Healthy No Bake Cookies
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Published Dec 03, 2018, Updated Jan 19, 2024
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Peanut butter chocolate healthy no bake cookies made with half the amount of sugar in traditional no bake cookies and coconut oil instead of butter. Dairy-free, vegan and refined sugar free.
I’ve always loved traditional chocolate peanut butter no bake cookies. I grew up with them as a kid — my mom would make them for us every Christmas and once I was old enough she taught me how to make them myself.
No Bake Cookies Made Healthier
Traditional no bake cookies are made with butter, milk and refined sugar, but for this version we’re keeping things dairy-free by using coconut oil instead of butter and almond milk instead of the regular milk. To keep things refined sugar-free we’re using coconut sugar instead of white sugar. It also has half the amount of sugar and I have to say, I actually like this version with coconut sugar and less sugar way better!
I will warn you, these cookies might be healthier than traditional no bake cookies, but they’re just as addictive… I think I ate around four every day until they were gone. Oops. Breakfast dessert, lunch dessert, snack and/or dinner dessert – they work well for any and all of the above. 😉
How to Make These Cookies Sugar-Free
If you want to make this recipe sugar-free, feel free to try using stevia or monk fruit in place of the sugar. I haven’t experimented with either myself so I don’t know the appropriate measurement. For stevia, I’d recommend adding a little bit of stevia at a time until the cookies taste sweet enough to suit your liking. If using monk fruit, you can probably just sub it 1:1 with the coconut sugar. Let me know if you try a sugar-free version in the comments below!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make these cookies, plus some ideas for substitutions.
- coconut oil – I’ve also made this recipe with a mashed banana in place of the coconut oil. The cookies will turn out a little bit more dry without the coconut oil, but still yummy.
- creamy peanut butter – you can also use almond butter or any other nut/seed butter in place of the peanut butter.
- coconut sugar – if you’re looking for a sugar-free option, you can use monk fruit or stevia.
- cocoa power or cacao powder – either option will work.
- unsweetened vanilla almond milk – any non-dairy milk option will work just fine.
- sea salt
- vanilla extract
- instant oats or rolled oats – steel-cut oats won’t work for this recipe.
How to Make No Bake Cookies
Mix the dough – Add melted coconut oil and peanut butter to a large bowl and stir until combined. Then add coconut sugar, cocoa powder, almond milk, sea salt, vanilla and oats into the bowl and stir until combined.
Scoop the dough – Drop the dough by the spoonfuls on a baking sheet lined parchment paper.
Set – Place baking sheet in fridge until cookies are set, then serve.
How to Store These Cookies
After letting these cookies set completely in the fridge, store them in an airtight container in your refrigerator for up to 1 week. These also freeze well if you need to keep them longer. Store cookies in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Holiday Cookies To Try
- Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies (Cut-Out Cookies)
- Gingersnap Cookies
- Healthier Snowball Cookies
- Almond Butter Espresso Cookies
- Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Gluten-Free Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Oatmeal Date Cookies
- Healthy Sugar Cookies
- Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
Healthy No Bake Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup melted coconut oil
- ½ cup natural creamy peanut butter, or almond butter
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- pinch of sea salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups quick oats (also called instant oats)
Instructions
- Add melted coconut oil and peanut butter in a medium mixing bowl and stir until combined. Add coconut sugar, cocoa powder, almond milk, sea salt, vanilla.
- If desired you can heat the peanut butter cocoa mixture on the stovetop over medium low heat to fully dissolve the coconut sugar, about 5-6 minutes. Sometimes I do this and sometimes I don't. Depends on how much time I have.
- Add oats to a large mixing bowl and top with peanut butter cocoa mixture. Stir until well combined.
- Using a small/medium cookie scoop, scoop the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Use your hands to press the dough down a bit and form the cookies into a cookie shape.
- Place baking sheet in fridge until cookies are set, then serve. Store any leftover cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.
Video
Notes
- No oil version: I’ve also made this recipe with a mashed banana in place of the coconut oil. The cookies will turn out a little bit more dry without the coconut oil, but still yummy.
- Sugar: You can use granulated sugar instead of coconut sugar, but you will definitely want to heat the peanut butter cocoa mixture to dissolve the sugar.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Oooh, they look delicious! I love no bake cookies, but hate all the sugar they always seem to have. I’m going to have to give this recipe a try!
I saw this on Instagram and had to try it! So easy and so yummy!!!
Oh-my, you just saved me with these cookies, thank you Brittany! I was really feeling a need for sweet just now, when I read this recipe I realized I had everything that it took to make a healthy no-bake cookie on hand.
Well, minus the banana. I substituted with coconut oil and this makes them taste like something that is almost too good to be healthy.
I will make the lower-caloric version with banana another time, to get something that I can really feel guilt-free about eating.
Like I said, the ones with coconut-oil taste so yummy that I feel like they can’t be innocent. 😀
LOVE this. I have been mulling over a no-bake treat idea or two for awhile now, and this is perhaps an excellent jumping off point for me. [They look delicious as is, but you know I just can’t follow a recipe as written. Ever. I’ve tried.]
These look fab! I’ve been looking for a healthier version of peanut butter no bakes. I must try these. Thanks!
No-bake cookies were the only homemade treats my mom ever made when I was a kid. I have missed them dearly since becoming a vegan and now with this recipe I can have my cookie and eat it too! I may try the sugar-free option (using either stevia or date sugar) and see how they turn out.
Yay! Let me know how they turn out.
Okay I just made these with coconut oil and stevia. I used 3 tbs truvia and that seemed the perfect amount of sweetness but next time I will adjust with less cocoa and probably a little more pb – they’re just a little too dry and bitter from the cocoa. Thanks for posting this!!
I like to watch my calories so I did the math and thought I would share the calorie count so no one else has to try and calculate it 🙂 If you use stevia it is roughly only 75 calories a cookie. This is great for kids considering it’s no sugar added and I looove cookies so it’s nice to treat myself every once in awhile. Thanks so much for sharing!
Would you be able to put the nutritional facts on here?
Sure! Just added them, Annette.
I just tried this recipe, but I got stuck on first step. I put the natural pb and mashed ripe banana into the saucepan and stirred but it never got close to melting. I tried turning it up but it just started to brown. The directions say that the pb should be melted before adding the rest of the ingredients. Am I missing something?
Hi Alisha. So sorry for your trouble. I should probably change the wording because the peanut butter doesn’t really have to “melt”, it just needs to get warm and thin out. Did yours do that?