Dreamily healthy and delicious, these classic Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies are the perfect after-school treat or pick-me-up after a long day at work. Whole Food Plant Based, no oil, no refined sugar, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.

Hi!  Robin here!

These cookies bring back so many fond memories.  I always made “No Bakes” for the kids when they were growing up.  AND when I didn’t have time to make them, our local grocery store always had them available for purchase.  We all loved them!

I.G.A. – G.I.J.

Our local grocery store was the I.G.A. (It is no longer around), when Monkey was little she called it the G.I.J.  She simply couldn’t get the letters right.  Her version was kind of “catchy,” so we all started to call it the G.I.J.   Whenever Monkey and I went to the “GIJ,” she often asked if we could get Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies.   They were her favorite.  It was always hard to say “no” to her.  Although, I did say “no” many times, but when she would look up at me with her big beautiful green eyes (actually, one is green, and the other is blue-green), she made it difficult to deny her, especially since she never really asked for much.  I was fortunate to have two really, well-behaved children who didn’t whine or cry about anything.

Old School No Bakes vs NEW Healthy No Bakes

If you happen to look up recipes for traditional Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies, you can typically be assured that they will have at least 2 cups of granulated sugar and a stick of butter in them.  YIKES!!!

Our mission was to create a healthier version of the No Bakes with the same great taste and texture, and I believe we have done exactly that.  They are AMAZINGLY delicious!  We were raising our cookies in a joyous toast of accomplishment. Cheers!

Pick-me-up

“One of those days!”  Do you ever occasionally have one of those days when everything just gets crazy and you are running around trying to solve the world’s problems, and you just need a little “something-something” to get you from Point A to Point B without crashing and burning out?

That’s where these tasty little treats come into play to save the day!  We keep these cookies in the freezer.  Whenever we need a tiny treat, we will take a few out of the freezer and keep them in the fridge.  They are the perfect, tiny sweet snack to keep you on track so you won’t fall off the Whole Food Plant Based wagon whenever your sugar cravings try to bring you down.

They hit the spot!  They are slightly sweet, chocolatey, peanut buttery goodness in a tiny cookie.

Ameera here!

G.I.J.  LOL  What is so funny is that everyone in our house called the IGA, the GIJ for so long that I really thought it was called the GIJ.  I remember one time having an “Ah-hah” moment and noticed the store sign said I.G.A. and exclaiming to my mom “Wow, did you know that we have been calling the G.I.J. the wrong name for all these years!”   Mom just laughed and said “Yes, we all know it is really the I.G.A.  We just got hooked calling it the G.I.J. because that is what you called it.”   * MIND BLOWN *  LOL

Wonder Cookies

I freakin’ love “No Bakes,” that is what we called them in our house.  Everyone made them.  They were fast, easy, and delicious.  Did you have these yummy treats in your house? What did your family call them?

What I love about these cookies is that they are easy to make and our version is 10 times more healthier than the traditional version without sacrificing flavor or texture.  You might even find yourself liking our version even more simply because the sugar content is lower.  Meaning, they aren’t overly, obnoxiously sweet.

Variations

We rolled them in a variety of tasty coatings – Mmmmm.

Chocolate | Coconut | Dried Cherry Thumbprint | Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

My favorite is the chocolate, dipping them in melted chocolate and placing a few tiny sea salt crystals on top.  It sends the whole cookie over the top to flavor town.  It is THAT good.

Mom likes the coconut rolled ones and my dad likes the dried cherry “thumbprint” style ones, along with the plain ones.

Give them a try!  We hope you love them too!

This post contains affiliate links, and I may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.

