The beauty of this no-bake recipe is its extreme versatility. You can use all sorts of variations for its different elements. For the peanut butter, it works just as well with chunky or creamy, regular or natural. For the “chip,” use what you prefer from the endless range of what’s available nowadays in the baking aisle, whether butterscotch or toffee or semisweet or milk or white chocolate. That said, I’d be a little dubious about using mint chips with peanut butter. You might also try a blend: half butterscotch and half white or darker chocolate, for example. And use something else crunchy if you like: instead of chow mein noodles, try Rice Krispies or cornflakes (or oatmeal, for a chewier cookie). And you can go nuts with the nuts: pecans, almonds, walnuts, cashews, peanuts, honey-roasted peanuts—it’s your cookie, make what you like.
Ingredients
- 2 cups peanut butter
- 4 cups (24 ounces) butterscotch chips
- 2 cups chopped nuts
- 4 cups chow mein noodles
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Line 3 baking sheets with wax or parchment paper.
- Put the peanut butter and chips in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Over medium-low heat, stir continually until the chips are melted and the mixture is smooth (unless you’re using crunchy peanut butter, of course). Remove it from the heat and stir in the remaining ingredients. A heatproof silicone spatula is very useful for turning the mixture over to get it all combined.
- Drop the mixture by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets. They can be close together, so that you can fit 2 dozen onto each sheet. If the mixture starts to stiffen before you reach the end, rewarm it over low heat and stir for a few moments until it softens back up.
- Let the cookies sit for an hour at room temperature until firm; if you have a warm kitchen, you may need to put them in the fridge for 20 minutes to help this process along. Store the cookies in airtight containers for up to 1 week (or 2 weeks in the refrigerator).
