These vegan gluten-free peanut butter cookies are perfectly sweet-and-salty, nutty, rich and irresistible! They're also oil-free, sweetened with maple syrup, and 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 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.
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 right off the bat.
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!
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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 inexpensive oven thermometer, and then your bakes will be much more successful!
Need help with baking?
Check out my Top 12 Vegan Baking Tips!
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:
- Oat Flour Double Chocolate Cookies
- Easiest Almond Flour Cookies
- Almond Flour Oatmeal Cookies
- Vegan Protein Cookies
- Almond Flour Thumbprint Cookies
- Rosemary Tahini Cookies
- Cashew Butter Cookies
Recipe Video
Recipe
Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted natural peanut butter, creamy - 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.
- In a large bowl, stir together the peanut butter, maple syrup, ¼ cup coconut sugar, and vanilla.
- 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.
LORNA GRAY
Hello
I am going to try the peanut butter cookies, but I live in the UK where cups are not the usual measurement.
Looking at the equivalent for baking soda(which we call Bicarbonate of soda, as we have Baking powder too)it says 5 teaspoons if using imperial (or metric as your recipe calls it).
Surely this can't be right?!Have I read it wrong?
I would love feedback as my daughter is GF and vegan.
Thankyou
Lorna
Lori
Hi Lorna,
Yes, it's actually .5, or half a teaspoon. Thanks for checking and I hope you and your daughter love the cookies!
LORNA GRAY
Thankyou!x
Addie
These cookies were amazing! It's hard to find gluten-free and oil-free cookies that spread out and are slightly chewy but these worked a treat! Loved the recipe, thanks 🙂
Missy
I've made these several times. It's simple to make and delicious!
Harmony
Delish! I was a bit concerned about the oven temp as I’ve tried so many different vegan, gf peanut butter cookie recipes and they almost always get a slight burn on the bottom. So I had been baking mine at 325°! But I followed your recipe, using Bob’s 1:1 flour, baked for 10 min, then turned the oven off and left for another 2 min. Perfection! Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe. 😍
Steve
Lori,
Forgot to leave my rating
Steve
Here’s a hint!
If you don’t have a cookie scoop, just roll the dough into a long log and cut the pieces off then roll into a ball.
Joy Patras
Hi Lori! My daughter and I have made this recipe twice so far and we really think the cookies tasted delicious. It is such an easy recipe to follow and a short time later, we were snacking on delicious cookies and oat milk. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Lori
So happy you and your daughter enjoy the cookies, Joy. Thank you!
Lita
We're big peanut butter lovers - the type of folks that eat it by the spoonful out of the container 🙂 and I was excited to try this simple recipe. I substituted unbleached spelt flour that I had purchased when the stores were out of all purpose wheat flour and they turned out fabulously if not a touch dry (I whisked the flour - thanks for the tip) and a bit too sweet for us. The next time I make these cookies I will omit the coconut sugar and might try using whole wheat flour (reducing the amount a tad) to make them a super-healthy treat. Thank you Lori!
Lori
That sounds great, Lita. Glad you liked them! Thank you for the comment/feedback.
Syl
Y’all these are delicious. I ran out of baking soda so I didn’t even include that and they were still great. I used oat flour and made 8 larger cookies rather than 12.
Karen Ricketts
These do disappear quick, just like you said! We love these and they are so quick and easy to make. Thanks for this wonderful recipe!
Lori
Thanks for the review, Karen. Glad you enjoyed them!
Tracy
These cookies are amazing! They are super easy to make which means I can get the urge and be eating a cookie in no time - love that. But even better, they taste amazing!!! I'm so happy to have found this recipe, it's my new favorite cookie!!
Lori
Tracy, I'm so glad you loved them! And thank you for the feedback! 😀
daisy
I want to make these for one of my clients, but he is nut-allergic, so he can't have the coconut sugar. I will try to add more maple syrup instead. Thanks! We love easy!
Lori
Hi Daisy,
Since coconut isn’t technically a nut, it might be okay, unless you know he’s specifically allergic to coconut. ?
The easiest swap would be another granulated sweetener, like brown sugar, since maple syrup will also add moisture. But since maple is so sweet you might be able to just add 1 or 2 Tbsp, then increase the flour just a touch.
So I guess he’s only allergic to tree nuts, not peanuts? For a seed-based cookie, check out the Sunbutter cookie recipe, too!
Let me know how they turn out!
Teresa Sklenicka
Wow! These cookies are amazing! The best peanut butter cookies I've eaten. I was so happy to see a cookie recipe with oat flour. We're rationing our wheat flour because we can't seem to find any anywhere. I'll be making lot of these!
Lori
Thanks so much, Teresa! I just love baking with oat flour. Enjoy! 😀