These Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies are incredibly simple to make with only 6 ingredients, and no flour or butter required! But don’t be fooled by their simplicity- this flourless peanut butter cookie recipe is a major contender for your favorite cookie recipe yet- they turn out with lightly crisp edges and soft centers. You may want to double this family favorite!
These flourless peanut butter cookies are seriously the easiest, quickest cookies and I almost didn’t want to tell you guys that they were gluten free, or didn’t have any butter or flour, because I know there are people out there who will dismiss this recipe thinking of it simply as a replacement if you can’t have normal cookies. Not the case. This is actually just an amazing cookie recipe and it’s simply a fun side note that they don’t have flour or butter. As proof- I honestly make these more often than any other peanut butter cookie recipe. It’s a bonus that they’re stinking fast. It literally takes me maybe 60 seconds to mix the dough. This is one of our family favorites for our weekly Monday Night Family Nights because I always have the ingredients on hand!
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- Creamy peanut butter – I recommend Jiff or Skippy style, not natural style peanut butter for texture purposes.
- Brown sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Baking soda
- Table salt
- Chopped chocolate or chocolate chips – Optional.
- Oats – Optional.
- Granulated sugar – For rolling, optional.
How to Make Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
- Mix Your Dough: When your ingredients first come together, the dough is very smooth and loose. It doesn’t look thick enough to be cookie dough. The key is to keep mixing! It will quickly come together and magically change texture- this time into kind of a crumbly texture. NOTE: The texture of this dough is different than standard cookie dough, almost oily? It feels funny but it works. Just go with it.
- Optional: Add Chocolate Chips and/or Oats: If you’d like to add chocolate chips, which are optional, you’d do that at this point. Again, the texture of this dough is different- the chocolate chips won’t “stick” in there as well. Just do your best to mix them in. You can also add oats in there, too!
- Shape: I like to roll balls in sugar and give them a little crisscross, but you could simply put spoonsful of dough on the sheet and flatten them a little with a bottom of a cup if you’re in a hurry.
If I add chocolate chips, I usually skip the step with rolling in sugar and crisscrossing and instead I just use a cookie scoop and then lightly flatten the dough balls with my hand or the bottom of a cup. - Bake: You want to bake them just until the edges are set, and not over bake. In my oven 8 minutes is just about perfect. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes so they don’t fall apart on you when you transfer them, and then put them on a cooling rack.
Storing and Other Tips
- Store finished cookies in an airtight container at room temperature and enjoy within 3-4 days for best results.
- I love that the basic recipe makes a small batch, about 18 cookies with a standard size scoop. You can easily double it if you want more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Freeze the cookies once they cool and transfer to an airtight freezer-safe container or zip-top bag. Freeze for up to 2 months. They thaw quickly at room temperature.
I have not tested this recipe with other nut butters. As long as they are the smooth consistency of Jiff or Skippy peanut butter, it would likely work. The more natural peanut butters and nut butters might be a bit more problematic and result in a flat, oily cookie. One reader in the comments says she has better luck with natural peanut butter if it’s cold from the fridge when mixing up the dough, so that may help if your alternative nut butter is a similar consistency. Several people have reported good results using almond butter.
Readers have reported that chunky peanut butter works well!
Easy (Flourless!) Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup peanut butter we recommend standard Jiff or Skippy, not natural style pb
- ¾ cup lightly packed brown sugar
- 1 large or extra large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- ½ cup chopped chocolate or chocolate chips (dark or semi-sweet) optional
- ⅓ cup oats optional
- granulated sugar for rolling optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- Beat peanut butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add egg, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Mix for about a minute. Add chocolate and/or oats, if using.
- Shape into balls, and roll in sugar if desired. Flatten with a crisscross pattern with a fork, or simply flatten with the bottom of a glass.
- Bake for 8-9 minutes. Don't over-bake. Let them sit on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Makes 18-20 cookies.
Notes
- Nutrition information was calculated without the optional chocolate, oats, and granulated sugar.
- Store finished cookies in an airtight container at room temperature and enjoy within 3-4 days for best results.
- Cooled cookies can be frozen, transferred to an airtight, freezer-safe container or zip-top bag, and frozen for up to two months. They thaw quickly on the countertop.
Questions & Reviews
Just made these with crunchy peanut butter…pretty sure kids aren’t getting any!
I made these tonight – love them! I used natural peanut butter and added some nutella to the mix. So yummy (and super easy to make)! Will definitely make them over and over!
Out of curiosity – why do people criss-cross peanut butter cookies, but not any other kind of cookie that I’ve seen? Also, any chance this would work with reconstituted PB2?
These are one of my favorite cookies. I found it when I was looking for a gluten free recipe for a cookies and cocoa party, and this is now my favorite peanut butter cookie, hands down.
Side question, do you know any halfway decent egg substitutes? I made chocolate chip cookies yesterday and half way through realized all the eggs had been used up for dinner the night before. I was looking for an egg substitute and tried a ground flax water mix. That was a mistake. They tasted extremely “healthy” without actually being healthier than regular cookies (except I used part whole wheat pastry flour). They. are. awful. So have you ever been in a crunch and found a successful egg substitute? I have a feeling this will probably happen again sometime.
Been there, done that!! I have a box of powdered egg replacer by Ener-G. My box (which I’ve had a while) is yellow and has an Asian look (I think?). It’s okay for those ‘in a pinch’ baking needs but not so great as scrambled eggs.
I’ve read, and intend to do but haven’t done yet, that you can dehydrate your own eggs, and grind it into a powder for use – makes good scrambled eggs, the author said. Something to do when you have an abundance of eggs, or even just to have on hand for cookie emergencies!
These look amazing! I must make them right now 🙂 and I’m totally sending my mom the link because she loves sweets but is GF and is always on the look out for treats that still taste good. Love you guys!
A couple of months ago I had to bake gluten free treats for the teachers at my daughter’s school. After consulting the internet and a friend with Celiac, I settled on cookies very similar to these. I added Reese’s Pieces to the dough and they were awesome! I was totally surprised. I thought they’d be okay and probably kind of weird but they were definitely good enough to make regularly. My family loved them!
Yum….I don’t normally like PB cookies because they are never “right”. These are amazing. And yeah. Too easy….they will be a regular in the cookie rotation!!!
I only have medium eggs right now. Should I double the amount of egg or decrease the amount of peanut butter to account for smaller eggs?
Nah, I’d just make it with one egg and see how they turn out.
I can’t wait to try these. 🙂 For others who count calories, I put the recipe into a calorie counter and it came up with 101 calories per cookie (at 20 cookies per batch). Hope that helps!
I want these right now! So perfect 🙂