We’re counting down to consistently warmer here in Chicago and I’ve been dreaming about all my healthy smoothie recipes to sip on. In fact, my daily spring & summer breakfast of choice is typically a smoothie or shake because it’s refreshing, there’s no cooking involved, and I can pack them with nutrition.
For a couple of years now, I’ve been obsessed with recreating smoothies that taste like dessert. Because why the hell not? Remember my tahini snickerdoodle smoothie? Everyone agrees that it totally tastes like a snickerdoodle cookie. And now, I’m here to reintroduce one of my fav creations: peanut butter oatmeal cookie shake…or smoothie. Call it what you want, but I liked the sound of shake better.
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Peanut butter oatmeal cookie shake ingredients
This easy, healthy peanut butter cookie shake is made with under 10 ingredients that you might already have in your fridge and pantry. Plus, it’s naturally sweetened without any banana! You’ll need:
- Medjool dates: I love using dates as a natural sweetener in smoothies, shakes and desserts. You’ll only need three and they pack in a great fiber boost! Feel free to only do 2 if you prefer it less sweet.
- Almond milk: feel free to use any milk you’d like. I prefer unsweetened vanilla almond milk, but coconut, cashew or oat milk would also be super yummy.
- Frozen cauliflower: yes, this oatmeal cookie shake recipe has cauliflower in it! You’ll get a nice boost of veggies but won’t be able to taste the cauliflower at all. PROMISE!
- Oats: for that delicious oatmeal cookie flavor. I recommend using rolled oats or quick oats and feel free to use gluten free. Do not use steel cut oats, they will not blend properly.
- Peanut butter: you’ll love the creamy peanut butter blended with all of these ingredients. You can also use any other nut butter you’d like.
- Vanilla extract: for a little additional flavor boost.
- Cinnamon: the hint of cinnamon really brings out the oatmeal cookie flavor.
- Salt: a pinch of salt makes this taste AMAZING.
The result is a creamy shake that tastes just like a peanut butter oatmeal cookie, with a pinch of sea salt on top. DAMN GOOD INDEED.
Optional peanut butter cookie shake nutrition boosters
- Flaxseed meal: this is one of my favorite ingredients to add to shakes and smoothies for a little boost of fiber and minerals. It’s especially great for nursing mamas as flaxseed can help increase milk supply. Usually a tablespoon is plenty! Here’s a brand I love.
- Chia seeds: add in a tablespoon of chia seeds for a boost of healthy fats and fiber.
- Hemp seeds: feel free to throw in those hemp seeds lurking in your cupboard for a boost of healthy fats, omegas and minerals.
- Organic spinach: if you’re looking to get more greens in your shake or smoothie, try adding a few cups of spinach. It may turn the smoothie a slightly off-putting color, but you won’t be able to taste the spinach at all.
- Greek yogurt: add a boost of protein with a scoop of Greek yogurt (or your favorite dairy free yogurt). You may have to reduce the almond milk to 3/4 cup in this recipe when adding yogurt.
- Protein: easily add more protein to a smoothie by adding some greek yogurt or 1 scoop of your favorite protein powder. I recommend Vital Protein collagen peptides or Four Sigmatic Plant-Based Protein Powder.
- Cacao powder: this would add a delicious, chocolatey flavor to the peanut butter cookie smoothie along with a great source of antioxidants. I recommend 1 tablespoon.
Tips for the perfect oatmeal cookie shake
Here are a few of my favorite tips for making this oatmeal cookie shake creamy and delicious:
- Use frozen produce. Using frozen cauliflower helps keep the smoothie cold and thick. Sometimes ice doesn’t blend as well, so it’s best to skip unless absolutely necessary.
- Add liquid as needed. Don’t be afraid to add more liquid if your smoothie is too thick or won’t fully blend. High powered blenders tend to blend frozen ingredients much better, so if you have a regular or personal-size blender, you may need to add more milk.
- Start on low speed. Start the blender on low speed, then gradually increase the speed to high to help blend all ingredients. End with the blender on low speed.
- Have fun with toppings. Add your favorite toppings like extra peanut butter, a sprinkle of oats, the above mix-ins or a handful of homemade granola!
