No Bake Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies are the most dangerously addicting cookie recipe I have! They are salty and sweet, have chocolate chips, and are quick and easy which makes them a slam dunk!
This recipe went crazy on Pinterest and was shared over 242 THOUSAND TIMES in just a couple of days! It’s that good!
“OMG! I just made these for our family’s Christmas Eve gathering, and I just had to taste one and they are SERIOUSLY delicious. I can’t even begin to tell you how good these are. Its a must-try!” – Denise
I’ve tried adding pretzels to Classic No Bake Cookies and after the cookies sat there for a while they got soggy. I was dying to figure out how to add them so I could get that salty and crunchy element in my cookies. After testing about 15 recipes I hit the nail on the head!
There are only three problems with these cookies! And when I say problems I’m mostly talking about all the reasons I eat way too many of them!
- They’re made with simple ingredients I ALWAYS have which means they happen way too often!
- They only take about 10 minutes to make so I can get my PB and choco fix in before I have time to talk myself out of it!
- I’ve never been able to resist salty-sweet…add chocolate and I’m really in trouble with these around!
- Oh, and they’re cheap, which is no problem but it’s important too!
What you’ll find in this post
Table of Contents
All about these cookies!
First of all, you should know that I’m such a HUGE fan of no-bake cookies that I have NINE varieties of them on my blog! We eat them ALL the time!
Have you ever had Oh Henry Bars or Scotcheroo’s? This recipe is a twist on those amazing cookie bars, but they’re even better because they have pretzels!
To store these cookies: Put them in an airtight container and store them at room temperature. they will last for up to 5 days. I bet they won’t last that long though!
Freezing these cookies: I’ve never tried freezing this particular recipe although no-bake cookies traditionally freeze well. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
No Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Pretzel Cookies Ingredients
Simple ingredients! That’s all you’ll need! There really is nothing fancy about these cookies! Let me walk you through the ingredients and point out substitutions just in case you’re missing something. No need to make a special trip to the grocery store!
- Rice Krispies Cereal – you could also use chocolate crispy cereal, rice squares, or even cornflakes.
- Pretzels – make sure they’re salted! Use Squares, twists, whatever!
- Peanut Butter – creamy or chunky. I’ve never tried all natural but I think it would work just fine.
- Light Corn Syrup – I’ve never tried substituting honey, but it’s an idea!
- Granulated Sugar – you could use brown sugar if you’re in a pinch. The cookies might be a little softer.
- Vanilla – extract, omit if needed
- Chocolate Chips – milk chocolate, semi-sweet, chopped up chocolate bars, leftover chocolate Easter rabbit!
- Salt – course ground sea salt is my fave. Use table salt or Kosher salt if it’s what you have.
How to make Cookies with Pretzels
There are a couple of tricks for making these cookies perfect! Other than that they’re incredibly easy! PROMISE!
- Prep all the ingredients ahead of time because once it’s time to add the cereal and pretzels you’ll want to hurry!
- Don’t heat the mixture too long! If you do they’ll be so hard you could throw them through the wall!
- Let them sit for a few minutes before adding the chocolate chips.
- The longer you let the cookies sit before scooping the more round they will be. If you scoop them quickly they’ll be a little flatter.
STEP 1: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or wax paper.
STEP 2: Coarsely crush pretzels. Measure rice crispy cereal and pretzel in a measuring cup or large bowl and set aside.
STEP 3: Add peanut butter, sugar, and corn syrup to a large pan. I used a 5-quart pan. Stirring occasionally cook over medium heat until smooth and creamy, and peanut butter is melted. Don’t let it boil.
STEP 4: Remove from heat. Add vanilla and a dash of sea salt. Stir.
STEP 5: Add cereal and pretzels. Gently toss until coated.
STEP 6: Let cereal mixture sit for 3-5 minutes until it has cooled a little. It needs to be cooled enough that the chocolate chips don’t get completely melted (a little is okay) but you want to move to the next step before the cookies are completely set up too. It’s a little tricky!
STEP 7: Add chocolate chips and quickly fold to incorporate.
STEP 8: Scoop cookies onto a lined baking sheet. I use a three tablespoon-sized cookie scoop. Use whatever size you like! Sprinkle with more sea salt! You could also press them in a 9×13 pan to make them into bar cookies! It’s faster and easier!
STEP 9: Let sit until cool and firm.
