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
I have made these cookies twice and the first time they turned out perfectly! The second time they were like some of the other comments- oily dough and spread thin when I cooked them. I used natural pb both times but the difference was the first time it had been refrigerated and the second time it was right out of the pantry. Hope that helps people that have had trouble.
My daughter and I made these tonight and they are delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Just came across this recipe and WOW! So good. I was a bit worried because I’ve made peanut butter cookies before and they were dry. I assume it’s because of the flour. These melt in my mouth and I love them. I can’t wait to make again. I think next time, I’ll skip the salt. Mine were a bit salty and I think it’s because of the peanut butter. To minimize the salt taste, skipping the salt might help.
I just made these and I have never tasted a better cookie!
I found a peanut butter at Aldi’s that has Flaxseed and Whole Chia in it and the taste is just amazing. Thank you!
These cookies are fabulous. I changed the recipe to accommodate my family. Substituted brown sugar for 1/2 cup almond flour and 1/4 cup rice syrup and added an extra egg and dark chocolate chips. The dough was sticky, but the cookies baked into beautiful, moist, cracked top cookies. Delicious!
This is the third peanut butter recipe I tried. Finally a winner! However the cookies tasted like an overdose of baking soda. Well I did some investigating and it related to the salt. Yes. The. Salt. The Diamond Crystal Ionized Salt i used contains sodium bicarbonate. Sodium bicarbonate is baking soda. So using that type of salt and the baking soda caused the off taste. The Morton Ionized salt, i could have used, DOES NOT CONTAIN sodium bicarbonate. Lessons learned. Hope this will keep others from making the same mistake. Happy baking.
I might like the dough more than the actual cookie. They’re BOTH hitting the spot this windy, cold day.
Hello,
These cookies sound delicious!! Can you make them with organic palm sugar instead of brown sugar?
Sincerely,
Kim Rosch
You can certainly try!
These cookies are our absolute favorites at my house! My husband and myself always make these every Sunday to have throughout the week as snacks! I Lovveeeee how minimalistic they are and I even cut back the brown sugar to 1/2cup and they still are just as fabulous. I was wondering though, has anyone tried to make these cookies with powdered peanut butter in order to cut the fat? I have just recently purchased powder PB for the first time and am excited to give it a whirl! ???
I don’t think that will work because you would then have close to zero fat in the recipe. But you can certainly try it!
Saw these this morning and made them immediately! I wanted to make the carmelitas, but that needed a run to the store, but this was on hand. 😉 Mostly, as I was out of brown sugar *gasp*, so I subbed white sugar with molasses, and all we had was Skippy whipped PB. It worked wonderfully! I used the leftover ‘brown sugar’ to roll the dough balls in. They were flat, but it was my own fault as I waited a minute too long to take them out…right before I did they were plump. Still soft, still tasty.