Smooth salted caramel, crunchy toffee chips, and chocolate wrapped up in super easy No Bake Caramel Cookies! I can’t think of a thing not to love about these cookies!
I love no bake cookies, and I love caramel! I mean who doesn’t right? Today is the first day I’ve been home since my boys started school. That’s right a whole day to do whatever I wanted, ya right! I started with laundry, dishes, sprayed weeds in the yard, payed a few bills, and picked up my boys rooms. I normally make them clean up their own rooms, but today I was proud of them for getting up and practicing the piano without even being asked so I decided I would be a little nice. I had every intention of making cookies for the boys to come home to. The same thing happened to me that always happenes and I got busy doing other things and could see I was running out of time. That’s when I resorted to No Bake Caramel Cookies! Ten minutes later I crossed cookie making off my to do list and moved on to filing! (Making cookies is more fun!)
All you have to do is boil some sugar, butter and milk. Add a little salt, butterscotch pudding (ya that’s right), oats, and give it a stir. Let it cool while you line a cookie sheet with wax paper, you could sweep the floor while the cookies cool a little too…if you hurry you can sweep the floor. Add chocolate chips, toffee chips, and give it a quick stir. You don’t want to over stir or the chocolate chips will melt everywhere, which probably wouldn’t be an entirely bad thing. I like my chocolate a little separated from the caramel so you get a little of everything in each bite.
Drop them on a cookie sheet and let em sit for at least 15 minutes, if you can wait 30 minutes is better.
Grab a glass of milk and enjoy! Don’t get me wrong…I love classic No Bake Cookies! But CARAMEL NO BAKE COOKIES, you have to admit that is a fun twist on a good ol’ classic! I love em! Really, I do!
No Bake Caramel Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 c. granulated sugar
- 3/4 c. butter
- 2/3 c. evaporated milk
- 1 5.1 oz. pkg instant butterscotch pudding if you can't fine this size use a 3.4 oz
- 3 1/2 c. quick oats
- sea salt to taste I used a few grinds
- 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 c. toffee chips
Instructions
- Bring sugar, butter, and evaporated milk to a rolling boil over medium heat. Stir frequently.
- Remove from heat and add oats, dry pudding, and salt. Let sit for a few minutes until it cools a little bit.
- Line a cookie sheet with wax paper.
- Add chocolate chips and toffee chips to cookie mixture. Gently stir being careful to not over stir or else the chocolate chips will be totally incorporated.
- Drop by cookie scoopfuls onto wax paper.
- Let sit for at least 15 minutes.
These look amazing! I must try. I will report back! 🙂
Yes! Let me know what you think!
In which step.do you add the pudding mix?
Sorry, I forgot to include that in the instructions. I’ll go fix it right now. I added the pudding mix with the oats. Thanks for pointing that out!
Would using the 3.4 oz pudding make it just less butterscotch or change the consistency?
I’ve never tried that so I can’t say for sure. I imagine they would make the cookies a little less set up, and a little less butterscotch flavor. If you let the mixture boil just a little bit longer it might help with the cookies to still set up firm enough. Let me know if you try it!
Caramel cookies and no bake?!! YAY!
I know right? Caramel “anything” is a winner with my crew! These just happen to be super easy!
Those look awesome and I love how simple they are to make!
Life is so crazy busy that sometimes it’s all about quick and easy, especially when you get a cookie this delicious!
Love that these are no bake! Saving for later!
Even my boys, who don’t know how to cook anything, can make this one! I need a few recipes like that!
My mom makes something very similar during the holidays but it has a tonne of chocolate too. These look like an awesome variation!
Adding more chocolate only makes things better in my opinion!
Made these this morning and boy are they addictive lol I tend to scorch things on the stove ( I get distracted a bit too easy I guess) so I made it in the microwave. Since my butter and milk were cold – didn’t have evaporated milk so I just used “regular” milk – I cooked it on high for 9 minutes to get it to a full rolling boil. These are great if you just need that small hit of sugar now and then and I plan on experimenting with different flavors too like maybe banana pudding or coconut…the possibilities are endliess!