The BEST No-Bake Cookies Recipes
“This is the BEST and easiest recipe !! So addictive too! We are peanut butter lovers. Thanks!” – Carol
This recipe is one of my most popular no bake desserts recipes! But if you are always finding yourself short on time and needing a quick and easy treat try these!
- Salted Caramel Cookies – made with instant pudding
- Classic Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies – PERFECT every single time!
- Caramel Apple Cookies – with oatmeal
- Twix Cookies – even better than the candy bar
- Compost Cookies – loaded with a little bit of everything
- Pumpkin Spice Cookies – amazing fall cookies
- Chex Cookies or Scotcharoos – really addicting
No Bake Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies Recipe
Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies with Chocolate are the BEST darn no bake cookies in the world! If you do nothing else today, make these cookies! They are worth the whole ten minutes of your life you’ll spend whipping them up!
No Bake Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies with Chocolate Chips
Ingredients
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 1 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- dash sea salt
- 3 cup rice crispy cereal
- 1 cup coarsely chopped pretzels
- 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- dash of sea salt for tops
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Measure cereal and pretzels into a large measuring cup or a bowl.
- Add peanut butter, sugar and corn syrup to a large pan. I used a 5 quart pan. Cook over medium heat until smooth and creamy, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat. Add vanilla and a dash of sea salt. Stir.
- Add cereal and pretzels. Gently toss until coated.
- Let cereal mixture sit for 3-5 minutes until it has cooled a little. It needs to be cooled enough that the chocolate chips don’t get completely melted (a little is okay) but you want to move to the next step before the cookies are completely set up too. It’s a little tricky!
- Add chocolate chips and quickly and gently toss to incorporate.
- Scoop cookies onto lined baking sheet.
- Let sit until cool and firm.
You had at no bake. You stole me at peanut butter.
Ha! We could be really good friends!
These cookies have all of my favorite ingredients. I wish I could have one right now!
Thanks! They are easy enough you could have one in just a few minutes if you had all the ingredients on hand!
These look easy and delicious! I can’t wait to make these!
I love a few super easy recipes for the holidays, well really any day!
I like to balance out the traditional cookies that are more time consuming with a few easy ones, so this is perfect! Love the flavor combo too!
Me too! I have to have a least a few easy ones for those super busy days!
Sweet and salty is the best! I love the idea!
Sweet and salty is the death of me!
Love sweet and salty. How do you store them ? Do they need to stay refrigerated? Thanks for this easy recipe.
I’m a complete sweet and salty addict! I store them at room temperature in an air tight container. They don’t usually last very long so I’m not exactly sure how long they keep. I’m guessing a few days. Happy Holidays!
Can these be frozen
I haven’t ever had them last long enough to get the chance to freeze them because I live with a house full of boys!
Hello, how many will this make?
It depends on how big of a cookie scoop you use. I use a two tablespoon scoop and get about 24-30 cookies.
How do you not give any exact measurements??
There are exact amounts in the box with the printable recipe on the second page. At the end of the page there is a box that reads “click here for recipe”. If you click on that box it should take you to the printable recipe! Sorry for the confusion. Let me know if you can’t find it!
OMG! I just made these for our family’s Christmas Eve gathering. I just had to taste one and they are SERIOUSLY delicious. I can’t even begin to tell you how good these are. Its a must try!
Yay! Thay are one of my favorites! Have fun at your family party! Merry Christmas!
You were right; timing is everything. Mine turned out chocolate through and through but still tasted great!
Haha! That chocolate will melt in a hurry if you don’t have time to wait for the cookie mixture to cool down just a little bit. But then again, having chocolate through and through never hurt anything and actually sounds pretty tasty! Have a great day!
Great recipe! First candy of the Christmas season. Love the PB and chocolate 🙂
Thanks! Bring on all the holiday baking and no baking! Merry Christmas!
I just made these today and they turned out great! I let them cool for 5-7 minutes but the chocolate chips still melted, which wasn’t a problem at all. I used a tablespoon cookie scoop and it made 42 cookies. Thanks for sharing!
Getting them mixed without the chocolate melting is the trickiest part of making these. And I’m with you, melted chocolate never hurt anything! I find I get the best results if I don’t over mix after I add the chocolate chips! So yummy though!
looks good, where can I find the recipe? thanks mary
At the bottom of the post there is a grey box that says Click Here For the Recipe. It should take you to a printable recipe. If it doens’t work let me know and I’ll be sure to get it to you!
