Easy No-bake Chocolate Haystacks

By Rebecca St. Clair

I love a great no-bake cookie recipe and chocolate haystacks are one of the best! I have a few people in my family who request these cookies, over all other cookies I make, around Christmas time. However, these cookies are a great quick snack to make any time of year.

No-bake chocolate haystack cookies are little bite-sized treats of sweet and tender chocolaty goodness.

Smooth, velvety layer of smooth chocolate, rich with a deep cocoa flavour. Mixed into clusters of chewy oats and coconut.

Once set the cookies wonderfully crisp on the outside yet soft and chewy on the inside. They’re the ultimate combination of simplicity and decadence.

I got this recipe from my grandmother, who loved the recipe so much. I found it written down twice in her recipe box, neither of which she labeled haystacks. The first she got from the man she worked for, and are called Chocolate bundles. The second from her friend Jo, and they are labeled Straw cookies.

The first time I made them my husband said he calls them haystacks. But no matter what you know them as, they are just as delicious!

What are Chocolate Haystacks?

A hot lush chocolate sauce is poured over oats and coconut and becomes a rustic little “cookie”, but really it’s more of a chocolate mound.

My chocolate haystacks are made of just coconut, oats, and a homemade chocolate sauce. Many variations are made with dried noodles, marshmallows, pretzels, cornflakes, nuts, peanut butter, or potato sticks mixed in.

How to make Chocolate Haystacks

Since chocolate haystacks are a no-bake recipe, you will first have to heat up a few ingredients on the stove top to make the chocolate sauce.

Once everything is melted together, you simply pour it over the oats and coconut. When the mixture starts to cool, it will become thicker and can be formed into cookies.

This recipe uses cocoa powder to make the sweet chocolate sauce for the haystacks, which I prefer for this recipe. Some recipe that call for melting chocolate chips, melt and become messy on your fingers. The use of cocoa powder will help keep the chocolate intact.

Freezing and storing chocolate haystacks

Freezing

Chocolate haystacks freeze extremely well. To freeze your chocolate haystacks,

• Allow the cookies to cool and set.
• Freeze in a single layer on a cookie sheet for 1 hour.
• Place the cookies into a freezer bag, or air-tight container.
• Store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.

In the Fridge

To keep chocolate haystacks fresh, store them in the refrigerator, in an air-tight container, for up to 2 weeks.

Store at room temperature

This is my favourite way to store them, if we will be eating them right away. Stored at room temperature, chocolate haystacks will remain fresh for up to a week. They will remain soft and full of flavour, if stored at room temperature.

If using the other methods of storage, allow the cookies to return to room temperature before serving.

Why are they called Chocolate Haystacks?

Since these cookies, or sometimes called haystack candy, is a very ragged looking shape, they do not resemble a smooth round typical looking cookie.

The coconut and oats get pilled into mounds and then are held together with the chocolate sauce. They really do resemble the shape of something raked together and pilled into mounds. Much like you would see mounds of hay dotted across the field to dry in the rural country side.

Decoration

Decorating your haystack cookies is optional but is a nice festive touch if you are making them for a special occasion like Christmas.

Simply add a drizzle of icing or melted white chocolate. Finish with a few festive sprinkles.

What type of oats

Quick-Cook Oats

For no-bake cookies, in general, quick-cook oats are the best choice. Since the oats need very little time to cook and soak in the liquid to make them soft.

Quick-cook oats are like rolled oats or old-fashioned oats, because they are all rolled flat and thin. This shortens their cook time.

However, quick-cook oats go through even more processing. They are partially steamed and rolled even thinner. This allows them to cook in a matter of minutes.

With these Chocolate haystack oat cookies, we are not really cooking the oats on the stove top, but just stirring hot chocolate sauce into them.

Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats

Rolled oats or old-fashioned oats would be a good second choice. They will result in a chewier haystack.

Other oats

Steal-cut oats, Scottish oats, and oat groats would not be recommended to make no-bake chocolate haystacks, as they have a much longer cook time.

Ingredients for Chocolate Haystacks

2 ½ cups quick oats 250 g

1 cup shredded desiccated coconut 100 g

½ cup butter 115 g

1 2/3 cup white sugar 334 g

½ cup milk 125 ml

6 Tablespoons cocoa powder 50 g

½ teaspoon salt 2 g

2 teaspoons vanilla extract 10 ml

(optional) ½ cup add-ins (Dried Chinese noodles, marshmallows, pretzels, cornflakes, nuts, peanut butter, or potato sticks.)

Method

1. In a large bowl, mix together the oats and coconut. Set aside.
2. To a sauce pot, over medium heat, mix the butter, white sugar, and milk.
3. Simmer 3-4 minutes to melt the butter and dissolve the sugar.
4. Stir in the cocoa powder, salt, and vanilla until everything is well combined.

5. Remove from heat and pour over top of the dry mixture.

6. Stir well to make sure everything is well coated in the chocolate mixture.

7. As the mixture starts to cool it will set.

8. Drop spoonful’s into little mounds on a lined tray.

9. Allow the haystacks to cool completely and fully solidify. You can speed up the process by placing the tray in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

10. Decorate if desired.

11. Once the haystacks are cooled and set, they are ready to serve.

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