Don’t be fooled by the simple ingredient list, these gluten free peanut butter cookies taste just like the real thing, but without the flour! They’re thin but chewy and bursting with peanut butter flavor.
These cookies were a true labor of love to perfect, but oh my gosh it was worth it! I went through many iterations of these to try and get the perfectly crinkly top while keeping them nice and chewy. I didn’t want the dry and crumbly cookie with fork marks, just a classic rich peanut butter flavor and chewy texture!
I know these look thin and therefore maybe even crispy, but these are CHEWY ya’ll. Mark my word there will never be a crunchy cookie recipe on this blog lol.
Of course, if crispy cookies are your thing you can easily just bake these for longer. BUT, if you follow the instructions you’ll end up with thin & chewy cookies with a rich peanut butter flavor.
Plus, they’re naturally oil free, butter free and have 8 grams of protein per cookie. Dare I call these healthy cookies?! This recipe is not vegan, but you can try my vegan/GF peanut butter cookies made with almond flour!
Instructions
In a medium mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the sugar and peanut butter.
Beat in all remaining ingredients until combined. The dough might look kind of weird and crumbly at this point.
Use a wooden spoon to finish mixing until it resembles a more normal cookie dough.
Use a 1.5 inch/medium cookie scoop and scoop the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The cookies will spread, so keep them a few inches apart.
Sprinkle on additional sugar on top of the cookies if desired.
Bake for 15-18 minutes. During the final 5 minutes, remove the cookies from the oven and slam the baking sheet down (on your counter, stove top or other tough surface).
This step is optional, but it will help the cookies spread properly and give them a nice crackly top. Even if they spread a lot, they’ll still be chewy, don’t worry!
Remove from the oven and use a round cookie cutter to scoot around the edges to get a perfectly round shape. They’ll be very delicate until they finish cooling, so avoid touching them (aside from the scooting) until fully cool.
Once cool, sprinkle with flakey salt and enjoy!
The key to crackly and crinkly tops
Not using flour. Since these are flourless cookies, these cookies are free to spread and crackle. Too much flour can prevent cookies from spreading at all, so we don’t have to worry about that with these. Not using flour also means these cookies won’t be dry and crumbly like some other recipes!
A lower oven temperature. A lower oven temperature and slightly longer baking time allows the cookies to spread and get crackly tops without drying out or becoming crunchy. They’ll stay super chewy but get thin and crackly- my favorite!
Just the right amount of baking soda. Too much baking soda and you’ll end up with one singular blob of what is supposed to be cookies but definitely doesn’t look like cookies (it’s happened), but too little and they won’t spread at all. Just 1/2 tsp in this recipe is perfect for crackly tops!
Frequently asked questions
How do I keep cookies chewy? You should have no problems keeping these gluten free peanut butter cookies nice and chewy for several days! Especially if you’re like me and always take cookies out of the oven prematurely because the idea of crunchy cookies is just an absolute no for me. Anyone else?!
The best thing to do is keep them in a sealed container at room temperature to prevent them from getting stale and hard.
Can I use another sugar? This recipe calls for 3/4 cup of granulated sugar plus 2 tbsp of maple syrup. The maple syrup adds a nice subtle maple flavor that pairs really well with the peanut butter. As for the granulated sugar, I highly recommend sticking to just white cane sugar!
White sugar will keep the cookies lighter in color and give them the best spread and crinkly tops. Light brown will also work but will give them a slightly darker color. I don’t recommend coconut as this will change the way the cookies spread.
Can I make them vegan? I don’t recommend it! This recipe calls for one egg, and since there is no flour, it is a key ingredient to bind everything together. Instead, you can try my vegan and gluten free peanut butter cookies!
Try these next!
- Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Blondies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Flourless Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies
by: claire cary
Ingredients
- 1 cup runny natural peanut butter only ingredients should be peanuts and salt
- ¾ cup granulated cane sugar
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- optional: 1/4 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (not 350!)
- In a medium mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the sugar and peanut butter.
- Beat in all remaining ingredients until combined. The dough might look kind of weird and crumbly at this point.
- Use a wooden spoon to finish mixing until it resembles a more normal cookie dough.
- Use a 1.5-2 inch medium cookie scoop and scoop the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The cookies will spread, so keep them a few inches apart.
- Sprinkle on additional sugar on top of the cookies if desired.
- Bake for 13-18 minutes, depending on your oven. They should have crackly tops and a slightly golden bottom when they're done. They will harden quite a bit as they cool. During the final 5 minutes, remove the cookies from the oven and slam the baking sheet down (on your counter, stove top or other tough surface). This step is optional, but it will help the cookies spread properly and give them a nice crackly top. Even if they spread a lot, they'll still be chewy, don't worry!
- Remove from the oven and let cool. They'll be very delicate until they finish cooling, so avoid touching them until fully cool.
- Once cool, sprinkle with salt flakes and enjoy!
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