You’ll need just one bowl and 4 simple ingredients to make this easy vegan and gluten-free almond flour peanut butter cookie recipe. Perfect for peanut butter lovers!
Table of Contents
About the Recipe
These delicious cookies are made with almond flour for gluten-free peanut butter cookies that are perfectly moist and tender, just like traditional peanut butter cookies.
In addition to almond flour, you’ll need just 3 other ingredients: maple syrup, peanut butter and vanilla.
The cookies are super quick and easy to make. You’ll be enjoying a lightly sweetened and wonderfully nutty peanut butter cookie in 30 minutes including prep, baking and cooling time. For an extra treat, don’t skip the chocolate dip!
Extra almond flour? You can also try these almond flour oatmeal cookies, matcha cookies, sesame tahini cookies and chocolate chip almond flour cookies. These peanut butter powder PB2 cookies are also gluten-free but made with oat flour.
Don’t feel like baking? How about some edible cookie dough made with almond flour? Try this chocolate chip cookie dough or peanut butter cookie dough.
Highlights
- Vegan (dairy-free, no eggs).
- Gluten-free.
- Super easy to make in 1-bowl.
- Just 4 basic ingredients.
- Naturally sweetened.
- Nutty peanut butter flavor.
- Enjoy in under 30 minutes.
- Soft and moist.
- 5 g of protein per cookie.
Ingredient Notes
- Almond Flour: You’ll need blanched almond flour, not almond meal. You can use store-bought almond flour or make your own by finely blending blanched almonds. Do not use almond meal or your cookies will be dark and gritty (you can use it, the cookies will just be different).
- Peanut Butter: You’ll need natural smooth peanut butter. It should be nearly pourable/runny and not overly dry (don’t use the peanut butter at the end of the jar). If your peanut butter is unsalted, add a little pinch of salt to the cookies.
- Maple Syrup: This can be substituted with agave syrup. Do not substitute a granulated sweetener like coconut sugar as you need the moisture from the liquid sweetener.
- Vanilla: A must for for the best flavour!
Please scroll down the page or use the Jump to Recipe button at the top to see the full printable recipe card with ingredient amounts and instructions.
Variations
- Peanut butter can be substituted with almond butter or any other nut or seed butter at a 1:1 ratio for peanut-free cookies.
- For mix-ins, try up to 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips, raisins or nuts.
- If you’re not adding chocolate chips to the cookie dough, try placing a chunk of chocolate in the centre of each cookie.
- Add up to 1 tsp cinnamon and/or a pinch of nutmeg.
- Create a well in the centre of each rolled cookie dough ball using your thumb or a small measuring spoon and fill with jam to make PB & J thumbprint cookies.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Prepare to bake! Before you start, preheat the oven to 350 F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Step 1: Mix together the peanut butter, maple syrup and vanilla in a large mixing bowl until completely smooth.
Step 2: Add the almond flour and mix until you have a uniform dough.
If the ingredients were measured accurately, you should have the perfect consistency to roll the dough into balls. However, if the dough seems too wet or dry you may need to adjust it a bit.
If it’s too wet, add a sprinkle of almond flour. If it’s too dry, add 1 tsp plant-based milk or a little extra peanut butter.
Step 3: Scoop the dough into 12 roughly 1-heaping tablespoon scoops, then use your hands to roll the scoops into balls.
Quick Tip: I find it easier to scoop all 12 cookies before rolling them into balls. This way it’s easy to move a bit a dough around if some are too big or too small.
Place the balls evenly on the lined baking sheet and press the top of each cookie with the back of a fork to create a criss-cross pattern.
Quick Tip: To prevent the from from sticking to the cookie dough, place a small glass or bowl of water near by and dip the fork before pressing each cookie.
Step 4: Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until the bottoms are just golden brown. I baked mine for 11 minutes.
Remove them from the oven and let them cool on the pan for 10 minutes before carefully transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Step 5: Dip in chocolate! This step is optional but it’s super cute and yummy.
If you’d like to dip your cookies, wait until the cookies are completely cooled, then place the chocolate chips and coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 20-second increments until the chocolate is nearly all melted. Stir it to mix in any remaining pieces.
Dip each cookie halfway into the chocolate then place it back on the cooling rack. Once you’ve dipped them all, you can let them sit at room temperature for an hour to firm or transfer them to the fridge so they set faster.