Using the microwave is a fantastic idea! I’m going to start experimenting with different flavors too! Can’t wait to see which ones are my favorites!
Can these be frozen ?
Good question. My boys devour them in no time so I’ve never had a chance to even try freezing them. Let me know how it works if you try it! Happy Fall!
These look amazing! Just wondering how long to let the mixture boil? Thanks!
I just bring it to a rolling boil, basically a gently boil that doesn’t stop when you stir. I don’t time it! Happy Fall!
Could you just use regular milk? Never used evaporated in my no bakes.
I’m sure you could use regular milk, although I haven’t tried it.
Do these harden nicely? I’ve made no bakes with pudding before, and they never hardened no matter how long you let them sit. Your pictures look like they firmed up very well. I’m wondering if it’s the evaporated milk that helps with that? I’ll be trying these for sure, and tweaking other recipes accordingly!
These cookies definitely aren’t hard and dry no bake cookies. I think they have a perfect consistency, just a little soft. I always use evaporated milk in my no bake cookies and they always turn out! Happy fall!
Just wondering… is the pudding size a large box? I only had a small box so I added abt 1/2 c butterscotch chips hope they set up. this is one of those comments…..I didn’t have toffee chips so i added caramel bits and mini choc chips. For some reason, I don’t expect they will look just like yours! 😉
I used a 5.1 oz box of pudding. I absolutely love experimenting with recipes and think it is fantastic when readers do the same. Who knows how it will turn out. Heck, even if you have to eat these cookies with a spoon I bet they will taste good. And you can’t go wrong with adding chocolate chips and caramel!
And they did taste awesome however we did have to eat them with a spoon.. People at work were just cleaning them off the waxed paper with their fingers!! thanks and Ill try them your way!
Just made these cookies!! We love them!!! We will definitely be making these again!! Thank you so much for sharing!!!
Aren’t no bake cookies the best? My family loved this version! Happy Fall!
Do you think I could sub Stevia for the sugar? And use sugar free pudding?
I don’t use Stevia in my cooking so I’m not sure what the results would be. I’m guessing if you use sugar free pudding it will alter the consistency of the cookies. You could always try it and eat them with a spoon if it doesn’t work out. I bet the cookies would still taste good! 🙂 Happy Fall!
Hello just browsed your receipe for no bake caramel cookies it looks awesome however I’m a bit thick !!! The butterscotch pudding is it like angel delight or is it like a ready made pudding?? Also where is it best to get the toffee crisps can you help thanks for taking the time to
Read this julie
It’s dry pudding mix. I used the Jell-o brand. I find the toffee chips. In the baking section at the grocery store near the chocolate chips. Happy fall!
I’m wondering if the pudding size is correct. A 5.1 oz box is the size that makes 6 servings, not 4 servings. I can’t find Butterscotch flavor in that size locally. Is it the four serving size or the six serving size box of pudding?
I found a 5.1 oz package of butterscotch pudding at my local Walmart. A reader told me they used a 4 oz. package with success, although I haven’t tried that myself. Another reader suggested weighing pudding mix and using 5.1 ounces. I know that is a pain and leaves you with a half used package of pudding.Hopefully you find a method that works for you because these cookies are worth it!
Well, I tried making them with just a 4 serving size box of pudding, I couldn’t find anywhere on the internet that a six serving size box existed in butterscotch flavor. They didn’t turn out to be as good as when I weighed out 5.1 ounces of powder from 2 boxes of the 4 serving size. I guess I’ll just keep making the other half box of pudding powder into pudding.
I’m not sure why instant butterscotch pudding mix isn’t available in all stores. I bough mine at my local Walmart. I guess if you can’t find it you’ll have to measure it out, which is a pain, but works!
These are amazing!!! I’ve made them twice now–very quick, easy, and delicious! I took them to my son’s soccer dinner, and his teammates devoured them! I used steel-cut oats for half the oats, because I ran out of regular oats, and it still worked great! Also did not have toffee bits on hand, so I substituted caramel bits. DELICIOUS! Thanks for such a great recipe!
