These no bake peanut butter pumpkins are the cutest way to their hearts this fall. They are such an adorable addition to any dessert display, whether it’s for Halloween, Thanksgiving, or any fall celebration in between!
These super fun and cute treats are effortless and straightforward to make.
Full of sweet, decadent peanut butter flavor, they also package beautifully for gifting. They’re surprisingly easy to make, too – the hardest part is simply waiting for the dough to chill in the fridge!
I love sharing sweet inspiration with you all year long, but especially at the holidays. We love to make fun, charming Halloween cookies in October – the whole month is full of spooky celebrations!
What I love about these no bake peanut butter pumpkins, though, is that they are great all throughout the fall season. They don’t feel Halloween specific – they’d be equally adorable on your Thanksgiving spread, as they are for spooky season!
They are so buttery that they will just melt in your mouth. It’s so creative that I bet your whole family will love to come together to make this Halloween treat.
Molded with gooey peanut butter, real butter and powdered sugar, they are so much fun to make with your kids. Let’s scoop up some no bake dough and get started.
Why You’ll Love these No Bake Peanut Butter Pumpkins
- No Baking Skills Required
- Easy to Make
- Great for Gifting
- Fun for Kids
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Butter – Softened to room temperature. You can use salted or unsalted butter in this recipe, your call! We like a little salty to balance out the sweet, so
- Creamy Peanut Butter – Traditional peanut butter, not an organic, natural or homemade peanut butter. The consistency is not the same.
- Powdered (confectioners) Sugar – Learn how to make powdered sugar if you don’t have any on hand.
- Vanilla Extract – Use authentic vanilla extract, not imitation.
- White chocolate chips – For melting into the cute stem of these pumpkins!
- Vegetable oil – To help the white chocolate stems set up.
- Orange and green food colors – Orange for the pumpkins and green for the stem, of course.
Helpful Tools
- Mixing Bowls
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Cling Wrap – To wrap the dough in while it chills in the fridge.
- Cookie Sheets
- Parchment Paper or Silicone Baking Mats – Optional, but they help make cleanup a breeze.
- Piping Bags
- Star Icing Tip
- Toothpick
How to Make No Bake Peanut Butter Pumpkins
The full printable recipe is below.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set it aside.
- Add the butter, peanut butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and 6-7 drops of orange food color in a large bowl and mix together as directed.
- Cover and Chill the dough. (Chilling makes the dough a little less sticky when shaping them into pumpkins with your hands.)
- Melt the white chocolate in the oven along with 2-3 tsp of oil at 20 seconds intervals, stirring properly after each interval. Add 3-4 drops of green food color to it and mix. Fill this mixture into a piping bag fitted with a small open star tip and pipe pumpkin stems on a parchment paper-lined tray. Keep it in the refrigerator to set.
- Take the dough out from the refrigerator, scooping and rolling into a ball with your hands. Then use a toothpick to make vertical lines on the dough ball.
- Now, make a hole with the pointed end of a toothpick. This will help the white chocolate stem insert easily into the balls without deforming the shape.
- Take out the prepared stems from the fridge and press them gently on the top.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate for later. Enjoy!!
Tips
- Need help with baking conversions? Check out this Essential Measurement Conversion Chart.
- Make sure you handle the dough as little as possible while rolling, as the more you handle the more butter will melt inside due to the heat from your hands and as a result, the balls won’t hold the shape.
- You can leave out the food colors if you don’t like them. The pumpkins will be brownish instead of orange but they will still taste really good.
- You can use any green topper or even just press a chocolate chip on top for the stem if you don’t want to make it out of white chocolate.
- Don’t use natural or organic peanut butter as they are a bit runny and thin and the dough won’t be the same.
Frequently Asked Questions
Handle the dough of these no bake cookies as little as possible. The heat from your hands can melt the ingredients down, keeping them from holding their shape.
If your no bake cookies aren’t setting up as well as you’d like, try popping them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so. Often, that chilled temperature will help the ingredients come together so they hold up better!
How to Store
- Room Temperature – Store in a sealed container for up to 2-3 days.
- Refrigerate – Store these no bake peanut butter pumpkins in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They’ll stay fresh for 6-7 days.
- Freeze – Don’t freeze these no bake cookies, as they won’t hold their shape and you might experience some color bleeding.
No Bake Peanut Butter Pumpkins
Ingredients
For the Pumpkins
- ½ cup Butter, salted or unsalted, softened
- 1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
- 16 ounces Powdered, confectioners Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Orange food coloring, 6-7 drops (until the color you want is achieved)
For the Stems
- ¾ cup White chocolate chips
- Green food coloring, 3-4 drops
- 2-3 teaspoons vegetable oil
Instructions
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set it aside.
- Add the butter, peanut butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and 6-7 drops of orange food color in a large bowl and mix together until a dough-like consistency is reached. (Your dough should be stiff and must hold shape. You can add more powdered sugar if it’s soft and doesn’t hold shape)
- Cover and Chill the dough for about 20 minutes. (chilling makes the dough a little less sticky when shaping them into pumpkins with your hands)
- Melt the white chocolate in the oven along with 2-3 tsp of oil at 20 second intervals, stirring properly after each interval. Add 3-4 drops of green food color to it and mix. Fill this mixture into a piping bag fitted with a small open star tip and pipe pumpkin stems on a parchment paper-lined tray. Keep it in the refrigerator to set.
- Take the dough out from the refrigerator and scoop about 2 tablespoons of dough and roll it into a ball with your hands. Then use a toothpick to make vertical lines on the dough ball.
- Now, make a hole in the upper middle part of the dough ball using the pointed end of a toothpick. This will help the white chocolate stem insert easily into the balls without deforming the shape.
- Take out the prepared stems from the fridge and press them gently on the top.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate for later. Enjoy!!
Notes
- Make sure you handle the dough as little as possible while rolling, as the more you handle the more butter will melt inside due to the heat from your hands and as a result, the balls won’t hold the shape.
- You can leave out the food colors if you don’t like them. The pumpkins will be brownish instead of orange but they will still taste really good.
- You can use any green topper or even just press a chocolate chip on top for the stem if you don’t want to make it out of white chocolate.
- Don’t use natural or organic peanut butter as they are a bit runny and thin and the dough won’t be the same.
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