Just to be clear, this is not a recipe for traditional "No-Bake Cookies." Traditional, full fat, full sugar, no-bake cookies are irreplaceable and completely amazing. They cannot be recreated by using healthier ingredients. That’s just the truth, folks.
HOWEVER, if you are looking for a healthy ALTERNATIVE (not replacement) to No-Bake Cookies, I bring you the “No-Bake(ish) Cookie.” These fudgy, tasty little treats are sure to satisfy your sweet tooth without completely wreaking havoc on your healthy lifestyle.
Don’t get me wrong though, I’m all about traditional No-Bake Cookies every once in a while!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
⅓ cup ripe banana, mashed
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup nonfat milk
2 cups quick-cooking oats, add another 1 cup if necessary
1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions:
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside. I usually just put the foil on my counter top, but I guess I’ll get fancy for the sake of this recipe.
In a small sauce pan, melt peanut butter and mashed banana together over low heat until combined and partially melted. The “melted” mixture will be thick, not completely liquid or runny.
Remove from heat. Mix in the honey, cocoa powder, vanilla, milk, oats, and salt. Stir until completely combined. Drop cookies onto aluminum foil, or baking sheet if you are super fancy.
Press cookies into whatever shape you desire, or just leave in sloppy mounds like I did. Now, here is the important part, refrigerate them for a few hours before eating. For some reason these get exponentially better when they are cold! You can eat them warm, but they aren’t quite as scrumptious!
Enjoy!
Makes 12 - 18 cookies.