Could you make these using Rice Chex cereal for those gluten free folks?
Yes! That’s a great idea! You could really substitute any add ins as long as they add up to the same amount of add ins listed in the recipe. Does that make sense?
I made these today. Super easy & SO GOOD! They didn’t last. Thanks!
I LOVE how easy they are to make and I think I’m even more in love with the salty sweet! Glad you enjoyed them as much as I do!
Hi there! Could you replace the corn syrup with brown rice syrup?
Hi Lil! I’ve never used brown rice syrup before so I can’t really give you advice on that. Sorry!
These are some of the best cookies I’ve ever had! Super easy to make… I didn’t even wait to stir in the chocolate, and they were still so tasty! My husband isn’t usually a fan of no-bakes, but the sweet & salty get us every time! Thank you for this unique and delicious recipe!
Hi Emily! These are some of muy favorite cookies too! I’m madly in love with salty sweet combos and cookies don’t get any easier than this! So glad you enjoyed them!
I’m going to make these, but will press them into a pan to make bars. I lost a lot of flexibility and strength in my dominant arm four years ago, so have to compensate any way I can, and bars will help a lot.
These do sound delicious, and I’m looking forward to sharing them with my beloved extended family 🙂
Your family is going to go crazy over them! Making them into bars is such a time saver, and deifinitely easier! Enjoy!
I see the steps but no measurements for each ingredients. Would you share them with me PLEASE.
Hi Janice! If you scroll all the way to the bottom of the post you will see a grey box that says something like “click here for the recipe” if you click that box it should take you directly to a printable of the recipe! If it doesn’t work for you let me know and I’ll be sure to get it to you!
This is the BEST and easiest recipe !! So addictive too! We are peanut butter lovers. Thanks!
YES! I’m so glad you love them! That salty-sweet combination gets the best of me every time! I can’t leave it alone!
Is there a substitute for corn syrup?
I’ve never tried making these cookies without the corn syrup. I know people have used honey instead. I’d use the same amount of honey as you corn syrup, so one cup of honey for this recipe. I can’t guarantee results with this substitution but I would love to know who it goes for you. Let me know if you try it!
I enjoyed this twist. I bake every week for the Ohio legislature as my husband is a leader. theynloved them!
I bet the people in the legislature love you! These cookies are so easy, and that sweet and salty combo is always addicting! Glad everyone enjoyed them!
Can’t wait to share them with my grandkids!
They’re going to love them! My kids go crazy for these cookies!
I really liked them but my hubby said they needed to go back in the oven. I showed him the bottom. They were close to burned. Only thing was after I was done eating them, I had that graininess in my mouth that was hard to get rid of.
Hmmm! These cookies are no-bake, so I’m not sure what will happen if you try to bake them in the oven. It will take them a few minutes to set up after you scoop them onto a pan. Cooking the peanut butter mixture a little longer will probably take care of the grainy texture. Be sure to let me know if you have any more questions!
These are the bomb!!! A great way to use up leftover holiday baking ingredients. I got 30 big scoops. I used chunky which makes them even better. Thanks for posting this recipe!! I only use corn syrup for pecan pie so I didn’t have to buy anything special which makes me very happy.
Recipes that can be made with whatever you already have in the pantry are the BEST! I’m going to use chunky peanut butter next time! That’s a great idea! That salty-sweet combo gets the best of me every time! Glad you enjoyed them!
Mine came out super hard 🙁
I cooked them until the sugar was no longer gritty. Maybe that was too long??
I think you’re exactly right. If you cook the sugar mixture too long they will be rock hard. I only cook it long enough for the peanut butter to melt and for it to be smooth and creamy, no longer. Next time they will be perfect!
Could you microwave to melt instead of using a stovetop?
I’ve never tried melting it in the microwave before. I think it would work as long as you cook it long enough for everything to melt without overcooking it. You’ve got me curious now and I want to try it out! Let me know if you try it!
I just made them with my 8 years olds help and we love it. Thank you for such a great recipe. Two things I would like to change is reduce the amount of sugar and increase the amount of pretzels a little. Everyone else in my family don’t find it too sweet actually. Super simple, I followed the instructions exactly and they turned out great.
This is the best recipe to let the kids help with! They are pretty sweet. I have reduced the amount of sugar I used before and they’re still delicious, although it can make them a little drier. It’s important to not overcook the mixture, especially if you reduce the amount of sugar!