These Vegan No Bake Cookies are seriously addicting and a chocolate and peanut butter dream! So easy to make using simple ingredients only, it will be hard to make just one batch. A perfect Summer dessert since you don’t have to turn on the oven!
If you’ve never had the luxury of eating these chocolate peanut butter oat cookies before, prepare yourself for a simple, no-hassle treat. You’ll love how easy they are to make. They’re so low maintenance and use pantry-staple ingredients you probably have on hand right now.
The winning combo of chocolate and peanut butter makes these cookies taste magical. They only get better and delightfully chewy with the addition of quick oats. Better yet, the recipe can instantly become gluten free by using gluten free oats instead.
If you love the combo of peanut butter and chocolate, check out any of these recipes: Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars, Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls or Vegan Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies.
Ingredients Needed (with substitutions)
- Sugar – Substitute coconut sugar if you need to.
- Cocoa powder – Any brand or quality of cocoa powder will work in this recipe, but I prefer natural instead of dutch processed.
- Vegan butter – Make your own vegan butter if you don’t have any at home. Coconut oil will also work as a replacement. Use virgin coconut oil to add a hint of coconut flavor to the cookies.
- Almond milk – Or your favorite plant-based milk.
- Creamy peanut butter – In order for the cookies to set properly, you need to use no stir creamy peanut butter. If you use the natural kind that needs to be stirred, they won’t set up correctly. Another nut or seed butter may work, but I haven’t tested it.
- Vanilla extract
- Quick cook oats – Rolled oats work just as well in this recipe but will make the cookies chewier. Use certified gluten free quick oats to make gluten free cookies instead.
How to make Vegan No Bake Cookies
- Add the sugar, cocoa, vegan butter, and milk to a medium pot over low heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until the butter melts, then increase the heat to medium. Stir constantly and bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer for 1 minute exactly, then remove the pot from the heat and keep stirring for 30 seconds.
- Add the peanut butter and vanilla to the pot. Stir until well combined.
- Pour in the oats.
- Stir in the oats until they’re coated in the mixture.
- Scoop 2 tablespoons worth of cookie “dough” onto the prepared parchment/wax paper.
- Allow the cookies to cool for about 20 to 30 minutes until they are hardened. Serve and enjoy!
Tips for success
- I love how flexible these cookies are. You can add plenty of other ingredients to suit your taste, like coconut flakes, chopped peanuts or chocolate chunks.
- Add a pinch of salt into the mixture if your peanut butter is unsalted.
- Need cookies right now? Once you’ve scooped the cookies onto the parchment paper, pop them in the fridge or freezer to help them harden faster.
- Double or triple this recipe to serve extra cookies on a road trip, at a picnic, or for treats throughout the week.
- Better yet, keep a batch in your freezer at all times. You never know when a craving might hit!
How to store
Store the finished cookies in an airtight container once they have cooled down and hardened. They can be refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to a month.
Leave them to thaw in the fridge overnight or enjoy them chilled.
More Cookie Recipes
When you actually feel like baking, try these delicious and always vegan cookie recipes:
- Vegan Lemon Shortbread Cookies
- Perfect Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Cookies
- Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
- Vegan Shortbread Cookies
Vegan No Bake Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup vegan butter (8 tablespoons)
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter must be no-stir!
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups quick cook oats
Instructions
- Line a counter or two cookie sheets with parchment paper or wax paper.
- Add the sugar, cocoa, vegan butter and almond milk to a medium pot over low heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until the butter melts, then increase the heat to medium. Stir constantly and bring to a boil. Simmer for 1 minute exactly, then remove from heat and keep stirring for 30 seconds.
- Add the peanut butter and vanilla and stir until combined well. Stir in the oats until they are coated in the mixture.
- Drop the mixture by about 2 tablespoons each onto prepared parchment/wax paper. You can leave them rounded at the top, or flatten them slightly if you prefer.
- Allow to cool for 20-30 minutes before serving, until they are hardened. Serve and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- These cookies set up best using no stir peanut butter, NOT the natural stuff that you have to stir first.
- May lower the sugar as desired for less sweet cookies, probably down to 3/4 cup. Or substitute coconut sugar.
- I prefer natural cocoa powder here instead of dutch processed, but that is fine to use as well. The cookies will be very dark in color if you use dutch cocoa powder.
- May substitute coconut oil in place of the vegan butter if desired.
- Any non-dairy milk will work here, so use your favorite.
- You can use regular rolled oats but the cookies will be chewier and a bit different. I prefer quick oats.
- To store: Store leftover cookies in an airtight container for a few days, up to 5 days in the refrigerator or longer in the freezer.
Delicious! I used natural peanut butter.. I also drizzled chocolate on top with flaky sea salt to level it up. Thanks for the awesome recipe!!
You are welcome! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback!
I made these for my husband’s birthday! He loved them and that is a true compliment! Thank you for making them vegan!
I’m so happy your husband loved the cookies! Thank you for your wonderful review!
Yummy !! My favorite since I was 3 !!!
No bake cookies are one of the best ever! Thank you for sharing your fun and great feedback!
I made this with what I had- crunchy PB & a combination of regular sugar, brown sugar & monk fruit sweetener! They turned out amazing. The entire family loves them.
