6-Ingredient No-Bake Cookies made with oats, almond butter, cocoa powder and honey. These gluten-free oat cookies are melt-in-your-mouth delicious and require no baking!
When you have a hankering for something sweet and cookie-like, but have zero desire to bake…
THESE.
These easy no-bake cookies call for only whole food ingredients, zero baking, and come together in less than 15-minutes.
I made them for a camping trip and kept them in an ice chest to share with all the happy campers.
Do you have children or are you an all-star aunt / uncle / godparent / babysitter / child at heart who does rad projects with your kids?
These are an awesome kitchen project to do with kids. No-bake cookies are simple enough to prepare that kids can feel as though they are a pivotal part of the process, and they are quick enough the kidlets won’t loose their attention span to the nearest cartoon or meme.
Plus, the recipe needs no eggs so finger licking is encouraged.
Let’s conquer these!
Ingredients For No-Bake Cookies:
Rolled Oats: The main star of the show! Oats are the foundation of these cookies and give them that delicious nutty flavor and great texture.
Stick with old fashioned or rolled oats for the best result. Quick oats work too but they don’t give as tasty of a texture in my opinion.
I use gluten-free sprouted oats, but you can pick whichever brand you love.
Almond Butter or Peanut Butter: Adding delicious nutty flavor and providing glue to help hold these classic no-bake cookies together, a creamy natural peanut butter or almond butter is a key ingredient here!
I stick with unsweetened almond butter or peanut butter, but you can pick your favorite.
Honey: These healthy no-bake cookies are sweetened with honey! Honey not only brings sweetness to this delicious treat, it also adds stickiness to help the ingredients bind together.
But don’t worry, it won’t make the actual cookies sticky, as the honey mixes with the nut butter to make a non-stick substance. Truly, it’s magic!
For a vegan no-bake cookies, use pure maple syrup.
Coconut Oil or Butter: Bringing flavor and moisture to the cookies, we need melted coconut oil or butter.
If you’re dairy-free, stick with coconut oil to make these cookies vegan. If you do dairy, melted butter gives an absolute dreamy flavor!
Cocoa Powder: The chocolate portion of this recipe is unsweetened cocoa powder or raw cacao powder (whichever you have on hand).
Not only does the cocoa powder bring that rich chocolate vibe, but it also acts as a sort of flour to ensure the cookies don’t turn out too sticky. No-bake chemistry at its finest!
Vanilla Extract (Optional): A splash of pure vanilla extracts lends warm flavor and depth of flavor to this amazing no bake cookie recipe. If you don’t have any on hand, you can skip it!
Sea Salt: A sprinkle of sea salt brings the flavors of each individual out to level up the whole experience.
Now that we’re experts on the simple ingredients for these no bake cookies with oats, let’s make them!
How to Make No-Bake Cookies:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (don’t freak out…we aren’t baking, we’re just creating a safe space for the no-bake cookies to dwell).
Add everything except the oats to a saucepan and heat over medium.
Whisk constantly until everything is smooth and combined. Remove from heat and add in the rolled oats. Stir well until all of the oats are coated in the almond butter and chocolate mixture. The mixture should be thick and sticky but not stick to your hands when you’re making the cookies.
Drop a large spoonful of the cookie “dough” on the parchment paper and mold them however you’d wish. You can leave them as haystack style drop cookies or form them into discs the way I did.
Note: If you have cookie cutter, feel free to use cookie cutters as molds to make fun shapes like stars or hearts or unicorns or mermaids…most definitely mermaids!
Transfer the whole cookie sheet of cookies to the refrigerator and refrigerate until set up, about 1 hour. Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Adaptations:
- Add chopped nuts and/or dried fruit for a trail mix approach
- Use butter or ghee instead of coconut oil (Note: don’t replace the coconut oil with any oil that is liquid at room temperature, such as avocado oil. You need a fat that will turn solid when refrigerated).
- Peanut butter can be used in place of almond butter (or really any nut butter…just be sure to stir it very well first).
- Swap pure maple syrup or rice syrup for the honey to make vegan.
How to Store No-Bake Cookies:
If you keep your house cooler (less than say 70 degrees), the cookies can be kept on the counter. I keep mine in a sealed container in the refrigerator because my house stays pretty warm.
Err on the side of caution and keep these puppies cool. You don’t want your no-bake cookies to melt, meow!
No-Bake Cookies all summer long!
If you like this recipe, also check out my Crunchy 4-Ingredient No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookies!
More No-Bake Dessert Recipes:
- No-Bake Keto Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- No-Bake Kitchen Sink Cookies
- Crispy Rice Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies
- No-Bake Paleo Lemon Bars
- No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake
- 3-Ingredient No-Bake Banana Cookies
- No-Bake Vegan Key Lime Tarts
My cookbook, Paleo Power Bowls, is now available! CLICK HERE to check it out. Thank you for your support!
If you make this recipe, please feel free to share a photo and tag me at @The.Roasted.Root on Instagram!
Ingredients
- 1 cup 256g creamy unsweetened almond butter
- 1/2 cup 108g coconut oil
- 1/2 cup 170g honey
- 6 Tbsp 50g cocoa powder
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 1/3 cups 210g rolled oats
- 1 pinch sea salt, to taste
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add everything except the oats to a saucepan and heat over medium. Whisk constantly until everything is smooth and combined. Note: avoid bringing the mixture to a boil…it only needs to be heated to combine the ingredients but does not need to be hot.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and add in the rolled oats. Stir well until all of the oats are coated in the almond butter and chocolate mixture. The mixture should be thick and sticky but not stick to your hands when you’re making the cookies.
- Drop large spoonfuls of the cookie “dough” on the parchment paper and mold them however you’d wish. Place the sheet of cookies in the refrigerator and chill for 1 hour or until cookies have set up.
Nutrition
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Cathy
Monday 15th of January 2024
I've made these countless times with maple syrup and almond or peanut butter. Both are great and easy to make. I tend to not always wait before I put them in the fridge though!
Julia
Tuesday 16th of January 2024
Thanks so much for sharing your experience, Cathy! I'm happy to hear you enjoy it with both almond butter and peanut butter - I love both versions too! xo
Kim
Wednesday 21st of June 2023
I don’t do oil or butter. What is a good wfpb alternative for the oil?
Julia
Friday 23rd of June 2023
Hi Kim! I haven't tested the recipe without oil but I imagine a mashed up ripe banana or unsweetened applesauce would work. Let me know if you try it! xo
Erica
Monday 1st of May 2023
These are wonderful. I used peanut butter and maple syrup. Added about 5 TB finely shredded coconut to get the consistency thicker. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Julia
Tuesday 2nd of May 2023
Aww that's awesome! Love hearing that they worked out well with peanut butter, pure maple syrup and shredded coconut. I'll try this combo the next time I make them! xo
Toni Grant
Thursday 27th of April 2023
Can you use applesauce or banana as a substitute sweetener?
Julia
Saturday 29th of April 2023
Hi Toni! It depends on how you want the cookies to turn out. You can use mashed ripe banana or applesauce instead of the honey but the cookies won't hold together as well and they won't be as sweet. If you're okay with this I'd say proceed forth! If you're trying to lower the sweetener but not remove it entirely, you can leave some of the honey in (let's say 2-3 tablespoons) and use fruit as the rest of the sweetener :) Let me know how they turn out!
Desiree
Sunday 23rd of April 2023
Is there a honey alternative to make these vegan? Thank you!
Julia
Monday 24th of April 2023
Pure maple syrup works great as an alternative to honey! Agave nectar or coconut nectar work too :) Enjoy!