Moist with crunchy edges, and tons of nutty flavour, these almond flour peanut butter cookies are bursting with deliciousness. They’re simple to prepare, only 6 ingredients and 20 minutes is all you need to get these done. Clean ingredients have never tasted this good!
The smell of these cookies baking in your oven is nothing short of heavenly! Just like my almond flour cookies, you’ll want to dig in to this peanut butter version before they’re ready, but please, please wait. You won’t regret it, promise!
- They’re pantry friendly, made using ingredients that you probably already have available, especially if you enjoy baking.
- Using simple methods, it can be a fun activity to do with your kids.
- Since there’s no eggs or raw flour in these, feel free to sample the batter! Just don’t go overboard! 😉
- There’s tons of protein in these, from the almond flour and peanut butter, so you can enjoy them for breakfast, a healthy dessert or an after workout snack.
- Plus, there’s no refined ingredients here at all, making these suitable for a whole food plant based (WFPB) diet. No oil, no refined sugar, no refined flour, just real food and ingredients. As an added bonus, these cookies are also gluten free, so perfectly suitable for anyone with a gluten intolerance.
- Almond flour has a slightly sweeter flavour (and nuttier, of course). That means you can use less sugar (as I’ve done) and still get wonderfully sweet baked goods.
- Do you have 20 minutes? That’s all you need to get these delicious cookies made! Yippee!
What kind of peanut butter to use
You want to use thick peanut butter that is unsweetened and unsalted. Make sure to check the ingredients so that it contains ONLY peanuts. Alternatively, you can make your own homemade peanut butter.
If you can’t find any without salt, that will still work, just skip the called for salt in the recipe.
But definitely avoid any added oil as the texture of your cookies will be affected.
How to make this recipe
(This is a summary with step by step photos, full recipe measurements and instructions are in the recipe card below.)
Start by gathering your ingredients, and use the weight measurement for measuring the almond flour if possible.
Weight is always most accurate, and especially important for baking. Almond flour weighs less than regular flour, so again, try not to go over.
If you don’t have a kitchen scale and must use volume, spoon and level your measuring cup, rather than scooping.
To a large mixing bowl, add the peanut butter, maple syrup and vanilla and mix very well. (photos 1-2)
In another small bowl, whisk together the almond flour, baking soda and salt. (photos 3-4)
Now add your dry mixture to the bowl with the wet and mix well. Keep mixing until incorporated. (photos 5-6)
The mixture will be thick and sticky, but that’s what you want so the cookies will hold their shape when baking.
Once thoroughly mixed, divide your batter to make 16 portions. I separate mine into an 8 “slice” pie shape (photo 7) and then use each wedge to make 2 balls of dough.
This will help ensure you have uniform, same sized almond flour peanut butter cookies, but it is not crucial to the final result.
Now roll two balls out of every wedge. The dough will be thick, so use a bit of pressure to roll out smooth balls of cookie dough. (photo 8)
Place each one on your prepared baking tray or cookie sheet. You should get 16 cookie dough balls. (photo 9)
Now, using a fork, press each one down to make a crisscross pattern on top of each cookie. (photos 10-11)
EXPERT TIPS: Wet the fork to prevent it from sticking to your dough. Also, ensure that your cookies are as flat and shaped as you want them to be, as they will not spread much while baking.
When you’re happy with how your peanut butter cookies look, bake them in your preheated oven for 10 minutes. NOT LONGER! Then remove them from the oven and let them rest for 10 minutes before touching them. (photo 12)
The 10 minute rest is crucial to your cookies!!
They will be very soft when you take them out of the oven, but I promise they will harden and set into crunchy on the outside, perfectly moist, crumbly and soft in the middle. The way a perfect peanut butter cookie should be. 🙂
After the 10 minutes, very gently transfer them to a cooling rack to continue to cool to room temperature for another 5-10 minutes before digging in!
Trust me, it’s worth the wait.
Expert Tips
- Firstly, I recommend a double batch. They go quickly, and you’ll thank me for this later. 🙂
- Use the weight measurement for the flour, whenever possible. This will ensure the most accurate results. If you MUST use volume, make sure to spoon and level the almond flour. Do not scoop using your measuring cup or you may end up with too much flour.
- If you’re having trouble mixing your batter with a spoon or spatula, use your hands to help get the ingredients mixed in. The batter will be slightly sticky and thick.
- Divide the batter as I’ve shown in photo 7 above if you care about having cookies that are roughly the same size.
