Healthy No-Bake Cookies {Vegan & Gluten-Free}
Updated October 06, 2020
Healthy No Bake Cookies are the perfect treat – you don’t even have to turn on your oven! With a few substitutions, these no bake cookies are better for you, and still oh so delicious.
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Pin ItNo Bake Cookies: Perfect for Summer
It’s too hot to turn on the oven to bake cookies, but it’s not too hot to eat cookies. My cookie cravings don’t go away just because it is hot outside. So what to do, what to do? Such a dilemma! Instead of turning on the oven, I made Healthy No Bake Cookies.
You don’t have to heat up the house to make these chocolate coconut almond No Bake Cookies! And good news, they are healthier than the traditional no bake cookies. These cookies are vegan, gluten-free, and oh so delicious! These Healthy No-Bake Cookies are the perfect summer cookie!
How to Make Healthy No Bake Cookies
I love the traditional no bake cookies with butter, loads of sugar, cocoa, oats, and peanut butter. They are one of my childhood favorites. I remember eating them straight out of the pan by the spoonful. I never had the patience to let them set up before digging in. I decided to play around with my favorite no-bake cookie recipe to create a healthier cookie.
To make vegan and gluten-free no bake cookies, this is what I used:
- agave nectar or honey
- Dutch-processed cocoa
- coconut oil
- almond milk
- gluten-free oats
- almond butter
- shredded coconut
Coconut, chocolate, and almond-these cookies are triple delicious! And the best part, they are beyond easy to make. You stir everything together in a saucepan and BOOM! Just like that, you have a healthy sweet treat!
Healthy No Bake Cookies…Still Irresistible
Technically you need to let the cookies chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes so they can set up, but I promise I won’t tell if you eat a few big spoonfuls from the pan. I did it as a kid and I did it when I made these cookies. I couldn’t resist! I guess I am a kid at heart:)
Healthy No-Bake Cookies are the perfect cookie for summer or anytime you are craving a cookie but want a healthier version. These vegan and gluten-free no-bake cookies will for sure cure your cookie craving! They are so divine!
Get baking…oh, wait you don’t bake these! So get UN-baking? Is that a word? It is now:)
More Healthy Cookie Recipes
I LOVE that you are all loving my healthier cookie creations. They are fun to make and eat! In case you’ve missed them, here are a few of my other favorite healthier cookie recipes! Enjoy!
- Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cookies
- Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Fudge Zucchini Cookies
- Flourless Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Flourless Chocolate Cookies
- Flourless Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Ganache Sandwich Cookies
Healthy No-Bake Cookies {Vegan & Gluten-Free}
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup agave nectar (or honey)
- 1/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup almond butter
- 2 cups gluten-free oats
- 1/3 cup shredded coconut
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, mix together agave and cocoa powder. Heat over medium heat until combined. Stir in almond milk and coconut oil and bring to a boil. Continue stirring and boil for one minute.
- Remove pan from heat and stir in almond butter, oats, coconut, vanilla extract, and salt.
- Using a spoon or cookie scoop, drop cookies onto wax paper. Let the cookies set up for about 20 minutes in the refrigerator before serving. Store the cookies in an air-tight container in refrigerator for up to one week.
- Note-You can use honey instead of the agave if you don’t need to make vegan cookies. You can also use regular rolled oats if you don’t need the cookies to be gluten-free. You can also replace the almond milk with your favorite milk. And you can also swap peanut butter for the almond butter. These cookies are very adaptable! Enjoy!
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?
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They look so good! I love that they’re no bake and you used agave and coconut oil. I have a similar recipe but I made it a few years ago and need to re-vamp my ingredients and lighten it up a little. These look perfect, Maria!
I love no bake cookies, especially in the summer! These look so delicious!!
I love this healthier spin on the traditional no-bake cookie – they sound amazing!
Love no-bake cookies! These look delicious!
Healthy and no bake – love it! Perfect summertime cookie!
I am loving all of these no make cookie variations! So funny that we grew up with the same recipes and now there are sooooo many options out there. Plus yours look extra chocolatey and delicious!
basically all my favorite foods rolled into one- perfect! I bet the coconut oil is amazing in these! Should they be kept in the freezer?
