Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies
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Published Dec 09, 2020, Updated 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
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.
We used your exact recipe (with the maple syrup & course sea salt). We baked them for 10 minutes exactly & then left them on the pan to cool. We loved them – even my teenagers & my in-laws, both who love their sugar addiction but are trying to stop. I warned them that these are a healthier version of pb cookie but they genuinely loved them. On the first pan I swished the cookies down too much & the dough stuck to my fork so I didn’t squish the second pan down as much & I didn’t make the design. I preferred the second pan because the cookies were just a little thicker. Thank you for sharing!
Amazing! I am so happy these were a hit for the whole family, Anita. Thanks so much for coming back and sharing your review & star rating, it truly means so much to me!
These were great! I ended up making a few minor changes to get the right texture (mostly because my peanut butter was extremely thick and dry) which I won’t detail here since it’s not the recipe but I will say this is extremely forgiving. Since there’s no egg, you can taste the dough before baking to make sure it’s to your taste which I really like and as long as your dough is the right texture, you should be good
Excellent! Glad these cookies turned out great for you, Cici. Thanks for your review + star rating, I truly appreciate it!
great recipe, thank you! made for dad that wanted healthy cookies. i used honey, a little less than half a cup. added a dash of vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. turned out beautiful!
YAY! These sound great, Jane. I am so glad you both enjoyed these cookies. Thank you for sharing your review & star rating, it means so much to me!
This was so, SO delicious. And easy. Was able to easily stir up by hand in one bowl. Was out of vanilla so didn’t get to add that and didn’t really miss it. Just a great, simple, yummy recipe! Whole family loved them.
YUM! I am so glad you all loved these cookies and they turned out amazing for you, Claire. Thank you so much for sharing your review & star rating, it means so much to me!
Can these be made using gluten free flour instead of almond flour?
Hi Lori – 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. But, i don’t recommend using GF flour for this recipe.