You’ll fall in love with these dairy free and gluten-free no-bake cookies with rich dark chocolate flavor. They're super easy to make and taste like heaven!
Gluten Free No Bake Cookies
All you need is oat flour, dark cocoa powder, maple syrup, peanut butter, freeze-dried raspberries, and dark chocolate chips.
This recipe makes a small batch, and these raspberry cookies are also vegan!
For more chocolatey gluten-free cookies, try these tried-and-true recipes like crispy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal and banana chocolate cookies, tropical vibe coconut chocolate chip cookies.
And nothing can't beat the chewy flavor of these gluten free chocolate chip cookies.
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Cacao Powder vs Cocoa Powder
Cacao powder and cocoa powder are both derived from cacao beans, but they undergo different processing methods, resulting in distinct flavors and nutritional profiles.
Cacao Powder is essentially the raw unprocessed version of cocoa. Thanks to this, it retains more of the natural nutrients found in cacao, such as antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.
If you haven’t used it in smoothies, overnight oats or yogurts yet, it will take some time to get used to its intense chocolate flavor and slightly bitter taste.
Cocoa powder, on the other hand, is made from cacao beans that have been roasted at higher temperatures before being processed.
This processing reduces some of the natural nutrients present in cacao, which is often used in baking goods and hot chocolate due to its milder chocolate flavor.
So which one should you use? If the recipe is made using a no-bake and no-cooking method, then I’d normally go for the raw cacao powder (cacao powder will lose some of its nutrients if heated).
But I’ve tried different varieties and both have worked for this recipe.
Ingredients
Regular no-bake cookies and gluten-free no-bake cookies differ only in using certified gluten-free oats or oat flour.
While oats are naturally gluten-free, cross-contamination can occur during growing and processing in facilities shared with gluten-containing grains.
So, opt for a reliable brand of gluten-free quick-cooking oats or oat flour. Also, check out the delicious chocolate chip oatmeal bars!
Here's what you'll need:
- Oat flour - You can use coconut flour for similar results, but I haven’t tested it with this recipe. Buy oat flour or make your own by grinding rolled oats in a food processor or blender.
- Classic peanut butter - Use smooth, drippy peanut butter with no added sugar. Natural peanut butter can work, but it may make the cookies drier and crumblier, depending on the brand.
- Chocolate chips - Good-quality chocolate chips are essential! Use what you have, like chocolate chunks or vegan options like dark chocolate or cocoa nibs, which have no sugar but can be bitter.
- Freeze-dried raspberries - These add sweet, tangy flavor and a crunchy texture. They retain flavor and nutrition through freeze-drying but can be pricey. Look for bulk options or consider making them at home. They enhance the cookie's flavor significantly.
- Maple syrup - This adds sweetness and helps bind the cookies, keeping them refined sugar-free. You can make keto-friendly maple syrup or use other liquid sweeteners.
- Vanilla extract - A dash of vanilla enhances the rich chocolate flavor, adding depth to the cookies.
- Cocoa powder - Use unsweetened cocoa powder or raw cacao for a healthier option.
- Milk - Plant-based milk makes this recipe vegan, but any milk works. If watching sugar intake, opt for unsweetened varieties.
Certified GF oats are a secure option if you can tolerate oats.
For more gluten-free oatmeal cookies, check out our pecan oatmeal cookies and these healthy oatmeal cookies.
How To Make Oat Flour
Whipping up oat flour is a piece of cake!
All you need is a blender, some old-fashioned oats, and 5 minutes of your time.
Toss the rolled oats into the blender and blend for about 15 seconds until you have smooth and fine flour. It's that easy!
Recipe Substitutions
- Peanut butter - The peanut butter can be quite overpowering, so if you’d like a replacement (or want this to be peanut free), you can use almond butter, sunflower seed butter, or tahini. However, due to sunflower butter having a distinct flavor and a more runny texture, it may not work for this cookie recipe).
- Oats - This recipe has not been tested with oat flour substitutions. You can try coconut flour or simply quick-cooking oats instead here. If using oats instead of flour, the cookies will have chunkier texture. You can also try my peanut butter cookies, where I use almond flour. While things like grape nuts, puffed gluten-free rice cereal, or crushed cornflakes might work for a no-bake cookie that is cooked on the stove with butter, I am not sure if it will work with this simple no-cooking method. Let me know if you try this!
- Maple syrup - Feel free to use other liquid sweeteners such as agave or honey.