Chocolate and coconut? Oh yes, my kind of cookie! These look incredible and I love how easy peasy they are. I swear easy cookies make them taste a million times better!
A cookie to make on short notice and one that I can have for breakfast Brilliant!
I love the addition of almond butter, so much more flavourful
No-bake and healthy? This is a winner!
These look so perfect for a mid-day pick me up snack! Love ’em!
I love no-bake cookies — in fact, I just posted my own yesterday afternoon! I love that yours are not only gluten-free, but vegan. They sound great!
Love these fun cookies!!
love that these are no bake!
no bakes are so perfect for summer!! love not having to turn on that hot oven!
I love the flavor combo. Chocolate and coconut are total besties!
My sister and I used to make a version of these when we were little! They’re so so good! mmmmm. I cant get enough
I made these today using silan for the sweetener, and although I enjoyed the taste, they just didn’t hold their shape. I don’t think it could have been the silan because it has the same consistency as honey, etc. The mixture was so wet that I couldn’t have packed it together…any tips?
I haven’t tried them with silan. Did you boil them long enough? Did you let them set up in the fridge? Mine stuck together nicely.
I’m always up for a no bake cookie challenge, these look great! I have got to try them.
I’m loving anything no bake right now!! Too hot to bake!
Sounds so good. No bake cookies are perfect for summer.
Maria, I love these cookies! I make them with banana inside, too. I have to try yours with almond butter!
Love these healthy cookies!
No bake cookies have always been one of my favorites, ever since a young child! I am totally loving this ‘healthier’ version!
I love those chocolate peanut butter no bake cookies, and so I know I’m going to love your healthy spin!
These cookies look delish and so easy! Lovin’ the no oven 🙂
The heat definitely does NOT quench my dessert cravings though it DOES make me not want to turn on the oven. These are the perfect solution to my sweet tooth problems!
They look amazing, Maria!
YUM… pregnant in this heat and desperately wanting cookies. Perfect solution!
love these!!!
I love no bake cookies. We used to make a kind similar to these growing up. It was one of those cookies we knew how to make.
I tried out a no-bake cookie recipe last year and they didn’t look nearly as good as these!
I always loved no-bake cookies too, straight from the pan! I’d ask my mom to make them just so I could gobble them up as quickly as she was plopping them onto the wax paper to set. She never made them with peanut butter, just chocolate and coconut. I love them!
I love this! However, I would love to know the conversion for agave nectar back to sugar? I prefer the organic turbinado sugar from Costco – I find it less processed than the nectar and it’s easier for me to keep in the house. Love all of the other changes though – and we love coconut oil! Costco has that now, too!
No Bake cookies are super special for me since I could never have them as a child. My mom is allergic to peanuts. Your version sounds marvelous with the extra coconut.
Just made these as written except subbed quinoa flakes for the oats. They are really tasty. Very rich and satisfying, but not really sweet like the original no-bake cookie recipe that uses 3 c. of sugar.
These look perfect!
These look great. Im Paleo, but I cheat.
I used to LOVE no bake cookies before I became a vegan! I have been looking for a healthier but still “traditional” vegan version of these cookies for a long time. To make them even more like the original do you think I could sub out the shredded coconut with more oats or chopped nuts?
I think this is my favorite post of yours. Ever! I’m so sharing this one everywhere. I get all excited when I see other bloggers post healthy stuff like this. 🙂
And I’m definitely going to try them soon! I’ve seen similar healthy no bake cookies before but they never looked this appealing!
Oh and I just realized these are dairy-free too. Just throwing that in there for search engine reasons. 😉
I just made these with peanut butter (which I doubled :)) and honey. I think honey is sweeter than agave so it helped cut the sweetness a little. They are awesome! Thank you so much for the recipe. It’s been to hot to bake (or really do anything) and I’ve been craving something like this. Yay! Thanks again. 🙂
These little cookies look great. Thanks for the links to your other healthier cookies. Will definitely give them all a try.
