These 4 ingredient Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies are rich, sweet, and slightly chewy. Made with no eggs, oil, or butter they are suitable for many diets including gluten free!
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These healthy peanut butter cookies are wonderful! Once baked, they are perfect for a mid-afternoon treat, lunch boxes, and pre or post-workout snacking.
Better yet, they’re also freezer friendly for up to 6 months, so you always have a healthy dessert on hand!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy recipe: All you need is just one bowl and a few minutes to prep before baking. No dough chilling is necessary!
- Higher in protein: 5 grams of protein per cookie to keep you satiated.
- Naturally sweetened: No refined sugars are necessary to make these healthy cookies.
- Any diet friendly: You can bring these cookies anywhere and everyone can enjoy them, except for people with peanut allergy, of course.
Ingredients for Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies
One of the best things about this recipe is that you probably already have all the required ingredients sitting in your kitchen!
- Peanut butter: I like to use organic or natural smooth and unsalted peanut butter. However, you can also use crunchy peanut butter. In any case, avoid peanut butter with added sugars, salt and other additives for best results.
- Almond flour: Fine almond flour works best for smoother texture but you can also use almond meal in a pinch.
- Sweetener: Use liquid sweetener of choice such as honey (non-vegan), brown rice syrup, maple syrup, or date syrup. Sugar free liquid sweetener options will also work.
- Vanilla extract: Pure vanilla is best and will help make these cookies taste like even more of a treat.
- Salt (optional): Just a pinch of coarse sea salt is wonderful for sprinkling over the baked cookies.
How to Make Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies
- Combine the ingredients: In a large bowl, combine peanut butter, maple syrup, and vanilla. Stir with a spatula until smooth, then add almond flour and mix until a dough forms.
- Shape the cookies: Using a small cookie dough scoop (or around 1.5 tablespoons of dough rolled into a ball), transfer cookie dough onto the baking sheet leaving 1.5 inches between each one. Then use a fork to press on the dough, flattening and making a crisscross pattern on top.
- Bake the cookies: Bake cookies for 10 minutes on the middle rack. Remove from the oven before any visible browning occurs and cookies are still soft. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes and sprinkle with sea salt, if you wish!
Tips for Best Results
- Wet the fork: If you have issues with the fork sticking to the dough, wet it lightly.
- Don’t over bake the cookies: Cookies should still look pale and soft when removing them from the oven. They’ll finish cooking from the residual heat and harden as they cool.
- Adjust flour, if needed: If you’re using peanut butter that is particularly drippy, you may need to add small amount of extra almond flour to form the rollable dough consistency.
- Don’t skip the cooling stage: Peanut butter cookies are very fragile and soft right out of the oven, so ensure you allow them to cool for at least 30 minutes to harden.
Variations
- Mini chocolate chips: Press a few into the top of cookies before baking or even use cacao nibs.
- Dried fruit: Instead of chocolate, add dried fruit like cranberries, blueberries or raisins.
- Flaxseed or chia seeds: A small amount of these nutritious seeds will add extra protein, fiber, and healthy omega fatty acids.
- Spices: You could add a dash of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice for extra flavor.
- Shredded coconut: Add 2-3 tablespoons and reduce almond flour slightly to avoid dry cookies. They will add flavor and texture.
How to Store
Store: Once cooled, store healthy peanut butter cookies in an airtight container in a cool, dry location for 3 days or for 5 days in the fridge.
Freeze: Spread baked and cooled cookies back across a baking tray and flash freeze until solid. Then transfer to an airtight container of reusable Ziplock bag and store in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Allow them to thaw at room temperature until soft enough to enjoy.
FAQs
This helps to flatten the cookies since they don’t spread while baking.
There’s no need to chill this cookie dough because these cookies do not spread while baking.
More likely because you baked them too long. Cookies will become dry and crumbly. While it may seem a little deceiving, these cookies don’t look fully cooked even when they are. So follow the recipe instructions for the best results.
I haven’t actually tried. However, feel free to experiment with other nut butters like almond butter, hazelnut butter, cashew butter or even sunflower seed butter. I can’t see why they wouldn’t work if they’re a similar consistency. However, the flavor will obviously vary.
More Peanut Butter Desserts to Try
More Healthy Cookie Recipes
- Healthy no bake cookies
- Protein cookies
- Healthy chocolate chip cookies
- Healthy no bake protein cookies
Doing holiday baking? You may also love these 21 healthy Christmas cookies!
Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup peanut butter I use organic, smooth and unsalted
- 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- Flaky sea salt for sprinkling, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line large baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add peanut butter, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Stir with spatula until smooth. Add almond flour and mix until consistent dough forms.
- Using small trigger scoop, drop cookie dough onto baking sheet or scoop about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. Leave 1.5 inches in between. Using a fork, press on cookie dough balls making a criss cross pattern.
- Bake for 10 minutes on a middle rack. Remove cookies from the oven before any visible browning occurs and cookies are still soft.
- Let them cool off for about 30 minutes and they will harden. Sprinkle with sea salt, if you wish, and enjoy!
Notes
- Store: Store in a cool dry place for 3 days or freeze in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
- Crunchy or salted peanut butter: Any peanut butter will work, you just have to adjust accordingly. Salted PB will yield salted cookies, do not sprinkle with salt. Crunchy PB will make less smooth cookies. Natural or regular peanut butter can be used as well.
- Do not overbake cookies: Remove them from the oven while pale and looking “uncooked”. They will finish cooking with residual heat and harden with time.
- Adjust flour, if needed: If you’re using peanut butter that is particularly drippy, you may need to add a small amount of extra almond flour to form the rollable dough consistency.
Can you swap bananas for maple syrup as the sweetener and if so how much banana?
I haven’t tried so can’t tell. Cookies definitely won’t be the same in texture. With baking it’s precise and it’s best to follow the recipe. Any minor changes have to be tested.
These cookies are delicious, and so easy to make. Thank you for this recipe, I’m so glad to have found your site. 😋
I am so glad to hear this, Lisa!
Do you leave the cookies on the cookie sheet to cool for 30 minutes or do yo transfer them to a cooling rack for the 30 minutes?
On a cookie sheet. If you move them while hot they might fall apart. They set more during cooling.:)
Delicious taste but mine never firmed up.
Hello! Happy to help you troubleshoot. Was your peanut butter extra drippy? If so, you may need to add a bit more almond flour. Also, ensure that you wait a full 30 minutes after baking to consume, this allows them to harden up. Last tip, you may need to adjust baking time as all oven models differ. I would try adding 1-3 minutes onto the baking time next go round.
Loved how simple these were and what a delicious peanut butter taste!
So glad they were a hit!