These no bake haystack cookies combine chow mein noodles, milk chocolate and butterscotch chips to make decadent treats that are always a huge hit. Chow mein cookies are perfect to whip up at a moment’s notice and you can vary the flavors and sprinkle decorations depending on the season.
When I need dessert recipes that don’t take much time to prepare, I turn to favorites such as caramel apple dip, cheesecake stuffed strawberries, chocolate crinkle cookies, cake mix cookies and these simple haystack cookies.
Every time I make these haystack cookies, I’m taken back to childhood. I can remember eating these at every holiday function and any day mom felt like whipping them up. Best of all, they come together in minutes and don’t require turning on an oven! These also make great Christmas cookies.
Table of Contents
Haystack Cookies Ingredients
To make these cookies, you will need milk chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, crunch chow mein noodles and sprinkles.
How Do You Make Haystack Cookies?
Place the milk chocolate chips and butterscotch chips in a large bowl. Microwave the chocolate in 30 second increments until it melts, then stir until smooth. Add the crispy noodles to the bowl with the melted chocolate mixture, and toss to coat them in chocolate. Spoon mounds of the cookie mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Add some sprinkles on top. Let the cookies sit until they are firm, then serve and enjoy.
Tips For The Perfect Cookies
- Look for crunchy chow mein noodles in a bag or tin in the ethnic foods aisle of the grocery store. I typically use La Choy brand. Do not buy the long raw chow mein noodles that are meant to be boiled. These are short, fried noodles for use as is in baking and salads.
- Use a good quality brand of chocolate such as Guittard or Ghirardelli for the best results.
- You can make the cookies as big or as small as you like, but I find 2 tablespoons is a nice size.
- Feel free to change up the color of the sprinkles to suit your occasion. These cookies are especially festive with Christmas sprinkles for the holidays.
- Make sure to put your cookies onto a nonstick surface like parchment or wax paper so they’ll be easy to lift up when they cool.
Quick Tip
Haystack cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Recipe FAQs
Haystacks primarily contain chocolate and crunchy noodles. Sometimes the cookies have other ingredients such as nuts, different flavors of melting chips or sprinkles.
Crunchy packaged chow mein noodles are the signature ingredient in haystack cookies that give them a crunchy texture and sweet and salty flavor.
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Flavor Variations
These cookies are delicious as is, but you can change up some of the ingredients to suit your tastes.
- Chocolate: You can use different combinations of chocolate chips and other flavored chips. Some great options include white chocolate chips, semisweet chocolate or peanut butter chips.
- Add-Ins: Feel free to add up to 1/2 cup of other ingredients such as mini marshmallows, peanuts, pecans, cashews, walnuts, raisins or dried fruit.
- Toppings: Omit the sprinkles and try out other garnishes such as miniature chocolate chips, a drizzle of white chocolate, toasted coconut or finely chopped nuts.
Every time we make these cookies, I like letting the children help. They’re just so easy that there’s really no way to mess them up. It’s a great way for the kids to make the memories I got to make growing up.
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Haystack Cookies
Ingredients
- 12 ounces milk chocolate chips
- 12 ounces butterscotch chips
- 12 ounces chow mein noodles
- 1/4 cup sprinkles
Instructions
- Place the milk chocolate chips and butterscotch chips in a large bowl. Microwave in 30 second increments until melted. Stir until smooth.
- Add the chow mein noodles to the bowl and toss until coated in the chocolate mixture.
- Spoon 2 tablespoons of the cookie mixture onto a piece of parchment and shape into a mound; place a pinch of sprinkles on top.
- Repeat the process with the remaining cookie mixture and sprinkles until you have 12 cookies.
- Let cookies sit until firm, then serve. Cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Look for crunchy chow mein noodles in a bag or tin in the ethnic foods aisle of the grocery store. I typically use La Choy brand. Do not buy the long raw chow mein noodles that are meant to be boiled, these are short, fried noodles meant to be used as is for baking and salads.
- Use a good quality brand of chocolate such as Guittard or Ghirardelli for the best results.
I found that some store brand items don’t work too well. Our local CUB Foods has cheese that my dog won’t touch. We have always made these with just the milk chocolate.
Help! My melted chip mixture did not end up smooth. It was crumbly and didn’t really stick to the noodles. Any ideas? Could it have been the brand of chips I used? I love these cookies. I made them last year with your recipe and was successful. I’m puzzled.
It could definitely be the brand of chips, which brand did you use?
I grew up having these cookies during the holidays. I forgot all about them and now going to store to make!
Switching these up with pretzil sticks… can this dessert be frozen?
Yes they can be frozen!
Excuse the ignorant question, but are those just regular raw chow mein noodles broken up or are they a type of actual baked cookie just in a chow mein noodles shape ? They look amazing!!!
Thank you in advance!
It’s these cooked crispy noodles, they’re kind of like a cracker! https://www.lachoy.com/products/chow-mein-noodles
So, I’ve never heard of haystack cookies before but they sound great. They’re so easy to make and I’m sure my kids would love making them too x
Oh my! These look so tasty, I want one right now. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Mmm, this looks so delicious. I never knew they were so easy! I want to make these this weekend! Thanks so much!
Theses look so good! My niece and I will have so much fun making these.. I can’t wait.
this sounds so fun 🙂 it looks so simple and delicious
These are fun! My daughters would really enjoy making these together for an afternoon snack.
That looks so good. It seems that no-bake is the way to go. So will be trying these for sure.
Ok, call me a naive, but never heard of haystack before. But seeing your recipe, make me want to do this every get together parties 🙂 And it is easy to do 😀
Yum! Simple and they look delicious. I would love to try these with my kids!
Wow these look amazing. Given I’m always pressed for time, having something you can put together this quick really makes it easy. Thanks for the post!
This looks awesome! I always try making recipes with butterscotch chips, but my fiance hates it!! Maybe this recipe will convince him! Or, I could try one of your other suggested mix-ins 😉
My mom LOVED making these when I was little! They definitely taste good but the texture isn’t for me . . . I’m more of a cakey, soft cookie kind of gal.