Vegan No-Bake Cookies | Chocolate Peanut Butter

You may have seen our post on “No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies” – it is definitely a family favorite! 

I love to serve these to company because they’re quick (gives me more time to concentrate on dinner!), and everyone always enjoys them!

A lot of the time that we have company, I’m cooking “vegan” for our vegan friends. So, I’ve learned to adapt some of our family-favorite recipes to be vegan-friendly as well.

That’s how I came up with these Vegan No-Bake Cookies! I expected them to taste a little bit heavy on the coconut (not my favorite), but surprisingly, the coconut oil does not dominate the cookie – I *love* this version just as much as our original recipe!

Why won’t my no-bake cookies harden?

There are factors that will affect the texture of your no-bakes: stove temperature, and a lot of people think the biggest one is humidity.

If you always work in the same environment, you might know that “boil for 3 minutes” is perfect for your situation. But for those of us with varying temps and humidity levels, it can be frustrating to wonder if it’s “a good day for no-bakes.”

Regardless, if you want to ensure that your no-bakes turn out perfectly every single time, the secret to getting that perfect texture is: getting your sugar mixture to the right temperature.

If your cookies end up staying glossy and not hardening properly, your temperature didn’t get up to 230 F.

If your cookies end up crumbly and too dry, you went past the soft-ball stage, 235-240 F. 

The simple solution is to stick a candy thermometer into your pan while your mixture boils. Once I’ve gotten my sugar mixture up to boiling, I boil for 1 minute (stirring constantly), and then attach the thermometer to my pan and keep an eye on it as I continue to stir the mixture. (Make sure your thermometer is not touching the bottom of the pan.) 

If you haven’t used a candy thermometer before, don’t be afraid. 😉 It’s really simple to use and will take the guessing out of finding the right amount of time to boil your sugar mixture.

Usually by around a minute and 45 seconds or 2 minutes  (usually not too much more than 2 minutes), my mixture is up to 235 F. BUT – I have had them take as long as 3 1/2 minutes! 

Here’s how to make Vegan No-Bake Cookies

Measure out 3 cups quick oats into a large bowl and set it aside so that it’s ready.

Get your wax paper ready as well, so that you can work quickly later – I put wax paper onto cookie sheets.

Next, combine the coconut oil, sugar, almond milk, and cacao in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly.

Once your mixture comes to a full boil, you’ll want to boil it for about 2 minutes (don’t stop stirring!) or until your candy thermometer shows that you’ve reached around 235-240 F. or the “soft ball stage.”

Remove the saucepan from the heat and quickly stir in the peanut butter and vanilla…the peanut butter will melt in quickly.

Pour the chocolate peanut butter mixture into the large bowl with the measured-out oats – you’ll need to work quickly now since the mixture will start to harden!

Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto wax paper and leave them until they’re set.

Once they’re set, enjoy! 

You’ll end up with 20-24 cookies, depending on how big you make them.

These vegan no-bake cookies are sooo delicious…it takes everything in me to stop at just one!!