks for sharing your recipe 🙂
Angelina says
Hello there! I just LOVE recipes from the 1950's. They are made very differently than anything today! They just give that feeling of nostalgia. Anyhow, can I use almond flour instead of powered milk if thats all I have? Thank you!
Michelle Weiner says
Angelina! Yay! Glad you found the recipe! That's a great question. I've never tried these with almond flower instead of powdered milk. The only downside I can think of is that the milk powder absorbs moisture well and I don't know how well almond flower absorbs moisture. So what I'm getting at is you can give these a go with almond flower, but you may need to reduce the amount of corn syrup. I hope it works and please report back with your findings!