OurNo-Bake Chow Mein Cookiesrecipe has been a family favorite for years! It’s a simple refrigerator drop cookie that only needs 4 ingredients: crunchy chow mein noodles, butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, and peanuts.
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Nearly 30 years ago, I was introduced to my grandmother-in-law’s No-Bake Chow Mein Cookies. Well, she actually called them “Chinese New Year Cookies”, but my family and Ialways preferred to call them “Chow Mein Cookies”, so that’s the name that always stuck with us.
During Christmastime, she would make a table full of holiday treats. After our holiday dinner with her, she would create a plate of goodies for us to take home. The Chow Mein Cookies were always one of the first to go.
I loved that tradition, so after a few years into our marriage, we started the tradition of making lots of holiday treats too. I usually picked treats to make that were fairly easy or ones that were special to me, such as Chocolate Chip Cookies and Christmas Candy Cane Cookies. And these No-Bake Chow Mein Cookies have also been made every year.
No-Bake Chow Mein Noodle Cookies Recipe Ingredients
Chow Mein Cookies are a simplerefrigerator drop cookie that only needs 4 ingredients:
If you are unfamiliar with chow mein noodles, they are a crunchy, fried egg noodle sold in the Asian food section of most grocery stores. Look for them in a bag like you see in our photo (your store may sell a different brand). You may also see chow mein noodles sold in a canister, but we recommend trying to find the bags as they are usually less expensive.
No-Bake Chow Mein Noodle Cookiesdon’t have to be baked in an oven. As long as you have a microwave (or stovetop) and a refrigerator, you can make these.
First, line baking sheet with wax paper or parchment paper. Be sure that the baking sheet you use will fit in your refrigerator. If you have limited space in your refrigerator, you can use a dinner plate or another smaller tray-like item.
Combine both the butterscotch chips and the chocolate chips in a large microwave-safe bowl. Make sure that your bowl is large enough that it will hold all of your chow mein noodles, along with the chips and the peanuts. A bowl that holds at least 2.5 qtwill work.
You’ll start by melting the chips together in the microwave, stirring chips every30-45 seconds, until smooth. The key is that you want to stir the chips often.
Our preferred method for melting the chips is in the microwave, but if you prefer to melt the chips on your stove top, here are step-by-step instructions for doing that: How to Melt Chocolate on your Stove-Top
Once the chips are smooth and melted, you will begin folding in the chow mein noodles a little at a time until they are completely coated mixture. Then gently fold in the peanuts until they are completely coated.
Finally, drop chow mein mixture by the spoonful onto your prepared baking sheet. We do this by using two teaspoons, one to scoop up some of the mixture and the other spoon to help scrape the mixture off of the other spoon and onto the baking sheet. If any of the chow mein noodles or peanuts escape from your mound, just push it back to the chow mein mixture.
To help the Chow Mein Cookies set up, we have found through the years that placing them in the refrigerator is best. You may find that you don’t need to place them in the refrigerator, but this does speed up the process.
Once the Chow Mein Cookies have set, store them covered at room temperature.
No-Bake Chow Mein Noodle Cookies Recipe
Here is the full recipe, ready for you to print. Like this recipe? We’d love for you to pin to your Pinterest board or share it on Facebook! Thank you for your support!
OurNo-Bake Chow Mein Cookies recipe has been a family favorite for years! It’s a simple refrigerator drop cookie that only needs 4 ingredients: crunchy chow mein noodles, butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, and peanuts.
Line a baking sheet with wax paper or parchment paper.
Place both the butterscotch chips and the chocolate chips in a large microwave-safe bowl. Melt the chips together in the microwave, stirring chips every30-45 seconds, until smooth.
Remove from microwave and begin folding in the chow mein noodles a little at a time until they are completely coated with the melted chip mixture. Fold in peanuts until they are completely coated.
Drop chow mein mixture by the spoonful onto prepared baking sheet. Place baking sheet in the refrigerator until Chow Mein Cookies havecompletely set.
Once Chow Mein Cookies have set, store covered at room temperature.
Notes
–We usually use semi-sweet chocolate chips, but you can use milk chocolate chips if you prefer
–The peanuts can be removed if you prefer. Or other salted nuts can be substituted.