I can only imagine how yummy these would be with caramel bits! I need to try that ASAP!
Made a batch to see if they would be good for my xmas cookie exchange, since they looked so yummy! Great flavour, but are a bit sweet for my family’s taste. Would it effect the consistency if I brought the sugar down a bit? Thinking at least a half of cup.
I think it might change the consistency of the cookies a little bit if you reduce the amount of sugar, but you could always try it and see what happens.
I really want to make these! I am confused, though, about what size box of pudding I need to get. It kind of looks like it says 5.1 oz, but I am not finding anything that size. Help?
It’s crazy because I actually bought pudding that size when I created this recipe and can no longer find it. I think next time I make it I will use two small boxes of pudding or one large one. It might make the cookies a little more firm, but I don’t think it will really hurt anything! Happy Holidays!
Amy,
I made these on Sunday and they were wonderful! Very tasty and easy. Yahoo!
Thanks for sharing your talents with us!
Denise R.
Made these today to send with my boys to a lock-in. I know they’ll be a big hit, they’re great. Very sweet!! A fun variation on our usual chocolate-peanut butter no-bakes.
For ourselves I would cut back on the sugar, although you can’t go too far with no-bakes, in my (limited, amateur) experience it’s the sugar and boiling it that holds them together. I did let the mixture boil a minute and they seemed perfectly firm enough. You do have to work kinda quickly, as it cools what is left is getting crumbly and you have to work harder to mush them into cookies.
Thanks for the recipe!
I’m glad they were a hit! The amount of sugar you used would definitly affect the way the cookies set up. And yes, you do have to work pretty quickly when dropping the cookies or they will set up and then it’s hard to make them into cookies! Even those crumbs would be yummy though!
We don’t like recipes that use instant or box mixes, Is there something that can be substituted for the instant pudding?
I’m not sure how you would substitute to make this recipe without a box mix. Dumping a box in makes my life easier…not better…just easier!
I would love this recipe… Thank you so much
It’s a family favorite around here!
Too much garbage popping up with this recipe. Can hardly see recipe. Takes too long
Thanks for letting me know. I’ll check with my ad company and make sure they clean my page up a little!
Can you freeze these?
They never last long enough around here so I’ve never had a chance to try freezing them. I don’t see why it wouldn’t work though. If you try it let me know how it goes!
I can’t find instant pudding anywhere period. Just cook and serve. This is so odd to me as I live in a major city. Anyone know how it works with cook and serve pudding?
I’ve never tried it with cook and serve pudding. Sometimes it’s a little hard to find the instant kind so I stock up when I find it! Maybe try Amazon!
Is there anything you can substitute for the oats?
Hi Laurie! That’s a tough one. My Penaut Butter Pretzel No Bake Cookies recipe uses rice cereal instead of oats and it works great. However, I’ve tried using rice cereal in traditional no bake cookies and it gets really chewy…not good. I’ve never tried substituting rice cereal in these but you could try it and see how it goes. I’m also wondering about using cooked quinoa instead. It seems a bit out there but you could try it. Good luck!
Had a very difficult time. When combining all ingredients, the batter was very thick. I am in the process of making them now and I am adding more milk. Maybe that will help
Sorry to hear that. I’m wondering if the first mixture might have been boiled a little too long? That would cause them to be too thick. Adding milk should help though. They are so yummy it’s worthing making them though!
Has anyone tried making these as bar cookies (do they cut well)? Also, has anyone figured out a way to make them less sweet without affecting their hardening?
I went ahead and made these without waiting for answers cuz I need something to take to game night tonight and do NOT want to turn the oven on in this heat.
So, in an attempt to have them not be quite so sweet I bought 2 of the 3 oz boxes of instant pudding- 1 butterscotch & 1 vanilla. I used all of the b’scotch & about 3/4’s of the vanilla. And I didn’t completely fill the 2nd cup of sugar. They are still sweet but not overly much.
