These no-bake chocolate peanut butter Ritz cookies with flaky salt on top have been part of my family’s Christmas cookie trays for as long as I can remember. A generous spoonful of creamy peanut butter is sandwiched between two buttery, flaky Ritz crackers, then dipped into a rich mixture of melted semisweet chocolate AND chocolate almond bark.
This Recipe Is One Of My All-Time Favorite Christmas Food Memories. Thanks, Mom!❤️
My mom is famous for making these awesome (and easy!) Ritz sandwich cookies every single Christmas; right alongside her homemade peanut butter cups and layered mint chocolate brownies. She never skipped a beat. Now I’m the same, as these PB & chocolate treats are always a top request from my family.
Over the years I’ve tweaked the method and ingredients proportions for these no-bake treats, and now these cookies are just the way our family likes them. The first thing is that I add considerably more peanut butter than any other comparable recipe out there. There’s a whole tablespoon in-between those crunchy, flaky crackers; nice and generous. This was a special request from my husband and two daughters — and it absolutely works!
Next thing is that I use a 50/50 combination of melted chocolate almond bark and good quality semisweet chocolate chips. The almond bark allows for a solid set, so the chocolate doesn’t get melty when sitting out on a treats platter for hours. And good quality chocolate chips give a richer chocolate flavor.
And finally, I add a little sprinkle of sea salt flakes over the top of each cookie. This totally elevates the flavors in this simple treat.
My family won’t let me make these any other way. And Mom agrees; these changes are an upgrade!
You can eat these cookies as soon as the chocolate hardens. Or store them in the freezer for later enjoyment (I LOVE to eat these frozen), as they freeze especially well. This is a great recipe for making several weeks ahead of your holiday celebrations…because there are sooooo many cookies to make!
“Absolutely one of the best “cookies” I have ever made or had, for that matter. Made one batch and had to make another. Everyone thought they were delicious. A much requested cookie for the holidays.”
JANE
Here’s Exactly How I Make These
Before you start, a few tips from my kitchen
Whenever I’d share these cookies on a Christmas platter, I would get requests for my recipe. And that’s when I realized that I really didn’t have a very good recipe! It had vague ingredients amounts and instructions. So I measured and tested and wrote down all my best tips — to ensure that others would get my same results.
This is a great recipe to include young kids in the kitchen. When our girls were too small to dip the cookies into the hot melted chocolate, their job was to count out the crackers, set them on the pan, and then add the peanut butter. Maybe your kids or grandkids can help you with this part, too!
My recipe makes 24 cookies, and a 15″ x 10″ rimmed pan is works great because it slides into our fridge’s vertical (skinny) freezer if we want the chocolate to set faster.
Take special care to melt the chocolates gently, so they don’t scorch, because scorched chocolate is ruined chocolate. I like to use a double boiler method because it greatly reduces the chance of scorching. A microwave also works, just be sure to heat slowly and gently in shorter intervals, and stir the chocolates often.
Make sure to add the flaky salt when the chocolate is cooled and still mostly glossy, before it hardens. If you add the salt while the chocolate is hot, it will disappear into the chocolate. If you add it after the chocolate is set and hard, it will not stick at all.
Sweet-n-Salty Chocolate Peanut Butter Ritz Cookies
Ingredients
- 48 Ritz crackers
- ¾ cup creamy peanut butter (I use Skippy)
- 8 ounces chocolate almond bark
- 8 ounces good quality semisweet chocolate chips
- sea salt flakes (I use Maldon sea salt flakes)
Instructions
- Set up a double boiler on your stovetop. Add chocolate almond bark and chocolate chips, and melt them together, stirring often. Take care to not let the chocolate scorch. (Or use a medium heat-proof bowl to melt the chocolates in the microwave on a low setting, in shorter intervals, stirring regularly.)
- Meanwhile, line a 15" x 10" rimmed pan with wax paper. Place 24 Ritz crackers on the wax paper, leaving an inch of space in between each one.
- Place a generous tablespoon (some people think this is too much, use less if you like!) of peanut butter onto the center of each cracker. Do not spread the peanut butter.
- Place another cracker on top of the peanut butter and gently press down at the center of the cracker. This will spread out the peanut butter between the two crackers. Repeat until you have all sandwich cookies assembled.
