These vegan gluten-free peanut butter cookies are perfectly sweet-and-salty, nutty, rich and irresistible. They're also oil-free and so easy to make! Choose from two flour options - oat flour or a gluten-free 1:1 flour blend. Only 6 ingredients and 25 minutes to make a batch!
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About the Recipe
Somehow, a sunbutter cookie made it onto the blog before a vegan peanut butter cookie did. As much as we LOVE peanut butter in our house, I'm not sure how how that happened. So today, this food blog is finally getting the vegan peanut butter cookie recipe it deserves!
Considering there are about 101 ways to make a peanut butter cookie, I wanted to create one that best reflects my cookie philosophy - secretly healthier than most cookies but so delicious no one will even know!
These peanut butter cookies are perfect because they're:
- gluten-free and vegan
- made without refined-sugar
- oil-free and suitable for whole-food, plant-based diets (WFPB)
- soft and chewy with a lightly crisp exterior
- made in 1 bowl
- and ridiculously easy!
Ingredient Notes
- flour - Choose either a fine oat flour (store-bought or homemade) or your favorite gluten-free baking blend.
- peanut butter - I used a creamy, unsalted natural peanut butter. If using salted peanut butter, simply omit the salt listed in the recipe.
- sweeteners - Maple syrup and coconut sugar combine to create a wonderfully moist and sweet cookie that isn't too maple-y.
- baking soda
- vanilla extract and salt - Important for overall flavor; omit the salt if using a salted peanut butter.
See the recipe card below for amounts and full instructions.
How to Make Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
Okay, I've promised you these are ridiculously easy to make, so now I'll prove it! Be sure to check out the video below for a quick glimpse of the process.
In a mixing bowl cream together the peanut butter, maple syrup, coconut sugar, and vanilla.
Add the flour, salt, and baking soda to the bowl, and stir until everything is fully mixed.
Use a small cookie scoop or tablespoon to scoop up about 1.5 tablespoons of dough per cookie. Roll the dough between your palms, and place each ball of dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Use a fork to make a criss-cross pattern on each cookie, which also flattens them into shape. Tip! Dip the underside of the fork tines in sugar to keep the dough from sticking.
Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly brown on the bottoms.
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Since cookies are very soft straight out of the oven, it can be tricky to check the bottoms. But just do you best!
Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
The recipe makes exactly twelve cookies, and I'll be honest with you... they disappear quickly! So depending on the number of people in your household, you may want to double the recipe.
Pair these vegan peanut butter cookies with a cold glass of oat milk, a scoop of vanilla oat milk ice cream, or a bowl of creamy banana nice cream!
Recipe Notes
I've tested these peanut butter cookies many times to test different flours and levels of sweetness.
The cookies you see in the video and photos had a touch more maple syrup than I decided on for the final recipe. So your dough may not look quite as sticky as the dough in the video.
All of the testing showed me that this recipe is actually pretty foolproof. No matter which flour I tested and how sweet (or not sweet) they were, they were always delicious and had great texture.
So just know that a little bit of variance in flour/moisture doesn't make or break the results. If you want a sweeter cookie, add another tablespoon of maple syrup.
Baking Tips
For a softer cookie, err on the side of a shorter bake time. For a crispier cookie, just 1 to 2 minutes more does the trick.
Keep in mind that oven temperatures can vary quite a bit. If you often have trouble with consistency, or your baked goods don't turn out as expected (require significantly more or less time in the oven), your oven temp might not be accurate.
It's easy to test this with an oven thermometer, and then your bakes will be much more successful!
Can I freeze the cookies?
You bet! You can freeze the baked cookies or the unbaked dough. Just make sure they are well-protected from air.
How to Freeze Cookie Dough
After rolling the dough into individual balls, place them on a baking sheet and freeze for about 30 minutes.
Then transfer the individual balls of dough to an airtight container and keep frozen until ready to use. Either allow the dough to thaw, or bake the cookies from frozen, adding 1 to 2 minutes to the total bake time.
I hope you enjoy these oil-free and gluten-free vegan peanut butter cookies! Be sure to drop a comment and a star rating below if you give them a try.
And if you’re on instagram tag a photo of your dish with @myquietkitchen. I love to see what you’re baking!
More vegan cookie recipes:
- Easy Corn Flour Cookies
- Oat Flour Double Chocolate Cookies
- 3-Ingredient Almond Flour Cookies
- Almond Flour Oatmeal Cookies
- Almond Flour Thumbprint Cookies
- Rosemary Tahini Cookies
- Cashew Butter Cookies
Recipe Video
Recipe
Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup natural peanut butter, creamy and unsalted - If using salted peanut butter omit the salt listed below.
