Insanely delicious soft and chewy monster cookies made with NO flour! 4 ingredients, one bowl and 12 minutes to make these healthy cookies- Naturally vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free and easily made sugar free.
Healthy Monster Cookies
I have loved using pantry staples for a plethora of recipes. We’ve had flourless oatmeal cookies, 2 ingredient bagels, and 2 ingredient dough soft pretzels.
It would be criminal not to add monster cookies to the mix!
Original monster cookies are generally made with eggs and butter, but my version is healthier but just as delicious.
No flour.
No butter.
Zero eggs.
Easily made sugar free.
In terms of texture, these healthy cookies tick all the boxes- Thick, soft and chewy.
Taste-wise, they are naturally sweet, thanks to the banana. They are also buttery, thanks to the smooth almond butter.
Why are monster cookies called monster cookies?
Monster cookies, if you haven’t heard of them before, are cookies made with peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chips and candy buttons (like M&M’s).
They get their ‘monster’ name due to the number of different ingredients that go into the dough- chocolate chips AND candy buttons!
I know many of us are staying home and have LOADS of pantry staples and groceries to use up. These cookies are fabulous for such a time and have plenty of easy substitutions.
How to make no flour monster cookies from scratch
The Ingredients
- Rolled Oats- Gives the cookies a chewy texture, while remaining soft and tender on the outside.
- Peanut Butter- Smooth and drippy peanut butter, with no added sugar. You can use any smooth peanut butter of choice!
- Banana- Mashed, overripe banana to hold the cookies together, AND give the cookies extra sweetness.
- Chocolate Buttons of choice- M&M’s, vegan buttons, or as I used, sugar-free candy buttons.
- Chocolate Chips of Choice- Optional, but perfect for chocolate lovers.
The Instructions
Making these flourless monster cookies follows three EASY steps!
Step 1- Mix your ingredients together.
In a large mixing bowl, add your rolled oats, mashed banana, and peanut butter and mix well, until combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold through your candy buttons and chocolate chips, reserving a few to top the cookies with.
Step 2- Form cookies and place on the cookie sheet
Lightly wet your hands and form 12 balls of dough. Place on the lined cookie sheet (or baking tray!) and press into a cookie shape. Top with extra chocolate chips or M&M’s.
Step 3- Bake and enjoy!
Bake the cookies in a preheated oven (at 180C/350) for 12-15 minutes, or until just cooked. Cool on the pans completely.
Easy Pantry Staple Ingredient Substitutions
Rolled Oats Substitutions
Using gluten-free rolled oats helps keep the cookies chewy, and also helps these cookies taste like the original.
However, I know many people cannot tolerate oats and oatmeal.
Suitable substitutions include quinoa flakes and buckwheat flakes.
Peanut Butter Substitutions
Wanting to keep these cookies 100% nut-free, I opted to use smooth tahini. Tahini is a fantastic peanut butter substitute, which has a mild, buttery flavor.
If you don’t have tahini or prefer another nut-free spread, you can use sunflower seed butter or wow butter.
Banana Substitutions
Using bananas in these cookies add natural sweetness and keeps the cookies soft and moist in the center.
You can substitute the banana with unsweetened applesauce or mashed pumpkin, but consider adding some liquid stevia to it, to compensate for the lack of sweetness.
Candy Button Substitutions
M and M candies are, unfortunately, not dairy free. This means that they aren’t suitable for a vegan diet. Instead of replacing them with chocolate chips, I have previously used these chocolate candies. They are naturally colored, dairy-free and nut-free- Perfect for these cookies.
You CAN use M & M cookies if you like, or, as mentioned before, sugar-free candy buttons.
If you can’t get your hands on them, you can use dairy free mini chocolate chips and chocolate chips.
Why are my monster cookies falling apart?
Different sizes of bananas would yield a different amount. If you find that your monster cookie dough is falling apart, add a little extra mashed banana, to give it moisture and hold them together.
Alternatively, you can add applesauce or even mashed pumpkin.
Can I freeze monster cookie dough?
Unfortunately, you cannot freeze this particular monster cookie dough. It doesn’t contain flour or butter and will dry out and be brittle.
You CAN freeze the completed cookies though!
Storing and Freezing Monster Cookies
To Store: Monster cookies can keep at room temperature, but to maintain freshness, you’d be best to keep them refrigerated.
Refrigerate leftover cookies once they have cooled completely. Keep them in a sealed container, and they will keep for at least a week.
To Freeze: These cookies are freezer friendly, and will keep frozen for up to 2 months,
Tips and tricks for PERFECT Monster Cookies
- These cookies are eggless, so taste the batter before you bake the bake them. If they aren’t sweet enough, add a few drops of liquid stevia.
- Do not overbake the cookies- These are designed to be soft and chewy, not crispy. If you really want extra chewy cookies, slowly add more oats than the recipe states, but not too much- Enough to still have thick cookie dough.
- The cookies will continue to firm up slightly when removed from the oven, so leaving them a little underbaked is fine.
No Flour Monster Cookies (Vegan, Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 2 cups gluten free rolled oats
- 3 large bananas mashed
- 1/2 cup peanut butter can sub for any nut or seed butter of choice
- 1/4-1/2 cup Candy buttons M &M's, vegan M&M's, or sugar free candy buttons
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips of choice Optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 175C/350F. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine all your ingredients, except for your chocolate buttons and chocolate chips, and mix well. Fold in your chocolate buttons, reserving a few to add on top.
- Form 12 large balls of dough and place on the lined tray. Press each ball into a cookie shape and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until slightly golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the tray for 10 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
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Your pictures show quite a lot of chocolate, it appears that choco chips have been added, and chocolate on top as well. Why is this not in the recipe?
Hi Roseann, it’s included in the post, the option to mix it with chocolate chips. Enjoy
Failed they are not gluten free as you have made them with oats and can contain wheat
Clearly didn’t read the post, used certified gluten free rolled oats, if you choose not to eat them, no worries but this recipe is gluten free. enjoy!
These were great! My daughter made a goof and we had to double the recipe. Since I didn’t have enough to account for doubling, we also used some substitutions listed in the post.
I was curious about the calorie content? With my double batch making 16 cookies, I keep coming up with about 210 calories per cookie. Every calorie was worth it, by the way. These were great snacks for the family, thank you so much for the treat!
That’s what I like to hear! Yep, the nutritional content has been calculated and is listed there- enjoy!
Loved these! Simple to make, tasty, nice chewy texture and I love that they are flour free. This is definitely going to be a go-to recipe for me when I am in a cookie mood!
🙂 That’s what I like to hear!
Yes, thanks so much, Arman, for creating and sharing the recipe! ❤
While I’d love to use bananas I don’t have any fresh ones. I would use the substitute of applesauce and add a little sweetener of maybe monk fruit, question is, how much will I need roughly? I have bananas frozen for smoothies but I don’t know how much to use if I thawed those out. Thanks and I love your recipes and always refer people to your site!!
Hi! Try with 1.25 cups of applesauce and if it is too much, add some extra oats to it.
Awesome!!!!thanks so much!
Hi, loooove the recipe!!
What can I use as substitute for peanut/ nut butter as I can not have those?
Sunflower seed butter or smooth tahini!
Just made these and they’re delicious. It gives me chewy, crunchy and sweet all in one. Not a conventional cookie with flour but that is precisely why these are yummy.