- These don’t spread much, so make sure to shape the cookies to the size and thickness you like before you bake them.
- When making your crisscross pattern, wet your fork with water before pressing into your cookies. This will help prevent the fork from sticking to them. Dip the fork into some water after every few cookies or so.
- Do not over-bake the cookies. Yes, they will feel soft and they might even look under cooked, but that is perfectly okay! In fact, that’s exactly as they should be.
- Make sure to let your cookies cool down! Do not touch them while they’re in the oven and do not touch them for at least 10 minutes after you’ve removed them from the oven. They will be soft, but I promise, they will harden as they cool.
- When your 10 minutes are done, very carefully transfer them to a wire rack to continue cooling. This extra time is really crucial to give your almond flour peanut butter cookies those delicious, crunchy edges. At a minimum, leave them for 5 minutes on the cooling rack, but a little longer won’t hurt either.
How long do they keep?
Your almond flour peanut butter cookies will keep in a sealed container, or tightly wrapped, at room temperature for up to 3 days, or you may refrigerate for up to 1 week. But seriously, they probably won’t last that long.
If you want to save some for later, I suggest freezing half the batch. Make sure they are completely cooled to room temperature, and then freeze in an airtight container for up to 2 months.
Substitutions/Variations
- Natural peanut butter is really the best to use here. You may use chunky or smooth, both work well.
- You may use almond butter instead of peanut butter if preferred. Just sub at a 1:1 ratio.
- If you want to add some mix ins, my favourites are a third cup of dairy free chocolate chips OR raisins. Don’t go overboard with mix ins and only choose one or your batter will not hold well.
If you tried this recipe, please let me know about it in the comments below. I always love hearing from you! Don’t forget to Subscribe to This Healthy Kitchen to be among the first to get my new recipes! You can also FOLLOW ME on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter to see more delicious food and get all the latest updates.
Buon appetito,
Rosa
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter smooth or crunchy
- 4 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 150 g almond flour approx 1.5 cups
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the peanut butter, maple syrup and vanilla, and mix well. Use a fork or silicone spatula to ensure the ingredients are well combined.
- In a separate, small bowl, whisk together the almond flour, baking soda and the salt. Then add the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet. Mix well. The batter will be sticky and thick, but just keep mixing until incorporated.
- Divide the mixture into 16 balls of dough and place on your tray. Then using a slightly wet fork, press down on each ball to form a crisscross pattern on top of each cookie.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes and do not touch the cookies during this time. After the 10 minute rest, transfer the cookies to a cooling rack for another 5-10 minutes. This cooling off period is crucial for the cookies to completely set and for the edges to get nice and crunchy.
These are by far my fave pb cookies and I have made a lot!! Simple easy ingredients, healthy & delicious. I confess that I added a healthy amount of dark chocolate chips & some unsweetened coconut because I love both so why not. Next time I will try will hazelnut flour and see what happens. Thank you for the awesome recipe!!
PS I doubled the recipe because I love them so much & used an ice cream scoop to keep them pretty much the same shape & size and they turned out nice & chunky!!
Yay! Thrilled to hear this Lisa. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review. 🙂
Hi could you tell me if the serving size is 1 or 2 cookies?
Thank you
The serving size is for 1 cookie.
These are amazing!
Thank you! 🙂
These are so easy to make and taste AMAZING!
Thanks for sharing Lindsay. So happy you enjoyed.
I LOVE THESE COOKIES…I’m addicted just a little bit. If you’re on the SCD diet for inflammation, you can totally substitute the honey for the maple syrup; that’s what I do, and they’re delicious! Love this recipe definitely the best I’ve found so far!
Yay so glad to hear it Shae, thanks so much for sharing. 🙂
Very good and easy to follow
Great, thanks so much for sharing Mary! 🙂
This sounds interesting, BUT I really don’t like the taste of almonds. Can one substitute with any other flour?
I haven’t tried another flour, so I’m not sure you could do a straight swap. Let me know if you try and experiment.
Wow these were beyond amazing!!! If I could give more than 5 stars I would!
So happy to hear that Giulia. Absolutely thrilled you enjoyed. 🙂
Simple to make and delicious!! These were absolutely perfect!
Yay! Thank you for sharing Rina!
Thanks for the recipe. I tried these last night. Good taste and really easy to make, but they were quite soft and powdery. I did weigh the almond flour and followed the baking and cooling instructions. My peanut butter was salted so I didn’t add the amount called for in the recipe.