Products used:

• Cookie scoop
• Baking sheet
• Parchment paper

Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews

• Author: Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 15 minutes
• Yield: 20 cookies 1x
• Category: Dessert
• Cuisine: American

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

---

Description

Dreamily healthy and delicious, these classic Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies are the perfect after-school treat or pick-me-up after a long day at work. Whole Food Plant Based, no oil, no refined sugar, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rolled oats 
• ¼ cup organic maple syrup
• ½ cup unsweetened plain plant milk
• ¼ cup unsweetened peanut butter
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 6 Medjool dates, softened – pits removed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt *

Optional Ingredients for Rolling/Thumbprint:

• Unsweetened coconut flakes (Fancy flakes chopped smaller or shredded coconut)
• Unsweetened cocoa powder
• Chocolate chips, melted
• Whole dried cherries

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

1. Place the medjool dates into a small bowl and pour boiling water over them, just enough to completely submerge them. Allow 20 minutes to soften.  After 20 minutes, pinch them to make sure there is no pit.  Place the softened dates in a food processor or mini-chop to chop into fine pieces.  (They will be sticky).
2. In the meantime, measure out all your remaining ingredients.
3. Place the peanut butter, cocoa powder, maple syrup, softened-chopped dates, vanilla, sea salt, and plant milk into a small-medium sized saucepan. Stir and heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until completely blended, about 5 minutes. Make sure the chopped dates are separated and blended.  You will still see very tiny fragments of the chopped dates, but they should be evenly dispersed throughout the mixture. The mixture should be hot, shiny, and emulsified.
4. Place the rolled oats into a large bowl, then pour the heated chocolate-peanut butter mixture over the oats a little at a time, while constantly stirring the oats until all the oats are completely coated.
5. Then use a small cookie scoop (OXO Good Grips Small Stainless Steel Cookie Scoop – diameter is approx. 1 ¼ inches) and scoop up about a tablespoon of the cookie mixture, pressing the cookie scoop hard against the side of the bowl to compact the cookie mixture into the scooper. Then release the cookie from the scooper and hand roll into tightly formed balls and place the cookie ball onto a wax paper covered baking sheet to set.
6. If your cookie mixture is extra gooey, place in the fridge for 30 minutes, then scoop and roll the cookies.
7. Store in the fridge. Cookies freeze well too!

Variations:

• Unsweetened coconut flakes: After rolling the cookie into a ball, then roll into coconut flakes.
• Unsweetened cocoa powder: After rolling the cookie into a ball, very, very lightly shake some cocoa powder onto the cookie.  Caution:  Unsweetened cocoa powder has a strong flavor.  TEST one cookie before proceeding.
• Melted Chocolate Chips: Melt approx. ¼ cup of chocolate chips in the microwave or over a double boiler.  When the chips are completely melted, allow the mixture to cool slightly, then take a cookie ball and drop it into the melted chocolate; using two forks, move the cookie ball around to completely coat in chocolate, then place on a wire rack to cool.  When the chocolate starts to set, sprinkle with a few pieces of large sea salt flakes.  The chocolate coating can sometimes take up to an hour to set depending on the brand of chocolate you are using.
• Whole dried cherries: After making a cookie ball, press your thumb into the center of the cookie creating a hole.  Take a few cherries and cut them up, smashing them to make them gooey.  Then place one or two tiny pieces of the gooey cherry pieces inside the cookie hole, then place a whole cherry on top.  The cut-up gooey cherries act like glue to hold the whole cherry in place so it doesn’t fall out.

---

Notes

*Gooey Cookie Mixture:  We have made these cookies many times.  Sometimes, if the humidity in the house is extra warm, or even the brand of peanut butter is extra soft, you can end up with a very gooey cookie mixture which makes scooping and rolling the cookies slightly challenge.   No worries.  If this happens, simply place the cookie mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes to allow the cookie mixture to firm up. 

*Cookie Scoop:  Using a cookie scoop allows for uniform cookie sizes, it also helps to press the cookie mixture into the scoop. This can be accomplished best by scooping some cookie mixture into the scoop, then pressing the cookie scoop up against the side of the bowl.  This will help compact the cookie mixture allowing for easier rolling of the cookies.

*Rolled Cookie Balls:  You may find it beneficial to wash your hands frequently to prevent the cookie mixture from sticking to your hands, then preventing you from forming tight cookie balls because the mixture on your hands gets stuck to the mixture you are rolling.  If you wash your hands about every 5 cookie balls, you will end up with very beautiful cookie balls.

*Sea Salt:  Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.

Storage:  Cool to warm, place in glass storage and refrigerate. Freezes well!  

This post contains affiliate links, and I may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.