- Raspberries - If freeze-dried berries are not available, use chopped figs or unsweetened dried fruit for some added fruity flavor and chewy texture. These are not readily available and your best bet is to order them online.
- Vanilla extract - I like adding vanilla to all my sweet recipes, but if you don’t like or have it, feel free to sub with almond, coconut, or peppermint extracts, or simply skip the extract addition if you don't have any on hand.
- Milk - Regular milk, oat milk, almond milk or other plant based milk varieties will work.
How To Make These Cookies
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
In a bowl, combine the sifted flour and cacao, ensuring no lumps.
Add maple syrup and creamy peanut butter, stirring until the mixture turns crumbly.
Gently fold in the dried raspberries and dark chocolate chips.
Gradually stir in the milk until the batter reaches a thick consistency.
If you encounter difficulty combining the batter, you may add a dash more milk, though I found it unnecessary.
Now, using your hands, craft 8-9 cookie balls from the batter and place them on the prepared baking sheet.
Want some seriously uniform cookies?
Use a cookie scoop to measure out the cookies first.
Gently press down on each ball to form disk shapes.
Garnish the cookies with additional raspberries to enhance the presentation by gently pressing them into the dough.
It's optional, though, but I love the additional sweetness and crunch berries added.
Place the cookies on baking sheets and chill in the fridge for 20-30 minutes. Enjoy!
📋 FLAVOR & TEXTURE These no-bake dark chocolate cookies with raspberries offer a delicious combination of rich and intense chocolate flavor with a burst of tangy raspberry notes.
These cookies are pretty chewy but not as chewy as baked chocolate chip cookies.
Are Dehydrated Berries Same As Freeze Dried?
Dehydrated fruits retain about one-third of their moisture, giving them a chewy texture, while freeze-dried fruits are crispy due to low moisture content and taste almost like fresh fruit!
You can use either in this recipe, but because dehydrated berries are chewier, you’ll need to use them whole instead of crushing them.
Note that dehydrated fruit is a type of dried fruit, but not all dried fruits are dehydrated. For a recipe using dried fruit, try my healthy breakfast cookies!
Why Didn’t My Cookies Harden?
These cookies should harden fairly quickly, as we are not using melted butter or eggs here.
If they have not hardened after 30 minutes, keep them refrigerated until they do.
Tip: Make the recipe as is, without substitutions and measure out your ingredients.
Tips
- Dry cookie dough - If the dough is too hard to combine, add a splash of milk.
- Make a double batch - This recipe yields about 8-9 small cookies, so feel free to double it for a crowd. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to a week or freeze for a few months!
- Use runny peanut butter - Look for creamy peanut butter with a smooth consistency. Runny peanut butter is key for great no-bake oatmeal cookies!
- Add a pinch of salt - If you’re using unsalted peanut butter, stir in a pinch of salt before adding the oats to enhance the flavors. If your peanut butter is salted, taste the mixture first before adding more.
- Extra chocolate - If you love chocolate, press a few mini chocolate chips onto each cookie for an extra boost!
🧑🍳 Make Next: Peanut Butter Balls
Freezing And Storing Instructions
These cookies have a long shelf life!
- To Store. Keep leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week. They last longer than many other gluten-free options, making them a great make-ahead treat!
- Refrigerating. For even longer storage, especially in humid environments, refrigerate them in an airtight container for up to two weeks or more.
- To Freeze. Place the cookies on a baking sheet and freeze for 1-2 hours until solid. Then transfer them to an airtight container or ziplock bag. They can be frozen for up to two months. When ready to enjoy, let them thaw at room temperature.
Variations
You can add plenty of other ingredients to suit your taste:
- Triple chocolate - Go all out and cover these cookies in (unsweetened or not) melted dark chocolate. Dip each cookie into melted chocolate or drizzle it on top of the cookies. I like to do it once the cookies have been refrigerated and then wait until the melted chocolate has set. So good!
- Coconut - Add ¼ cup of shredded coconut to the mix.
- Mocha - Mix ½ teaspoon espresso powder with cocoa.
- Sweet & Salt - Sprinkle flaky sea salt before the cookies harden. I use this trick often whenever I'm making cookies with chocolate chips.
- Seeds - Pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, or hemp seeds for that healthy extra nutrition dose.
- Nuts - Try combining the decadence of half-chocolate chips with the delightful taste of chopped hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, or pecans for a rich and buttery flavor. I like to chop these very fine, and the chocolate-nut combination is one of my personal favorites!
- Dried Fruit - Pick your favorites, and if possible, use unsweetened dried fruit (it is not readily available in grocery stores, so your best bet is to look online). We like cranberries, cherries, and apricots.
