These healthy no bake oatmeal cookies are soft and chewy. They are easy to make and don’t require any baking or cooking. The cookies need just three ingredients and don’t contain any flour, eggs, refined sugar, dairy butter, or oil. They store well and are a great snack or dessert.
I almost always have some kind of healthy oatmeal cookie in the house at all times and most of the time it’s no bake oatmeal cookies. They are just so easy to make and can be stored in the fridge or freezer for whenever you need a sweet treat.
Ingredients
- Quick Oats
- Honey
- Almond Butter
Quick Oats: This recipe works best with quick oats. Quick oats are thinner and smaller than rolled oats. They don’t need as much liquid to soften and this recipe doesn’t have a lot of liquid. If you use rolled oats they may not soften completely and will make the cookies dry. If you want to make this recipe with rolled oats, you can try pulsing the rolled oats in a food processor until they are the consistency of quick oats.
Honey: These cookies are sweetened with honey. You can also use maple syrup. Or if you want even less sugar, I have a version that uses mashed bananas. The cookies will taste the least sweet with bananas, but the cookies still taste good.
Almond Butter: Make sure to use unsweetened natural almond butter. This is almond butter that only has almonds in the ingredient list and has no added oils. This recipe will not work with regular almond butter (almond butter with added oils). You can substitute almond butter with natural peanut butter. If you need a nut free substitute you can try natural sunflower seed butter.
How to Make No Bake Oatmeal Cookies
The ingredients are all combined in a bowl and stirred until the honey is fully incorporated and a thick dough forms. The dough is then scooped out, rolled into balls and flattened into disks on a cookie sheet. The cookies are then placed in the fridge to firm up.
No Bake Oatmeal Cookie Texture
These cookies won’t taste like baked cookies. They are soft and chewy and taste a little like granola bars or energy bars in cookie form. These cookies are also only lightly sweetened. You can make them sweeter by adding dried fruit or other mix-ins.
Variations
As discussed in the Ingredients section, you can make these cookies with a few different sweetener options. Each one will produce slightly different results.
Honey: Using honey will make the sweetest version of these no bake cookies. The dough will also be softer and the cookies are best stored in the fridge to keep them firm.
Maple syrup: The cookies dough will be drier with maple syrup and not as sweet. But these cookies are easier to hold and can be stored at room temperature or in the fridge.
Bananas: This version will have a softer dough, similar to the honey version. The cookies need to be stored in the fridge or freezer. The cookies have very little sugar.
More No Bake Cookie Recipes
- 2 Ingredient No Bake Peanut Butter Cookies
- 3 Ingredient No Bake Coconut Cookies
- 3 Ingredient No Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
3 Ingredient No Bake Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (128 g) unsweetened natural almond butter or natural peanut butter
- 2 1/2 tbsp (37 ml) honey
- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp (54 g) quick oats
Instructions
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add in almond butter, honey and 1/2 cup of the quick oats (reserving the last 2 tbsp). Stir and mix with a spatula until the honey is fully incoproated, the oats are fully coated, and mixture turns into a thick dough. If your dough doesn't seem thick enough, add in 1 tbsp of oats and mix again. If it still doesn't seem thick enough, add in 1 more tbsp of oats and mix. Be careful not to add too many oats or your cookies may taste dry. Taste dough and if desired you can add another 1/2 tbsp of honey. Be careful to not add too much because it will make your dough too soft.
- Using a 1 tbsp cookie scoop, scoop cookie dough. Roll scooped dough between the palm of your hands until it forms a smooth ball. Place dough ball onto prepared cookie sheet. Press down on the dough ball with the palm of your hand or the back of a metal smooth until it forms a smooth round disk, about 1/3 inch thick. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Place cookies into fridge for about 30 minutes to one hour to firm up. The cookies will not change much but they will be firmer, making them easier to hold and eat. Store uneaten cookies in the fridge or freezer.
Notes
- Make sure to use natural almond butter or natural peanut butter. This means there are only almonds or peanuts in the ingredient list. No added oils. The cookie dough will not thicken if use an almond butter or peanut butter with added oils. You can also use natural sunflower seed butter.
- These cookies are only very lightly sweetened. If you want sweeter cookies you can add mix-ins like dried fruit or chocolate chips.Â
- If you want to make these cookies with maple syrup instead of honey, you will not need the full amount of oats because the maple syrup does make the dough drier. I used a scant 1/2 cup of quick oats. If you are making the recipe with mashed bananas, only use 6 tbsp of mashed bananas and about 1 cup of quick oats.Â
- See Variations section of post for more details on how the cookies differ using honey, maple syrup or bananas.
- Make sure to use quick oats and not rolled oats. If you only have rolled oats, you can try pulsing them in a food processor until they are the consistency and size of quick oats and then use them in the recipe.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
Can I add raisins to this recipe?
Yes, or you can try our soft and chewy oatmeal raisin cookies.
What if I use natural peanut butter and it has Palm oil as an ingredient? Will it still work?
We don’t recommend using nut butter with added oil.
Can you use Date Syrup instead of honey?
Sorry not sure, I haven’t worked with date syrup before.
I am unable to find the version replacing bananas for honey/maple syrup. Is the substitute 2 1/2 tblsp of mashed banana for honey/syrup? Thank you
https://kirbiecravings.com/3-ingredient-no-bake-banana-oatmeal-cookies/
Thanls for the recipe
You’re welcome!
On WW sounds good .. will be trying them soon..
We hope you like them!
Quick oats in the UK are high in sugar. I definitely wouldn’t be making anything using them in my house.
Quick oats in the US are just rolled oats that have been processed further so they are thinner and smaller and cook faster. There is no sugar added. This is explained in the post.
Excellent and easy recipes.
Amazing recipes
Thanks!