Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies (Flourless, Dairy-Free)

These 4-ingredient gluten-free peanut butter cookies are so easy to make, are ready in under 30 minutes, and will satisfy any sweet tooth. Naturally gluten-free and dairy-free too, these flourless peanut butter cookies make the perfect anytime snack. If you’re a peanut butter lover, you definitely need these soft, rich and chewy cookies in your life!

Jump to:

• Peanut Butter – A Super Useful Pantry Staple
• The Easiest Peanut Butter Cookies
• Why This Recipe Works:
• Ingredients You’ll Need:
• Ingredient Notes/Substitutions:
• How to Make Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies (Step by Step):
• Dish by Dish Tips/Tricks:
• Recipe FAQs:
• Other Gluten-Free Cookie Recipes to Enjoy:
• Dessert Recipes You’ll Love:
• Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies (Flourless, Dairy-Free)

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, peanut butter buckeye balls or homemade peanut butter cups for dessert, and of course, these peanut butter cookies for an anytime snack.

The Easiest Peanut Butter Cookies

I first made these flourless peanut butter cookies (which I adapted from Cottage Grove House) a long time ago back in July 2013, when my mum and my sister Valerie 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 that was baking in the oven.

Recently, I decided to make these cookies again, because I had a jar of peanut butter waiting to be used, and cookies are always a good idea – especially these ones!

Why This Recipe Works:

• Super Easy to Make: These soft and chewy cookies are literally foolproof and impossible to get wrong – the sort of forgiving recipe that anyone (including beginner bakers without baking experience) can make and enjoy. You have to take my word for it when I say these cookies are downright simple (and probably the best peanut butter cookies ever!)

• Just 4 Ingredients Required: You only need four simple ingredients to make this peanut butter cookie recipe, and I’m betting you already have them in your pantry.

• Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free and Flourless: Unlike traditional peanut butter cookies which normally use wheat flour, these cookies are totally gluten-free, dairy-free and do not require flour at all (not even an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend)! This means that even Celiacs and those with gluten allergies or lactose intolerances can enjoy them without any worries!

Ingredients You’ll Need:

Here’s a visual overview of the ingredients required to make these gluten-free peanut butter cookies. You’ll need peanut butter, sugar, an egg and vanilla extract. For exact quantities and measurements, please scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Ingredient Notes/Substitutions:

• Peanut Butter: You can use either storebought natural peanut butter or homemade peanut butter (here’s my recipe for 10-minute creamy peanut butter). For best results, I prefer using creamy peanut butter, but crunchy peanut butter works too if you like extra texture and crunch.

• Nut Butter Substitutes: Alternatively, 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, cashew butter or sunflower seed butter to replace the peanut butter in equal quantities.

• Sugar: I used granulated white sugar in this recipe, but feel free to use brown sugar instead or a mix or both white and brown sugar. If you are diabetic or insulin-resistant, I highly recommend using Lakanto monkfruit sweetener (a 1:1 sugar substitute that has zero glycemic-index).

• Vanilla Extract: I like adding a bit of vanilla extract to give it a bit of extra flavor. However, if you don’t like vanilla or don’t have it on hand, feel free to leave it out.

• Egg: The egg is required to bind the ingredients together. If you want to make this simple recipe 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. 

How to Make Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies (Step by Step):

1. Preheat and Line

Preheat oven to 350F and line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.

2. Mix Peanut Butter with Sugar

In a large mixing bowl, mix the peanut butter with the sugar until sugar has dissolved.

3. Add Vanilla and Egg

Add in the vanilla extract and egg, and then stir until you get a homogeneous brown cookie dough (you will get a soft dough that’s also sticky but that’s fine).

4. Scoop Cookie Dough into Balls

Using a teaspoon or a cookie scoop, 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).

5. Place Dough Balls on Cookie Sheet

Place balls of cookie dough in one single layer on the parchment-lined cookie sheet, 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)

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.

6. Use Fork to Press Criss-Cross Pattern

Use the back of a fork to press down the balls in a crisscross pattern to flatten the dough slightly and to get the classic peanut butter cookie look.

In my opinion, the fork marks don’t have to be perfect, in fact I think the more imperfect they look, the better!

7. Bake Until Golden Brown

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).

8. Let Cool Fully Before Moving

Allow cookies to cool at least 20 minutes on the baking sheet before removing them and letting them cool totally on a wire rack (this is important because if cookies are still too hot, they will break when you move them).

Dish by Dish Tips/Tricks:

• Optional Add-Ins: Think of this cookie as a base cookie recipe to which you can add to make your own creation depending on your personal preferences! Some fun ingredients you could add to these cookies include chopped peanuts, chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, or even cacao nibs.

• Smaller Cookies: If you prefer smaller cookies, simply use a heaping teaspoon for each cookie instead. You will get 24 smaller cookies (as opposed to 12 regular-sized cookies) with each batch.

• Let Cookies Cool Fully: It’s important to let the gluten-free peanut butter cookies fully cool or they will break when you try to remove them from the sheet.

Recipe FAQs:

Other Gluten-Free Cookie Recipes to Enjoy:

• Almond Butter Cookies (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)
• Cashew Butter Cookies (Gluten-Free, Vegan)
• Chewy Molasses Cookies (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)
• Easy Gingerbread Cookies (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)
• Easy Snickerdoodle Cookies (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)
• Easy Buckwheat Cookies (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)
• Chickpea Flour Chocolate Chunk Cookies (Gluten-Free, Vegan)

Dessert Recipes You’ll Love:

P.S. If you try this recipe, I’d love for you to leave a star rating below, and/or a review in the comment section further down the page. I always appreciate your feedback. Be sure to check out my entire Recipe Index for all the recipes on the blog. You can also follow me on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram! Sign up for my Email List to get fresh recipes in your inbox each week!

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