Vegan Sugar-Free Peanut Butter, Oatmeal, and Banana Cookies

Sugar-free vegan peanut butter, oatmeal and banana cookies
Claire Cohen
Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 16 mins
Total: 26 mins
Servings: 18 servings
Yield: 18 cookies

Vegan doesn't have to be restrictive or bland—it's just a dietary preference that can be as delicious and filling as standard diets. Free of all animal-derived products, vegan and plant-based diets are a healthy and tasty way of eating in which you can enjoy thousands of delicious recipes, including mouthwatering desserts like these yummy peanut butter cookies. Packed with fiber from oats and sweet bananas, the cookies feature peanut butter as a binder that adds a lot of healthy fats and protein. A small amount of flour makes the dough come together, while some vanilla essence, maple syrup, and a dash of optional cinnamon flavor the cookies, making your kitchen smell like a chilly morning when a bowl of steaming oatmeal is the way to go. These soft cookies are a great to-go breakfast, but also a tasty afternoon pick-me-up or a decadent dessert if served with a scoop of vanilla vegan ice cream and some vegan chocolate chips.

Oats are a delicious whole grain that is filling and packed with great nutrition. Incorporating oats in your daily menu is a cost-effective way of getting a lot of nutrition. For this recipe, you need two-and-a-half cups of oats, quick-cooking or rolled—depending on if you want the texture to be smooth or chunky choose one or the other. A cup of dry oats contains 307 calories, 10 grams of protein, and 8 grams of fiber, plus 2.9 milligrams of manganese, an essential nutrient key in connective tissue and bone health—the recommended daily intake of this nutrient is 2.3 milligrams per day.

Besides being delicious, these cookies have also added protein from the peanut butter—choose creamy or chunky according to your preference. The amount of peanut butter you need to make this recipe will bring another 19 grams of protein to the mixture. You can use salted or unsalted peanut butter, but the most important thing is to use peanut butter that is made out of just peanuts. Many peanut butter spreads have added hydrogenated oils and sugar that make them more spreadable and shelf-stable but also add a lot of unwanted fats and sugars. Choose wholesome ingredients to make healthy and filling cookies, and replace the soy milk for any plant-based beverage if there are any soy allergies. Likewise, instead of peanut butter use sunflower butter if using peanuts presents an issue. Enjoy these cookies any time of the day!

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup peanut butter

  • 2 medium ripe or overripe bananas

  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

  • 2 tablespoons soy milk

  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup

  • 2 1/2 cups quick-cooking or rolled oatmeal

  • 1 dash cinnamon, optional

  • 1/4 cup flour

Steps to Make It

  1. In a large bowl, mash bananas with a fork until smooth. Add peanut butter, soy milk, vanilla, and maple syrup and mix well. Add remaining ingredients and stir until well combined.

  2. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake 13 to 16 minutes at 350 F, or until done.

Tip

  • Watch out for added sugar! This recipe is only truly sugar free if you used unsweetened peanut butter and unsweetened soymilk, so read the ingredients list and look for soy milk that shows "unsweetened" right on the label.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
62 Calories
3g Fat
9g Carbs
2g Protein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 18
Amount per serving
Calories 62
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 3g 3%
Saturated Fat 1g 3%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 24mg 1%
Total Carbohydrate 9g 3%
Dietary Fiber 1g 3%
Total Sugars 3g
Protein 2g
Vitamin C 1mg 6%
Calcium 9mg 1%
Iron 0mg 2%
Potassium 93mg 2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
Article Sources
The Spruce Eats uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. Oats, Regular and Quick, Dry. FoodData Central. United States Department of Agriculture.

  2. Peanut Butter, Smooth, No-Salt. FoodData Central. United States Department of Agriculture.