Healthy No-Bake Cookies
Posted Aug 15, 2016, Updated Jul 14, 2024
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Healthy no-bake chocolate peanut butter cookies! Made with 8 nutritious ingredients, these healthy no bake cookies are gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan & refined sugar free!
I remember the first time I ever tried no bake cookies…I was in heaven. I hunted down the maker of those cookies and begged for the recipe. They were easy to make, but I wasn’t a fan of the nutritional profile.
Since my first encounter with these little bits of chocolate/peanut butter heaven, it became my mission to create a healthier version! I’ve made this recipe more times than I can count, which means I’m very glad that these healthy no bake chocolate peanut butter cookies are gluten-free, dairy-free, refined-sugar free and vegan-friendly!
These Healthy No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies are made with only 8 good-for-you ingredients, all of which you probably have on hand right now – yay!
Healthy No-Bake Cookies: Ingredients & Substitutions
Here are a few potential substitutions for this recipe!
- Peanut butter. Any nut or seed butter works well in this recipe.
- Coconut oil. Butter or ghee are great substitutes for coconut oil.
- Honey. Use maple syrup for a vegan version of this recipe.
- Shredded coconut. If you don’t care for coconut, simply replace it with an extra 1/4 cup quick-cooking oats.
How to Make Healthy No-Bake Cookies
These healthy no bake cookies are so easy to make! Start by melting together the coconut oil, peanut butter and honey!
Stir or whisk the wet ingredients together over medium-low heat until the mixture is smooth.
Add the dry ingredients – cocoa powder, quick-cooking oats and coconut.
Stir until the mixture is homogenous (uniform throughout).
Then, use a 1 TBS measuring spoon or cookie scoop to portion out the no bake cookies, and place them onto a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Let them harden at room temperature or in the refrigerator or freezer.
Serve
These healthy no bake cookies are best served cold because the coconut oil is soft at room temperature.
Store
Store these cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Healthy No Bake Cookies FAQs
If you over-cook these healthy no bake cookies, simply add a TBS of each: honey, peanut butter and coconut oil by melting them together and then mixing them into the dry cookie batter. This should help. If you burnt them, you will have to start over.
If your no bake cookies don’t harden it means you didn’t cook the mixture long enough.
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Healthy No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- ¼ cup honey (or maple syrup)
- ¼ cup coconut oil (or butter)
- 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup quick cooking oats
- ¼ cup unsweetened coconut (shredded)
Instructions
- Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper, set aside.
- Combine peanut butter, honey salt and coconut oil in a saucepan and heat, stirring continuously, until melted and well-combined.
- Stir in vanilla and cocoa powder.
- Add quick-cooking oats and mix well.
- Add coconut and stir until completely combined.
- Drop 1 TBS portions of mixture onto your prepared baking sheet. Continue until you’ve used all your cookie mixture.
- Let cool in the refrigerator or freezer until hardened.
- Serve cold or frozen!
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator!
Video
Notes
- Peanut butter. Any nut or seed butter works well in this recipe.
- Coconut oil. Butter or ghee are great substitutes for coconut oil.
- Honey. Use maple syrup for a vegan version of this recipe.
- Shredded coconut. If you don’t care for coconut, simply replace it with an extra 1/4 cup quick-cooking oats.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These were amazing!! The batch only made 17 though. I will double up next time.
This looks delicious, thank you for sharing!
Super yummy. My new favorite go to. Are the nutrition details accurate? And is the serving size per coookie?
I never comment on recipes, but this is comment worthy. SO easy and SO delicious!! I made one batch and then immediately made another! Thank you!
Wow thank you Avani!!! I’m so grateful you enjoyed them!
Can I use old fashioned oats in the recipe?
You can pulse them in a blender to give them the quick-cooking texture.
I used gluten free oats and they came out fantastic! A really good lower guilt dessert!
So glad you enjoyed them Hannah!
One question, the calorie content what are the calories in calories, not kcal? Thank you I look forward to making these.
KCal and Calories (big C) are the same unit of measurement.
I love these cookies! I add some dried cranberries for a little tartness!
I made these today after making homemade peanut butter and made three changes which I think brought this cookie to the next level. I toasted the oats and as well as the coconut. Added about a half cup of toasted pecans. The flavor was incredible.
Sounds amazing!
I’ve been quarantined at home, and there’s very few things available right now had no coconut/coconut oil/cocoa. So I substituted with coconut milk (lucky to have had some at home from before), butter and hot chocolate mix. I’ve been eating healthy but still get dessert cravings from time to time. This was amazing!!! Thanks so much for putting it out there.
Super great!!! Changed out the coconut oil for unsweetened applesauce (1 to 1 ratio) & turned out great!