I’m so glad they turned out amazing! Thank you so much for sharing your great review!
These were absolutely delicious. Just how I remember the non vegan ones tasting throughout my childhood! Thank you for this amazing recipe, Nora! 🙂
You are welcome – I’m glad you enjoyed them! We love these no bakes at our house! Thank you for sharing your review and comments!
Can you make these without the butter or oil?
I haven’t tried it so I’m not totally sure.
What is the oven temp supposed to be?? Did they forget it??
They are no bake cookies, no need to turn on the oven.
I replaced half a cup of the oats with half a cup of coconut. Used oat milk, Dutch coca and just under 1 cup of sugar. Delicious. You recipes never fail me. You are my Go To ever since my son became vegan 6 years ago.
I made these replacing half a cup of the oats with half a cup of desiccated coconut which was also good. The Dutch coca worked fine and i used just under 1 cup of sugar. Delicious. You recipes never fail me,
I made these as is, just used oat milk instead of almond. They are so easy to make and soooo delicious! Will definitely make these again!
Hi Jenny! I’m glad you love the cookies! Thank you!
I was wondering if you might could share with me why mine didn’t get firm … I didn’t use quick oats, however everything else was by the recipe. I had to put mine in the freezer.
Yes, I have a few tips on how to make sure they get firm every time. First, use regular peanut butter instead of the natural kind, if possible. Second, use quick cook oats. And third, maybe most importantly, follow the instructions exactly on simmering the mixture for 1 minute exactly, then remove from heat and stir for 30 more seconds. I have found if I do this part too quickly, they will not set correctly. Hope that helps!
I love these. I make them regularly, but they have only set up correctly for me once. I think that might just be because of the natural pb I use? Regardless I just pop them in the freezer and they’re amazing!
Hi Niki! Yes, it may be due to using natural peanut butter, I generally don’t use it for baking. Glad you enjoy them though!
These are great!! I was scared that they wouldn’t set, but they hardened up just fine! I had to turn the stove heat up to more like a low high to get the mixture to start bubbling and truly ‘boiling’ though before i started counting the minute. Maybe I’m just impatient, though, haha. Also, I used old fashioned oats and they taste great! This is my first time making no bake cookies and it probably won’t be my last now that I know how easy it is! Thanks for the great recipes; I’m a broke college student and I can always count on your site to have the simplest versions of recipes that a lot of other vegan sites like to overcomplicate with expensive, hard to find ingredients. You make being a broke vegan college student fun!
Hi Wario. College and good food – a very fun combination! Thank you for using my recipes, and I’m glad you are loving them! I appreciate your comments…thank you!
My cookies did not harden. Never happened before. Only difference is vegan butter.. Want to send some overseas to my granddaughter
Which vegan butter did you use? I have used both Earth Balance and Melt here with no issues. Make sure to boil the mixture long enough, and also give them plenty of time to harden. Stick them in the fridge overnight and see if that helps them harden up correctly. Different butters may vary. Hope that helps and you can send some cookies!
Delicious, but FAR too sweet with the suggested amount of sugar. I made them a second time and used 3/4 cup coconut sugar (as suggested in the notes), and I also added 2/3 cup coconut. According to my family, they’re now ‘perfect’.
These are delicious and easy , thank you. I don’t think I let them boil long enough as mine are not hardening. I saw your other reply and will stick them in the fridge.
Can I use coconut flour or almond flour instead of oats?
I haven’t tested it, but I’m not sure it would work.
I only have chunky peanut butter. Is there a way to make it smooth, or can I just use it how it is??
You could probably use chunky, it will just be a little crunchy. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
These turned out very well! My Vegan daughter stopped home, so I thought I’d try these out. I didn’t know how old her opened carton of Almond milk was, so I substituted with brewed coffee. I also used coconut oil, added some flaked coconut and some toasted slivered almonds I happened to have on the counter. They were wonderful!!! Thanks for the recipe!
I made a double batch and after two hours they still won’t harden. They are gooey. Any idea why? They do taste great, though!
If your house is warm (it is Summer after all!) you may need to stick them in the fridge to harden more. Also make sure you are boiling the mixture as long as directed, because that also affect how they harden. Hope that helps!
My batch in the fridge still won’t harden.
Do you think taking all the cookies and boiling them again would harden them up?
I used rolled oats instead of quick oats… but no other changes.
I have found that they don’t harden if you didn’t boil the mixture long enough, so make sure you have it at a good simmer for a minute, then remove from heat and continue stirring for 30 seconds. Unfortunately, I don’t think you could boil them again, it has to be before mixing the oats in.
I LOVE all of your recipes and am so excited to try these! Is it possible to use regular oats and not the quick cooking ones? I’m honestly not sure which ones they are in my big plastic bin…
Yes, you can, they will just be chewier and have big oat flakes. Thank you so much!
PB + chocolate = my fav taste!
Very easy and tasty.
Thank you!
I’m going to try this with cornflakes ??☕️
Fun! Hope you enjoy!
I love these kind of cookies that my daughter is allergic to peanut butter. Have you made them with almond butter?
I have before and it works well! It just changes the flavor quite a bit but they are still very good. Thank you!