MERRY NO-BAKE COOKIE BALLS are a delicious cookie made with lots of healthy ingredients that you mix together and roll up! No baking so they are easy to make and a cookie ball is perfect to pop right into your mouth.
It’s CHRISTMAS COOKIE WEEK! My blogging friends and I are sharing our best Christmas cookies with you! I made some scrumptious No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Balls! That’s a mouthful and so are these yummy cookies!
My cookie contribution is very easy peasy! It’s no-bake and with just a few ingredients you probably have in your pantry you can whip these scrumptious peanut-buttery chocolate balls up in no time at all!
Actually, you can use the basic recipe and add other ingredients to make it your own!
It’s all about mixing up the ingredients and rolling them into balls with your hand! Yes, they are that easy!
I did dip some in chocolate and they are so so delicious!
If you like not-too-sweet sweet treats then these cookies will be perfect for you.
What I love about this recipe is that it is not rocket science! You can add a little more of this and a sprinkle of that and they will still come out delicious.
I’m not much of a baker (except for cookies) and I really like the idea of not having a chemistry lesson while I’m in the kitchen! And I feel like you need either a science degree or some special innate talent to bake!
Here’s the best thing about these no-bake cookie balls, I don’t feel guilty if I want one for dessert after dinner! They are pretty healthy! YUM!
Oh, and I should mention this no-bake cookie recipe is gluten-free! Oatmeal gives this cookie a great texture!
NO-BAKE COOKIE RECIPE INGREDIENTS
Just dump the ingredients into a bowl and mix. I found mixing it with my hands works best. Clean hands are God-given tools!
Look at those great ingredients!
After mixing the ingredients, I ate a bit from my finger for quality control! Really! I did add a bit more honey and peanut butter to keep the consistency just slightly sticky but not too sticky to roll!
And when I was happy with the taste and consistency of the cookies I put the dough into the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
The secret to really fabulous no-bake cookies is NO DRY COOKIES! Don’t be afraid to add a bit more peanut butter (or any nut butter you choose) to make the mixture stick together. Remember this no-bake cookie recipe is not rocket science!!!!
If you want you can substitute the peanut butter, nuts, dried cherries, chocolate chips, and honey for other add-ins.
I’m going to try the recipe again with cashew butter, honey-roasted cashews, dried apricots, and broken up brittle. And coat the cookies with butterscotch using butterscotch chips. And I’ll top them with a little more broken brittle! Double YUM!
Get creative! Just make sure to use enough nut butter to hold the cookie together!
MAKING COOKIE BALLS
I used a tablespoon to scoop out the cookie dough then rolled them between my palms to make a ball. Then I put them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
When they were all rolled out I put them in the freezer for about 30 minutes.
EMBELLISHING THE COOKIE BALLS
The last part of making this cookie was a bit of an afterthought. Although these no-bake cookies are super delicious they just did not look festive! They did not say CHRISTMAS to me.
So what’s a girl to do? Dunk them in chocolate, what else!!!!
Or make a pretty drizzle design… USING MORE CHOCOLATE!
Covering the cookie balls with chocolate was brilliant! They tasted even more amazing! And certainly looked more festive!
And that is how covering the cookie balls with chocolate came to be a part of this Christmas no-bake cookie ball recipe!
Because covering them was an afterthought I forgot to take pictures. Sorry!
Covering the cookie balls was easy. I just made a chocolate coating using chocolate chips and a little shortening (see the recipe below). Don’t use butter! Use something like Crisco.
I melted the chips in the microwave at 15-second intervals. And stirred them to see if they would melt. It took microwaving them for just 30 seconds for chips and shortening to become soft enough to stir. And stirring them made them soft enough to melt into a beautiful, silky coating!
I dunked the frozen cookie balls into the chocolate, one at a time, and rolled them around until they were covered. Then I fished each cookie ball out of its chocolate bath with a fork and let the excess chocolate drip back into the coating. Then they went back on the parchment-lined baking sheet to completely dry.
Ready to make this no-bake cookie recipe?
NO BAKE CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER OATMEAL BALLS
A scrumptious chocolate peanut buttery ball with a surprise inside!
Print Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup peanut butter or other nut butter
- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
- 3 Tbs honey
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup dried fruit
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups chocolate chips
- 2 tbsp shortening
- 2 tsp shortening
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
- pinch sea salt
Instructions
TO MAKE THE NO-BAKE COOKIE BALLS
Mix the first 8 ingredients (up to and including the vanilla) together in a large bowl. Refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes.
Roll dough into small balls and put the balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Freeze
TO MAKE THE CHOCOLATE COATING
Put 2 cups of chocolate chips plus 1 Tbs plus 2 tsp shortening into a microwave proof bowl. Microwave for high in 15-second intervals. After each interval take the bowl out of the microwave and stir. Do this until you can stir the chips and they melt into a silky chocolate coating. DO NOT OVERHEAT! The heat of the bowl will melt the chips.
Take the cookie balls out of the freezer and dip one at a time in the chocolate coating. Remove them from the chocolate with a fork and let the excess coating drip off the cookie ball back into the coating. Place the coated cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Dry completely at room temperature.
TO MAKE THE WHITE CHOCOLATE DRIZZLE
Put 1/2 cup white chocolate (no shortening) in a small microwave safe bowl. Use the chocolate melting technique above.
Put the melted chocolate into a small plastic sandwich bag and cut a small hole in one of the bottom corners with scissors. Push the white chocolate down to the corner of the bag until al little squirts out.
Put the cookie balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Push the white chocolate so it comes out of the bag in one thin line. Using a back and forth motion, move across each cookie ball from top to bottom. Then turn the cookie 90 degrees and repeat. This will make a stylized crosshatch design.
Add a tiny sprinkle of sea salt or other embellishments to the cookie before the white chocolate dries.
When the cookie balls are completely dry refrigerate or freeze them.
I love them frozen! The dried fruits give a candy-like crunch!
Course: Cookies
Servings: 36 balls
Author: Yvonne Pratt
You might like to make StoneGable’s other Christmas cookies…
- THE BEST SUGAR COOKIE YOU WILL EVER EAT
- RUSSIAN TEA BALLS
I’m sure you will want to see the other delicious cookies.
