Haystack Cookies – No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
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Haystack cookies are a deliciously chewy no bake chocolate cookie with oatmeal and coconut. They’re made from simple pantry ingredients, super easy, and loved by kids and adults alike. 
No Bake Haystack Cookies
Have you ever tried haystack cookies? Sometimes they’re called macaroons (not to be confused with French macarons). Or even no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies.
They’re a classic recipe that takes about 10 minutes to make, and seriously delicious thanks to chocolate, oatmeal and coconut.
Haystack cookies are probably the defining recipe of my childhood. My grandma would make a massive batch, and we’d take home an ice cream pail almost every time we went to her house. Nowadays, I always look forward to my cousin Tanya making them over Christmas.
But instead of waiting for December to roll around – I figured it was time to share the recipe here on the blog.
Making these no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies is super easy:
- Add the oatmeal and coconut to a bowl.
- In a medium saucepan add the butter, milk, cocoa powder and sugar.
- Bring to a boil for 5 minutes while whisking.
- Pour the mixture into the bowl with the oatmeal and coconut and stir together.
- Drop tablespoons of the batter onto a lined cookie sheet, and pop in the fridge to let the cookies harden.
Yup – they’re seriously that easy. The only trick to making them is to make sure you gently whisk the butter mixture as it boils so that the milk doesn’t burn.
What kind of oats should I use? You can use quick oats or large flake/old-fashioned oats for these haystack cookies. I don’t recommend using steel cut because they’re too hard and crunchy.
You can also use sweetened or unsweetend coconut – it’s really up to you.
Either way – they’re totally delicious.
I absolutely love the fudgy chocolate flavor, chewy crunchy texture, and how easy these chocolate haystack cookies are to make. So whether these cookies were a staple of your childhood – or a totally new to you recipe – I definitely recommend giving them a try. And since they’re so easy to make, there’s really nothing holding you back for haystack cookie deliciousness!
Haystack Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups oats*
- 1 cup shredded coconut**
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 2 cups sugar
Instructions
- In a medium bowl stir together the oats and coconut.
- Add the butter, milk, cocoa and sugar to a medium saucepan over medium heat
- Whisk gently as everything melts together, then bring the mixture to a boil for 5 minutes while gently whisking.
- Pour the chocolate mixture into the bowl with the oats and coconut and stir together.
- Drop tablespoon sized spoonfuls onto a baking sheet lined with wax paper and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to harden.
Next batch try creaming the butter and sugar together before you add them to the pan, blending the cocoa powder in well as you go. Make sure you don’t have any little lumps of cocoa powder. Add the milk gradually as you heat the whole mixture over lower heat, also slowly, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Be sure you cook and stir it the whole 5 minutes or even a bit longer until you’ve got a custard-like consistency. Then mix with the dry ingredients as directed. Just a suggestion; I had no trouble with this recipe as printed here. (Yum!)
Mine didn’t harden still soft and gooey
These were wonderful! For me, though, I found the two cups of sugar to be a lot so I’ll see how it turns out when I cut down on the sugar for next time. Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Where we are from the ones with Chinese noodles and butterscotch chips are called Chinese noodle cookies .
I mean no disrespect but this is not what I know as a haystack cookie…haystacks have “chinese noodles”, don’t they? (And butterscotch etc) This cookie shown here was always called simply, choc/oatmeal cookie or for fun, cow pies…lol…cause of what they look like to kids. Anyway this recipe is nice too. It just threw me when I searched and.this was no.1 result. Good job on your search criteria words. Your recipe could change someone’s mind on what they want to make. Merry Christmas!
Hey Gigi – no offence taken at all! A lot of recipes have different regional names. These haystacks are what my grandmother always made and what we always called them. When I do a google search I get a combination of results for haystack cookies – some with oatmeal and some with chow mein noodles. I think the name is used for different recipes depending on where you’re from. 🙂
I like to add about 1/2 cup chocolate chips tote saucepan. Makes for a creamier texture.
Delicious! Thanks for the tip
Easy recipe! They taste just like the ones my Mom used to make when I was a child.
Can you use gluten free oats in this recipe?
Definitely
How hot in temperature should the mixture be
before adding to oats?
richardskathy330U@gmail.com
To be honest – in all the times I’ve made these cookies I’ve never taken the temperature of the mixture. Once it starts to boil/bubble – just keep gently whisking for 5 minutes as it boils. Next time I make them I’ll check the temperature!
My grandma used to make these for me all the time too! I lost the recipe – and these turned out EXACTLY how I remember them.