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
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
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.
So this recipe is amazing. I’m thankful for a healthier version of tue classic. One thing I did differently is…. in the classic version of this you bring the peanut butter, butter (or in this case coconut oil) and sugar to a simmer then remove from heat and add milk. This process caramelizes the sugar helping to hold the cookie together afternoon cooking. I found this technique helpful. Just thought I’d share 🙂
Hi Tina! Thank you so much for sharing, I’ll definitely have to try this step next time I make these! 🙂 And thank you for coming back to leave a comment (and star rating). I so appreciate it!
These cookies are amazing. I totally messed them up but I can tell they would be good lol. I decided to double the recipe then suddenly realized it was going to make a ridiculous amount. I ended up adding a bunch of stuff to make it thicker because I didn’t have time to let them set properly so I added chia seeds, coconut, coconut flour, ground flax, and then quickly rolled them into balls. They were better before but I was short on time. I also didn’t have instant oatmeal and I realize they would have been way better with instant oats. There is a lot of oatmeal in these more than most and so the oatmeal was a bit too chewy. These cookies were good despite all my mistakes which shows how versatile this recipe is. I made 70 cookies and did the calorie count and it was 90 each. I am going to make them again as written if I ever eat all of these lol.
I grew up making no-bake cookies. This healthier alternative stands up to the original in taste! Delicious!!! (And super-easy!)
Woo-hoo! I’m so glad that you liked them, Anna! I feel the same way.
I was wondering if I could use sativa instead of sugar so I will try it and let you know how they turned out Thank you bet they are yummy
Your cookies look so great for healthy snacks! By any chance do you know the weigh and volume you are using? I don’t have cups in France. I should really get some as I want to try this recipe! Thanks in advance! 😉
I’m one of the pickiest person to eat healthy foods, only because I love sugar & good tasting foods. So in my mind I figured I’d be wasting my time & would probably be throwing these away, but this wasn’t the case. Shockingly these are really Good!! So good that I ate most of them by the end of the night ?? and they are very easy to make.
I can’t make these again. I have zero self control! They were yummy. I do miss eating them warm and gooey from the pan though.
This is too ironic…when you posted your recipe for the peanut butter balls last week, I discovered the link to these no bake cookies and I already bookmarked them to make ASAP! 🙂 I’ve made the protein version before, but I can’t wait to try these!
My name is Brice and I love to bake like cookies or double doozie or chocolate chip cookies or almond cookies bake cakes and more desserts to ship it to the United States of America
I just made these, followed the recipe exact, except added a handful of raw coconut, and they are sooo good, I accually think these are better than the original unhealthy recipe….Thank you Brittany…;)
Yay! So glad that you liked them, Lisa. Thanks for coming back to comment and let me know. 🙂