No-bake Oatmeal Cookies

Cookies that do not require baking are excellent for a quick fix breakfast. You can use oatmeal as the base ingredient to make healthy cookies. Also, you can alter the amount of butter, sugar and fats to suit your health goals.

For example, butter is an integral part of preparing scrumptious oatmeal cookies. But, you can replace it with olive oil or other healthy vegetable oils in oatmeal cookie recipe to reduce the calorie count of these sweet goodies.

The nutritional value of these oatmeal cookies depends upon certain factors, like ingredients and their quantities, baking process and the serving amount of cookies. Using ingredients like no calorie sweetener, skim milk and low-fat peanut butter will yield a less fatty cookie.

One serving size of these cookies yields approximately 54 calories. But the same serving amount of oatmeal cookies provide more than 100 calories, if you use whole milk, butter, peanut butter and white sugar. They also contain carbohydrates, fats, fiber, cholesterol and sodium in large amounts.

The recipes are as simple as mixing the ingredients in specific amounts and shaping like cookies. At times, you will need prior cooking of some of the ingredients before making these tasty treats. In case the recipe calls for no hot items, you can involve your kids in making oatmeal cookies.

Otherwise monitor them strictly while handling very hot items to avoid burns. Here are some recipes for healthy oatmeal cookies that you can definitely try at home.

Ingredients

• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup butter
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups white sugar
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 3 cups quick cooking oats
• ½ cup peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions for Preparation
Warm milk and butter in a saucepan over medium high heat setting. Slowly add cocoa powder and sugar, while stirring continuously. Bring this concoction to a boiling temperature. After boiling for 1 minute, remove saucepan from heat and add salt, cooking oats, peanut butter and vanilla extract.

Stir the cookie base with a wooden spatula for 5 minutes, so that the ingredients are combined properly. Using a tablespoon, drop spoonfuls of mixture onto parchment lined baking sheets. Allow the cookies to cool down a bit and shape them. Harden them for another few minutes and serve.

Ingredients

• 2 cups rolled oats
• ¼ cup finely ground almond
• 1 cup fresh dates, finely chopped
• ¼ cup soy milk powder
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 cup dairy-free dark chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup

Directions for Preparation
In this dairy-free no-bake oatmeal cookies, the soy milk replaces whole milk. Maple syrup is added to make sure that the ingredients stick together, and you have an easy time in making cookies. Before you start with the recipe, chill a baking sheet lined with parchment in the refrigerator for some time.

In the meantime, take a large mixing bowl and combine together oats, ground almond, dates, soy milk powder and cocoa powder. Keep this mixture aside and work on the liquid ingredients.

In a double broiler, warm chocolate chips and remove it after complete melting. To this, add maple syrup and stir. Then, slowly add the oats and dates mixture, while stirring the ingredients for even combination. Take out the chilled baking sheet from the freezer.

Using an ice cream scoop, drop about 2 tablespoons of oatmeal cookies mixture onto the sheet. Let the cookies set in room temperature, or chill them in the refrigerator for quick hardening. You can read more on low-calorie oatmeal cookies.

You can try making these cookies in large amounts and store in an airtight container for snacking in between meals. Some people prefer preparing soft no-bake cookies for serving as desserts. You can try the same with raisins, cashews and other dried fruits of your choice.

And what about adding fruit juices in dairy-free no-bake oatmeal cookies? Indeed you can prepare different flavored cookies with complementary ingredients like grated coconut, canola oil, almond milk, orange juice and many more.