When I was in college and craving a chocolate treat I would always whip up some minimal effort No Bake Cookies using whatever I could find in my not-so-well-stocked kitchen. I would literally smush all of the ingredients into one huge No Bake Cookie on a plate, put it in the fridge and a half hour later eat the entire thing with a fork. #College, right?!
In my present, much less exciting life, No Bake Cookies are still a go-to, just a little less boot-leggy and a little more healthful.
This no-bake cookie recipe nixes the butter, sugar and milk, yet still offers the chocolate, PB gooey-ness. All thanks to a mix of whole, plant-based ingredients.
Pitted dates are used to sweeten this treat. While they offer a sweet flavor, as a dried fruit they also come with fiber and vitamins and minerals. Talk about a step up from refined sugar! Because dates
(*affiliate link) are a whole, unprocessed food, we LOVE using them as a sweetener.
When selecting your peanut butter, be sure to go for one without the added sugar and oil. Why would something so delicious need added sugar and oil anyways!?!
You’ll notice we used cacao rather than cocoa. Cacao is raw and therefore retains more nutrients, making it a darn healthful ingredient!
Feel free to use agave or honey. Agave (*affiliate link)
is the sap pulled from the agave plant. This offers a vegan option. Honey, on the other hand, is of course not vegan. Why do we need this sweetener when we already have dates? Great question! Without it your final product won’t firm up and you’ll have sticky cookies!
Finally – chia seeds are added, well, because we can! What a great way to incorporate extra nutrients – healthy fats and lots of fiber! ??
Looking for more of that irresistible No Bake Cookie flavor? Check out our Harvey Bar recipe.
In case you’re wondering, here’s the supplies we used in this recipe: food processor, saucepan, parchment paper, cookie scoop
(*affiliate links).
Healthified Plant-Based No-Bake Cookies
Equipment
- Food Processor
- saucepan
- cookie scoop
Ingredients
- 10 Deglet Noor Dates pitted
- 1/2 cup Warm Water
- 3/4 cup Peanut Butter
- 2 Tbsp Agave or Honey
- 1/4 cup Cacao powder or Cocoa powder
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1 3/4 cups Rolled Oats
- 2 Tbsp Chia Seeds
Instructions
- Place dates and water in a food processor and process until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides as needed.
- Add pureed dates, peanut butter, agave/honey, cacao, and vanilla to small saucepan. Over medium-low heat, stir ingredients for 2-3 minutes, or until combined and softened. Remove from heat.
- Add rolled oats and chia seeds to the saucepan. Stir until combined.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a cookie scoop, portion out approximately 18 cookies. Use your finger to lightly flatten into a cookie shape.
- Place pan in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- Once cookies have cooled and set, remove from pan and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
*We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. We use the products and ingredients that we link to and recommend them because we believe they are the best choice for you.
I’ve made these 3x now. I left out additional sweetness/sugar and I used 5 dates 10 prunes. I got 28.
Love these substitutions! Thanks for sharing!