Flourless 4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
These 4-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies are made with simple, wholesome ingredients and are not only delicious, but they’re also gluten-free. They’re quick and easy to make and are the perfect afternoon snack for the peanut butter lovers.
In This Article
Nutritional Benefits
Classic peanut butter cookies are a delicious, sweet treat most of us enjoy, but with a few minor substitutions, each bite of cookie can deliver plenty of nutrients. While we don’t tend to look to cookies, treats or desserts for nourishment choosing nutrient-dense ingredients to make them with means this is an added benefit.
The peanut butter and almond flour are the main source of nourishment in this recipe and provide a significant boost of healthy fats and protein. Both ingredients are also excellent sources of vitamins and minerals, such as Vitamin E, magnesium, and B vitamins, which support everything from antioxidant function to muscle health and plenty in between (1,2,3,4). The use of almond flour means they are also gluten free.
Ingredients – What You’ll Need To Make This Recipe
This easy peanut butter recipe comes together with a handful of simple ingredients. By swapping out refined flour and sugar for nutrient-dense alternatives, we also get a cookie that’s rich in healthy fats, protein, and fibre.
- Smooth peanut butter – a natural peanut butter without any additives is the best choice.
- Blanched almond meal – adds a delicate, moist crumb and makes this cookie completely gluten free.
- Maple syrup – adds a rich, subtle flavor with notes of caramel and toffee.
- Vanilla essence – helps to bring out, and bring together, the flavours in this recipe.
Dark chocolate chips and sea salt are two optional ingredients that make these cookies extra special treats. While not necessary, they can help to round out the flavour profile and sprinkling a bit of salt over the top of each cookie helps balance the very rich peanut butter flavor.
How To Make These Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
This easy cookie recipe requires no special equipment. A large mixing bowl is all you need or a hand mixer if preferred. The dough comes together quickly, and in just a few simple steps, you’ll have a batch of warm, delicious cookies ready to enjoy.
- Preheat oven to 180ºC (350ºF) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper/baking paper
- Place the almond meal, peanut butter, maple syrup, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Mix with a spoon or hand mixer to form a dough.
- Roll the mixture into balls, place them on the prepared baking sheet then flatten out with the back of a fork in a criss-cross pattern.
- Bake cookies for 12 minutes or until golden brown, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
If adding in choc chips place them into the bowl with all the other ingredients as you form the batter. They’re not at all necessary but I do find they’re a great match for the peanut butter, as is that tiny sprinkle of sea salt over the top. That said, the cookies are just as delicious as they are.
Substitutions And Variations
Crunchy peanut butter can replace the smooth if preferred. The only thing to note here is I found that it gave the cookies a very sticky mouth feel. Almond butter is another good substitute for something a little different. I think the almond version is equally delicious.
Sprinkling a little coconut sugar or light brown sugar over the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven creates a sweet little crunch on top of the cookies when they’re ready to eat.
Want other delicious ways to enjoy these cookies? No eggs in the batter mean you can eat the dough raw! They make great little snacks as raw cookie balls and are best stored in the fridge this way.
Use any nut meal you have on hand to replace the almond in need. Hazelnut is an especially good swap.
Tips For Success With This Recipe
Baking time may vary slightly, and your batch may need an extra minute or two depending. Be guided as much by time as the colour of the cookies.
If you have an especially creamy peanut butter adding a touch more almond flour may be necessary to help if form into cookie dough balls.
Use a cookie scoop or small ice cream scoop to make perfectly uniform cookies.
Storing
Store cookies in an airtight container or a cookie jar with a tight-fitting lid. for 3-4 days. Putting a piece of paper towel over the top of the cookies before closing the lid can help keep them fresh for longer. It helps absorb any moisture created.
FAQ
This may be the result of two things. Adding too much almond meal or using a peanut butter that doesn’t have much oil in it. If your peanut butter is very dry, you could experiment with adding a little macadamia oil.
Cookies go soft from absorbing moisture, which is often the result of not keeping them in an airtight container or having a few cookies in a hug container. To help prevent this, cover the cookies with a piece of paper towel before putting the lid on the container.
More Snack Recipes To Try
If you try this recipe, I’d love to know. Leave a comment, rate it, and remember to tag @wholenaturalkitchen in your pics or reels on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok!
Flourless 4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ – 1 Cup blanched almond meal (see note 1)
- ¾ Cup smooth peanut butter
- ½ Cup maple syrup (I used a scant cup – so not quite full)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ Cup chocolate chips (optional)
- Salt for sprinkling on top (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the almond meal, peanut butter, maple syrup and vanilla extract in a bowl and mix to form a workable cookie dough.
- Add in the choc chips if using, and mix again to combine.
- Roll roughly 1 tablespoon of the dough into a small ball and place on lined cookie sheet. Repeat until all the cookie dough is used up.
- Flatten each cookie dough ball with the back of a fork in a criss cross pattern. I press quite firmly when doing this. If using salt, you could sprinkle that over now. You could also taste when the cookies come out of the oven and add then if you'd like.
- Place in the oven and cook for 12 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. It's important to let these cool so they firm up.
- Once completely cooled, store in an airtight container that has been lined with paper towel. Place another sheet on top of the last cookie before closing the lid. This will help stop them from going soft and keep them fresh and crumbly for several days.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Gabby Campbell
Gabby is a degree qualified Naturopath/Nutritionist (BHSc Nat) with a love of all whole foods. She started her Naturopathic career in clinical practice before making the move to recipe development and online education – a result of wanting to combat the misinformation that abounds on the internet about food and health. Whole Natural Kitchen aims to transform the way you think about healthy eating by helping you embrace an abundance of nutritious foods while leaving the health fads behind. MORE ABOUT GABBY
Peanut butter cookies are my absolute favorite – and I could do some serious damage to a batch of these!
They’re mine too Shashi!
I’ve not made a peanut butter cookie with maple syrup before. I’m intrigued. Looking forward to trying these!
I love the extra flavour the maple adds. Hope you do too Jill.
Love, love, love these cookies. Just 4 ingredients and absolutely delicious
Thanks so much MacKenzie!
My family always wants a little something sweet after dinner. These cookies are perfect for curing that sweet tooth.
Thanks, Gina. They’re such a perfect little treat.
Love these, super easy and turned out delicious. The texture is very nice too.
That’s great to hear! Thanks so much Irena.