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup coconut sugar plus 2 teaspoons, divided - Sub brown sugar or cane sugar, if desired.
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup gluten-free 1:1 flour blend (70 g) or ⅔ cup fine oat flour (60 g) - If not using a scale, whisk flour before measuring. Then spoon into measuring cup and level off the top.
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt - Omit if using salted peanut butter.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment.
- Since the oil tends to separate in natural peanut butter, stir your peanut butter very well before measuring. In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter, maple syrup, ¼ cup coconut sugar, and vanilla. Stir until smooth.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt (if using), and stir until fully combined. Use a cookie scoop or a tablespoon to scoop 1.5 tablespoons of dough into your hand. Roll the dough between your palms to form a smooth ball, and place on cookie sheet about 3 inches apart.
- Place the 2 teaspoons sugar in a small bowl. Use the underside of a fork to create a criss-cross pattern on top of one ball of dough, gently pressing down to flatten it into a cookie shape. Now dip the underside of the fork tines in coconut sugar (this will help it not stick to the dough). Repeat with the remaining cookies.
- Bake 10 to 12 minutes. The cookies will be very soft when removed from the oven. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Notes
Estimated Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition information is an estimate and will vary depending on the exact amounts and specific products and ingredients used.
GS says
Mine were so dry I could hardly firm them into balls, when I pressed with a fork they fell apart:(
I use a scale for the flour, triple checked all measurements.
The only thing I couldn’t find direction on was if the PB could be from the fridge.. I let mine warm on the counter for about 15 min.. could that be it? I’m so bummed, I was excited to bring these to a block party today but they are falling apart just transferring to the cooling rack.
Alia says
I was looking for a quick vegan and gluten free cookie recipe and came across this. Turned out perfect! Definitely making these again. Thank you the recipe.
Joanna says
Absolutely delicious!! These are now a staple in our home! I used whole wheat flour and the texture was great. They were a little too sweet for my taste so I used 1/8 cup of the coconut ut sugar.
Dream says
These cookies are so delicious. I will definitely make these again.
I am bringing them to a friend with the recipe. A wonderful share for sure.
Barbara says
We loved this! I split the recipe in half and followed it for myself (delicious) but then made some changes for my husband who has a peanut and potato allergy- so I subbed PB for almond butter and the gluten-free all purpose flour for oat flour ( I used 1/2 cup) and it came out perfect as well! Thanks so much for the easy and delicious recipe!!
Lou says
Thinking of adding crushed peanuts
Deborah Watson says
Could I use almond or coconut flour?
Lori Rasmussen says
Hi Deborah - Almond flour is your best bet, though you might need to add a bit more if the dough seems very moist.
Elle says
Can I use regular flour (with gluten)? We don’t need gluten free, just no egg, dairy or oil!
Lori Rasmussen says
Hi Elle - yes, regular all purpose flour works too. Hope you enjoy!
MLB1 says
I love this recipe! I just threw everything (doubled) into my stand mixer at the same time and they came out great. First time I made this recipe the cookies looked 'undone' at 8 minutes so I gave one pan 9 mins in oven and one pan 10 mins...9 mins had slight softness, 10 mins were crunchy, but both tasted great. Next time I made recipe I took them out at 8 mins. They seemed way too soft and undone, but I trusted the process. I let them cool on the pan for about 10 mins and they were soft and perfect and ready to eat in about 15 mins, post oven. I've added vegan chocolate chips (1/4 cup for original recipe, but I usually double the recipe so 1/2 cup for doubled) to this recipe also. Didn't change the recipe at all and they were perfect! This recipe is SO EASY, with so little clean up!
Julia says
Yum, thank you. I forgot that I need to decrease sugar content in American recipes, so I found these a bit sweet, but very simple and yummy and I enjoyed making them with my 3 year old.
Kym says
These were super easy to make and they taste amazing .. My daughter is refined sugar free and dairy free and my daughter-in-law is gluten free , enough said !
Kelly says
These are so easy. And YUMMY! thank you so much for this gluten free recipe! It’s my new go to, I have IBS and am on a very limited diet - these are safe and heavenly! sometimes I sweeten more and sometimes not as much, always perfect.
Angela says
Lori, This recipe for Vegan Peanut Butter cookies is crunchy and delicious! Thank you so much for your recipes, they never fail.