Haystack cookies made with creamy butterscotch chips and crunchy chow mein noodles are the perfect pairing for a no bake cookie done in minutes. Incredibly delicious, no bake cookies are an amazing time savor all holiday season long and so easy for kids to help in the kitchen.
But don’t think these are just for a Christmas menu! Haystacks are for any time of the year and perfect for any get together that needs a salty sweet crunchy treat.
Butterscotch Haystack Cookies
This 2 ingredient 5 minute(ish) cookie is surprisingly amazing.
No time is needed at all, just heat, mix and freeze for almost instant joy in a cookie that the entire family will love. Super kid friendly, these holiday haystacks are rich with sugary goodness.
In fact, this recipe is so easy that I really do not have much to say about it! Expect more haystack cookie ideas and how to mix this recipe up for a whole plate of no bake desserts soon.
No Bake Haystack Cookies
You do not need many ingredients for this recipe.
You can find the butterscotch chips (generic is fine!) in the baking aisle and the can of chow mein in your stores international or Asian cuisine aisle. They do have bags of chow mein noodles as well and if you are planning on making tons of haystacks, you may want to grab the bag and more chips.
- 2 cups Butterscotch Chips (11 0z bag)
- 1 can of Chow Mein Noodles ( 5 oz)
Fun Additions to your haystack cookies
- coconut – Turn your haystack cookies into a delicious no bake coconut cookie by adding some coconut flakes to your melted chips
- peanuts – Butterscotch and peanuts go so well in this treat. Just break down your nuts into tiny pieces and sprinkle on top for a little crunch.
- m&ms – Haystack cookies do super well as an Easter cookie and often the M&M peanut eggs are added as a “nest”, but during Christmas, red and green M&Ms make a great addition
Butterscotch Haystack Cookie Recipe
Prep – Add parchment paper to a baking sheet
Melting down Butterscotch – while no bake cookies and treats are super fun and super kid friendly, any time you are melting down baking chips of any time there can be some frustration. The key to having a positive experience is PATIENCE. Your butterscotch is added to a microwave safe bowl and heated for 20 seconds at a time.
Pull out, stir, 20 seconds back in, until completely melted. Be careful, the chips (and bowl) can get quite hot.
DO NOT OVERHEAT or you will end up with a hard mess. My butterscotch chips took about 1 minute 30 seconds to fully melt down.
Create Your Cookies – Now dump your chow mein can into the butterscotch chips and stir until completely incorporated together.
This is a thick mixture so you may need a spoon to dig down and get all the chow mein noddles covered.
Set – Use a 1 tablespoon scoop (or 2 spoons) to carefully lift out the haystacks and add in little stacks on your parchment paper.
Depending on how big you make your cookies, you can get 14-18 haystacks out of each one. Once done, you can add bits of nuts, candy, or sprinkles before they set.
Cool Completely – To quickly harden the butterscotch, put your baking sheet into the refrigerator or freezer. It takes approx 5 minutes to harden to touch in freezer or 6-8 minutes in fridge.
I prefer freezer to initially set cookies.
Storage – Once completely hardened, store in a gallon size zip lock container or air tight Tupperware. Because these cookies are so easy to make and set wonderfully, they also make a great cookie to bring to office parties, classrooms, and to send home with people as gifts.
Is butterscotch chocolate?
Nope! Butterscotch’s ingredients are brown sugar and butter.
Instead of using chow mein noodles, try this recipe with variations:
- potato sticks
- pretzel sticks
- corn flakes – cornflakes in haystack cookies are often used with green melting chocolates to create a holiday Christmas wreath!
Haystack Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups Butterscotch Chips 11 0z bag
- 1 can of Chow Mein Noodles
- Parchment paper
Instructions
- Prep - Add parchment paper to a baking sheet
- Melting down Butterscotch - while no bake cookies and treats are super fun and super kid friendly, any time you are melting down baking chips of any time there can be some frustration. The key to having a positive experience is PATIENCE. Your butterscotch is added to a microwave safe bowl and heated for 20 seconds at a time. Pull out, stir, 20 seconds back in, until completely melted. Be careful, the chips (and bowl) can get quite hot.
- DO NOT OVERHEAT or you will end up with a hard mess. My butterscotch chips took about 1 minute 30 seconds to fully melt down.
- Create Your Cookies - Now dump your chow mein can into the butterscotch chips and stir until completely incorporated together. This is a thick mixture so you may need a spoon to dig down and get all the chow mein noddles covered.
- Set - Use a 1 tablespoon scoop (or 2 spoons) to carefully lift out the haystacks and add in little stacks on your parchment paper. Depending on how big you make your cookies, you can get 14-18 haystacks out of each one. Once done, you can add bits of nuts, candy, or sprinkles before they set.
- Cool Completely - To quickly harden the butterscotch, put your baking sheet into the refrigerator or freezer. It takes approx 5 minutes to harden to touch in freezer or 6-8 minutes in fridge. I prefer freezer to initially set cookies
- Storage - Once completely hardened, store in a gallon size zip lock container or air tight Tupperware. Because these cookies are so easy to make and set wonderfully, they also make a great cookie to bring to office parties, classrooms, and to send home with people as gifts.
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Comments & Reviews
Patty Seawright says
Do you lower the power on your microwave? My butterscotch burns.
Trisha says
No, I have never lowered the power but it is true that different microwaves operate at different levels. If yours doenst have a lower setting, I would suggest trying “defrost” versus like a regular high setting. That tends to cook at a lower rate. Then just try the 15 seconds at a time and stir.
Hope says
What size can of chow mein noodles do you use?
Trisha says
At my store we have only ever had the small can. Is there a large one?
Nancy says
I like them better with mini marshmallows.