Vegan No-Bake Cookies
These Vegan No-Bake Cookies are decadent and delicious. This recipe requires only a few ingredients and is so easy to make, you don’t even have to turn on your oven! Loaded with peanut butter, oats, and chocolate, these cookies are perfect for snacking, desserts, and even brunches. These are the best no-bake cookies, taste-tested by non-vegans who love them!
I don’t remember how old I was the first time I tried vegan chocolate oatmeal no-bake cookies, all I remember was loving them. A lifelong fan of peanut butter and chocolate chips combined together, these cookies were right in my wheelhouse.
No-bake cookies, sometimes called preacher cookies, are gluten-free cookies made with oats, peanut butter, cocoa powder, fat (such as melted butter or coconut oil), and coconut.
They’re cooked on the stovetop and then spooned out onto a pan lined with waxed paper. As soon as they cool, they’re ready to eat!
I shared these chocolate peanut butter cookies at my book reading club, and they were a hit! I love baking, but the idea of a no-bake vegan cookie recipe is alluring, especially in the summer months.
Another example of a no-bake cookie is my recipe for Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Energy Bites. That recipe requires only a food processor and a cookie scoop. Sweet!
What Makes This Recipe Shine?
- Instant oats keep this recipe easy to make and create the best no-bake cookies texture
- Only 8 simple ingredients
- Coconut oil is dairy-free and adds a hint of coconut flavor
- Fast 10-minute prep
- Using creamy peanut butter infuses these cookies with peanut butter flavor and texture.
Key Ingredients
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
- Coconut oil — You can use refined or unrefined coconut oil. Want to make your vegan no-bake cookies without coconut oil? Substitute vegan butter.
- Plant-based milk — You can use your favorite plant-based milk, whether it’s vanilla or plain.
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Cocoa powder — I prefer using natural unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Peanut butter — I recommend using creamy peanut butter.
- Vanilla extract
- Oats — I recommend using quick-cooking or instant oats.
Oats come in various forms, from steel-cut, to old-fashioned, to instant. That’s just to name a few! The best oats for no-bake cookies are instant oats. That’s because instant oats are actually pre-cooked, then pressed and dried. As a result, they’re thinner and less bulky. They absorb moisture more readily and create the perfect texture for no-bake cookies. You can use rolled oats (also referred to as old-fashioned oats), but it will impact the consistency and texture of your cookies.
- Heat the coconut oil, milk, sugar, and cocoa powder in a saucepan over medium heat.
- Bring the mixture to a boil and keep it there for one minute (use a timer to get this exact).
- Remove the pan from the heat at exactly one minute.
- Stir in the peanut butter and vanilla.
- Pour in the oats and stir to combine.
- Use a cookie scoop to drop the hot cookie batter onto prepared baking sheets.
- Set cookies aside to allow them to set.
Here are more detailed step-by-step instructions.
Step One: Prepare the Chocolate Sauce
- In a saucepan, combine the coconut oil, milk, sugar, and cocoa powder.
- Stir over medium heat until everything has melted.
- Keep it at medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil and keep it there for one minute (use a timer to get this exact).
- Remove the pan from heat.
Step Two: Make the Dough
To make the vegan no-bake cookie dough, you’ll add a few more ingredients while the chocolate mixture is still hot.
- Stir in the peanut butter and vanilla.
- Continue stirring until the peanut butter is melted and combined with the rest of the ingredients.
- Pour in the oats and stir to combine.
Step Three: Scoop and Set
- Use a cookie scoop to drop rounded cookie balls onto prepared baking sheets. You can hover the pan a few inches over the counter and drop it a few times to flatten the cookies slightly.
- Set cookies aside to allow them to set. This can take about an hour at room temperature but can be sped up by placing them in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Storage Tips
Store these cookies in an airtight container. They will keep at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the fridge for up to 10 days. You can even freeze these vegan no-bake peanut butter cookies, and we do that all the time. Simply make up a batch, and once you’ve placed them on a sheet of waxed paper to firm up, transfer that tray to the freezer. Once the cookies have frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag. They can be stored in the freezer for up to two months.
