These easy and healthy no bake cookies are naturally vegan, gluten-free, and low in sugar using just a handful of ingredients like peanut butter, oats, and chocolate chips. A family favorite, they are as irresistible and delicious as healthy chocolate chip cookies and healthy peanut butter oatmeal cookies.
It always seems like my kids want to make cookies at the worst times… like when the oven is already full or when it’s 90+ degrees outside.
I hate saying no, so I went out searching for a good no-bake cookie recipe that my kids could make on their own, and that was healthier than most.
We made some tweaks and settled on this easy no-bake cookie recipe, which turns out to be one of our favorite cookies so far!
Healthy No Bake Cookies
While testing recipes for this healthy no-bake cookie recipe, I came across several recipes that LOOKED good…
- Some had 3 ingredients
- Others were made with brown sugar
- A few were made without milk…
- And I found some that were made with banana (which just seems weird for a cookie recipe to me)
None of these things are BAD, per se. But I didn’t want a cookie that was super sweet and honestly, I didn’t want to use bananas.
I like bananas in my caramelized banana bread and in my 5 ingredient banana bread muffins and especially in my peanut butter chocolate chip banana ice cream… but not in my cookies!
Classic Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies
After some tweaking, we ended up on a no bake cookie recipe that was:
- Made without butter
- SUPER easy and fast to make
- Used a lot less granulated sugar (with the option to increase the quality)
- Naturally vegan + gluten-free
- Made with 10 ingredients you likely already have on hand
- Just sweet enough, without the guilt!
Both my kids and my husband requested that I make this snack again, and I have to say yes because they’re so good!
Healthy No Bake Cookies Ingredients
I mentioned that you likely have everything you need to make these in your pantry, and here’s what you need:
- Peanut Butter. If you use natural peanut butter, make sure you’ve poured off the excess oil. (See my note below.)
- Coconut Oil. You want virgin coconut oil here, the kind that is solid at room temperature.
- Granulated Sugar. I chose to use coconut sugar, but you can use any kind of granulated sugar, including white or brown. (Psst! Here’s how to make homemade brown sugar!)
- Dark Chocolate Chips. Mini dark chocolate chips are perfect for this recipe.
- Honey. Just a little bit goes a long way! (I use this brand)
- Coconut Flakes. These add texture and flavor.
- Cinnamon (and coconut and vanilla) tricks your taste buds into thinking something is sweeter than it actually is. You only need a pinch here, and the cookie won’t taste like cinnamon!
- Quick Oats. We can easily make these with rolled oats.
Step by Step Instructions
These healthy no bake oatmeal peanut butter cookies come together SUPER fast and require no baking at all. In fact, you can even skip the stove!!
Step 1. Melt the peanut butter and coconut oil together on the stove or in the microwave.
Step 2. Stir in all the other ingredients until everything is well combined.
Step 3. Scoop the dough mixture onto a cookie sheet and chill in the fridge. When they’re solid, enjoy!
Healthy No Bake Oatmeal Cookies with Peanut Butter FAQs
Yes! You can easily substitute almond butter, cashew butter, sunflower seed butter, or any other seed or nut butter for the peanut butter. I personally haven’t tested other versions, but as long as the nut or seed butter isn’t excessively oily, you should be fine!
These healthy no bake cookies and other no bakes take about 30 to 45 minutes to firm up.
Go for it! Adding a scoop of collagen would be a great way to boost the nutrition of these cookies. If you’ve never heard of collagen or the benefits of it – like how it makes your hair grow faster, your nails grow longer and your skin looking healthy – read more about it here.
Make sure you’re buying LEGIT collagen. I’ve tried a few brands, but this brand is the only one that actually gave results.
You can store this healthy treat in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Tips for Using Natural Peanut Butter In Chocolate No Bake Cookies
The oil in natural peanut butter tends to separate, so here’s what I do to keep this from happening:
- Open a new jar of peanut butter. Pour the whole thing (oil and all) into a food processor (I have this one) or blender (I have this one).
- Blend the peanut butter until the oil is well incorporated into the solids. You may have to do this in batches. The peanut butter is super thick and you don’t want to overheat your appliance!
- When you’re done, scoop the peanut butter back into the jar.
- Store the jar in the FRIDGE, upside down.
The Harvard School of Public Health says that natural peanut butter contains healthy fats, as well as vitamins and minerals, which are important for our health. A definite win-win!
More Healthy Cookie Recipes
- Molasses Breakfast Cookies
- Dark Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
- Healthy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Pumpkin Cookies with Naturally Sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting
No Cook Meal Plan
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These easy and healthy no bake cookies are naturally gluten-free and low in sugar using just a handful of ingredients like peanut butter, oats, and chocolate chips. A family favorite, they are as irresistible and delicious as Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies and Healthy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 24 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Mix
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 1/4 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup peanut butter (a “no stir” without hydrogenated oil works best)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, softened or melted
- 1/4 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened preferred)
- 2–4 Tbsp granulated sugar (I used coconut sugar)
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large bowl, or preferably the bowl of a stand mixer, combine all ingredients until it’s all well-mixed and combined. Spoon two tablespoons onto a baking sheet lined with a silpat mat. If desired, use wet hands and roll each scoop into a ball and flatten into the shape of a cookie.
- Place in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes to firm up and then serve.
- Cookies can be kept at room temperature without losing shape, but they will be soft.
Notes
Cookies can also be frozen for up to 3 months!
Nutrition
- Calories: 667
Keywords: Healthy No Bake Cookies
Incredible. Thank you!! I usually use a Carmelized banana- pureed, then added, not at sweet of a cookie. Yours is my #2 now. The 2nd batch, as the house inhaled the 1st, added walnuts and sugar free chocolate chips. Ended up making 4 batches. Thank you.
★★★★★
Our family is not fans of coconut. What could we substitute in for the coconut?
Hi MJ! Any other dried fruit should work!