This recipe for Flourless Peanut Butter cookies is one I shared back in 2007 when I was craving homemade peanut butter cookies. The picture needs and update, but the recipe is still great! I've added the metric weights since I now do most all of my baking with a scale.
Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
I was craving homemade peanut butter cookies today and made some of these. I’m the only one who likes peanut butter around here, so I scaled the recipe down to 10 cookies and put those measurements at the bottom for others who don't need 40 cookies. Normal Peanut butter-loving households will want to make the full batch. Just be careful because these guys are addictive. They come out of the oven puffy, soft and hot and firm up as they cool.
Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
1 large egg
200 grams granulated sugar (1 cup)
1 teaspoon baking soda
250 grams creamy peanut butter (1 cup)
½ teaspoon Mexican vanilla or any vanilla
⅓ cup chopped peanuts, to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a mixing bowl, beat together egg, sugar, baking soda and vanilla. I use an electric mixer for this, but you can do it with a whisk. Beat in the peanut butter and stir in the peanuts.
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Cookies will look puffy and soft when the come out of the oven, but they sink and firm up as they cool.
Makes about 40 cookies
Small Batch Cookie Recipe
Small Batch: Use about a tablespoon of beaten egg, ¼ cup granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ cup peanut butter, a little dash of vanilla and a tablespoon of chopped peanuts.
Katrina says
Just pulled these out of the oven. Ok, I've made them a number of times. I was just surprised to see that I had never commented. They are a great, perfect peanut butter cookie. My 10 year old said he wanted to make some peanut butter cookies. These are super easy (perfect for someone like me who isn't standing in the kitchen so much any more these days). 🙁 Can't even tell you how much I miss it! But we did get these made today!
Chef Adam says
Hi, Anna, great recipe! I teach a cooking class for individuals with developmental disabilities, focusing on healthy meal choices; I'm always hunting for simple, easy to follow recipes that are comparatively healthy. One of our class goals is to minimize the use of refined and overly processed ingredients in our cooking, and producing palatable snack/dessert items is one of the biggest challenges. Thank you very much for this tasty addition to our repertoire!
San says
Hi. I'd like to try this recipe, but I am wondering how long the baked cookies can be stored for?
Anna says
Good luck, Jenny! Some day I'd like to try Tim Horton's.
Jenny says
Hi Anna! I am very excited to try this recipe! My dad really loves the peanut butter cookies from Tim Hortons and I told him I can make the same cookies as them, and the picture of your cookies look exactly like them! Thanks for the recipe!
Anna says
Hi Finn,
This is a fun one. I think I tried it with almond butter once, but my favorite version is still peanut butter.
Finn says
Hi!
This is my favorite pb cookie recipe ever. I make these all the time! I usually make them with the super chunky peanut butter that I almost always have on hand, and it works out just fine. Also, I added milk chocolate chips to these cookies and they became my husband's all-time favorite cookies of all time. Thank you!
Have you ever tried making cookies with other nut butters? Like pecan butter? Or almond butter? Pecan Butter Cookies...sounds interesting, right?
Love your site, and thanks again for the delicious recipe!
-Finn
Anna says
Hi Laurie,
Here are a few recipes that might work for you.
https://www.cookiemadness.net/2008/12/a-good-cookie-for-kids/
https://www.cookiemadness.net/2008/05/wheat-dairy-free-peanut-butter-chocolate-chunk-sandwich-cookies/
https://www.cookiemadness.net/2008/08/wheat-free-vegan-oatmeal-peanut-butter-chocolate-chunk-cookies/
This one is actually for brownies, but I thought I'd throw it out there anyway ;).
https://www.cookiemadness.net/2008/06/wheat-free-hazelnut-brownies-no-gums/
Laurie says
Hi Anna and all ... I have Celiac Disease which does not allow me to have wheat, barley, rye or oats .. love the peanut butter cookies ... do you or anyone else have any other cookie recipes or other recipes that do not use the above ingredients? Thank you all so much !! Hugs to everyone : )
tatiana says
I just threw a bath of these in the oven! Im 12 years old and me and my sister baked them together! So easy, so fast! Im so excited to taste them, and see the look on my parents and neighbors faces!
Anna says
Glad you liked them!
ntrlmama says
These are great! I am not eating sugar, white flour or nuts right now (my husband has a nut allergy and I am nursing our son) and have been craving peanut butter cookies. I used the agave variation and substituted sunbutter for the peanut butter and they are delicious! I bet my children will think so after dinner as well. Thanks so much, it's always hard to find really tasty recipes using only the ingredients I eat these days.