More Oatmeal Recipes You Might Like
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Recipe Card
Dairy Free, Gluten free, No Bake Cookies With Dark Chocolate and Raspberries (Vegan)
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INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup oat flour, or quick oats for more chunky cookies
- ¼ cup cacao powder or Dutch processed cocoa powder , see blog post for details
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup peanut butter smooth, natural may not work, see post for info
- 2 tablespoons freeze-dried raspberries, crushed or other berries or dried fruit
- 2 tablespoons dark chocolate chips, use dairy free for vegan, optional, see notes
- 3 tablespoons oat milk , or unsweetened almond milk or any other plant based milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
- In a bowl, combine the sifted flour and cacao, ensuring there are no lumps.
- Add maple syrup and creamy peanut butter, stirring until the mixture turns crumbly.
- Gently fold in the dried raspberries and dark chocolate chips.
- Gradually stir in the milk until the batter reaches a thick consistency. If you encounter difficulty combining the batter, you may add a dash more milk, though I personally found it unnecessary.
- Now, using your hands, craft 8-9 cookie balls from the batter and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Want some seriously uniform cookies? Use a cookie scoop to measure out the cookies first.
- Gently press down on each ball to form disk shapes. To enhance the presentation, garnish the cookies with additional raspberries by gently pressing them into the dough. Optional though, but I love the additional sweetness and crunch it adds.
- Place the cookies on baking sheets and allow to chill in the fridge for 20-30 minutes. Enjoy!
NOTES
- Although oats are naturally gluten-free, they are often processed alongside wheat products, leading to potential contamination. Certified GF oats are a secure option if you can tolerate oats.
- Chocolate chips - Good quality chocolate chips are a must! Chocolate chips, or chocolate chunks, use what you have! You can use no dairy or extra dark chocolate chips to make it vegan. Cocoa nibs are also a great vegan option if you can tolerate the bitterness. Alternatively, whatever chocolate chips or peanut butter chips you choose, they will taste great here.
- Classic peanut butter - Smooth and drippy peanut butter, with no added sugar. This recipe has not been tested with natural peanut butter yet and cookies may turn out to be drier and crumbly.
- Oat flour - Or you can also use coconut flour here which should yield similar results (although I haven't tested coconut flour with this exact recipe yet). You can either buy oat flour or DIY by finely grinding rolled oats with a food processor or blender.
- Freeze-dried-raspberries - Optional, but so worth it! Look for larger packets or buy in bulk online to get a discount. Or if you can, you can make freeze-dried raspberries at home with the right equipment. For a splurge, we love to have these for snacks when fresh berries are not available. Without berries, these cookies wouldn't be half as flavorful.
- FLAVOR & TEXTURE - These no-bake dark chocolate cookies with raspberries offer a delicious combination of rich and intense chocolate flavor with a burst of tangy raspberry notes. These cookies are pretty chewy but not as chewy as baked chocolate chip cookies.
ADD YOUR OWN PRIVATE NOTES
NUTRITION
Note: Nutrition information is estimated and varies based on the products used.
Full Nutrition Disclaimer can be found here.
FAQs
You could swap the peanut butter out for almond butter or cashew butter.
But, here's the deal, if you try using seed butter, like sunflower seed butter, it might not work out as well. It's pretty soft and runny, which could make the cookies too soft and not set properly.
So, stick with the nut butters for the best results!
Short answer: not long, because they taste delicious!
Jokes, aside, they will last a long time, place them in an airtight container and store them at room temperature for a week or refrigerate them for 2 weeks +. They freeze beautifully too!
Oats are naturally gluten-free but if the packaged doesn't clearly say certified GF then it means they have been processed in the same facility with gluten-containing grains like barley, rye, and wheat.
Quaker does offer a range of gluten-free oats. Check that the package has labeled gluten-free.
Dried fruit, but not fresh or frozen berries which will nto work for this recipe.
Yes, you can make them at home by following this guide or make dehydrated berries using a dehydrator.
Oats are naturally gluten free so there is no ''removing'' gluten process. To ensure purity, gluten-free oats, also known as purity protocol oats, are grown in separate fields and processed in facilities that have never handled gluten-containing grains.
While oats themselves do not contain gluten, this strict process guarantees there is no cross-contamination from grains that do. However some gluten-free intolerant or people with celiac disease still cannot tolerate oats.
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
delicious chewy no bake gluten free cookies with dark chocolate!