These Healthy No Bake Cookies taste like the ones I made at sleepovers as a little girl, but are made of wholesome ingredients like oatmeal, peanut butter, and of course, chocolate! The next time you are craving a healthy dessert without the guilt, turn to this easy recipe.
Email Me the Recipe!
From time to time, we'll send you the best of Well Plated. Already registered? Log in here.
Made without sugar, I sweetened these beautiful cookies naturally instead. This no bake recipe is as ideal both for grownups looking for a healthy way to satisfy their sweet tooth and for after school snacks and lunchbox treats.
About No Bake Cookies with Chocolate Chips
Growing up, no bake cookies were a staple at every childhood sleepover. They were one of the first desserts I ever learned to make, a lesson imparted by a neighbor friend’s mother, no doubt to keep us from using the oven unsupervised after she’d gone to bed.
Her original no bake cookie recipe involved two cups of sugar and a full stick of butter, a lofty undertaking for two small girls to devour in a single evening, but we persevered.
For today’s recipe, I kept the classic no bake cookie ingredients—peanut butter, chocolate, and oatmeal—but made a few key changes to create a healthy no bake cookie recipe that would still score full marks at any sleepover.
Healthy No Bake Cookies—How These Differ from the Childhood Classic
While you’ll find chocolate and peanut butter aplenty, these healthy no bakes are made without sugar.
Instead, they are naturally sweetened with honey and mashed banana, which keeps the no bake cookies soft and chewy, and also allowed me to significantly reduce the amount of fat in the recipe too. You’ll find just 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in the whole batch!
Added bonus – no need to bake (as with this Edible Cookie Dough!)
These healthy no bake cookies are soft, chewy, and most importantly, still boast that enigmatic midnight-snack quality that makes classic no bakes so addictive.
How to Make Healthy No Bake Cookies
These healthy no bake cookies with honey are a breeze to make! All you need is a pot, a spatula, and a fork for mashing the banana.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the peanut butter, cocoa powder, milk, and salt.
- Heat and stir until the ingredients are well combined. The mixture may look a little gritty at this point, which is OK.
- Remove from heat. Add the mashed banana and honey.
- Fold in the oats.
- Scoop the cookies onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Press the chocolate pieces onto the top. Place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm up. ENJOY!
For another addictively delicious cookie recipe, check out these Healthy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies.
More Healthy No Bake Recipes
- Trail Mix Peanut Butter Granola Bars
- No Bake Pumpkin Energy Balls
- No Bake Cookie Dough Protein Balls
- Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Quinoa Cookies
Healthy No Bake Cookies
email me the recipe!
From time to time, we’ll send you the best of Well Plated. Already registered? Log in here.
Ingredients
- 1 medium very ripe banana
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter for best results, use shelf-stable peanut butter that does not separate
- ½ cup milk of choice almond, dairy milk or soy milk. I used unsweetened vanilla almond
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil or unsalted butter
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup honey or pure maple syrup to make vegan
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups quick-cooking oats see recipe notes to make your own
- ½ cup chopped dark chocolate or dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper. Keep it handy.
- In a small bowl, mash your banana until as smooth as possible. You should have about 1/3 cup, but don't stress if it isn't exact.
- In a medium saucepan place the peanut butter, milk, cocoa powder, coconut oil, and salt. Heat over medium, until the peanut butter and coconut oil melt and are easy to whisk. The mixture may look a little gritty at this point, which is fine.
- Remove the pot from the heat. Whisk in the honey, banana, and vanilla extract until smooth and most of the banana lumps have disappeared.
- Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the oats.
- With a cookie scoop or spoon, drop the dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheet. With your fingers, gently flatten tops and press around the sides to form the mounds into a cookie shape. Press the chopped chocolate decoratively on top.
- Place the no bake cookies in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill. This time is important to allow the oats to soften up and the flavors to meld.
Video
Notes
- To make your own quick cooking oats: pulse rolled oats in the food processor 3 or 4 times to lightly break them up (do not pulse all the way into a flour). You can also used rolled oats, but I find the cookies do not have as nice of a texture or flavor as they do with quick cooking oats.
- Store leftover no bake cookies in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. The banana flavor will become more pronounced as the days go on, but the cookies will still be delicious.
- To Make Vegan: Use maple syrup in place of the honey and non-dairy milk.
- To Make Gluten Free: Make sure your oats are certified GF.