Brittney B. says
good job Teesia a double batch is better 🙂
Brittney B. says
why would you want less hahahaha
(ps)i am a cookie lover and im a little kid
Teesia says
I did a double batch. i like to bring cookies to work with me, and i know my co workers enjoy it.
i did a few things differently, and i'm currently baking them, have not gotten to taste yet.
I took 2 eggs, with a splash of milk and beat it with an electric mixer for about 30 sec. took 1 3/4 cup white sugar 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1 tsp vanilla, beat with electric mixer for about 1-2 min, until smoothe. then i added 2/4 cup milk chocolate/peanutbutter chips, along with 2 cups peanut butter and a dash of salt, beat it again with electric mixer.
Anna says
Leigh, thanks for the feedback! I'm going to have to try your method as a new recipe.
Right now I'm out of agave, but this is a good excuse to buy more.
Leigh says
I forgot to add, I took a picture of the end result if you are interested. They looked beautiful!
Leigh says
They turned out fabulous! I made the smaller batch and had to alter it a little. 1 tbsp. beaten egg with 3 tbsp. agave nectar beaten until frothy. Then added baking soda and the mex. vanilla and beat again. Then folded in 2 oz of creamy PB. It was very thin, so I ended up adding about another 3 teaspoons of PB to get it to hold. I didn't have any plain peanuts so omitted them. I dropped them by the tablespoon on parchment and although the batter was very sticky-gooey, they baked up well! I baked them at 325 for 10 minutes. They turned out beautiful and were melt-in-your-mouth! Soft, cakey, fluffy and airy - not overly sweet and very mild. Definitely a winner, esp for a "diet" cookie!
Anna says
Leigh, I don't know about that. If you try it, let us know how it works.
Leigh says
Any ideas on substituting agave nectar for the sugar? I'm tempted to make a batch but am on a no sugar/no flour diet ;P
Anna says
Kathy, mine were fairly small -- about a half oz each. I also used a fairly "good" cup of peanut butter so I might have had a little more dough. Not sure. Looks like the yield is all over the place. At least the cookies are good.
Kathy says
Enjoyed the cookie!
However, I didn't even come close to making 40 making cookies. You must make real small cookies.
I made 13 out of the full recipe.
Carly says
I made these cookies last night with splenda instead of sugar and they are delicious! When using splenda they don't "sink" back down, so I pressed them with the traditional fork marks (before baking) and it worked beautifully!
Hazel says
My boyfrien and roommate were bugging me to bake some peanutbutter cookies. I was thinking of just making the regular cookies with flour, but I saw this - I had to try it! I'm hoping that without the flour, the peanut butter taste would be more evident!
Three more minutes to go..
Charlotte Bradley says
Hi Anna,
We made these yesterday and they were delicious! Perfect texture and very decadent. My twins wouldn't stop tasting the batter as they wanted to make sure it wasn't poisonous .. Had no peanuts so just left them out and put a chocolate chip in the middle of each one when they came out of the oven. Yummy and easy, awesome recipe.
Charlotte
Charlotte says
Thanks for the recipe. I just printed it and will be trying it with my kids when they get home from school in about half an hour. I am always looking for interesting wheat-free recipes as a few members of my family follow wheat free diets.
carissa says
these were delicious but i was wondering why did they come out live arock shape
Kellie says
i have a passion for peanut butter..i need to try these. =P
Anna says
Hi Colin,
I had to laugh at your first post. I thought maybe you didn't trust the whole "flourless" concept and "dropped in" 1/4 cup flour. Thanks for the clarification. Good call on adding the extra salt! I love sweet & salty.
Colin says
whoops. I meant to say I dropped out a 1/4 cup of peanut butter.
Also, only had chunky in the house and it worked great. Added a touch more salt to get the sweet/salty thing.
Colin says
These went over with a bang in my house. I can't keep them more than 2 days. Wife and kids love 'em.
Made a slight variation for myself. Dropped 1/4 cup flour, added 2-3 tsp baking coacoa, and chocolate chips.
devon says
cookies were great. i added a little coco
powder in the batter ,and it was delicious.
my cookies came out a little dry but i must have overbaked them a little so just watch out!
michelle says
i used 1 cup skippy peanut butter, 1 cup sugar, and one egg. i mixed all three together.
should have added the peanut butter last.
the cookies kind of tasted good but crumbled when i touched them.
and forgot the baking soda!
can you name the brands of ingredients i should try to get cookies like in your picture?
