These 4-ingredient Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies are rich, sweet, and slightly chewy, while naturally gluten free, low carb optional, and packed with plant based protein but no eggs, oil, or butter!
You might also love these oat flour Christmas monster cookies and healthy edible cookie dough.
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These healthy peanut butter cookies are wonderful for adding to your healthy snacks list. Not only do they contain several health benefits, but they also require just a handful of inexpensive pantry ingredients, one bowl, and just minutes to prep before baking!
Once baked, these protein dense almond flour peanut butter cookies 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 nutritious snack on hand!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Nutritious: Packed with plant based protein, heart healthy fats, fiber, antioxidants, plant compounds, and several vitamins and minerals.
- High Protein: 5 grams of protein per cookie to keep you satiated.
- Naturally sweetened: No refined sugars are necessary for these delicious almond flour peanut butter cookies.
- Diet friendly: Gluten free, grain free, dairy free, refined sugar free, vegetarian, vegan (optional), low carb (optional.
You may also love to browse 45 healthy almond flour recipes!
Ingredients for Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies
One of the best things about this healthy peanut butter cookie recipe is that you probably already have all the required ingredients sitting in your kitchen!
- Peanut butter: Avoid peanut butter with tons of added sugars and salt. I use organic, smooth, and unsalted. However, use crunchy or smooth and either natural or regular (creamy) peanut butter for these gluten free peanut butter cookies.
- 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 taste like even more of a treat.
- Almond flour: Fine almond flour is best for these healthy peanut butter cookies. However, almond meal may also work.
- 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 the peanut butter, maple syrup, and vanilla. Stir with a spatula until smooth, then add the 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 the cookies dough to the baking sheet leaving 1.5 inches between each one. Then use a fork to press on the dough, flattening them into cookies and making a crisscross pattern on top.
- Bake the cookies: Transfer the tray to the oven for 10 minutes on the middle rack. Remove them from the oven before any visible browning occurs, and the cookies are still soft. Then allow cooling for at least 30 minutes so they can harden. Finally, sprinkle them with salt if preferred, and enjoy!
Why do I need to flatten these cookies before baking? Because these almond flour peanut butter cookies don’t flatten and spread while baking, it’s important to do this step before baking them.
Variations
- Mini chocolate chips: Press a few into the top of the almond flour peanut butter cookies before baking (use sugar free chocolate if preferred) or even use cacao nibs.
- Dried fruit: Instead of chocolate, add dried fruit like cranberries, blueberries, raisins, etc.
- 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 chai spice for extra flavor.
- Shredded coconut: Will add flavor and texture. Add 2-3 tablespoons, reducing the almond flour slightly to avoid dry cookies.
- Low carb peanut butter cookies: Use a keto friendly sweetener to significantly reduce the net carbs.
Tips for Best Results
- Don’t over bake the cookies: They 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 the salt levels: Depending on the peanut butter you use, adjust the amount of added salt (or omit it entirely).
- To use a food processor: While you only require a bowl and spatula, feel free to use a food processor to further cut down on prep 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.
- Don’t skip the cooling stage: The cookies will be very fragile and soft immediately out of the oven, so ensure you allow them to cool for at least 30 minutes to finish cooking and harden.
FAQs
This helps to flatten the cookies, since they don’t spread while baking. As a result, these almond flour peanut butter cookies bake more evenly.
Yes, you can use any peanut butter; natural, creamy, smooth, chunky, etc. My one piece of advice is to use peanut butter without tons of added salt or sugars.
There’s no need as these almond flour peanut butter cookies don’t spread at all while baking.
This is usually down to baking them too long (they’ll 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, or cashew butter. I can’t see why they wouldn’t work if they’re a similar consistency. However, the flavor will obviously vary.
How to Store
Storing: Once cooled, store the gluten free peanut butter cookies in an airtight container in a cool, dry location for 3 days (or 5 days in the refrigerator).
Freeze: Spread the 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 again until soft enough to enjoy (1-2 hours).
More Healthy Cookie Recipes to Try
- Healthy skillet cookie
- Healthy snowball cookies
- Sugar free oatmeal cookies
- Healthy no bake protein cookies
- Protein cookies
Doing holiday baking? You may also love these 21 healthy Christmas cookies!
Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup peanut butter I used organic, smooth and unsalted
- 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- Coarse salt for sprinkling, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line large baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper or silicone baking mat (15 cookies should fit as they do not spread). Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add peanut butter, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Stir with spatula until well combined and smooth. Add almond flour and mix until smooth dough forms.
- Using small cookie dough scoop, drop cookie dough onto baking sheet leaving 1.5 inches in between (cookies do not spread but we will flatten them). Or use a tablespoon, scoop about 1 1/2 tbsp of dough and roll into balls. 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 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/runny, you may need to add a small amount of extra almond flour to form the rollable dough consistency.
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!