The story goes that no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies used to be called preacher cookies because you could see the preacher down the road and have them ready by the time he arrived at your door.
Recipes for no-bake cookies show up around the time of the Great Depression and that makes sense. It’s a little like my chocolate wacky cake recipe (also inspired during the time of the depression) because ingredients were harder to come by and people had to get creative in the kitchen. Also, they didn’t have air conditioners in every home like they do today and so I imagine they were looking for ways to feed people without heating up the oven.
That’s another reason these vegan no-bake oatmeal cookies are so popular in the summer months. No oven required!
Frequently Asked Questions
You can use either old-fashioned oats (referred to as rolled oats) or quick-cook oats to make vegan chocolate no-bake cookies. I prefer quick-cook oats (otherwise known as instant oats) because they create a very soft texture in the cookie. Rolled oats are firmer and create a chewier cookie. However, if you prefer using rolled oats, give them a quick pulse or two in a food processor before adding them to the chocolate batter.
It’s a good idea to refrigerate no-bake cookies so they stay fresh, especially in the hot summer months. Besides, keeping them chilled in the fridge creates a little more crunch to the crust of the cookie, thanks to the firming up of the coconut oil.
Getting the temperature right is important so the cookie batter will spread as you spoon it out onto the pan. If your batter has cooled off, you can pop it in the microwave and cook in 10- to 20-second increments until the batter is hot. The batter should spread out gently to create a 2 to 3″ in diameter cookie.
Optional Add-Ins
You can change up the ingredients in these vegan no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies. Here are ideas for substitutions and tasty add-ins:
- You can make these no-bake cookies without peanut butter by substituting almond butter or seed butter for the peanut butter.
- Add Flaked Coconut: I love adding coconut flakes to no-bake cookies.
- Chopped Nuts: Give your cookies a bit of crunch by either using crunchy peanut butter or add some chopped nuts, like walnuts or pecans.
It’s so easy to make no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies healthy. Here’s how to do it:
- Reduce the sugar: You can reduce the sugar to as low as one-half of a cup and still enjoy a sweet treat. To make keto no-bake cookies, use a zero-calorie sweetener like Swerve or MonkFruit.
- Reduce the fat: You can reduce the coconut oil to 1/3 of a cup to reduce the fat slightly.
- Add Ground Flaxseed: You can add a tablespoon or two of ground flaxseed to this recipe to create a little more binding power (flaxseed is a great binder!), but also to add healthy omega-3s.
You can always try different variations on this recipe to make your own healthy no-bake cookies!
If you love these vegan no-bake cookies, you will love these tasty vegan cookie recipes too:
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Ingredients
- ½ cup coconut oil
- ½ cup plant-based milk, vanilla or plain
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
- ⅔ cup smooth peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups quick cooking oats
Instructions
- Line 2 cookie sheets with waxed paper.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the coconut oil, milk, sugar, and cocoa powder. Stir over heat until everything has melted.
- Bring the mixture to a boil and keep it there for one minute (use a timer to get this exact). Then remove the pan from heat.
- Stir in the peanut butter and vanilla. Continue stirring until the peanut butter is melted and combined with the rest of the ingredients.
- Pour in the oats and stir to combine.
- Use a cookie scoop to drop rounded cookie balls onto prepared baking sheets. You can hover the pan a few inches over the counter and drop it a few times to flatten the cookies slightly.
- Set cookies aside to allow them to set. This can take about an hour at room temperature, but can be sped up by placing them in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Recommended Equipment
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Video
Notes
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This post was originally published in 2019 and was updated to include new photos, new text, and an updated recipe in 2021.
What do you think a good alternative to coconut oil would be? Or can it be left out?
Hi Brianna. I have used vegan butter (Earth Balance) with this no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies recipe and it worked great. I hope that’s helpful!