Category:Cookies
Method:Microwave
Keywords: no bake, chocolate chips, peanuts, butterscotch chips, easy, christmas cookies, haystacks, new year cookies,
Boiling too long will cause the cookies to be dry and crumbly. However, if you don't boil long enough the cookies will not set and will be runny. Some folks say bring the mixture to a rolling boil and then count to 60, while others swear by counting to 90.
A: Chances are if the no-bakes turned out dry and crumbly it was because you overcooked them. While we call them cookies, oatmeal no-bakes are really more of a confection or fudge with oats stirred in. When it comes to candy, the longer it is cooked, the drier and harder it becomes.
The cookies are made with peanut butter, cocoa powder, vanilla, and oats, this no bake dessert recipe is full of all your favorite cookie flavors. You can't go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate! Seriously, the BEST combo!
The biggest difference between chow mein and lo mein lies in the translations of their names: chow mein is fried, and lo mein is tossed. The experience is somewhat different between the two. Lo mein tends to be saucier and more toothsome, with a texture some describe as “slippery” because of the noodles' softness.
Why are my no bake cookies grainy? One common reason is overcooking or undercooking the mixture when boiling the ingredients. Make sure to boil the mixture for precisely one minute. Overboiling can lead to a grainy texture, as can using granulated sugar that hasn't completely dissolved.
The main reason that chocolate peanut butter no-bake cookies don't set up is because the mixture did not boil long enough. Make sure to wait and set your timer once the mixture comes to a rolling boil. In other words, the top is completely covered in bubbles.
Most no-bake cookies have some sticky ingredient to hold it together. If you used something sticky like butter, peanut butter, melted marshmallows or melted chocolate I would pop them in the fridge, so they firm up. If that doesn't help, I would completely dip them in melted chocolate and let them harden in the fridge.
No matter how careful I am about not over boiling the sugar mixture I always seem to do it, causing a very dry no-bake cookie. My solution is to scrape all the cookies back in the pan and add enough milk to be able to stir it over low heat.
Don't Overbake! This isn't a revolutionary tip and is probably quite obvious, but if you leave your cookies in the oven for even a few minutes longer than necessary, the mix will dry too quickly and lead to more rigid, dry cookies.
Why Didn't My No-Bake Cookies Set? Likely, you didn't boil the mixture long enough. You want the butter, milk, sugar, and cocoa mixture to boil for 2-3 full minutes and reach between 190°F-200°F. If you don't boil them for long enough, they will turn out gooey and will not set.
Sugar free cookies containing chocolate chips with sweetener. We Bake with Love Not... Hydrogenated fats or GM ingredients and certainly no artificial colours, no artificial flavours, no artificial preservatives. 87 kcal Per Serving**Serving size = 2 cookies (20g)Excessive consumption may produce laxative effects.
From a nutritional standpoint, lo mein is better than chow mein, hands down. "Lo mein would be considered more nutritious because the noodles are not fried and there is less oil used in the cooking," Jaelin says. "Lo mein has less than half the calories and fat found in chow mein.
If you are unable to find noodles that are specifically labeled as chow mein noodles or lo mein noodles, you can use linguine noodles, regular Italian spaghetti noodles, or another type of Asian noodle as a similar substitute.
Chow mein vs chop suey are both popular Chinese dishes that are often confused with each other. Chow mein is a stir-fried noodle dish that typically includes vegetables and meat, while chop suey is a dish made up of meat, vegetables, and sometimes noodles that are cooked in a thick sauce.
How Do You Fix Gooey No-Bake Cookies? Freeze them. Once you have added the peanut butter and oats, the only option to fix gooey no-bake cookies is to freeze them so they will hold together enough that you can eat them. It might not be perfect, but it's not the end of the world and they will still be delicious!
If you don't boil the mixture long enough, your cookies may not set properly. On the other hand, if you boil it for too long, your cookies may turn out dry and crumbly. Using a timer for one minute avoids these issues and sets you up for beautiful, perfectly textured no-bake cookies!
If your cookies repeatedly turn out flat, no matter the recipe, chances are your oven is too hot. Here's what's happening. The butter melts super quickly in a too-hot oven before the other ingredients have firmed up into a cookie structure. Therefore, as the butter spreads so does the whole liquidy cookie.
The most common culprit behind non-spreading cookies is too much flour. This may seem counterintuitive—after all, isn't flour a key ingredient in baking? Yes, but if you add too much flour, your cookies won't spread as they bake.
Introduction: My name is Greg Kuvalis, I am a witty, spotless, beautiful, charming, delightful, thankful, beautiful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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