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.
Thank you for this simple recipe. I used 3/4 cup of almond flour and 1/4 cup oat bran. Also, 1/2 honey, 1/2 stevia powder. As it was a bit dry, added 1/4 cup almond milk. Very tasty. As another mentioned, they can burn easily especially on the top rack of the oven. Looking forward to trying your sugar cookie recipe and lots of others on your website.
Yay! I am so glad this recipe worked out for you, AJ. Thank you so much for sharing your review + star rating, I appreciate it and hope you enjoy the sugar cookies too!
these did not form into cookies and came out tasting terrible. i threw the whole batch out.
Oh no, I am so sorry to hear that these did not turn out for you, Sarah. Did you change anything about the recipe?
Just made these yesterday and I already had to make another batch! I think they harden PERFECTLY if they are underdone. So tasty!!!
WOO! I am excited to hear that you are enjoying these tasty cookies, Alex. Thanks so much for coming back and sharing your review + star rating, it means so much to me!
I really was hoping to love these as I was happy with the list of ingredients. But none of us could eat these. Threw them away. They were crumbly and beyond dry. I used the same almond flour as you and used honey rather than maple syrup. Is there an ingredient missing from the list maybe? Only one other comment is like mine. Where did we go wrong??
Hi Dena – I am sorry to hear these did not turn out as you had hoped. The recipe should have worked fine with honey, it just sounds like they may have been a tad over baked, because there aren’t any ingredients missing from the list. Make sure you bake them for the time listed above and remove them, they will continue baking on the hot pan until you remove them to the wire rack for cooling. Hope you will give these another try.
Very good have been searching for a healthy and tasty peanut butter cookie recipe and this is the one!
Ah I am so glad you found this recipe and are loving it, Mozzaz! Thank you for sharing your review & star rating, I so appreciate it!
Amazing! I’m on the cusp of gluten and dairy intolerance. My sad gut just can’t handle it all anymore. But I have a sweet tooth! And I love peanut butter! So this helps me bring good tastes to my home without the impurities of refined sugars and unnecessary carbs and calories.
So glad you loved this recipe, Beth! Thanks for making it and for coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it!
Nagyon finomak lettek! Kicsit nehezen formázhatók, nem úgy mint a videóban, de megoldottam ! Köszönöm a receptet!
Of course! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your review + star rating, I really appreciate it.
Sorry, but these were incredibly dry…I even added 2 eggs because the dough was so crumbly and dry. I did 1/4 cup honey and 1/4 cup splenda instead of the full 1/2 cup of maple syrup or honey. I even put a 1/2 tsp of butter and a “squirt” of maple syrup just to make the dough more moist. I used regular flour as well. I also only baked them 10 mins as one of the comments said to undercook them a bit. I had used no sugar added peanut butter so they weren’t particularly sweet, my fault. I ended up putting a little splenda on top. I also used Kosher salt and that was genius. I loved that you added salt to the top. It was a little surprise. I appreciate the recipe, they were tasty, just really, really dry. It may just be due to the changes I made. I think the eggs were an absolute must, however.
Hi Janet – The reason for these turned out dry was most likely because you didn’t fully follow the full recipe. By removing the liquid sweetener (maple syrup/honey), you removed a key liquid ingredient that helps keep the cookies moist. I hope you’ll give then another try following the recipe as is because these cookies are truly delicious!
so yummy! so quick and easy to make – my family loved them.
Perfect! I am so glad you’re loving this recipe and it turns out great for you, Sue. Thank you for sharing your review & star rating, it means the world to me!
these cookies are so delicious – I made them today for the the 5th time and they’re such a hit in my house.
I did drizzle dark chocolate over them and it took them to another level of deviousness.
quick question – can I freeze them? and for how long?
This is great to hear! I am so glad you are enjoying these cookies, Suesally! Yes, the baked cookies can be frozen! Just make sure they cooled completely then store in a freezer-safe airtight container for up to 1 month. Thank you for your review + star rating, I really appreciate it!
We made these exactly to recipe except we used spelt flour – AMAZING!! Thank you so much for a wonderful recipe😊
WOO! This is the best, Bel! I am so glad you’re loving these cookies and they turned out amazing for you. Thank you for your review + star rating, it means so much to me!