How to soften your dates
You’ll simply soak your pitted dates in 1 cup of warm water for at least 5 minutes. This will help them soften up and make sure that you can easily blend them into the shake.
Meal prep this healthy oatmeal cookie shake
Try making this vegan peanut butter cookie shake ahead of time to enjoy later! I have three amazing methods for prepping and storing smoothies & shakes right in your freezer. You’ll learn the ice cube tray method, the mason jar method and the freezer pack method. Get all of my tips & tricks here!
Our go-to smoothie tools
Check out more of our favorite go-to kitchen essentials here.
More smoothie recipes to try
- Get Your Greens in Smoothie (the best green smoothie!)
- Peanut Butter Blueberry Banana Smoothie
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
- Good Morning Coffee Lover’s Smoothie
- Snickerdoodle Tahini Date Smoothie
Get all of our amazing smoothie recipes here!
I hope you love this healthy peanut butter oatmeal cookie shake recipe! If you make it be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Shake (with sneaky veggies!)
Ingredients
- For the date smoothie:
- 3 pitted Medjool dates (about ¼ cup packed pitted Medjool dates)
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or dairy free milk of choice), plus more to thin smoothie as necessary
- 1 cup frozen cauliflower
- ¼ cup oats
- 1 ½ tablespoons peanut butter (or 2 tablespoons peanut butter powder)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- Pinch of salt (if your PB isn’t salted)
- Optional smoothie add-ins:
- 1 tablespoon cacao powder
- 1 scoop your favorite protein powder
- 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal
- 1 cup spinach
Instructions
- First soak your pitted dates in 1 cup of very warm water for at least 5 minutes. This will help them soften up and perfect for blending. While the dates are soaking you can get all your other ingredients out, measured and ready.
- Next add all ingredients to a high powered blender: pitted dates, almond milk, cauliflower, oats, peanut butter, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Feel free to add any optional add-ins to your smoothie if you’d like. Blend until smooth, adding more almond milk to thin, if necessary. Pour into a glass and enjoy! Serves 1. Feel free to double the recipe to serve 2.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on July 5th, 2021, republished on March 1st, 2023, and republished on March 25th, 2025.
Really tastes like a liquid peanut butter cookie! So good!
So much delicious PB flavor!
I made these this morning for myself and my two kids, 6 and 8. We all loved them! We couldn’t taste the cauliflower at all, it just tastes like a peanut butter cookie! Delicious!
Such a great breakfast!
So delicious! I added chocolate protein powder. Perfect.
Love that!
Better than the herbalife shake and way better for me. I added protein and collagen powder but super delicious.
Absolutely!!
What would be a good substitute for the cauliflower if I don’t have any on hand?
Feel free to use 1/2 cup ice!
So delicious!! I actually made extra for my toddler who LOVED it as well. Really great way (for both of us) to get some vegetables
Amazing! So happy to hear that 🙂
I haven’t made this yet but I want to because it looks great. But just to clarify, should I cook the cauliflower before putting it in freezer or should it be raw? Thanks so much!
Hi! I typically buy frozen cauliflower (which is blanched and frozen) but you can either blanch it and then freeze it or just freeze it directly 🙂
This recipe is so versatile, I love it! I make it as is and is delicious, definitely can’t taste the cauliflower! Today I made with 10 oz unsweetened almond and coconut milk, almond butter and added 1/2 cup frozen blueberries. Thank you for posting this recipe – so easy and always have ingredients on hand so has become my go to when I’m not sure what I want.
Love it! Great idea to add blueberries, too 🙂
I was hesitant considering I don’t like dates or cauliflower and this recipe proved me wrong. So good. I add spinach which does not impact flavor.
Sneaky ingredients!! Glad you gave this recipe a try and are loving the smoothie!
This smoothie was amazing!! I added cocoa powder, half banana, bee pollen and honey and substituted the cauliflower for ice and it tasted DELICIOUS! Thank you for another amazing smoothie recipe! I love all of your smoothies with dates- they actually taste surprisingly good in smoothies! ❤️❤️❤️
I made mine without peanut butter. It came out delicious. It tasted like a cinnamon oatmeal cookie.
YUM! so glad you this smoothie turned out great for you 🙂
Super yummy, Monique! Thick and creamy. Perfect oatmeal cookie flavor!