- Once chocolates have melted, remove the double boiler from the stovetop. Drop an assembled sandwich cookie into the chocolate. Use two forks to maneuver the cookie, quickly turn it to completely cover with chocolate. Lift the cookie out with one of the forks, and tap the fork handle lightly on the side of the bowl to force excess chocolate down through the fork’s tines and back into the bowl. Slide the fork outward from the bowl, dragging the bottom of the tines along the rim of the bowl, letting more excess chocolate drip down the inside of the bowl. Transfer chocolate-dipped cookie onto the wax paper, using a toothpick to help slide the cookie off the fork's tines. Repeat until all cookies are dipped. If the chocolate becomes thickened and difficult to work with, simply warm it up a bit more.
- When the chocolate has cooled and is still a bit glossy, sprinkle the cookies with sea salt flakes. Be sure to do this before the chocolate sets up.
- Enjoy as soon as the chocolate is set and hardened. If you want to quicken this step, place the pan in the refrigerator or freezer for a bit.
These are the best! My mom always made them too. Must be a Minnesotan thing! :)
Or at least a “Midwest” sort of recipe, as I grew up in SD. But I’ll eat them in any state, for sure!! Nice to hear from you, Julie!
My grandma used to make these too…lol….from Iowa!
Thanks, April! :)
These look so delicious and way too easy! Saw this posted on Tasty Kitchen. Very nice blog!
So nice to hear from you, Tricia – thanks!!
Hubby and I are making these right this very minute :). Yummmmm….peanut buttery chocolately salty crunchy delight :)
Hi Jen!! Love it!! xoxo
Can these be frozen ?
Absolutely. I always freeze them!
Oh my goodness, these are just the best things ever!! I could not stop eating them.
Yaaaayyy!! So glad you liked them, Sylvie! :)
these look wonderful!!!
Thanks, Diane!
love love LOVE these… one of my favorites!!
kisses
heather
Thank you, Heather! :)
Yum! We make these with Wheat Thins sometimes, too. They’re so easy and so good.
Now that’s a version I haven’t heard of – we love Wheat Thins, too – will have to try that out! Thanks, Shaina!
Wow these look immense! I’m a big big fan of peanut butter although I have to ration it as if I could I’d eat it every day and get really fat!
These sound SO delicious. What a PERFECT Christmas treat!
Delicious, indeed. I dare you to eat just one! ;)
I stir in a little powdered sugar to the peanut butter, just to help ‘set it.’ But I’m guessing that’s because of the type of pb I use… honey, or nothing at all, I freaking love these little things!
Guess I need to try the powdered sugar bit, too – you’re the second person who’s said that! Nice to hear from you again, Julia!
Wow, so simple and they look fantastic. Now I’m really craving some Ritz crackers :D
Thanks, Becca!
Thank you! I’ve always wanted to make these cookies, but never took the time to figure out how they’re made. these look delicious and I’m definitely going to make this this Christmas season!
You’re welcome, Lisa – enjoy!!
I forgot all about these! These are so yummy and I made a batch right away after reading your post. I always sweeten up the peanut butter by adding confectioners sugar. It also firms it up a bit.
Another interesting variation – I’ll be sure to try that one out, thanks!
I love these cookies and the chocolate/peanut butter combination. Thanks for simplifying the process for us!
Couldn’t be much simpler!! :) Nice to hear from you again, Katie.
My husband does not have a large sweet tooth but he does love peanut butter. I’m betting he would love these with your updated version that contains a little bit of the sea salt. Great looking cookie…your Mom’s recipe box certainly does contain some delightful treasures.
Yes, so many delightful treasures. I hope you and your husband likes these, Paula! xo
I just stopped by your blog and thought I would say hello. I like your site design. Looking forward to reading more down the road.
Love the idea of the sea salt. Want to give that a try this year.
You’ll love the sea salt, Mom! xo
Always a hit during the holidays! Love these little cookies!
Thanks, Maria! :)
What a fun, easy recipe! I love it! I am co-hosting the #cookielove blog hop on my site all month long and I think these would be a perfect addition if you’d like to link them. They are great!
Thank you, Laura – Great to hear from you!
Making today!
Yay!! :)