Nutrition
Join today and start saving your favorite recipes
Create an account to easily save your favorite recipes and access FREE meal plans.
Sign Me Up
I want to add one more thing. After eating probably 5 or so big cookies I feel great!!! I don’t feel bad. I have a lot of energy!!! This isn’t normal after eating cookies. This recipe is also perfect for me b/c my husband is a bee keeper!!! Thanks!!!
I just made these and they taste amazing! Are they stored in the refrigerator or will they do well sitting on the counter for guests or shipped in the mail?
Hi Misty! I would recommend storing in the fridge, and I fear they’d be too soft to mail unless they were overnighted and put in the fridge immediately when they were received. I’m glad you enjoy them!
What alternative can I use for coconut oil? I don’t want to buy a bottle just to use 2 Tblsp right now.
Hi Valarie! While I have not tried it, other readers have successfully used unsalted butter instead of the coconut oil. I hope you enjoy the recipe if you give it a try!
Hello, I have a question. Is there a substitute for the peanut butter for people with tree nut allergy?
Hi Donna, I have not tried this recipe without peanut butter, but you could experiment with sunflower butter. I hope this helps!
I have to comment on these… Truly these are so close to my very favorite no Bake cookie that’s in an old Mennonite Treasury cookbook that I grew up with (I’m from Southern Manitoba, Canada and I’m always surprised how many of your recipes are similar in flavour to what we have around here ?). Until now, it was the only no Bake recipe I would eat. You have given me such a gift in this recipe, thank you!
Thank you for this kind comment, Jenn! I’m so happy you loved the recipe!
Sounds delicious! As a diabetic, I need to be concerned about the sugar and carbs. 7 grams for one cookie is probably not good. What can be altered?
Hi Dawn! I have never tried this recipe without the honey, which is where most of the sugar is coming from, but I worry that the cookies wouldn’t bind together properly without that sticky, syrupy ingredient. You could try omitting the chocolate chips or trying to find a peanut butter with no added sugar. I hope this helps!
In the past I’ve used Honey Tree’s Sugar Free Imitation Honey. It tastes exactly like clover honey. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to cut back on sweeteners.
Thanks for the suggestion Jill!
I love healthy foods
Thanks for your comment, Derrick! I hope you enjoy this recipe if you try it!
This did not set up well for me. Tasty, but became a fork food!
I’m so sorry that you had trouble with these cookies, Wendy. I haven’t heard of this happening before. I’m happy you were still able to enjoy the flavors!
Hi Erin – Can I make these with regular old-fashioned oats instead of quick-cooking? I already have the regular in the house (as well as all the other ingredients!)
Hi Alisa! You can actually use the oats you have to make quick-cooking oats by pulsing them in a food processor to break them up a little (there are instructions in the recipe notes above). I hope this helps!
I followed the recipe exactly and they were delish!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed them! Thank you for sharing this kind review!
Can you freeze these cookies?
Hi Glenda! I suggest storing them in the freezer, letting them sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soften slightly when you’re ready to eat them, and enjoying them cold!
I can’t wait to try this, but I have a question about the banana. Bananas and my gut don’t always get along. If I left out the banana and did everything else, would it turn out okay recipe-wise? Or would I need to adjust some of the other ingredients to compensate for the loss of banana?
Thanks!
Hi Brandon! This is kind of a tough substitution, because the bananas both bind and moisten the cookies, and they sweeten them too. You could try starting with a slightly lesser amount of unsweetened applesauce, then add a little bit of sugar or honey as needed to taste. I’ve never tried it this way, but feel free to experiment, and I would love to hear how it goes! Lastly another reader makes them without bananas and this is her feedback: “I make these cookies all the time without the bananas! I use organic unsweetened coconut flakes in place of the bananas and kick the honey up to 3/4 cup.”
Great snack I like seeing my children devour..Thanks!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed them, Danielle! Thank you for sharing this kind review!
Thank you for this amazing recipe! It made a lot of cookies, and they are healthy enough to have a few :) I love that it uses up a very ripe banana! This method also take the guesswork out of making no-bake cookies; the recipe is super easy to follow. I mixed the chocolate chunks right in the batter and they turned out delicious! Next time I might try some coconut in place of the oats for a different flavor twist. Like a half cup substitution. But they are perfect as-is!!
Hi Myriam! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!