I also made them much smaller than called for I guess; I wanted bite-size. After making about a dozen “drops” I switched to making little balls so as to compress the dough a bit more. Both of these were taking more time than I had so after I had about 40 and still having about half the dough left, I patted the rest into a greased 8×8 square pan. And they DO cut just fine; I cut the pan into another 36 pieces. So I now have a plate of balls and cubes to take. I’m very happy with the results- thanks for the recipe!
I agree…it’s way hot to turn the oven on! Thanks for sharing your tips. I’m going to try this less sugar method next time I make these cookies! It’s always nice to cut back where I can. So happy they turned out for you!
Having about half of these left after Friday night and not wanting (needing) to finish the rest myself (I live alone) I broke up the rest into smaller pieces and used them in a trflfe for a potluck; this also went over very well. In addition to the cookies I used a pkg of chocolate pudding (instant), a pkg of vanilla pudding, Cool Whip plus some mini chocolate chips & Heath Bits.
Great idea and thanks for sharing the results. I just found this recipe and now that I have read that you can pour it and cut them I’m sure going to give them a try.
Sometimes shortcuts are the way to go! Making these into bar cookies is a great idea!
Could you add toasted coconut? Or maybe cornflakes?
Hi Sherry! Adding toasted coconut is a wonderful idea and I think would add a nice texture. I’m not sure about adding cold cereal because sometimes when adding cold cereal to no bake cookies it becomes kind of chewy. I’ve wanted to try it too. I’ll let you know if I try it and you let me know if you try it!
Sounds like a really good recipe only I don’t see the amounts of the ingredients . Could you please post them . As I would love to try it .
If you look on the post you will see a grey box that says “click here for the recipe”. If you click that it should take you straight the the printable recipe complete with amounts of ingredients and instructions. If it doesn’t work for you let me know!
I don’t have sea salt. How much regular salt should I use?
Hi Janice! Sea Salt and Table Salt can actually be used interchangeably! That should make for an easy transition! Happy cooking!
Thank you Amy. Is that around 1/2 tsp. of salt?
I don’t see a recipe with the amounts of each ingredient. Am I missing it?
You should see a grey box at the bottom of the post that says “click here for the recipe”. It should take you straight to the printable. If it doesn’t work let me know and I’ll make sure I get it to you!
I thought i had evaporated milk but it is condensed milk would this work as well i know it is thicker. Any thoughts?
Hi Jennifer. Evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk is very different so they are not interchangeable. Hope you can grab some evaporated milk soon so you can make it soon!
help!!! haha!! what did i do wrong
they won’t stiffen and when i drop them they just spread and won’t harden!!!!!
Hmmm! It’s hard to say without watching you make them. My best guess is that maybe you didn’t get the milk/butter/sugar mixture to a full rolling boil. It needs to boil hard enough that it doesn’t stop boiling when you stir it! Hopefully that helps! Let me know if I can further help you!
Can you I substitute regular oats instead of instant oats?
Yes! You can use old fashioned oats instead of quick cooking oats. It will give the cookies a little different texture since quick cooking oats are ground finer than old fashioned ones! Best wishes!
These look so delicious! Sending love from another farmgirl to your kitchen! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Hi there farmgirl! These cookies are so easy and so yummy! One of our favorites! Thanks for stopping by!
I am fearful these will be gone before Christmas, but I went ahead and made them anyway. Will these need to be refrigerated or just airtight container?
No judgement from me! Heck I’d make two batches…one for saving and one for eating! I store them in an airtight container but not in the fridge! Merry Christmas!
Need measurement amounts to be able to do. Please advise.
Click on the little grey box at the bottom that says something like “Click here for the recipe”. It should take you straight to a printable recipe. If it doesn’t work let me know and I’ll be sure to get it to you!
Where is the amount of sugar and milk? I have been over and over your sight and can’t find it, maybe it’s new glasses? Maybe just me.
There should be a gray box at the bottom of the post that says something like “click here for the recipe”. If you click that box it should take you to a printable recipe. Let me know if it doesn’t work for you and I’ll be sure to get it to you!
Did I Miss the recipe instructions?
I just updated the post so the recipe is on the first page! Let me know if you aren’t seeing it and I’ll make sure to get it to you!
