Last Updated on August 19, 2026 by Carrie Korem, FNTP
No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies are made with 7 pantry staples and are perfect for the summer when you don’t want to turn on the oven.
Ingredients for No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
- Organic cane sugar
- Cocoa powder
- Unsalted butter or coconut oil
- Whole milk or coconut milk
- Peanut butter or almond butter
- Vanilla extract
- Rolled oats (I prefer to use sprouted rolled oats)
What Kinds of Oats are Best for Cookies?
It’s best to use oats that have been sprouted. Raw oats contain phytic acid, which robs the body of minerals like iron, copper and magnesium. Raw oats are also hard to digest. Sprouting the oats greatly reduces the phytic acid making them a much healthier option. This is the brand I use.
And here’s more information on why it’s always best to soak or sprout grains, nuts, seeds and legumes.
What Are the Common Mistakes in No Bake Cookies?
The fat that you use in no bake cookies is very, very important. You want to use a fat like butter or coconut oil that turns solid when it’s chilled, so that when the cookies are put in the refrigerator, they set properly.
The biggest mistake people make is swapping out the butter for an oil like avocado oil or olive oil that stays liquid when chilled. This will result in cookies that won’t set.
Here are some more simple, gluten-free desserts to enjoy
Strawberry Shortcake
Gluten-Free Lemon Tart
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Peach Galette
Pound Cake
The Best No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Makes 16 cookies
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: Makes about 16 cookies
- Category: Dessert
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 1 cup organic cane sugar
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 stick unsalted butter or 6 tablespoons of coconut oil
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup Creamy peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups rolled oats (I prefer to use sprouted rolled oats)
Instructions
- Place the sugar, cocoa powder, butter, and milk in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Cook until butter is melted and mixture begins to boil (do not boil for more than one minute), stirring frequently. Whisk in peanut butter and vanilla. Place oats in a large mixing bowl, pour chocolate mixture over and stir until combined. Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Chill in the fridge 2 hours until firm.
No bake cookies always remind me of growing up. Yours look fantastic!
These cookies take me back to childhood! And since I don’t bake and might possibly cry about it often, I can make these babies.
wa-hoo!
I love all the school planning ideas! These cookies look awesome. I just posted cookies as well, but no bake cookies sound great! And SO easy to make!
Great ideas! And these one of my favorite cookies. Made a batch the other day:) They are dangerous though!
I agree. Very dangerous!
Those sound delicious!
These sound I fabulous. Is the maple sugar the same as sucanat or something else? Where do you find organic maple sugar?
I buy my maple sugar from Amazon. It’s much cheaper than at the store. I don’t use it a lot since it’s a more expensive sugar. You can substitute with the maple sugar with sucanat or coconut sugar. I prefer the maple sugar when baking anything chocolate, but that’s just my personal preference. 🙂
Sweet. A perfect recipe for the anti-baking set!
Can no-bake’s be made without peanut butter? One of my boys is allergic to peanuts. Any substitute ideas?
The cookies need the nut butter to help them firm up. You can substitute with almond butter or another nut butter.
Almond butter or other nut butter won’t work for me. My grandson is allergic to both peanuts and tree nuts. Any suggestions?
NUT ALLERGIES? Try sunflowerseed butter. I have bought mine at Trader Joe’s, but it is also available at our Fred Meyer.
Thanks Connie! I have tried sunbutter. I like sunflower seeds and like the sunbutter. Only one other person in the family will eat it beside me so I am looking for another alternative.
Even though I don’t pack lunches anymore, these are great ideas!! These no bake cookies are the best – especially when the weather is hot (which always seems to happen at the beginning of school!)
I love the idea of no bake right now, especially in light of how it’s been 107-108 every day this week. I’m totally making this treat for us! Love your recipes.
I love that you used favorite kid flavors but made them so much more interesting and a bit healthier.
Can you help me troubleshoot? I made a batch of these last week…..but it was my first batch since switching to a healthier diet. They did not set up. The only difference this time was that I used homemade peanut butter in them instead of some from the store and rolled oats instead of quick oats. My mom said maybe it was because there was honey in the peanut butter?
Of course they were still eaten (shouldn’t let chocolate go to waste!), but I would really like them to turn out next time.
Without being able to see the exact recipe you used – I’m guessing here, but I’d say it was probably the peanut butter combined with the honey. In my recipe I call for rolled oats, not quick oats, but that shouldn’t have made too much of a difference. Did you bring the mixture to a boil? It not, it might not have cooked enough to set. Also, if it was really hot in your kitchen (due to our hot summer temps) then maybe they couldn’t set properly. I prefer to set these cookies in the refrigerator – I think it makes them taste better too!
Sorry for eavesdropping, but from experience growing up I just wanted to share that if you boil the mixture TOO much, the cookies will be hard, dry and crumbly 🙂 I hope you’re able to get the cookies to be just right, because it is the most fun that way 😉
I used rolled oats and boiled them for 1 minute. My recipe is identical to yours. 🙂 Thanks….next time I won’t use pb with honey. Thank you for the help!
These were delicious! Thank you for the yummy treats at the party! I will be honest with myself…I ate 3 of them!!!! Can’t wait to make them soon!
Tis the season for it being busy! Great cookies and great meal plans too!
These look really great! We always need back to school ideas
I love these, I’d pack them in my own lunch!
Eel! Dreading lunch boxes this year – hoping the school lunch program is new improved and organic so I can do this…
I love cookies…especially when that taste delicious and are easy to make! These look fabulous! 🙂
Wow. These cookies look amazing! These will be made tonight! Thanks for sharing!
