If you love the taste of peanut butter cookies, but want a healthier or perhaps, gluten-free option, these almond-flour peanut butter cookies are here for you! They have the nutty flavor of almond flour and the rich taste of peanut butter, and made with just five simple ingredients, so they’re sure to become a new family favorite!
This post contains helpful tips and tricks! If you’re in a rush, please use the “Jump to Recipe” above!
💭 Why you’ll love this recipe
- Allergy-friendly and delicious. The combination of nutty almond flour and rich peanut butter makes these almond flour peanut butter cookies positively heavenly. And since they’re gluten-free and dairy-free, they’re perfect for people with food allergies, high blood sugar levels or sensitivities.
- Easy to make and pantry-friendly. They’re super easy to make – all you need is a bowl, a spoon, and a baking sheet. Plus, they only take about 25 minutes to bake, so you can have fresh cookies in no time!
- Possibilities are endless. Almond flour peanut butter cookies are versatile and can be customized to your liking. For example, you can add chocolate chips, raisins, or nuts to the dough before baking. Or, you can drizzle them with melted chocolate or top them with frosting after they’ve cooled.
📋 Ingredients and notes
To make these cookies, you’ll need almond flour, peanut butter, baking powder, maple syrup (if you’re vegan) or honey, and vanilla extract.
Notes and Variations
- Swap almond flour with other nut flours. Both sunflower seed flour and sesame flour are acceptable replacements to the almond flour (1:1 ratio!)
- Peanut butter alternative: You can use any type of nut butter in this recipe, whether it’s peanut butter, almond butter, or seed butter. Just make sure the nut butter doesn’t have any additives in it! You can use crunchy peanut butter or smooth peanut butter here based on your favorite texture. P.S., if you have extra peanut butter, consider making these date snickers!
- Make a ketogenic almond flour peanut butter cookies. If you want your cookies to be ketogenic, substitute the maple syrup with a sugar-free liquid syrup. This should be made from fiber syrup or monk fruit because other sugar-free syrups is composed of water, which makes the cookies soft.
📖 Make amazing almond flour peanut butter cookies!
First, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350°F
In a large mixing bowl combine the peanut butter, maple syrup, and vanilla extract until well blended and smooth. You can use an electric mixer or just a spatula to do this.
Add almond flour and baking powder until a cookie dough forms. You’re welcome to add mix-ins of your choice here too – chocolate chunks are usually a great add at this stage.
Divide the dough into 10 equal parts, roll it into balls using the palm of your hands and place them on a lined baking sheet in a single layer (leave 1 inch between them).
Then, flatten them with the back of the fork to form a classic crisscross pattern on the top of the cookie. You can also add a pinch of salt (or flaky sea salt!) on top if you want to balance out the sweet flavor. Sometimes I’ll sprinkle a dash of brown sugar or coconut sugar if I’m feeling super indulgent.
Bake for 8 minutes or until golden brown. Sometimes this can take up to 10-12 minutes depending on your oven!
For best results, let them cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
👩🏽🍳 Tips for the fluffiest Almond Flour Peanut Butter Cookies!
Here are my top four tips will have you whipping up perfect almond flour peanut butter cookies in no time.
- Use the right peanut butter The type of peanut butter you use in your cookie dough will have a big impact on the flavor of your cookies. I use natural, unrefined peanut butter for the best flavor! Plus, you’ll avoid adding any extra sugar or preservatives.
- Wet your fork or spatula to avoid sticking. If you want to keep the fork from getting stuck in your cookie dough, moisten it first!
- Baked goods with almond flour tend to bake faster, so keep an eye on your cookies to ensure they don’t burn!
- Cool the cookies completely. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes after taking them out of the oven! They will be incredibly soft initially, but will gradually become crispy on the outside and moist in the center as they sit.
👩🏽🍳 Troubleshooting FAQs
Almond flour is a bit denser than all-purpose flour, so your cookies will spread more. Another thing to keep in mind is that almond flour doesn’t contain gluten, so your cookies might not be as chewy as you’re used to.
Almond flour is lower in carbs and denser than regular flour. This makes it a good option for people who are watching their sugar or carb intake. However, almond flour can also be more expensive than regular flour.
Natural peanut butter is made without the addition of sugar or other sweeteners, so it can be a great option for those watching sugar intake. In addition, natural peanut butter is typically lower in calories and fat compared to traditional peanut butter.
Almond flour cookies can fall apart more easily than other types of cookies because they don’t have gluten to bind them together. But adding the peanut butter helps!
Almond meal and flour are both made from ground almonds. But the former is made from unpeeled almonds, while flour is made from blanched ones without almond skins.
🍴 Serving and storage suggestions
These peanut butter cookies are dairy and egg-free, which means they can last at room temperature in an air-tight container for up to 5 days.
Alternatively, you could freeze them in a plastic bag for up to 2 months, then bake a couple as of it when cravings strike – or go all out and prepare a whole tray if friends unexpectedly visit.
Have more almond flour on hand? Make these almond flour brownies too!
If you’re in the mood for cookies, these are best served with a glass of milk. If you want to mix it up and try some other recipes, here are a few of my favorites:
If you tried this recipe, don’t forget to comment and rate! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Almond Flour Peanut Butter Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup peanut butter
- 3 tablespoon maple syrup , substitute honey if not vegan
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup almond flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the peanut butter, maple syrup, and vanilla extract until well blended and smooth.
- Add almond flour and baking powder until a cookie dough forms.
- Divide the dough into 10 equal parts, roll it into balls and place them on the lined baking sheet. (leave 1 inch between them) and flatten them with the back of the fork to form the classic cross pattern on top.
- Bake for 8 minutes or until golden. Let them cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Notes
- Use the right peanut butter: I use natural, unrefined peanut butter for the best flavor! Plus, you’ll avoid adding any extra sugar or preservatives.
- Wet your fork or spatula to avoid sticking. If you want to keep the fork from getting stuck in your cookie dough, moisten it first!
- Baked goods with almond flour tend to bake faster, so keep an eye on your cookies to ensure they don’t burn!
- Cool the cookies completely. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes after taking them out of the oven! They will be incredibly soft initially, but will gradually become crispy on the outside and moist in the center as they sit.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I want to make these for my vegan and gluten-intolerant friends, but I don’t understand something… It says to roll the dough into 10 balls. But the recipe says the serving amount is 20 cookies.
Hi! Sorry, the note got left out – you can either make 10 large cookies or 20 small bite-sized cookies!
That makes sense. Thank you for getting back to me.