These cookies are fantastic!! Very easy to make
They are one of my favorites because they are so easy and so tasty! Glad you enjoyed them!
what do you mean by 15.1 instant butterscotch pudding? I’ve got 2 -1oz,whitch makes 4 1/2 servings 9each box of pudding. They are sugar free
It’s one 5.1 ounce bo of instant butterscotch pudding. I haven’t tried using sugar free pudding and so I’m not sure how it will work. I’m guessing it might make a thinner cookie. Let me know how it goes if you try it!
Is that a small box of instant pudding mix ? The small or large are not that amount of ounces
I found a 5.1 ounce box and it worked perfectly! If you can’t find that size I’ve used the small box (3.4 oz.) and it works great too!
This is my third time making these cookies! They are amazing and so easy to make! I always double the batch and use (3)4.3 ounce pkgs of the pudding! We Love them❤️ Thank you for the recipe!!
This is me again I use (3) 3.4 oz. pkg of pudding
A double batch is such a great idea! They always go fast! Glad you enjoy them!
I have a question, you say to a rolling boil is that soft ball stage?
Hi Lori! Great question! A rolling boil is a gentle boil that doesn’t stop even when it’s being stirred. No need to use a thermometer with this simple recipe! Enjoy!
These were a huge hit at the office! Love them! I’m adding them to my “must have” Christmas goodies list!
Yay! I’m thrilled every one enjoyed them! They are one of our favorite cookies too! And you can’t beat how easy they are to make!
Could you add coconut ??
Yes! Coconut is a great addition in these cookies. Just substitute coconut for a portion of oats. So if you want to add a cup of coconut, reduce oats by a cup. Yummy!
How should these cookies be stored. And for how long. Thank you they sound delicious making them tomorrow
Hi Denise! I store them in an airtight container. They would last for a couple days stored that way, although they don’t usually last that long around here! Enjoy!
I am so excited to make these No Bake Carmel Cookies. I am severely handicapped the past year. This sounds like something I can manage with the help of a young women who helps me. I would love to have any more easy recipes. My Stamina Is severely injured but I love making goodies for my family.
Hi Sybil! I can’t wait for you and your angel friend to help you make these cookies! They really are pretty quick and easy to make. You’ll have to take a peek around my site, it’s full of quick and easy recipes. There are simple main dish, breakfast, dessert, and side dish recipe! I hope you find lots of them to try out! I’m sure your family would love them!
How do you store these cookies? If they last
Can’t wait to hear comments from friends I share with. By the way, I couldn’t find the 5 oz. Box either. So bought 2-3 oz ones and cut one in half. Made pudding with the other half. Plus, the little can of evap milk was just shy of 2/3 cup so used 1/2 & 1/2 to make up diff. Worked fine.
I store them in an air tight container. I’m guessing they would last up to about three days, but I don’t really know because my boys and their friend devour them in a few hours!
It’s so fun that you are sharing these with your friends! I can’t wait for all of you to enjoy them! And, thanks for the great substitution suggestions!
Do I have to use butterscotch peddling or can I use any flavor?
Hi Sue! You can use any flavor of pudding you’d like! Coming up with new flavors is so fun! Enjoy!
These sound so delicious! Can’t wait to try them.
YES! You need to make them ASAP! They are so easy and so yummy!
Just made these, first batch ever. Next time will use more butter and less oatmeal to get a more runny product. Used caramel pudding.
As a home baker, always adding to my repertoire
Caramel pudding would work perfectly! I created this recipe before Kraft created caramel pudding! Sounds like you have your substutions all figured out. If you want a thinner cookie you could reduce the cooking time of the mixture too. Reducing the amount of oats would also make them thinner. Good luck!
