These easy flourless peanut butter cookies are so easy to make and will satisfy any sweet tooth. If you’re a peanut butter lover, you definitely need these soft, rich and hearty cookies in your life! No flour required, these 4-ingredient cookies are naturally gluten-free and dairy-free too.
Peanut Butter – A Super Useful Pantry Staple
If you’re a peanut butter lover, then you probably already know how handy it is to have a jar of peanut butter in your pantry at all times. While you can easily buy a jar from the store, making your own peanut butter is very easy and you can have it ready in just 10 minutes!
It’s such a useful ingredient to have on hand, and the amazing things you can make with it are endless: from peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a quick breakfast, to peanut sesame zucchini noodles for lunch, to peanut butter fudge for dessert, and of course, these peanut butter cookies for an anytime snack.
The Easiest Peanut Butter Cookies
I first made these peanut butter cookies (which I adapted from Cottage Grove House) a long time ago back in July 2013, when my mum and my sister Val were in Buenos Aires visiting me.
I remember baking a batch of these cookies one day when they had just returned home from another round of horse riding. The thing they first noticed when they arrived was the thick, rich aroma of peanut butter wafting in the air, swirling around the apartment we’d rented, betraying the original source in the baking in the oven.
This week I decided to make them again, because I had a jar of peanut butter waiting to be used, and cookies are always a good idea – especially these ones!
4 Ingredients Are All You Need
These soft peanut butter cookies are literally foolproof and impossible to get wrong – the sort of forgiving recipe that anyone (without any baking experience) can make and enjoy. You have to take my word for it when I say these cookies are downright simple.
You only need four simple ingredients to make these cookies, and I’m betting you already have them in your pantry. What you’ll need is – peanut butter (here’s my recipe for 10-minute creamy peanut butter), one egg, sugar, and vanilla extract.
Making the Cookie Dough
Start off by preheating the oven to 350F and lining a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Next, whisk the peanut butter and sugar together until the sugar has mostly dissolved. Now add the beaten egg and vanilla extra and mix very well you get a thick and homogeneous brown mixture. The cookie dough will be sticky but that’s fine.
Rolling Out the Cookie Dough Balls
Scoop out a heaping tablespoon of cookie dough and roll it into a golf ball-sized ball between the palm of your hands, repeating until all the dough has been used up.
Place the cookie dough balls in a single layer on the prepared parchment-lined baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart.
Next, use the back of a large fork to flatten the cookie dough balls slightly, creating a criss-cross patten on the top.
Once baked, these cookies will stay in roughly the same shape and size as before baking, so don’t worry about them spreading apart as they cook in the oven.
Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes until they are lighter brown in color, and let them cool completely for at least 20 minutes before removing them from the baking sheet.
Tip: It’s important to let the cookies fully cool or they will break when you try to remove them from the sheet.
Substitutions for Peanut Butter:
Can’t eat peanut butter? No problem! If you have allergies to peanuts, or simply don’t like the taste of peanut butter, you can still make these cookies by swapping out the peanut butter for equal quantities of other nut butters such as almond butter or cashew butter.
The taste will change depending on which nut butter you use, but the consistency will be the same.
Optional Add-Ins for the Cookies:
Some fun ingredients you could add to these peanut butter cookies include chopped peanuts, chocolate chips or chocolate chunks, or cacao nibs for added texture.
Think of this cookie as a base cookie recipe to which you can add to make your own creation depending on your personal preferences!
If you loved this recipe, you’ll also enjoy these other recipes:
- 8 Amazing Gluten-Free Cookie Recipes
- Almond Butter Coconut Flour Cookies (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)
- Cashew Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies (Gluten-Free, Vegan)
- Chickpea Flour Chocolate Chunk Cookies (Gluten-Free, Vegan)
- Gluten-Free Buckwheat Cookies
- Gluten-Free Quince Jelly Thumbprint Cookies
- Gluten-Free Lemon Shortbread Cookies
- Grain-Free Double Chocolate Almond Coconut Cookies
- Grain-Free Almond Coconut Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- 10-Minute Creamy Peanut Butter
- Peanut Sesame Zucchini Noodles
This recipe was initially published on 13 July 2013, and was updated with new photos and clearer instructions in July 2020.
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Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 12 mins
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 12 large cookies or 24 small cookies 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
These easy peanut butter cookies are so easy to make and will satisfy any sweet tooth. If you’re a peanut butter lover, you definitely need these soft, rich and hearty cookies in your life! No flour needed to bake them, these cookies are naturally gluten-free and dairy-free too.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups of creamy peanut butter
- 1 1/4 cups of white sugar (or brown sugar or a mix of both)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
- 1 egg, beaten (see recipe notes for using egg substitutes)
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix the peanut butter with sugar until sugar has dissolved.
- Add in the vanilla essence and egg, and then stir until you get a homogeneous cookie dough.
- Using a teaspoon, scoop one tablespoon of cookie dough and then roll it between both palms until you form a golf-ball sized ball. Repeat until you have used up all the cookie dough (you should get between 12 to 14 balls).
- Place cookie dough balls in one single layer on the baking paper, leaving about 2 inches of space between each of them (you may need to bake the cookies in 2 batches depending on the size of your baking sheet)
- Use the back of a fork to press down the balls in a criss-cross manner to flatten the dough slightly.
- Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until they turn a lighter brown (they will look slightly undercooked, but that’s fine as they will continue cooking with the residual heat).
- Allow cookies to cool at least 20 minutes before removing them from the pan (this is important because if cookies are still too hot, they will break when you move them).
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
Notes
Peanut Butter/Nut Butter Substitutes: You can use either storebought or homemade peanut butter (here’s my recipe for 10 minute creamy peanut butter). If you have an allergy to peanuts, or just don’t like the taste of peanuts, you can use other nut butters such as almond butter or cashew butter to replace the peanut butter in equal quantities.
Egg Substitutes: If you want to make this completely vegan, or have egg-allergies, simply substitute the egg for an egg replacer (such as the Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free egg replacer) or a chia egg, or a flax egg.
Optional Cookie Add-Ins: Some fun ingredients you could add to these cookies include chopped peanuts, chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, or even cacao nibs. Think of this recipe as a base recipe to which you can add things to make your own creation depending on your preferences!
Smaller Cookies: If you prefer smaller cookies, simply use a heaping teaspoon for each cookie instead. You will get 24 to 28 smaller cookies with each batch.
Adapted from: Cottage Grove House
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: flourless peanut butter cookies
