Healthier Chocolate No Bake Cookie Recipe
A few years back I wrote about one of my favorite cookie recipes – the Chocolate No Bake Cookie – a tried and true favorite that lots of folks have in their recipe stash and have loved for a long time. It was one of those recipes where I almost always had all the ingredients around and could stir up a batch on short notice.
But lately I’ve been trying to makeover some of those old standbys to use less sugar and dairy. So when I saw a chocolate oatmeal no-bake cookie recipe in one of the healthy eating books I was reading, I immediately recognized it as an updated version of my old favorite and decided to give it a try.
Now of course, when you take out all the butter and a lot of the sugar, you’re not going to have the exact same cookie as before. BUT, this healthier version comes pretty close! It can satisfy your craving for something a little sweet with a lot of the same peanut butter, cocoa, and oatmeal flavors. This cookie is a bit more crumbly than my old version, but I’ve found that to be a minor detail.
So this has become my new replacement version that I can still whip up on short notice with things in my cupboard. The method for making these cookies is very familiar too – You heat ingredients together in a saucepan (although in this version it does not have to come up to boiling), and then you stir in the oats and drop the mixture by spoonfuls to cool on a sheet of wax paper.
And best of all . . . I still get to have a homemade cookie. 🙂
Here’s how to do it: (Adapted from a recipe found in The Campbell Plan)
Healthier Chocolate No-Bake Cookies
Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup Brown Sugar
- 1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
- 1/3 cup Peanut Butter
- 1/2 cup Almond Milk (or other non-dairy milk)
- 1-1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1-1/2 cups Oats (either quick or old fashioned will work)
Instructions:
- Mix the brown sugar and cocoa powder together in a small saucepan. Then add in the peanut butter, almond milk, and vanilla and mix everything together.
- Heat the ingredients in the saucepan on the stove on medium heat until the peanut butter is melted and the ingredients are well combined. (It does not have to come to a boil.)
- Remove from the heat and stir in the oats.
- Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper and let cool.
Notes:
Made this recipe but with regular milk and though the taste was excellent they never really hardened. They were less sticky than at first but more like a cookie ready to be baked. But I think the recipe has potential. Next time I plan to add some melted coconut oil which we always have on hand. That will help to form a more solid cookie after cooling in the fridge.
Yes, this version is a softer version than the original but I find that they do hold together OK (for instance for packing in my lunch).
I only use dairy milk. Can that be used instead of nondairy milk?
Yes, you could use regular dairy milk in this recipe too.
My granddaughter is allergic to dairy products so I was very interested in this recipe. Unfortunately, brown sugar is also a problem. Could I substitute with white sugar?
Yes, I think you could substitute white sugar in this recipe and still have a cookie that holds together OK.