I have made these so many times since finding the recipe 3 years ago! I now have a daughter in law that’s gluten intolerant and no bake cookies are some of her favorite treats since they don’t need any of that gritty gluten free flour. I just made these this morning for her – she loves salted caramel as much as I do so it’s going to be tough not to eat half of them before I see her lol. I used gluten free certified oats and surprisingly instant pudding is gluten free as well so there’s no issues for her. I’ve always just used “regular” milk with great results. Up here in Canada there has always been just the one size of instant pudding mix – until I found Pinterest I didn’t even know other sizes existed! I just use the 4 serving size box all the time and never have any trouble. I throw the sugar, butter and milk in an 8 cup bowl and microwave it for 6 minutes – its usually close to the top of the bowl at that point. I stir in the rest of the ingredients and let it sit for about 5 minutes and then scoop out. Nothing could be quicker when you NEED a little something sweet!
I love that you figured out how to make these cookies in the microwave! That’s a game changer when you need a treat really FAST! Once in awhile I have company that must eat gluten free and when it comes to serving dessert I’m stumped every time. I’m going to make these next time! Thanks for pointing that out! Enjoy!
Just a quick tip if making these for gluten intolerant or celiac people. Make sure the oats are certified gluten free – some brands are packaged in factories where cross contamination with wheat products can happen. Checking for this can save a lot of pain and grief for those that can’t eat gluten! There’s more and more brands out there that have gluten free oats – Quaker is one that packages it safely and its right on the label 🙂 Until my daughter in law explained this to me I had no idea that not all oats were safe for her to eat!
Thanks Jane! I’ve heard that not all oats are gluten free, but since I don’t need to eat that way it didn’t really affect me. It’s a super helpful tip for those that are gluten free! And anything to avoid pain later on is a good thing! Thanks for sharing!
Can these be frozen?
I’ve never frozen them before so I can’t really say how it will work. I freeze my Classic Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies and it works great though. I’d try freezing them on a cookie sheet first, then moving them to an airtight freezer container. Let me know how it goes!
These sound awesome. I have a package of caramels [ that I bought on clearance] could I use that instead of making my own?
Hi Sheri. These cookies don’t actually have caramels in them. They have a package of butterscotch, or caramel, dry pudding mix that gives them the caramel flavor! They are pretty delicious!
They look and sound delicious, I will try one of these days.
Thank you for sharing
I can’t wait for you to try them! They are so pretty yummy…and easy!
My mom used to make these so I have been making them for years. This is the first recipe I have seen for them. I love that I can do butterscotch or chocolate
It’s so fun to play with all the different flavor combinations! Plus, you can’t beat how easy these are!
The flavor is great. However i could not get the cookies to set. First batch i only had small package of pudding, so i figured that was it. Second batch used 1.5 boxes to equal the large box. Still didn’t set up. Ugh!
What am i missing? I even boiled for one minute to see if that’s what was wrong. I make no bake cookies and seldom.run into any issues other than they get eaten too fast.
Thanks for any ideas. These taste great but if they don’t set up they’re not for us.
Hmmm! It’s hard to know exactly what is happening when I’m not there. Usually, not boiling the mixture long enough is the reason no-bake cookies are gooey. Did you use any other substitutes? Are you using instant pudding mix? You could try reducing the amount of milk to 1/3 of a cup. Let me know if that helps.
The next day I figured it out! These are a new hit at home and work.
Somehow, my brain translated 3/4 cup butter into 3 sticks of butter! What?? Yeah. So I actually dumped all of my originals together, heated back in microwave, added the extra oats, and they were “okay”. Made the recipe correctly next time and it’s so very, very, very good.
Still don’t know how I did the translation to 3 “sticks”, but my daughters and ladies at work got a laugh when I told then what I did. SMH.
Can’t wait to try a few other no bake recipes of yours. Thank you!
OMG! I’m so glad you figured out what the problem was! Usually, I’m in the more “butter is more better” camp, but when it comes to making cookies that probably wouldn’t work the best! Let me know what other recipes you try out!
i am dairy free so i used coconut milk from a can, carton will not do. these are addictive and so easy. these are a keeper
I’m glad you found a way to make them work for you!
Can I use old fashioned rolled oats in place of the quick oats? How would it affect the consistency?
Yes. You can use old fashioned rolled oats. Rolled oats tend to be a little bit chewier than quick oats because they are a little bigger. They’ll still taste great though!