Ahhh… this is my husband’s all time fave! Can’t wait to try this version, since we’ve eliminated white sugar. Thanks!
These look so yummy!
Can you please tell me what type of blender you use? I heard the most effective ones costs $200-300! What do you think? Thanks! Can’t wait to get your cook book!!
While the Vitamix is the blender many talk about for it’s performance, but it has a pretty hefty price tag. I usually stick with the advice from Cooks Illustrated and their non-bias product reviews. The top two they recommend are the The Kitchen Aid 5-speed blender ($149.00) or for a much less expensive blender that got very high ratings in their test kitchen the Kalorik BL Blender at just $49.99. If they are recommending a $50 blender that does just a good a job as the $150, I’d go with the cheaper one! 🙂 Hope that helps!
Oh how I adore no bake cookies! These gorgeous little guys look marvelous! Thank you!
Love these cookies! We had a not-so-nice name for them, but they’re so much fun and perfect for school snacks and lunch box treats.
These look yummy and fit in to my week of avoiding processed sugar!
For those who have nut allergies, I would suggest trying sunflowerseed butter…it has a similar taste and texture.
My children are grown and gone now, no grandchildren either! 🙁 I really wish that back when my children were younger that the internet was much more accessible. Imagine all the ideas I could have come upon! Still, some of these will be great for me to take to my workplace for lunches! I love the smoothie idea. I also love the maple sugar in this recipe. I’ve never thought to try it but now I will!
Love how you used maple syrup. Will have to try. We’ve been on a cookie kick around out house lately (no-bake). Last time I used 1 cup almond butter and they were amazing. Miss you, friend!
Do you take all these photos? They are amazing!! And make me hungry 🙂
I love any cookie with peanut butter! I’ve especially been fond of no bake cookies lately too. 🙂
My mother used to make these for us when I was little at christmas time. We called them macaroons
So, I guess maple SUGAR is it, huh? Just checking as that’s the only sugar I don’t have. Stopped by Earthfare yesterday and choked – $17 for a container of organic maple sugar. So, just wanting to verify before I buy…
I hardly ever buy those kinds of sugars at the store b/c they are usually way too expensive. I get my maple sugar, coconut sugar and maple syrup from the Amazon subscribe and save program. You’ll save a ton! You can replace the maple sugar in this recipe with sucanat if you’d like.
Thanks for the reminder about these no bakes! I love to use this recipe for kids to learn how to cook. I’ve got a new foster kiddo, who is planning on cooking this weekend here……. I’ve got the ingredients for these & he is a oatmeal guy…..I think it will be a good place to start him off in the kitchen!
you can also make it with cereal and pieces of fruit.
These are my fav!
I did a search on Amazon for Maple Sugar. It came back with 474 results. Wtih other products you have had a brand you recommended. This will be my first time purchasing Maple Sugar. Which product do you use?
I like the maple sugar from Coomb’s Family Farms. I order through the Subscribe and Save program on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Coombs-Family-Farms-25-Ounce-Container/dp/B000JJHDVG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320618889&sr=8-1 It’s a bit of a more expensive sweetener so I only use it every once in a while. It’s so delicious! You can also substitute the maple sugar with sucanat.
I was just talking to someone about this cookie type, when my kids were in school, my son and I made a similar recipe using Carob powder, instead of cocoa, and his friends bought them for weeks from him!
Would be interested what people think of using Carob, it tastes pretty close to chocolate too!
Can you use “Sugar in the Raw” for this recipe? Also, I used to make these for my son using Carob powder, he loved them! Thanks for the great recipe!
Yes, sugar in the raw should work well in this recipe.
Just made these today but I substituted coconut oil for the butter and rice milk for the whole milk. Dairy free and still delicious!
I’m glad you enjoyed them. Thanks for the tip on your substitutions!
With butter and sugar, and rolled oats-how are these ‘healthy’?
As with all desserts, they should be enjoyed in moderation. If one can tolerate grains, then oats can be a good option for a cookie. Organic butter contains omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin A, stearic acid as well as other healthy properties. I am coming from a more traditional approach to fats and wrote about this here: https://deliciouslyorganic.net/creamed-kale-and-eggs-recipe/ and here: https://deliciouslyorganic.net/hashed-browns/
All sugars should be eaten in strict moderation and these cookies are made with maple sugar which is dehydrated maple syrup. While it is still a sugar, it is a much healthier option than white sugar that has been stripped of any nutrients and bleached.
Carrie, I noticed your pizza roll-up and had to jump in 🙂 we’ve been using our waffle iron with abandon and have come up with some super fun treats using and filling tortillas…
Waffled Pizza Pocket – spoon sauce (not to edge) on half of your tortilla, add meat, sprinkle cheese, fold in half and close waffle iron. Open to a pastry like (crisp and chewy) Waffled Pizza Pocket!
Waffled “Grilled” Cheese – just like the above but with cheese only.
Waffled Nutbutter Pocket – I am sure you’re getting the idea…fill half the tortilla with nut butter, fold and waffle. This one is so much like a filled pastry it is hard to quit!
There is no end to fun with a waffle iron…home made bread dough! stop me now!!
Bless you for all you do, Carrie! You’ve got a great thing going here 🙂
Great ideas! I should pull out the waffle iron more often! 🙂
Is there a way to make these with properly prepared oats? I feel like they would be so mushy!