Three Easy No Bake Cookie Bars

Red Velvet Cookies and Cream Bars, Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bars, and Salted Dark Chocolate Almond Bars can all be whipped up in a matter of minutes! These recipes makes it possible for even the busiest holiday hosts to offer a variety of delicious cookies to party guests.

December is one big month of marathon baking for me. I love my job as a baker and the time it affords me to dive into rather lengthy kitchen projects. But I also remember a time when I had an office job and too little time to bake all the things. I often relied on quick and easy recipes for holiday parties and family gatherings. These recipes were developed with that in mind.

Busy cooks will appreciate these time-saving recipes, and even those who have lots of time to bake will appreciate how delicious these bars are!

First up – these dark chocolate almond bars. If you’ve ever had Godiva’s Almond Praline Raindrop truffle and loved it, then you will definitely love this recipe. The filling is silky-smooth and full of almond flavor, just like the truffle.

Sliced almonds on top offer a little crunch, and a sprinkle of flake sea salt makes them irresistible! All of this sits on top of a buttery chocolate cookie crust. We used Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers, but if you can’t find them then Oreos with the cream filling removed will also work.

These bars cut beautifully while slightly chilled from the refrigerator. I recommend slicing them while they are still cold and then serving them at room temperature. They will be super smooth and a little soft at room temperature.

Next are these peanut-butter marshmallow bars. Ooooh this crust. It’s made with crushed pretzels which gives the bars a crave-worthy salty bite!

The filling is made with peanut butter, peanut butter chips, butter (so many butters!) and mini marshmallows. All this is poured on top of the pretzel crust and chilled in the refrigerator until firm. I decided to add white nonpareils and confetti sprinkles to my bars. If you’d like to do this too, sprinkle them on just after you pour the filling in the pan.

These also slice best when chilled. The crumbly crust is a lovely contrast to the creamy filling and fluffy marshmallows. This is definitely a cookie bar for the peanut butter lover in your life!

Cookies-and-Cream lovers – and cheesecake lovers, this one is for you! You could make these bars with regular chocolate Oreo cookies, but we liked Red Velvet Oreos best. The cream cheese filling in the red velvet cookies is really nice with the cream cheese filling in this recipe.

The crust is made of Red Velvet Oreos, too, which gives the cheesecake filling a sturdy (and delicious!) foundation. This was my favorite bar. I think. I love them all, but I ended up having these for breakfast on more than one occasion.

Following you’ll find all of the printable recipes. Enjoy!

No-Bake Red Velvet Cookies and Cream Bars

Heather Baird
Cookies-and-Cream lovers – and cheesecake lovers, this one is for you! You could make these bars with regular chocolate Oreo cookies, but we liked Red Velvet Oreos best.
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 15 minutes
4 hours chill time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 15 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 9 servings

Equipment

  • 9×9 inch pan

Ingredients
 
 

Bars

  • 1/4 cup 60g salted butter, melted
  • 2 1/2 cups 300g red velvet sandwich cookies, crushed (about 25 Oreos)
  • 16 oz. 450g or 2 packs cream cheese, softened
  • 7 oz. 202g marshmallow creme (such Jet-Puffed)
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Topping

  • 1 cup 150g coarsely crumbled red velvet sandwich cookies (about 7 cookies)

Instructions
 

  • Line the bottom and sides of a 9 inch square pan with foil that overhangs all four sides of the pan. Lightly coat foil with cooking spray.
  • For the crust, stir together melted butter and crushed cookies in a medium bowl. Press the cookie mixture into the bottom of the pan.
  • For the filling, beat the marshmallow cream, softened cream cheese and vanilla in a large bowl on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gently fold the coarsely crumbled cookies into the cream cheese mixture and add to the pan. Spread evenly over the cookie crust. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or up to 3 days.
  • Lift mixture from the pan by pulling straight up on the foil overhangs. Cut into bars or squares while still cool, and garnish with more crumbled cookies or cookie halves.
Keyword cookie bars, marshmallow cream, red velvet oreos
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

No-Bake Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bars

Heather Baird
The crust is made with crushed pretzels which gives the bars a crave-worthy salty bite!
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 15 minutes
30 minutes chill time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12

Equipment

  • 10×10 inch or 13×9 inch pan

Ingredients
 
 

Crust

  • 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 cup 10 oz., 300g creamy peanut butter
  • 3 tablespoons salted butter at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups 167g finely crushed pretzels