I just made these and they are delicious! I used regular quick oats and half almond butter/half peanut butter. I also boiled it for 3 minutes just in case ( I know that boiling them for long enough is key to regular no-bake cookies). They were so easy to make! Love the coconut flavor.
great recepie , like this one must be maintained so I’ll put this one on my bookmark list of popcorn. Thanks for this wonderful post and hoping to post more of this. Have Great Day.
I used coconut milk…gave them a great taste!!!
Great recipe. I modified it a little, using what I had but basically sticking to the core of this and they turned out wonderfully! Also used peanut butter chocolate chips and melted them in place of the cocoa powder for another batch (wife cannot eat chocolate right now) and that worked great.
My only changes were going with 1/6c agave and 1/6c honey plus 1T sugar (shaving a little cost from the expensive sweeteners). Also I didn’t have vanilla on hand so just went without. Lastly, we only had the original sweetened almond milk and peanut butter as we ran out of almond butter.
For the peanut butter recipe I did everything the same, just used the Reese’s peanut butter chocolate chips instead of cocoa powder.
Thanks so much for posting.
I made these last night with raw honey rather than agave, peanut butter rather than almond butter, subtracted the coconut oil because I was out, added a little more almond milk and also added pea protein powder. They turned out fabulously! Thanks so much
I substituted mashed banana for the coconut oil to cut down on the fat and these are awesome! Thanks for such a great recipe.
I am allergic to almonds. Any substitutions for the almond butter? I can use coconut milk instead of almond milk?
Can you use peanut butter or sunflower butter?
I doubled the recipe and spread out in a 9 x 13 pan lined with parchment, will cut into squares later.
It is easier for me to place in the fridge this way and also I eat too much batter when I have to drop by the spoonful, one for the sheet, one for me. This reduces my hands on time scooping.
Can’t wait to share with my kids when they get off the bus!
Yummy!! First time making (& having) no bakes…super chocolatey (mixed cacoa powder w/chocolate protein powder), which really hit the spot. Just one problem…I seem to have lost my willpower, I’m can’t quit eating them, LOL!
Just made these…I used maple syrup instead of agave and they turned out amazing…..
Just made these. Awesome variation!! I subbed peanut butter for almond butter and will add a little extra next time to get more of the flavor but these r perfect as is!
These are the best “healthy” no bake cookies I’ve tried yet! I used peanut butter and they taste exactly like regular no bake cookies. There is only a texture difference between butter and coconut oil, but I don’t mind it. I may or may not have licked out the pan 😉
Thinking on how to convert these to long term storage cookies. Powdered milk and then add water, but can’t get around the coconut oil and almond oil. Why not also add chopped almonds or walnuts? Anyone got any ideas? If, as some believe, someday we will be without electricity, cannot depend of freezer.
Can a different oil be used? Would it be the same amount, if so? Thanks
These are great!! What are the calories though?
Amazing!!! I added raisins and excluded coconut. Also used sunflower butter instead of peanut butter. Thank you for a super fun, toddler activity!
delish!!!
Made these with my 4 year old and they were delicious! thank you!! mind if i share on my blog?
Just made these. YUM! I added some chia seeds to mine to make them extra healthy 🙂
Oh my oh my! These are so delicious! I went right by your recipe and they were amazing, hence the word “were”, I have seriously lost my will power and almost have devoured the whole batch in three days on my own. Making me wonder if you know the nutritional value? I could just add up all the calories and such from all the ingredients and divide, though. Thanks so much for posting! Definitely going
to have to make another batch and have a little self
control, I don’t think eating three of them in one sitting
is all to healthy, lol. Keep posting great recipes! Thanks again!
Love no- bake dessert! Can’t wait to try it!
So delicious! I could eat them straight out of the pan.
I just tried these because I had no sugar in my house and wanted to make no bakes and I googled agave no bakes and these came up! I didn’t have shredded coconut and I used whole milk instead of almond milk, but these were amazing! I think they might even be better than my regular no bake recipe that I have used for years
I made these today and I used honey and maple syrup instead of agave and it turned out great! Thanks for the recipe
do you use quick oats or regular oats? i’m allergic to coconut and don’t eat dairy, can i take out the shredded coconut and substitute olive oil for the coconut oil? also i find honey to be healthier than agave, can i substitute 1:1?
thanks!