YUM! Glad to hear you are loving this shake ❤️
Question! Do you have any tips for avoiding / preventing a slimy shake? Any time I’ve tried an oat smoothie it’s resulted in this very unfortunate unpleasant texture. It’s a common problem with homemade oat milk, but I’m wondering if you may have found a way to prevent it here. Thank you!
I haven’t had that problem, what type of oats are you using?
Love you I’m good I haven’t eaten peanut butter except for Reese’s it’s my teenage years is my favorite meal food etc so I love it 🙂
Is the cauliflower previously cooked??
I just use frozen cauliflower but if you want to freeze your own, you can steam it first and then freeze. Enjoy!
I am obsessed with this protein shake!!!
Yay! I am so glad to hear this!
I just made this for dinner as I had a late lunch. It was very good. I did think it was going to have more of a frozen texture like a Wendy’s Frosty; however, it was nice and creamy. I’m going to try it again soon for breakfast.
YUM! Sounds great, glad you are loving this smoothie 🙂
Love all her recipes, this one was just okay. I added maple syrup as I found the dates not enough sweetness and I think you need like 50% more milk, but it’s very much personal preference. I love how healthy this is but I’m not sure I’d make it again. Or I might soak the oats in advance as well.
Was it too thick for you liking? or was there something else? Wondering if it was blended thoroughly/long enough.
Wow! This looks delish and I’m so surprised about the cauliflower! Will for sure try this!
Excellent! So glad, enjoy!
This smoothie is out of this world. I’m obsessed with all of Monique’s smoothies. I have one everyday for breakfast, and this one is one of the best ones I’ve had so far. SO good!
Perfection. Thank you so much, glad you are loving this smoothie ❤️🙂
Giiiiiirl this smoothie is bomb. I added collagen and spinach and loved the texture it gives from the oats. It’s salty and sweet which I love. Thank you!
You are the smoothie queen! I added spinach – so delicious!
Thank youuu!
DANG this is so good!!
It’s good! Thanks, you are right and you cannot taste the cauliflower. My picky kids didn’t like it though 🙁
Happy you enjoyed it! Sorry the kids didn’t, though. They might like this one!
I can’t recall if I’ve reviewed this recipe before but I had to today. This has become one of my top 3 smoothies ever! I have it on weekly rotation! Thank you for a great smoothie!
My gosh these are amazing. What a great alternative to oatmeal! I love that these are super quick and guilt free, great for a weekday morning but good enough for guests and a weekend fix. Cooked using butter flavored coconut oil, drizzled with pb ‘n a little syrup and a few cacao nibs tossed on top. 100 different ways to go with this, in my top 5 fave recipes of all time! Thank you!!!
Uh. Might wanna delete that – I reviewed the wrong recipe! (Eye roll) 🙁
Hahaha no worries!!
I swapped out the cauliflower for a little bit of avocado, added chia and flax seeds, and used mazafati dates instead of mejdool, whole milk instead of oat milk and it was bomb!!! Thanks so much!
That all sounds incredible! Thanks for sharing 🙂
This is my new favorite smoothie recipe. I love it and it is a combination I would have never thought of. SOOOOO good
Very good smoothie! Made with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter and the flavor was still excellent. May soak the dates for more than five minutes next time since there were still chunks of dates in the smoothie. Made with vanilla protein.
So glad to hear you loved it! And yes soaking or blending for a little longer may help with that!
just tried this today and it really tasted like an oatmeal peanut butter cookie! added flaxseed in mine too. however, it was also very heavy and too filling for me, I only managed to drink a couple of sips and I was done.
Glad you liked it! And yeah, it’s definitely filling (in a good way, I think!) because of all the fiber + healthy fats. Thanks for sharing, though 🙂
Tastes exactly like an oatmeal cookie! Great flavor and texture.
Yummo!!! LOVE that Monique gives GF and DF options!!! Give this one a try.
Yummo!!! Love that Monique gives GF and DF alternatives. Give this one a try.
just made his for lunch and added some vanilla protein powder. needed to add some banana because i think it tasted better and made a better texture!! shared a little with my brother and we both really liked it
Good call on the protein powder and banana! So happy that you both enjoyed it 🙂