No Bake Almond Cookies
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Published Jul 29, 2020, Updated Jan 21, 2024
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These tasty no bake almond cookies are packed with almonds, dates and cacao nibs. They’re sweet and delicious as is, but insanely good dipped in chocolate.
Can you believe I came up with this recipe in 2011?! Yup, this recipe has stood the test of time and it’s still one of my favorite treats!
No Bake Almond Cookie Ingredients
These cookies required less than 10 ingredients and you don’t have to turn on your oven to whip them up. This happens to be super convenient when it’s 100°F outside! The flavor of the cookies is nutty from the almonds and almond butter and a bit caramely from the medjool dates. They remind me of my 4-ingredient samoas but with almond instead of toasted coconut!
- roasted almonds
- almond butter
- medjool dates – the medjool dates hold the cookies together and give them a delicious caramel flavor
- cacao nibs – cacao nibs are the pure form of chocolate and I love the crunch they give these cookies
- vanilla extract
- salt – you can omit this if your almond butter is salted (or not… it’s up to you)
- chocolate chips and white chocolate chips – dipping the cookies into melted chocolate makes them look adorable and taste delicious, but this step is optional
How to Make No Bake Cookies
The best part about these cookies, in my opinion, is that you don’t even need a bowl and spoon. Just grab your ingredients and toss them into your food processor!
Start by adding the almonds to the food processor and pulse until it’s a coarse almond meal. Add the dates, almond butter, vanilla and salt and process for about a minute until a dough forms. Add in the cacao nibs and pulse once or twice to combine.
Once the mixture is combined (crumbly but sticky enough to hold together), form the dough into small cookies by using your hands or press the dough out on parchment paper and use a cookie cutter to cut out. Each cookie should be about 1 Tablespoon of dough.
Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and enjoy immediately or place in the fridge for 1-2 hours to firm up. Store any leftovers in a covered container in the fridge for up to a week or the freezer for up to 3 months.
Chocolate Dipped Cookies
Dipping the cookies in chocolate is optional and you certainly don’t have to do both white and dark chocolate… just pick your favorite. If you do decide to dip them, I highly recommend Lily’s Sweet chocolate chips combined with a little coconut oil to thin. Simply dip half of each cookie into the chocolate, sprinkle with extra cacao nibs and place cookie back on the parchment lined baking sheet. Once all cookies are dipped, place baking sheet with cookies into the fridge or freezer until the chocolate has set. Enjoy right away or store in the fridge or freezer.
More No-Bake Desserts to Try
- No Bake Brownies
- Healthy No Bake Cookies
- Healthy Chocolate Banana Ice Cream
- Cottage Cheese Cookie Dough
- No Bake Blueberry Muffin Donut Holes
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bark
- 3 Ingredient Icebox Cake
- Puppy Chow
No Bake Almond Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw or unsalted roasted almonds
- 1 cup about 8-10 medjool dates, pitted
- ½ cup almond butter
- 2 Tablespoons cacao nibs + more for topping
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt, omit if your almond butter is salted
Chocolate for Dipping (optional)
- ¼ cup dark chocolate chips, I used Lily’s
- ¼ cup white chocolate chips, I used Lily’s
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil, divided
Instructions
- Place the almonds in a food processor and pulse until it resembles a coarse meal.
- Add the dates, almond butter, vanilla and salt.
- Pulse/process for about a minute, until a dough forms.
- Add in cacao nibs and pulse once or twice to combine.
- At this point your mixture should be a bit crumbly, but sticky enough to hold together when pressed. Form the dough into small cookies using your hands or by pressing the dough out on parchment paper and using a cookie cutter. Each cookie should contain about 1 Tablespoon of dough.
- Place formed cookies on parchment paper. Enjoy immediately or place in the fridge for 1-2 hours to firm up. Store any leftovers in a covered container in the fridge for one week or the freezer up to 3 months.
For Chocolate Dipped Cookies
- If you want to dip the cookies in chocolate like I did, simply grab two small bowls and add the dark chocolate chips with 1/2 teaspoon of chocolate oil into one and the white chocolate chips and 1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil in the other. Heat the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second increments until melted. Dip half of the cookies in the dark chocolate and half in the white chocolate. Place cookies back on parchment and sprinkle with cacao nibs. Place in the fridge or freezer to until the chocolate has set.
- Store any leftovers in a covered container in the fridge for one week or the freezer for a month.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Once again, a recipe from you that is simple, yummy, and has great-for-you ingredients. Thanks for sharing! My 4 year old & I LOVE these cookies. Oh, AND they look SO pretty too 🙂
Woo!! I love hearing this, Kelsey! Thanks so much for the review. I really appreciate it!
I have made these cookies 5 or 6 times.
This time to make it easy on myself for Christmas I placed the dough in mini cupcake pan, froze for a bit and then topped with chocolate and cacao nibs. What a great treat.
Thank you EBF for creating this recipe.
You’re so welcome! I’m so glad you’re loving these cookies. 🙂
Can I sub peanut butter for almond butter?
Definitely! Any nut or seed butter will work. 🙂
Would you recommend soaking the dates in boiling water first to make the food processor blending easier?? I find the dates are the hardest part of blend
Hey Karla! If your dates seem dry and hard you can definitely soak them beforehand, but you shouldn’t have to soak them if the dates are softer.
So yummy! Simple recipe. Holds together well. Perfect amount of crunch and sweetness. My husband and I have to limit ourselves to 2/day because they are THAT delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Ahh yay! That makes me so happy to hear, Stephanie. 🙂 I’m so glad these cookies are a hit! Thanks for making them and for coming back to leave a comment + star rating. I so appreciate it!
I LOVE the new version of these cookies 🙂 the dipped chocolate is a nice touch. I’ve made something similar in a ball shape. I’ll try them this way next time!
These cookies are so delicious and easy to make. I eat then straight from the freezer. Perfect healthy snack.
Ahh yay! So glad you’re loving these cookies, Lisa! I so appreciate you making them and coming back to leave a comment + star rating. It means the world to me. 🙂
These no bake cookies look super amazing!!
Can you use almond flour instead of grinding your own almonds?
Hey Ashlee – I think almond meal would likely work, but maybe not almond flour because it’s so fine. In the instructions I say to pulse the almonds until it resembles a coarse meal, so we don’t want the texture to be too fine.
Easy peasy love these cookies thanks for the repost made them last year