This easy gluten free and keto peanut butter cookies recipe, made crispy and crunchy and in the classic crosshatch style, is rich with tons of peanut butter flavor. For peanut butter lovers only!
And these cookies are made with simple GF ingredients you have on hand, including a simple all purpose gluten free flour blend. Just a few ingredients, a bowl, and a mixing spoon, and your whole house will smell like heaven!
What makes these gluten free peanut butter cookies special?
Proper crunchy peanut butter cookies are made with a dense cookie dough that has more peanut butter than anything else. Every batch has almost a full pound of smooth peanut butter!
Is peanut butter gluten free?
Yes, in its purest form, peanut butter is made of peanuts and salt and is naturally gluten free. If you place peanuts (roasted or raw) in a high-speed blender, you’ll have peanut butter when you’re done.
Substitutions for gluten free peanut butter cookie ingredients
Gluten free dairy free peanut butter cookies
To make these gf pb cookies dairy free, too, you must replace the butter. My favorite nondairy butter replacement is vegan butter (Miyoko’s Kitchen or Melt brand is best).
Since there are only 4 tablespoons butter in the whole batch, you might even be able to use Earth Balance buttery sticks. Skip the salt, though, and expect your cookie dough to be softer, though, and the cookies to spread more.
Gluten free egg free peanut butter cookies
There are 2 eggs in this recipe. You can try replacing each of them with 1 “chia egg” (1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel).
BEST Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 18 mins
Optional chilling time: 10 mins
Yield: 24 cookies
This easy gluten free peanut butter cookies recipe, made in the classic crosshatch style, is rich with tons of peanut butter flavor.
Ingredients
- ▢1 ½ cups (385 g) smooth no-stir peanut butter
- ▢4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter, chopped
- ▢1 ½ cups (210 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, (I used Better Batter; click for details)
- ▢½ teaspoon xanthan gum, omit if your blend already contains it
- ▢1 teaspoon baking soda
- ▢¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ▢½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ▢½ cup (109 g) packed light brown sugar
- ▢2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs, at room temperature, beaten
- ▢1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ▢Granulated sugar for dipping or sprinkling, optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line large rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and set them aside.
- In a small, heavy-bottom saucepan or a microwave-safe bowl, place the peanut butter and chopped butter. Place the saucepan over medium-low heat (or in the microwave for about 45 seconds on high) and stir until melted and smooth (about 2 minutes). Set aside to cool briefly.
- In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, salt and granulated sugar, and whisk to combine well. Add the light brown sugar, and whisk again to combine, working out any lumps.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the melted peanut butter and butter mixture. Mix to combine.
- Add the beaten eggs and vanilla, and mix again to combine well. The cookie dough will be soft and sticky.
- If the cookie dough is too sticky or soft to handle, or it feels particularly greasy, cover it and refrigerate it for 10 minutes or less. If you refrigerate it for too long, the dough will become crumbly.
- Pull or scoop off pieces of dough, each about 2 tablespoons in volume. Roll each piece of dough into a round between your palms.
- Press the ball into a disk about 1/2-inch thick and place about 1 1/2-inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Wet the tines of a salad fork, dip in the optional extra sugar, and press the tines firmly into the top of each cookie. (See Recipe Notes)
- Wet the tines again, and press them again into the top of the same cookies in the opposite direction to make a crosshatch pattern.
- Place the cookies, one baking sheet at a time, in the center of the preheated oven and bake.
- For less crunchy cookies, bake until pale golden all over (about 15 minutes). For very crunchy cookies, bake until uniformly golden brown all over (about 18 minutes).
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet until set (at least 5 minutes) before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- The cookies will be very fragile when they first come out of the oven, so it is very important to let them sit on the baking sheet until they are set. They will crisp as they cool.
Notes
About dipping the fork in sugar: When you dip the fork in sugar, it sticks mostly to the top of the fork. Instead, I often prefer to sprinkle the tops of the cookies with the additional sugar after shaping. Republished: Recipe originally published on the blog in 2013; modified again in 2016, and once more in 2021. Method tweaked, added photos, video, and text; recipe ingredients unchanged.
Keto Peanut Butter Cookies
This quick and easy keto peanut butter cookie recipe is soft, chewy, and delicious, with no sugar or eggs required.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup peanut butter, or nut butter of choice
- 1 tbsp milk of choice
- 2/3 cup finely ground almond flour
- 3 tbsp powdered erythritol or powdered sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
Instructions
- *See recipe earlier in this post if you prefer to make 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies.If not already easily stir-able, gently heat nut butter until runny. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Stir dry ingredients very well. Stir in nut butter and milk to form a dough. Roll balls, then flatten into thick cookies (see photo above). Bake on the center rack 10 minutes. Take out when still undercooked. Let cool completely, because they firm up as they cool.
Nutrition – Low Carb Peanut Butter Cookies
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 16 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 64 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 5.6g | 7% |
| Saturated Fat 0.6g | 3% |
| Cholesterol 0mg | 0% |
| Sodium 21mg | 1% |
| Total Carbohydrate 2g | 1% |
| Dietary Fiber 1.1g | 4% |
| Total Sugars 0.5g | |
| Protein 2.7g | |
| Vitamin D 0mcg | 0% |
| Calcium 18mg | 1% |
| Iron 0mg | 3% |
| Potassium 80mg | 2% |
Net carbs: less than 1g
Weight Watchers SmartPoints: 2 points per peanut butter cookie