Quick Tip: Place a piece of parchment paper under the cooling rack for easy clean up. I just reserved the baking sheet I used to bake the cookies and placed the cooling rack on top.
Recipe FAQs
Yes. To make these keto peanut butter cookies, use liquid monk fruit sweetener such as the one from Lakanto.
This may happen if you didn’t use a digital scale to measure ingredients and the ratios are off, or your peanut butter is too dry.
If the cookie dough is too dry, add almond milk 1 teaspoon at at time until you can form the cookies. If the cookie dough is too wet, add almond flour 1 tablespoon at a time until you can form the cookies.
No. You can substitute almond butter, cashew butter, tahini or sunflower butter.
Yes, you can use crunchy peanut butter to make these cookies.
Yes. This recipe is doubled for a double batch or cut in half if you only want 6 cookies.
The cookies can be stored at room temperature, in the fridge or in the freezer. They very yummy chilled! Let them cool completely before storing.
Once cooled, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days or in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Let cool completely then store in a freezer bag or airtight container for up to 4 months. Enjoy frozen or thaw briefly at room temperature before serving.
Expert Tips
- Use a digital scale. For best results, I suggest using a digital scale to weigh your ingredients for accuracy and recipe success!
- Cool before handling. The cookies will fragile just out of the oven. Let them cool for at least 10 minutes before handling. Once completely cooled, they will firm right up.
- Don’t over-bake. Avoid over-baking or the cookies will be hard and may burn. They will seem underdone and very soft when them come out of the oven but they will firm as they cool.
- Wet the fork. The batter can be a bit sticky, wetting the fork before pressing the cookies will help.
- Salt. If your peanut butter is unsalted, add up to 1/2 tsp salt to the cookie dough. You may even want a little extra pinch even if your peanut butter is salted. If you’re dipping in chocolate, you could also leave the salt out and just sprinkle a little coarse sea salt on the chocolate.
Did you try this recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Scroll down to the comment section to leave a star rating and review.
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Description
Indulge your sweet tooth with these soft and tender peanut butter cookies with almond flour that are vegan, gluten-free, wonderfully nutty and so delicious! Try dipping them in chocolate for an extra treat.
- Prepare: Preheat the oven to 350˚F (177˚C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix Wet Ingredients: In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, maple syrup, and vanilla extract until well combined.
- Add Almond Flour: Mix in the almond flour until well combined into a uniform dough. If the ingredients were measured accurately, you should have the perfect consistency to roll the dough into balls. However, if the dough seems too wet or dry you may need to adjust it a bit. If it’s too wet, add a sprinkle of almond flour. If it’s too dry, add 1 tsp plant-based milk or a little extra peanut butter.
- Shape Cookies: Scoop 12 roughly 1-heaping tablespoon sized scoops using a spoon or small cookie scoop and place them evenly spread out on the baking tray. Adjust as needed if some are bigger than others. Use your hands to roll each scoop into a smooth ball. Use a wetted fork to press down on each cookie twice, creating a crisscross pattern.
- Bake and Cool: Bake cookies at 350˚F (177˚C) for 10-12 minutes, until the bottoms are just turning golden. Remove the cookies from the oven and let sit on the tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. This helps the cookies firm up.
- Optional Chocolate Dip: If you’d like to add the optional chocolate dip, wait until the cookies have cooled for at least 30 minutes. Melt together the chocolate chips and coconut oil, preferably in a small, deep bowl, in the microwave in 20-second increments until completely smooth. Dip each cookie into the chocolate half-way then place back on the baking tray. Tip: Place the cooling rack on top of the baking sheet you used for baking (if lined with parchment paper) or place a piece of parchment paper under it for easy clean up. Let the cookies set for at room temperature or transfer to the fridge until the chocolate has set.
Notes
Store cookies in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
If your peanut butter is unsalted, add ¼ tsp salt into the dough.
The cookies are not overly sweet by themselves. If you like a sweeter cookie, I recommend adding the chocolate dip or adding 1/2 cup chocolate chips to the recipe.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 163
- Sugar: 7 g
- Sodium: 62 mg
- Fat: 9 g
- Carbohydrates: 11 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 5 g
