Only one pot required for ‘cookies with sticks’ in them Homemade Holidays
By: Eva Wasney Posted: 2:00 AM CST Friday, Dec. 5, 2025

This recipe delivers on the holiday baking wishlist trifecta: it’s easy, requires little equipment and can be made months in advance.

For reasons beyond simplicity, these Chocolate Chow Mein Clusters have been a beloved part of Janet Sigurdson’s family Christmas traditions for decades. Her now 32-year-old son, in particular, has been a lifelong fan.

“I’ve been making these for 35 years; they’re inspired by a Canadian Living recipe from December 1990. I still have the clipping; it’s a little stained but readable,” she says.

“My son has had them for his whole life. When he was three, Christmas was approaching and he pulled on my shirt and said, ‘Mommy, mommy, make those cookies again… the cookies with sticks in them.’ And then he drew a circle with sticks — it looked like a little Sputnik.”

And so, Sigurdson makes “cookies with sticks in them” year after year, relishing the ease of these chocolatey, salty, crunchy treats.

“All you do is put stuff in a pot and let it melt,” she says.

Chocolate Chow Mein Clusters

375 ml (1 1/2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips

250 ml (1 cup) butterscotch chips

125 ml (1/2 cup) butter

60 ml (1/4 cup) smooth peanut butter

500 ml (2 cups) dry chow mein noodles

250 ml (1 cup) salted peanuts

Using a double boiler, melt chocolate and butterscotch chips, butter and peanut butter together, stirring often.

Add chow mein noodles and peanuts to a large bowl. Pour in chocolate mixture and stir until noodles and nuts are well coated.

Spoon the mixture onto parchment-lined baking sheets in 1-inch mounds. Refrigerate for 20 minutes until firm.

Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

— Janet Sigurdson

Homemade Holidays is an annual Free Press tradition featuring 12 festive desserts published over 12 days in December. Click here to find this year’s batch of reader-submitted recipes.

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Eva Wasney
Reporter

Eva Wasney has been a reporter with the Free Press Arts & Life department since 2019. Read more about Eva.

Every piece of reporting Eva produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.