I've always liked making Peanut Butter Protein Cookies, but my old recipe had a lot of ingredients, and too much sugar for a supposedly "healthy" cookie. My goal this weekend was to create a new version with a simpler ingredient list, very little sugar and -- plot twist -- no whey protein powder. It cranks up my migraine symptoms, so I've switched to pure peanut powder. And I didn't want to use eggs either, so these are also egg-free.
These protein cookies are easy and a lot of fun because you just stir everything together. Their texture is soft and crumbly, and they are not terribly sweet, but rather very strong on peanut butter. The cookies are going to be different from kitchen to kitchen based on the brand of peanut butter and type of sweetener. Picking the right sweetener was tough!
Sweetening Peanut Butter Protein Cookies
First, I tested with brown sugar. As usual, it was the best. Next up was Truvia Sweet & Complete Brown. My taste tester (Todd) liked the Truvia, but I didn't love the cool mouth effect. They did have the best texture, so if you like Truvia and are not sensitive to the aftertaste, that would be a good choice. Allulose powder was next, and as predicted the cookies came out way too soft, plus I needed almost a half cup to get any sweetness. And I did another test with Monk Fruit in the Raw, which resulted in weird textured cookies that weren't sweet enough. When I get around to ordering some, I'll be making the next batches with Magic Baker or Swerve Brown.
Ingredient Rundown
- Peanut Butter -- Teddie salted, smooth peanut butter or Natural Skippy. Teddie is not sweetened, while Natural Skippy is and will give you a sweeter cookie. Both work well.
- Greek Yogurt -- Whole milk type, but yogurt with less fat will be fine.
- Sweetener -- See above! Your favorite or just use brown sugar or weigh out 60 grams of coconut sugar.
- Pure Peanut Butter Powder -- Richard's brand, but any should work. Use 24 grams, which is ¼ cup
- Almond Flour -- King Arthur Blanched Extra Fine
- Salt -- Cookies only need the tiniest pinch because there's salt in the peanut butter. If using unsalted peanut butter, use a bigger pinch
- Chocolate Chips -- I used Ghirardelli Bittersweet for the cookies in the photos.
- Vanilla -- Kirkland
Recipe
Peanut Butter Protein Cookies New Improved Version!
Ingredients
- ¼ cup peanut butter, sweetened or unsweetened (64 grams)
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt (60 grams)
- ¼ cup brown sugar blend erythritol blend with like Truvia, Swerve or Magic Baker OR packed brown sugar (55-60 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons peanut powder (24 grams)
- 2 tablespoons finely ground almond flour (16 grams)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tiny pinch of salt
- ¼ cup Ghirardelli bittersweet chips (42 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F . Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix together the peanut butter, Greek yogurt, brown sugar and vanilla extract.
- In another bowl, whisk together the peanut butter powder, almond flour, baking soda and salt and add to peanut butter mixture. Stir to form a soft dough. If the dough is very dry, add ½ teaspoon of water or almond milk just until holds together. I did not have problems with dryness, but this could vary with brands of peanut butter and types of sweetener.
- Stir in the chocolate chips or wait and poke them in later.
- Shape dough into 10 balls, then flatten slightly with a fork for a classic peanut butter cookie look or just press down lightly. If you didn't mix the chips in already, poke chips in the cookie rounds.
- Bake for 9–12 minutes, until edges are golden.
- Let cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Let cool completely before eating. The texture really improves when the cookies are completely cool. I sometimes speed things up by putting them in the freezer.
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