AppetiteforChina says
I just made these yesterday and they turned out great! I used chunky instead of smooth peanut butter, so the cookies came out very crunchy. I'll definitely make these again the next time I run out of butter!
Debbi says
I just made these for my kids' cousin who is wheat and dairy free. They are delicious! Mine were pretty small and I got 34 cookies. Mine didn't sink at all. They stayed very thick but not still in a ball. I used Chunky Honey Nut Skippy and regular vanilla. I also used the mixer and I agree that might have gave them more "fluff". We don't do peanut butter too often as some of my daycare kids are allergic to peanuts but I'll for sure be making these again!
mzachem says
I added 1/4 c ground flaxseed. Turned out super!
carol says
These are the best!!!
I only had 3/4 cup of peanut butter, so I put in 1/4 cup of wheat germ and they are fantastic!!!!
e says
Thank you SO much for the small batch recipe. I always appreciate that.
Anna says
Hi Rhonda,
I have some Smart Balance, so I'll check.
Rhonda says
I love your site and visit daily.
I tried these cookies and would love feedback as to why they didn't turn out like the pic?
I expected them to spread, they did not. They remained little peanutty mounds, while tasty, didn't have the visual appeal I was looking for.
I used the same ingridients listed. I'm thinking the culprit might be the peanut butter. I used Smart Balance with no hydrogenated oils. Can that be the reason?
Paula from Only Cookware says
I made these the other day Anna. I couldn't believe how quick and easy these were. Just had two now with a cup of tea....yum! You can see the results here - http://www.only-cookware.com/blog/2007/10/20/peanut-butter-cookies-the-easiest-recipe-ever/
Anna says
Laura, I had the same problem. I could have easily eaten all 10.
I did manage to save some, and they still taste fresh on day 2.
Laura says
I just made these and they were delicious! They melt in your mouth. I'm quite ashamed to say that I just ate three--I couldn't stop! There goes my diet...
They were well worth it 🙂
Anna says
I use a brand called La Vencedora. I buy it at Central Market, but it can also be purchased on-line. Just put it in Google.
Judy says
Anna - What brand Mexican vanilla do you use and where do you get it?
Anna says
About the structure. One thing I did which may have helped make the cookies so pretty is I beat the sugar and egg with an electric mixer on high rather than just beating it with a spoon. I'm thinking maybe the high speed beating whipped some air into the batter AND helped dissolve the sugar more leading to a nice structure.
It's an easy recipe to play around with, especially if you just make 10 cookies.
Also, if you have a scale, you can avoid measuring the peanut butter with a measuring cup. I put the mixing bowl on the scale, set the tare to "0" and added 2 1/2 ounces (weight) of peanut butter. Peanut butter weighs a bit more than its volume. That is, 2 ounces volume weighs about 2 1/2 ounces or something like that.
Lisa Ernst says
I was just trying to conjure up something similar to this cookie in my head, and here it is! I'm amazed that the cookie can have this much structure and texture without any flour. I imagine that just enhances the taste. I'll have to add chocolate chips. 🙂
Paula from Only Cookware says
I'm definitely going to try this one. I just happen to have all the ingredients except the Mexican vanilla but I will just use regular vanilla essence and see how it goes.
Kim says
2 X 4 Peanut Butter Cookies
2 cups crunchy peanut butter
2 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
Mix together. Roll into tablespoon sized balls and flatten in crisscross pattern with fork. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, or until edges are slightly browned.
These are an old standby in my house, and the kids love 'em!
Anna says
I buy giant bottles of Mexican vanilla and I always have it on hand. But you can use any vanilla. Some people don't add vanilla at all, but I like the flavor it adds.
Judy says
Anna, these look amazing. I want to try them but I don't have Mexican vanilla.
Emilie says
I like this recipe because you used the peanut butter as the fat, which makes sense. I've had too many greasy peanut butter baked goods.
Anna says
Gigi, yes. I used salted peanuts. I like the sweet/salty combo.
Gigi says
This might be a silly question, but did you use salted peanuts?
Kelly says
Wow... these look really puffy compared to other flourless recipes I have tried. I must try!
Anj says
I love this recipe, but have never figured out how to make a small batch -- thanks! I use Mexican vanilla too. I think it makes baked goods taste extra special.
Paige says
Yummy! There's a flourless peanut butter cookie in One Smart Cookie that we like too!
maria~ says
Wow! I'm a peanut butter nut myself. I must try this recipe soon! Thanks for sharing.
Debbi says
How is Mexican vanilla different from regular vanilla?? Just a stronger flavor?