These Healthier No Bake Cookies are based off the childhood classic that many of us grew up with. They’re easy to make with reduced sweetener and no refined sugar at all. They’re also gluten free, dairy free, and I’ll show you how to make them paleo as well.
I’ve been eating no bake cookies all my life, and I love them! They’re so easy to make, and I never get tired of this childhood favorite. Our family recipe for No Bake Cookies probably isn’t the healthiest, so I came up with this healthier version to satisfy my sweet tooth.
We did three different versions of this recipe: original plain, original with chopped walnuts, and one with almond butter. I really like all three, but I’m totally crazy about the version with almond butter!
The original cookie is awesome just as it is, but once you mix the almond butter in, they become insanely addictive (don’t say I didn’t warn you!). It has the perfect trio going on: chocolate, coconut, and almonds! Also these are fantastic with peanut butter or cashew butter too. You can’t go wrong with any nut butter you would choose to add.
Let’s jump in and make these Healthier No Bake Cookies step by step!
The first step is to mix together the coconut sugar, coconut milk, coconut oil, and cocoa powder. When a lumpy mixture forms, start bringing it to a boil while stirring frequently.
After the chocolate mixture comes to a boil, it will turn thicker like the picture above. Once it thickens, remove it from the heat and mix in the coconut or oats, and any add-ons that you might want.
Tip: Sometimes it’s nice to have more that one kind of cookie, so I spoon out half the batch and then add almond butter or walnuts to the other half.
Now let’s talk about some FAQ’s for these no bakes:
- Why didn’t my no bake cookies set up? This happens occasionally when you haven’t cooked the chocolate mixture for long enough. Try boiling it a touch longer next time around. The mixture should reach soft ball stage which on a candy thermometer reads 235ºF.
- Why are my cookies hard/drier? This happens when no bake cookies are overcooked. I’ve found a 2 minute cook time to yield a more consistent result than the original 1 minute cook time I grew up learning. If you cook the chocolate mixture too long, it reaches a temperature closer to hard crack stage which will produce a drier harder cookie with a grainy texture from the sugar crystallizing.
- Allergic to coconut? You can sub in any milk of choice, regular or vegan butter for the coconut oil, and cane sugar in place of the coconut sugar. Also this recipe works perfectly with rolled oats instead of shredded coconut.
- Do the paleo ones taste like coconut? YES! They definitely taste like coconut since the paleo version of the recipe is almost entirely coconut based.
- Are these gluten free? Only if your rolled oats are certified gluten free – Bob’s Red Mill is what I use.
I’ve always considered these cookies more of a snacking kind of sweet, but you can dress them up too. They’re really good served warm, before they set up, with Homemade Coconut Ice Cream.
These cookies are also particularly good on a Saturday morning with coffee, (yes I do have cookies for breakfast once in a while)!
And finally some more cookie recipe inspiration:
- Chocolate Chunk Salted Caramel No Bake Cookies
- Glazed Paleo ‘Sugar’ Cookies
- Grandpa’s Molasses Ginger Cookies
- Double Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Cookies
I sure hope you get a chance to make these cookies soon, and if you do, I hope you’ll leave me a comment/rating below. I always love hearing from you here in the comments. And also over on Instagram where you can tag me at #getinspiredeveryday with your photos of what you make.
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Healthier No Bake Cookies
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 15 cookies 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
My family’s recipe for the classic childhood cookie made healthier with no refined sugar, and a dairy free and paleo option too.
Ingredients
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 1/2 cups coconut sugar, see notes
2 Teaspoons vanilla extract
Paleo version:
2 cups finely shredded coconut, unsweetened
1 cup big flake coconut, unsweetened
Classic version:
Omit the coconut and sub in 3 cups rolled oats
Additions:
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, almonds, or pecans, or 1/2 cup almond butter/peanut butter/cashew butter
Instructions
Combine the coconut milk, cocoa powder, coconut oil, and coconut sugar in a larger saucepan. Cook the mixture over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until it comes to a boil, then boil this mixture for 2 minutes.
Remove the mixture from the heat, whisk in the vanilla. Then add either the coconut flakes or the rolled oats depending on which kind of cookie you’re making.
From here, you can spoon the cookies onto a parchment lined baking sheet to cool, or you can pick an addition to add before portioning this mixture into the cookies.
These keep at room temperature in a sealed container for 4-5 days. They also freeze perfectly in a well sealed container for at least 1 month.
Notes
I have reduced the coconut sugar down to 1 cups before, but be aware this can cause the oil to separate sometimes from the cookies while they’re cooling. It’s barely noticeable when it’s happened to me, but it’s never happened with the full amount of sugar listed.
If you’re using the rolled oats, be sure to check the label to make sure they’re truly gluten free.
Also the amount of coconut or oats can vary a bit from batch to batch due to evaporation during the cooking process. If it looks too loose, or not as thick as the pictures, add a touch more coconut or oats.
The nutrition facts are counted using the coconut. It varies just slightly from the coconut in a couple measurements using the oats to 224 calories per cookie, 9.2 grams of fat, and 32 grams of carbohydrates.
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Paleo No Bake Cookies, Healthy No Bake Cookies, Dairy free No Bake Cookies, Gluten free No Bake Cookies
42 Comments on “Healthier No-Bake Cookies”
These are amazing!! I cut back on the coconut sugar, used oats and also sprinkled in some PB2!!!
I love these with a little peanut butter, and I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I’m not a big fan of coconut and glad to see that oats can be used instead. But I was just wondering, does the cookie taste more like coconut than chocolate if using all the coconut ingredients?
I think the cookies definitely taste more like chocolate than coconut, but there is a coconut flavor, so if you’re not a big fan you might like the version with oats more. I hope you enjoy the cookies, and be sure to let me know if you have anymore questions!
So you could use oats instead of the coconut? Why type of oats would work best? I can’t stand coconut especially the texture.
Thanks
You can definitely use oats in place of coconut (I’ve heard when you hate coconut, you really hate it!). Just regular rolled oats work great (not instant), and that’s how my mom’s original recipe was written so you shouldn’t have any problems with the substitution. The only thing I’ve noticed about oats vs. coconut is that the oat based cookies dry out a little sooner, where the coconut version will keep moist for several days. You can freeze extra cookies in an airtight container to extend their shelf life (if you happen to have any leftover). 🙂
These sound great! Is there a way to get the nutrition information?
I don’t currently have nutritional information on the website, but you can use an online nutrition calculator to obtain the numbers. I really hope you enjoy the recipe, and be sure to let me know if you have anymore questions! 🙂
Love Love Love..From a chocoholic these satisfy totally! Thank you for sharing
★★★★★
From one chocoholic to another! My mom’s name is also Cheryl and she’s a chocoholic too, I definitely come by it naturally!
I tried this recipe and there was extra liquid. I thought it would be thick and firm. I had to squeeze out the extra liquid before placing cookies on cookie sheet. Anyone else experienced this? And if so how did you fix it?
I’ve never experienced any extra liquid when I make these, but that could be just a difference in brands of coconut (maybe some are drier than others?). If you do have extra liquid the quickest fix is to add a little more coconut flakes to soak it up. I hope you have better luck next time, and be sure to let me know if you have anymore questions!