Recipe looked great but I had to make them nut-free. So instead of almond butter I used tahini, which is much more liquid-y. To compensate, I cut the agave to 1/4 c. and added 1/2 c. brown sugar. (Yes, probably a little sweeter than the original but still way less than the the recipes I recall from childhood!) Really good!
These are delicious! Great recipe! I need to make these again soon 🙂
I am allergic to coconut. Can I still vegetable oil instead of coconut oil and will it change the taste? And, what else can I use in place of the shredded coconut?
I love no bake cookies, but I am allergic to coconut! 🙁 Any suggestions for alternatives to the coconut and coconut oil that would still make these healthy?
I could not find almond milk so I used chocolate almond milk and it turned out really good!! 🙂
Add cinnamon to amp up the FLAVOR! Have made similar cookies since I was a kid, too. Mine are not as healthy as they use baker’s chocolate, sugar, butter, peanut butter, a little milk and cinnamon added to the oats.
I’m new. Interested, will follow and learn. Thx
I made these with Cashew butter. They were incredible! Thank you for the recipe!
These are my favorite cookie! Anyone have any idea how many calories these cookies have?
Oh wow, first experience actually making no bake cookies from scratch (been cooking a lot more since I went vegan), and first time using agave (bought it specifically for this recipe). They are chilling as we speak but I helped myself to the batter and tastes mighty fine. Only took about 10 minutes from prep to fridge. Thanks a bunch!
What an interesting read. I love that you took the time to make these cookie shots. The concept is so simple but I don’t know if I want to go through all that work, so extra kudos to you!
I have all of the ingredients minus coconut oil. What is the purpose of it?
I LOVE this recipe! Use it all the time, thank you so much. Have a wonderful evening 🙂
I absolutely love no-baked cookies, but would rarely make them because 2 CUPS OF SUGAR IS RIDICULOUS. I’ve been trying really hard in the last couple of months to clean up my eating, as well as feed my kids with healthy meals. Snacks are the worst, and I’ve been looking for good desserts.
I just made these. And OMGOODNESS. They taste identical to the original ones I made, but are guilt free!! How can I beat that?! I did make a few tweaks, to use what I had on hand… I used honey instead of agave, natural peanut butter instead of almond, and regular 2% milk instead of almond. They are sticky, chewy & perfect! I will be making these again (and again)!
Love that theses are gluten free and dairy free! The kids love them.
Yay!
I love these cookies. I use dark cocoa powder and 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon to boost it just a bit
Glad you like them!
I love this recipe, it’s become a staple at my place 🙂 I found the texture a bit off-putting, but there’s an easy fix ~ just roll these into balls then roll the balls in grated coconut. They look great and super special. I also substitute the almond butter with peanut butter and the agave with date syrup. I love how adaptable the recipe is. Everyone loves them!
Not even a thought! Must bake immediately! Thanks for the recipe!
I just wanted to say that I have now been making these cookies for two years, and my family loves them! I like them better than the regular no-bake cookies, and I am ok with letting my preschooler have them! I have made them with honey, maple syrup, almond butter, peanut butter (smooth and crunchy), soy milk, cashew, milk, almond milk….and they have turned out every time! I also just use extra oats when there’s no coconut in the house. A great recipe! Thank you!
Yay! So glad you like the cookies!
I have a no bake that I used to use 1 cup Caro syrup & 1cup reg sugar brought to a boil.
Then I add 1 cup natural peanut butter and 5 cups of cereal and oatmeal mixed together.
I would like to use the agave sugar instead of the Caro and sugar but dont know how much to use.
No bake cookies are my favorite!!! Can’t wait to make these.
Amazing Recipe. Thanks for sharing.
I love it when cookies don’t require an oven! LOL
Would parchment paper work instead of the wax paper?
Yes!
I’ve made these so many times I’ve lost count. So good!