No-Bake Peanut Butter HayStacks Recipe That Everyone In My Family Loves
Behind The Recipe
Finally, an absolute just right no-bake peanut butter cookie or bar recipe ever! . . . at least as far as we are concerned. A recipe was given to me about thirty years ago by someone that I worked with. It was always a Christmas time favorite. Really, it was a favorite sweet treat any time of the year. Absolutely everyone in the family always loved these peanut butter Haystacks. They were always one of the first things to disappear from the desserts. Unfortunately, the recipe itself disappeard about ten years ago.
Recipe Tweaks
Over the years, there have been many versions and combinations of ingredients that have been tried. The amount of peanut butter was adjusted and different kinds of milk were tried. I thought I remembered canned milk in the original recipe, but never could get the amount right. It did not help not being able to remember how much of the other ingredients to use. Every mix of ingredients and recipe tried was either too gooey, or something would be off. It just never worked.
Oatmeal is a healthy ingredient here, and quick oats are the version of choice for this recipe. Coconut was another ingredient tossed into the mix. A more moist coconut is preferred to finish this no-bake cookie bar recipe perfectly. At any rate, I am still working on making it even more perfect.
No-Bake Peanut Butter HayStacks
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup real butter (1 stick)
- 1/2 cup canned milk
- 1 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups quick oats
- 1/2 cup coconut (loosely packed)
Instructions
- Line bottom of an 8 x 8, or a 9 x 9 pan baking dish and sit aside. Skip this step if you choose to drop by spoon, to make individual cookies.
- In a larger stew type pot, add the butter and melt over medium heat.
- Once the butter is melted, add the sugar and canned milk.
- Slowly bring to a rolling boil over medium heat. Make sure to stir almost continually to prevent scorching.
- While still on medium heat and once rolling boil begins, continue to boil and stir for one minute.
- After one minute, remove from heat and stir in vanilla, then stir in the peanut butter and coconut, and mix well.
- Stir in quick oats and mix well.
- Pour mixture into the parchment paper lined baking dish and press out evenly to cut into squares, or drop by spoon fulls to make individual cookies.
- Sit aside and allow at least 30 minutes to cool. Allowing sixty minutes to cool would be more adequate.
- Pull parchment paper with cooled haystacks from pan, and cut into desired sized haystacks. Store in air tight container.
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