Hmm, not sure what you mean by powdery. The batter is quite wet and sticky before baking. Did you check out the process shots in the post? Perhaps that may help. Glad you enjoyed the flavour!
I was craving peanut butter cookies. So happy I found this recipe! Soo good and picky boyfriend approved! Thank you for sharing!
Yay! So glad you found it and thrilled you both enjoyed. Thanks Jennifer.
These were so delicious!! Perfect texture and mix of salty sweet as promised. Thank you for sharing your fool proof recipes with us!
My pleasure Debbie. So happy you enjoyed the cookies!
This recipe sounds good, but is it necessary fir all the extra gibberish?
I get the ingredients and directions. The in between
stuff makes me not want to make them
Hi Kathie, sorry you feel that way. I include preparation photos and helpful tips in the post since not everyone is an experienced baker or cook. Should you not require the “extra” feel free to use the “jump to recipe” button located on the top of each of my recipes. Hope you enjoy the cookies! 🙂
Wow rude much? Did you know you can buy a cookbook if you don’t want extra “gibberish”? Thank you Rosa for all the free recipes you share with us!!! I appreciate you!!
Look at recipes on the Internet much, Kathie? Apparently not; almost ALL of the recipes on the net have the extra “gibberish” as you called it.
My understanding is that it’s required for Google so that the recipes will show up when people search. No extra “gibberish” means your recipe will show up in few search results.
If you want to complain about it, complain to Google, NOT someone who’s giving you free recipes.
Beyond awesome!! Moist, slightly chewy, held together perfectly. Baked according to direction and cooled so…perfect. Will be my go to recipe. Thank you!
Yay!! So glad you enjoyed them Michelle. Thanks very much for the feedback. 🙂
Totally delicious! Not too sweet, just right. I liked the texture too.
Fantastic. Thanks so much for sharing Linda. 🙂
These cookies are so delicious and simple to make. Your step by step photos were perfect. Thank you!
Aww thanks so much Ali. So glad you enjoyed.
Just finished the last of these cookies with my coffee this morning, and I don’t feel guilty at all! I love that this recipe hits the sweet spot without being overly sweet. My whole family loved them, too! Thanks for sharing!
Yay!! Thanks so much for sharing Hannah. Thrilled your whole family loves these. 🙂
My son (he is in middle school) found this recipe and made it for his cooking class. They turned out delicious. He also suggested to use Monk Fruit syrup instead of Maple syrup.
Thrilled to hear that Lisa. Thanks so much for sharing with us. 🙂
Turned out delicious. I added some almond slivers.
Ohh great idea, glad you enjoyed!
Really delicious! I substituted oat flour for almond flour and it turned out really well. Kids loved it too! Thank you! Looking forward to trying more recipes.
Thanks for sharing! Glad it worked well with the oat flour.
This recipe is so good and so easy! Your step-by-step instructions gave me the confidence to try baking. Now, I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
Thank you so much!
Susan
Aw thank you Susan. Thrilled to hear that. Thanks so much for the kind review. 🙂
I had accidentally doubled the peanut butter without doubling the other ingredients.
My husband loved them that way, so I didn’t change a thing next time. We use them to add natural peanut butter to our oatmeal, so the accident was perfect!
Now, I want to use the whole (18 oz) jar of peanut butter to make a larger batch. Do you have any suggestions for someone like me, who experiments (sometime accidentally) with a recipe?
Hi Susan, I’m not sure how many cups you’ll get from a jar of peanut butter, so your best bet is to measure the peanut butter first and then determine how many batches you can make. Then double, triple, or quadruple the remaining ingredients as needed.
Hi, I would like to bake these cookies but cannot eat sugars. Is it o.k. to use Monk Fruit or other sugar/sweet replacements? Am highly allergic to wheat as well so these biscuits are just what I’m looking for. Many thanks!
Hi Joanne, can you do date syrup? Date syrup would work as a straight swap.
I haven’t tried these with monk fruit so I’m not sure, but you’ll need some liquid to hold these together. If you give it a try, I’d love to hear how it turns out.
I made this recipe with 2tbs. Maple syrup and 2tbs monk fruit. I also added 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg. They are SO delicious!! They still had that soft, moist center and outside crunch!!
I’m about 3 weeks in to plant based eating. I just happened to come across this simple recipe and I had all the ingredients so I made them, spur of the moment. They did not disappoint! They taste like the peanut butter cookies I used to make with eggs and oil! I can’t wait to share them with others and shock them!
