Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies
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Last updated on Jan 19, 2024
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These delicious and healthy peanut butter cookies are made in one bowl and with only 4 ingredients. Sweetened with maple syrup and made without eggs or butter! Vegan + gluten-free.
While I love my healthy peanut butter blossoms, I’ve been wanting to create a classic peanut butter cookie recipe and here they are!
And guess what? You only need FOUR ingredients to make these… no butter, no eggs and no traditional flour! I know it doesn’t seem right… but it is correct and these cookies are simply delicious!
In years past, I have always loved getting together with my family and friends for cookie baking and cookie exchanges! This year looks different, but I’m still determined to get creative and connect. I see Zoom or FaceTime baking days in my future… with ugly holiday sweaters, holiday music, the whole shebang.
This recipe would be perfect to make while Zoom-ing with a loved one – just gather the ingredients, mix and bake!
Peanut Butter Cookie Ingredients
Like I mentioned above, you only need four simple ingredients (five if you decide to add the salt). If you’re like me you probably have all of the ingredients to make these cookies sitting in your kitchen right now!
- creamy natural peanut butter – look for a brand with just one or two ingredients (peanuts and salt).
- maple syrup – make sure to get pure maple syrup, not the artificial pancake syrup.
- vanilla extract
- almond flour – look for blanched super-fine almond flour. I like Bob’s Red Mill.
- flaked sea salt – optional but I like sprinkling on top for added flavor.
Substitutions & Notes
- Almond flour – I highly recommend using almond flour for this recipe for the best result, but I have tested it with oat flour and the cookies will still turn out, but they are a bit more dry tasting because oat flour has less fat than almond flour.
- Peanut butter – I’m assuming you can swap with any nut or seed butter, but I’ve only tested the recipe with natural peanut butter and almond butter, which is also delicious!
- Maple syrup – You can totally use another liquid sweetener like coconut nectar or honey. I’ve tested these with honey and they were yummy, but I personally like the flavor of maple syrup better.
- Want a real deal peanut butter cookie recipe? Try these 3-ingredient peanut butter cookies instead!
How to Make Peanut Butter Cookies
Because we’re not using eggs, butter or traditional flour, these cookies can be made in one bowl. Woo-hoo for less dishes! Here’s how to make them:
- Mix wet ingredients – Add peanut butter, maple syrup and vanilla into a mixing bowl. Stir until combined.
- Add dry ingredients – Add the almond flour to the wet ingredients and stir until incorporated.
- Shape cookies – Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten each dough ball with a fork, making a criss cross pattern and sprinkle with sea salt if using.
- Bake – Bake at 350ºF for 12 minutes or until the cookies begin to brown. Let cookies cool on a wire rack and enjoy!
More Cookie Recipes
- Almond Flour Crescent Cookies
- Healthy No Bake Cookies
- Oatmeal Date Cookies
- Healthy Sugar Cookies (Cut-Out Cookies)
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy natural peanut butter
- 1/2 cup maple syrup, or honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup almond flour
- flaked sea salt for topping, if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add peanut butter, maple syrup and vanilla into a mixing bowl. Once combined, add in almond flour and stir until incorporated.
- Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop dough onto prepared baking sheet. Alternatively, you can scoop dough with a spoon and roll it into a ball.
- Flatten each dough ball with a fork, making a crisscross pattern and sprinkle a little flaked sea salt on top of each cookie, if using.
- Bake in a preheated oven for about 12 minutes or until cookies begin to brown. Remove from oven, allow cookies to cool on a wire rack and enjoy.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I doubled the recipe and used Teddy’s peanut butter (16oz jar). Since I doubled it, instead of using a whole cup of honey I used a half a cup and a half of cup allulose (not a fan of any sweeteners that have an after taste). Teddy’s is a little runnier so the moisture isn’t a factor. They are cooling and hubby already stole 3 of them lol.
Love hearing this, Ana! It’s always a good sign when someone can’t resist grabbing a few fresh cookies. Thanks so much for trying the recipe and for your review!
These cookies are so satisfying! I used Kirkland brand creamy peanut butter and a little less maple syrup. They turned out perfectly. I really indulged and crumbled some over chocolate ice cream…delicious.
Ohh I bet these were delicious served with ice cream-yum! So glad you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks for making it and for coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it!
Fantastic recipe. I used the bottom of a jar of very dry peanut butter, and almond meal instead of flour.
Baked for 20 minutes and came out beautifully. Chewy and extremely addictive. Thank you!
So glad you loved the cookies, Julie! Happy to hear they turned out great with almond meal. Thanks for coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it!
I use Jiff Natural Creamy PB. The first batch with Reese’s PB chips was good but very crumbly. A cookie would break in half just picking it up. I was slow getting it out of the oven so cook time was closer to 13 minutes. The next batch, I added 1 egg, Toll House dark chocolate chips and a cook time of 12 minutes. Very good cookie but still a little too crumbly for me. The interior of the cookie is moist but it still falls apart easily. Would switching to Smuckers Natural hold things together better? That stuff is almost soup compared to the no stir Jiff.
Oh no! So sorry to hear that these cookies were turning out too crumbly for you. I have a feeling it’s the brand of peanut butter that’s causing the issues. If Smuckers is runnier than Jiff I would think that would be a better option? Let me know if you try it and how the cookies turn out for you.
I made these mainly for my toddler, as we don’t give her cane sugar yet. Not only does my kid love these, the whole family does! Personally, i even think they are a little too sweet. So next time, I won’t use as much maple syrup. But wanted to ask of i can also add an egg for moisture? And use AP flour since we aren’t gluten free and usually have AP flour on hand at all times. Do you think they would turn out using AP Flour and an added egg? Otherwise the recipe as is is great!
Hi, Peggy. So glad your whole family is enjoying these! I haven’t tested this recipe with all-purpose flour and an egg, but since AP flour is more absorbent than almond flour, adding an egg should help maintain moisture. I’d start with ¾ cup AP flour and see if the dough looks right before adding more. Let me know if you try it!
WOW! These are one of the best peanut butter cookies I’ve eaten. So soft and perfectly sweet. Love with chocolate chips. You couldn’t tell they’re made with a few simple ingredients. Bonus- It took me just a few minutes to make.
Woo!! That makes me so happy to hear, Emma. Thanks for coming back to leave a review. It means the world to me.