Vegan No Bake Cookies made with oatmeal, chocolate, almond butter, and cherries are a deliciously easy treat. These are the best no bake cookies around! They’re great for summer, when you don’t want to heat up your kitchen by turning the oven on. Enjoy one as an afternoon snack or with dessert. This easy recipe is vegan, gluten-free, and added sugar free. If you don’t like almond butter, it’s easy to substitute peanut butter or sunbutter.

No Bake Cookies

The world was stress baking a couple of months ago. I jealously watched as friends posted photos of their fresh-from-the-oven banana bread and crusty sourdough loaves on social media. I was baking, too (hello, peanut butter bread!), but my flour reserves were low, and getting more was a difficult task. Then I discovered a no bake, no flour cookie recipe on Epicurious.

The Epicurious cookies were made with sunflower seed butter, white chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and pistachios. I had none of the ingredients in the house, but I did have comparable substitutions. Why not give it a try?

The resulting cookies were absolutely addictive. While sitting at my desk working, I would find my mind wandering off, thinking about the cookies in the fridge. I had to use them as a reward system for myself. “You can have a cookie once you’ve finished working on this.” Hey, whatever works!

chocolate chips, almonds, oatmeal, almond butter, dried cherries

How to make Vegan No Bake Cookies

This recipe is really easy to make!

First you line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set them aside.
To make your cookies, you need a double boiler. Place a medium pot filled with water on the stovetop over medium heat and allow it to simmer. Place another pot or a heatproof bowl on top of it. The top pot should not touch the water. Make sure the top pot is stable, or you could make a mess. I like to use a metal bowl on top of a small saucepot.
You then place the almond butter and ¾ cup of the chocolate chips in the top pot and stir as it begins to melt. Make sure you stir them frequently and remove them from the heat once the chocolate has melted. It’s important to be careful that the chocolate doesn’t scorch.
Next you stir in the quick cooking oats, dried cherries, ½ cup of almonds, and salt.

You then use a small scoop or spoon to form balls with the mixture, about 1¼ to 1½ inches in diameter. Place them into the prepared baking sheets and then gently flatten each one with the back of a spoon. They'll be messy!
Place the baking sheets in the refrigerator for a couple of minutes while you melt the chocolate for the drizzle.
Next you return your double boiler to the heat and melt the remaining chocolate chips.
Finish your cookies by drizzling the melted chocolate over them and sprinkling them with the remaining chopped almonds.
Your cookies need to chill to completely set, so return the baking sheets to the fridge and allow them to chill for about half an hour or so.

Store your cookies in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, if they last that long!

Customizing your Cookies

Just as I created these cookies by customizing the original recipe from Epicurious, you can customize your cookies by making a few swaps.

You can use any type of nut butter, such as peanut, walnut, cashew.
If you’re allergic to nuts, you can use sunbutter.
Dried cranberries or raisins can be used in the place of dried cherries.
You can use chopped peanuts, cashews, walnuts, or pistachios can be in the place of chopped almonds.

Vegan Chocolate Chips

When buying chocolate chips, make sure you read the ingredients to insure they’re vegan. I recommend checking the ingredients even if it’s a brand you’ve bought before. Manufacturers change recipes frequently, and products that have been accidently vegan in the past don’t always stay vegan.

I like Enjoy Life brand chips. Pascha, Lily’s, and Trader Joe’s all have vegan chocolate chips, too.