Over a decade ago, I shared this recipe for Peanut Butter & Jelly No Bake Thumbprint Cookies. It was buried in our news archives, so today I’m giving the post a big update with new photos, more options, and a permanent home in our recipe section. These bites are energizing little treats that are easy to make, and delicious to savor. You can use your favorite jam, jelly, dairy-free curd – whatever you like. I typically use natural raspberry jam, but this time, I used chia jam. It worked quite well!
Peanut Butter & Jelly No Bake Thumbprint Cookies in a Small or Big Batch
I’d been wanting to take new photos of these No Bake Thumbprint Cookies for years. I finally got the chance, but didn’t have any special equipment, not even a mallet, to smash the crumbs. I literally crushed them in a baggie by hand and with a can, smashing them with all my might. Which apparently isn’t much. There are a lot of big crumbs left in there!
Consequently, my most recent no bakes look a little more rustic and wet-looking than they need be. (Don’t worry, they are soft, but still firm and easy to handle.) This older picture that I have shows just how smooth they can look if you have a spice / coffee grinder (that’s what I typically use), food processor, or even a kitchen mallet. That said, they work and taste delicious no matter how finely your crush those crumbs!
This is a mini-recipe, making just 6 no bake thumbprint cookies. Since we have a small household, I like to do small batch treats. Feel free to double, triple, or quadruple the recipe if you want some chillin’ in the fridge on demand. They should keep for several days in the refrigerator, or for several months in the freezer. I’ve included the ratios for doubling or quadrupling the batch in the recipe notes.
Special Diet Notes: Peanut Butter & Jelly No Bake Thumbprint Cookies
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free /non-dairy, egg-free, optionally gluten-free, tree nut-free, soy-free, optionally vegan, and vegetarian. You can also make these no bake cookies peanut-free with your favorite peanut butter alternative.
- 2 graham cracker sheets (choose honey-free for vegan; can use gluten-free, if needed)
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter (I use natural creamy lightly salted; can sub Sunbutter for nut-free)
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, or brown rice syrup
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil, melted
- 1 to 2 tablespoons jam
- Crush the graham crackers into fine crumbs or a powder. You can do this with the old ziploc and mallet method, or in your spice grinder or food processor. You will get about ¼ cup of fine crumbs/graham powder.
- In a small bowl, stir together the graham cracker crumbs, peanut butter, sweetener, and oil, until a nice thick paste forms.
- Divide the dough into six portions and roll each portion into a ball. If the mixture is too sticky to handle, toss it in your fridge or freezer for about 15 minutes to firm up a bit.
- Place the dough balls on a piece of parchment on a plate. Using the back of a measuring teaspoon, press an indentation in the top of each ball, causing them to flatten on the bottom, and form your thumbprint shape on top.
- Place the cookie dough thumbprints in the refrigerator or freezer for 15 minutes or longer to firm up.
- Place a dollop of jam in the depression of each cookie bite (I used about ½ teaspoon per cookie).
- Store the no bakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in a zip-top bag in the freezer for longer keeping.
Quadruple Batch (makes 24): 8 graham cracker sheets, ½ cup peanut butter, 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons sweetener, 4 teaspoons coconut oil, up to ½ cup jam.
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