Trish I’m flattered you enjoyed these so much! Thanks very much for taking the time to leave a review. 🙂
So good and easy to make!
Thanks Marianne, glad you enjoyed!
Hi can you use oat flour instead of almond flour please….
I’m not sure as I haven’t tested these with oat flour, but feel free to experiment.
I made them last night, they are easy to make and delicious. I’m going to experiment with fruits
Glad you enjoyed, thanks for sharing Xavier.
Hello, did you happen to try with dates instead of maple syrup? Thanks
Hi Malini, I haven’t tried them that way, but I think date syrup (not whole dates) would work as you’ll need a liquid ingredient. Hope you enjoy.
This is a great recipe – quick, easy and delicious!
Thanks Chantelle, glad you enjoyed!
Your recipe calls for 150g or 1.5 cups of almond flour. Is that 1 1/2 cups of flour? I don’t have a scale to weight
Yes, 150g of almond flour is approx 1 1/2 cups worth. Make sure to spoon and level, rather than scoop to avoid adding too much flour. Hope you enjoy!
Thank you!
According to google 3/4 cup dry goods= 150 grams
Not all dry goods are the same weight. If you search “almond flour weight” as opposed to dry goods, you’ll see that 1 cup is about 96g. Enjoy the cookies!
Soooo delicious. I could eat them all!
Thanks Sylvie! Glad you enjoyed. 🙂
Such a tasty and versatile recipe! I found the cookie dough very easy to work with. So delicious with chocolate chips… and by the time you’ve finished washing the dishes, the batch is baked and ready!
Thanks very much for the review Gene. Thrilled you enjoyed the cookies. 🙂
I just made these and they are delicious!! They taste almost the same as peanut butter cookies my mom used to make:) super good, and such can easy recipe to follow!
Thank you for sharing Emilee, thrilled you enjoyed! 🙂
Wow. My husband, who has Celiac Disease, and I were craving a sweet treat tonight and these were fantastic. We only had a brand name peanut butter but it is low in oil and salt and these cookies came out amazing! Thank you so much! This recipe is saved forever in our home.
Thrilled you both enjoyed John, thanks so much for taking the time to leave your feedback.
Wow this recipe is so amazing, thank you for sharing it! I tried this recipe and I replaced the maple syrup with half honey and half unsweetened almond milk, as you suggested in response to another comment, and it still turned out amazing! I will try it with all almond milk next time. Thank you times a million!
Thanks so much for the review Nancy. So glad you loved the cookies! 🙂
I just made these for the first time, and decided to make a double batch! The instructions were perfect, the cookies taste amazing! Thanks for an amazing recipe. Greetings from Johannesburg, South Africa 🙂
Thanks very much Nyaki. Thrilled you enjoyed the cookies so much. Greetings from Ontario, Canada. 🙂
Ok, I had to try it after reading the reviews. Family taste test! We were all in awe. Crispy edges, chewy everything else, tasty, not too sweet (as are the others), and peanut butter is my addiction. No eggs, no rush if them going bad when left out, I’m in heaven!!!!!!
Thanks so much for the glowing review Marquia! Thrilled you enjoyed the cookies. 🙂
Going to try this and wondering if there’s something else I can put in besides maple syrup? I’m watching calorie and sugar intake. Do I need a liquid sweetener? Thanks!!
Hi Alexa, you could sub for date syrup instead of maple syrup. But you’ll need a liquid ingredient in these to balance out the dry and I haven’t tried without a liquid sweetener so I’m not sure what else might work. If you’re willing to experiment, you could try some almond milk. Let me know if you do give thees a try.
Hello, mine is need up being delicious but flaky and crumbly. Is this a flour issue – too much maybe?
Hi Leada, sounds like too much flour. Did you weigh the flour or scoop with a measuring cup? Weight will always be most accurate.
This recipe is ridiculously easy and the results are yummy. It is super quick, does not need fancy ingredients, is oil free and leaves a lot of room for creativity. I added vegan chocolate buttons to half the batter and raisins to the other half. I think I will add some spices next time as it is winter soon ;). But seriously, this is super tasty without any amendments. (>‿◠)
So glad to hear it Claudi. I’m glad you enjoyed these cookies. Thanks very much for sharing your process. 🙂
Just out of the oven.. oh my gosh they are really good!!
Yay! So glad you like them Mary. 🙂