Gluten-free flourless peanut butter cookies made with only a few basic ingredients. This grain-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free peanut butter cookie recipe is a healthier approach to the classic cookie!
Do you ever think to yourself, “If I don’t get a peanut butter cookie right now, I’m going to throw myself on the ground like a limp ragdoll and just.lay.there?”
Because while it doesn’t hit often, when the craving for peanut butter cookies hits, nothing can stop that freight train. Except for peanut butter cookies.
I kind of shocked myself at how strongly I desired to post this recipe. These days, I don’t eat a uuuuuge amount of peanut butter, not because I don’t wholeheartedly unabashedly relish it (I do!), but because I typically choose a different (read: less inflammatory?) nut butter such as almond or cashew. I posted these Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies a number of years ago, and the recipe here is very similar to that.
How to Make Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
Simply add all ingredients to your stand mixer (or use a mixing bowl and hand mixer) and beat until well-incorporated. Bake, then wait patiently for the cookies to cool before snuggling them with your tongue.
I kept the recipe naturally sweetened using coconut sugar and pure maple syrup, but you can also replace both with one cup of cane sugar (or ½ cup granulated cane sugar and ½ cup brown sugar), or your favorite granulated zero-sugar sweetener, such as Stevia, Swerve, or Monk Fruit Sweetener. You have options!
At a minimum, all you need for this recipe is 1 egg, ⅔ cup coconut sugar (or granulated sweetener of choice), and 1 cup of unsweetened unsalted peanut butter (or almond or cashew butter if you so choose). You can add in some fine tuning elements like pure vanilla extract, sea salt, and baking soda…even some cinnamon!…but you can definitely get by with just the essential 3.
Do note that the cookies need to rest once they’re out of the oven, or they will fall apart if you try to take them off the baking sheet too soon. This patience element is the only difficult part of the whole process!
Peanut buttaaaaaah!
Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup unsweetened peanut butter crunchy or creamy
- 2/3 cup coconut sugar
- 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a mixer or a mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients until well-incorporated.
- Roll 1-inch sized balls out of the dough and place them on a lightly-oiled or parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Using a fork, gently make two impressions in the dough, flattening out the balls just slightly.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or to desired level of crisp. For chewier cookies, bake 7 to 8 minutes, and for crispier cookies, bake 10 to 11 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet at least 10 minutes before removing them with a spatula. Since these cookies do not contain flour, they need some time to “set up” or else they will fall apart easily. Once they are set up, they’re stable!
Delicious and easy! Our family favorite. I’ve made these with flax egg for a vegan friend , came out as delicious. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
My pleasure, Jennifer! Thanks so much for the sweet note!
Hi! Love the look of these and after trying out your chickpea brownies I’m sure they’ll turn out great, but any suggestions if I just got sweetened peanut butter? I usually get unsweetened everything, but this one was a gift (in exchange of a percentage of the cookies lol)
Hi Danny! I would leave the coconut sugar the same (2/3 cup) and omit the pure maple syrup 🙂 Hope you enjoy! xo
Do you use commercial grade fine ground peanut butter or the more roughly ground one you can get at health food stores that’s ground on site? Or either?
Hi Chris,
I think either will work, but I always use the unsweetened natural creamy peanut butter from a jar. The freshly ground stuff may work great and I think the cookies would taste amazing!
These are absolutely delicious! Thank you for sharing!
My pleasure! So happy you like them! xo
What can I use instead of Maple Syrup?
Hi Jennifer! You can use honey, agave, or coconut nectar. Enjoy! xo
Can you use maple sugar? If so, should I not add the maple syrup? Thanks!
Hi Krista,
Maple sugar will work! I would still add pure maple syrup because they lend moisture to the cookie 😀 Hope you enjoy! xo
Mine wasn’t as thick as it needed to be, so I stirred in some GF oat flour. I used a flax egg, also. They spread bigger than expected, but they are delicious.
Flourless cookies are my all time favorite! It doesn’t get much better or easier. These are just perfect!
Great recipe for low carb a low carb treat! Cna’t wait to try these.
Love how these are naturally grain and gluten free! 🙂