Decadent yet wholesome no-bake cookies with almond butter and oats. Fast, easy, and requires no oven! Gluten-free and vegan-adaptable.
These No Bake Oatmeal Cookies Make The Perfect Sweet Treat
As a mom and chef, I love creating recipes that balance indulgence with nourishment- and these no bake cookies do exactly that! Rich and fudgy, they are made without an oven, perfect for hot summer days.
These no bake cookies are a perfect balance of crunchy, toasty, salty, and lightly sweet. We cut the sugar down and opt for almond butter rather than peanut butter. Toasting the oats is where the magic happens, giving a lovely crunchy texture and toasty flavor that you’ll crave!
No Bake Cookies Recipe Ingredients
- Unsweetened cocoa powder: Use Dutch cocoa powder for a darker color and milder flavor, or regular cocoa powder is more of that dark chocolate flavor with bitter notes. Both work!
- Rolled oats: Use regular rolled oats for best results.
- Butter: Or for a vegan cookie, use coconut oil.
- Coconut sugar and maple syrup: We keep the sugar to a minimum to make sure these are not overly sweet—just a hint to balance the bitterness of the chocolate! The syrup helps the cookies bind, along with the nut butter.
- Almond butter: Or sub peanut butter (creamy peanut butter or crunchy peanut butter), sunflower butter, or cashew butter.
- Real vanilla extract: For warm, cozy vanilla flavor.
- Salt: Adds a nice complement to the chocolate.
How to Make No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
1. Toast the oats. Using a pan over medium-low heat, toast the oats for 5-8 minutes, stirring constantly until golden brown and fragrant. Be careful not to burn them.
2. Mix nut butter, vanilla, and salt. In a mixing bowl, combine almond butter, vanilla, and salt.
3. Melt the base. Add unsalted butter, cocoa powder, maple syrup, and sugar to a medium saucepan and warm over medium heat to meal. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and stir for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and pour into the mixing bowl with the almond butter mixture. Add oats and mix.
4. Assemble and cool the cookies. Using a tablespoon or cookie scoop, gather rounded spoonfuls of the mixture and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. You can form them into balls or discs. Place in the fridge or freezer for 20 minutes. The cookies will stick together once cooled.
Tips For Making Chocolate Oatmeal No Bake Cookies
- Oats: Use regular oats, or sprouted rolled oats for the best texture. You can use quick cooking oats, but the texture will be softer.
- For optimal texture, I prefer the texture of the oatmeal cookies when spooned from the mixing bowl and left in rustic shapes. This results in some delicious craggy edges!
- Refrigerate: Depending on the climate and temperature of your kitchen, the cookies will stay together at room temperature for about an hour. After that, they need to be placed back in the fridge or freezer.
- Vegan adaptable. These cookies can be made vegan! Substitute the butter with coconut oil.
- Variations: Add flaky sea salt or sprinkles for a fun twist!
How to Store No Bake Oatmeal Cookies
Store the cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer—both work well and taste great! The no bake cookies will keep for 1 week in the fridge or up to 2 months in the freezer.
Serving Suggestions
Enjoy these no bake cookies on their own for a sweet treat with a cup of coffee or tea, or for dessert. They also taste great crumbled over yogurt, ice cream (or vegan ice cream!), or smoothie bowls!
FAQs
Boiling the butter, cocoa powder, maple syrup, and sugar helps the cookies form and stick, as well as letting the cookies cool for at least 20 minutes in the fridge or freezer.
The boiling time is key in this recipe. Bring to a boil, simmer for exactly one minute, then remove from the heat. It may also be that they didn’t cool for long enough or were left out too long before storing.
No bake cookies are also known as preacher cookies, no-bakes, haystacks, mudballs, or poodgies. Call them whatever you like!
I hope you give these no bake cookies a try and that they bring some moments of delight into your day!
More Recipes You Might Like
Chocolate No Bake Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes in the fridge
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 20 cookies
- Category: dessert, treats, cookies
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Decadent yet wholesome no-bake cookies with almond butter and oats. Fast, easy, and requires no oven! Gluten-free and vegan-adaptable.
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups regular rolled oats
- 1/4 cup butter (or sub coconut oil)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (see notes)
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar , or regular sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup almond butter (or use peanut butter, sunflower butter, cashew butter)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt (I like 1/2 teaspoon- the salt is a nice complement to the chocolate)
Instructions
- Toast the oats in a pan over medium low heat for 5-8 minutes stirring constantly until they are light golden brown and fragrant. Be careful not to scorch them. Set aside.
- Mix. In a large bowl stir together almond butter, vanilla, and salt. Set aside.
- Melt. In a small sauce pan, melt butter, cocoa powder, maple syrup, and sugar over medium heat. Once it boils turn down to a simmer, stirring for 1 minute. Remove from heat.
- Combine. Immediately pour this into the almond mixture and add the toasted oats and mix.
- Shape. With a tablespoon or cookie scoop place rounded spoonfuls on a parchment paper- your choice to compact them into balls or discs. I prefer the texture when just spooned on rustically, they stick together once cooled.
- Refrigerate. Place in the fridge or freezer for at least 20 minutes and enjoy!
Notes
Store in a sealed airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer, they taste great from both.
You can use quick cooking oats; the texture will be softer.
Dutch cocoa powder is darker and mild flavored. Cocoa powder is more acidic with bitter notes. They both work here.
Depending on your climate and the temperature of your kitchen, the cookies will hold at room temperature for about an hour.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 113
- Sugar: 5.1 g
- Sodium: 18.7 mg
- Fat: 5.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 12.4 g
- Fiber: 1.8 g
- Protein: 2.5 g
- Cholesterol: 6.1 mg