Filling

  • 2 cups 20 oz., 600g creamy peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 bag 10 oz. peanut butter chips
  • 4 cups 8 oz. mini marshmallows
  • White sprinkles for garnish

Instructions
 

  • Line a 10×10-inch baking pan with aluminum foil that overhangs all four edges. Lightly coat foil with cooking spray.
  • For the crust, beat the powdered sugar, peanut butter, and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. When combined, add the crushed pretzels. Press into the prepared pan and refrigerate until firm.
  • For the filling, combine the peanut butter, unsalted butter, and chips in a saucepan. Cook over low heat until melted and smooth (you may also microwave at 30 second intervals, if you’d rather). Pour in the mini marshmallows and fold together. Pour over the crust and smooth. Sprinkle with white nonpareils and confetti sprinkles, if desired. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
  • Cut into squares and serve at room temperature.
Keyword cookie bars, creamy peanut butter, no bake, peanut butter chips, pretzel crust
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

No Bake Salted Dark Chocolate Almond Bars

Heather Baird
Sliced almonds on top offer a little crunch, and a sprinkle of flake sea salt makes them irresistible! All of this sits on top of a buttery chocolate cookie crust. We used Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers, but if you can’t find them then Oreos with the cream filling removed will also work.
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 15 minutes
30 minutes chill time 30 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 9

Equipment

  • 9×9 inch pan

Ingredients
 
 

  • 1 package 9 oz. or 252 grams chocolate wafer cookies
  • 1/4 cup 60g salted butter, melted
  • 12 oz. 338g no-stir almond butter, divided
  • 1/4 cup 48g semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/4 tsp. flake sea salt divided
  • 1/4 cup 20g sliced almonds

Instructions
 

  • Line the bottom and sides of a 9 inch square pan with sheets of aluminum foil that overhang on the sides by at least 2 inches. Lightly coat the foil with cooking spray.
  • Grind chocolate wafers in a food processor until fine and powdery. Place crumbs into a medium bowl and add melted butter and 3/4 cup (about 140g) of the almond butter. Mix until thoroughly combined. Press the wafer mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.
  • Melt the chocolate chips on the stove top over low heat or in the microwave at 30 second intervals until the chips can be stirred smooth. Place melted chocolate and remaining almond butter in a medium bowl; mix until thoroughly combined. Pour into the pan over the wafer crust and spread the mixture evenly, using a small offset spatula.
  • Sprinkle the chocolate mixture evenly with sliced almonds and about 1/8 teaspoon of flake sea salt. Cover and refrigerate about 30 minutes. Lift the mixture from the pan by pulling straight up on the overhanging foil. Garnish with remaining sea salt and cut into bars. Serve at room temperature.
  • These bars store best in the refrigerator in an airtight container, and will remain fresh for up to 5 days!
Keyword almond butter, cookie bars, no bake
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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Anonymous
Anonymous
5 years ago

Wow! Love these ideas! ***But I also remember a time when I had an office job and too little time to bake all the things. I often relied on quick and easy recipes for holiday parties and family gatherings. These recipes were developed with that in mind.*** These are exactly what I need too, and my favorite type of recipes. I would love to see more of these recipes in the future. I have both of your cookbooks and there are some quick and easy recipes in them, it'd be nice to have a whole book 😀 Melinda

Heather Baird
Heather Baird
5 years ago
Reply to  Anonymous

Hi Melinda! I'm so happy you find these recipes useful – and I'd love to write a book like that! Thank you for the suggestion. xo -h

Anonymous
Anonymous
5 years ago

it will not copy anything other than the red velvet……………?????

Heather Baird
Heather Baird
5 years ago
Reply to  Anonymous

Hi. Thanks for letting us know. We're working to fix this.

Anonymous
Anonymous
5 years ago

Copy is fine now. They all look great ! Thanks

Heather Baird
Heather Baird
5 years ago
Reply to  Anonymous

Great! Perhaps you noticed that the last two printable recipes look different from the first when you 'click to print'. We had to link to Google Sites temporarily. It works for now, but we'll be updating the code soon so they all look the same. Thanks for reporting back!

Bryant Yen
Bryant Yen
5 years ago

Hi everyone,
I got a tip for those making the peanut butter one, I would suggest using only half to 2/3 the amount for the filling if using the 9×9 pan. I followed the recipe, and with a 9×9 pan (mine is 1 3/4inch tall only) the filling would have overflown the pan and I still had about 1/4 left in my sauce pan. The final result. The filling is around 5x thicker than the crust. The ones pictured made my Heather look to be around 3-4x thicker than the crust.