The most delicious Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies only 4 ingredients, made in 1 bowl, gluten-free and ready in 20 minutes! These are so easy to make, soft and chewy with a crispy exterior, thanks to a rolled coconut sugar coating. They are also gluten-free and oil-free.
*This post was originally published on 1-21-2013 and has been updated with better instructions and new photos.
4 INGREDIENT PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
I love peanut butter and I love these vegan peanut butter cookies, even more. It should be illegal how delicious and easy these cookies are. No, really…they can be yours in 20 minutes. If you love peanut butter as much as I do, then be sure to make these Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies as well, they are divine!
I used to be obsessed with the peanut butter cookies at Subway. Believe it or not, Subway happens to have some really good cookies. Well, these have replaced those….and you only need 4 ingredients! If you are allergic to peanut butter, make these Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies instead, which are a variation of these.
Basically these vegan peanut butter cookies are perfection. They are crispy, golden, sweet and absolutely delicious. The coconut sugar gives them that extra flavor and crunch. In other words, the perfect cookie texture. By making them with almond flour and maple syrup, it keeps them super moist and oil-free, as well as gluten-free. Most peanut butter cookies are made with eggs, however, these you can safely eat the raw dough, no eggs!
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
All you need to make these cookies are:
- Superfine blanched almond flour: I like the Honeyville, King Arthur, Wellbee’s and Nuts.com brands best.
- Peanut butter: Use one with no added oils or sugar. Mine only has added salt.
- Maple syrup
- Coconut sugar: To roll the cookies in. This makes these vegan peanut butter cookies more unique than traditional peanut butter cookies. It adds a crunchy layer and a sweet taste. It is so good!
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
Step 1: Add the ingredients to a large bowl, except the coconut sugar.
Step 2: Mix until a thick, cohesive batter forms into a stiff ball.
Step 3: Use a cookie scoop to get even cookie sizes and roll into balls with your hands.
Step 4: Place each cookie into the coconut sugar and roll them around to coat them well.
Step 5: Place each ball onto the pan, spaced about 2 inches apart.
Step 6: Flatten each ball with a fork, going in both directions, in a criss-cross pattern.
Step 7: Bake 8-10 minutes until golden brown.
MORE VEGAN COOKIE RECIPES
- Almond Butter Blossoms
- Old-Fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- Crispy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Best Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Grain-free Chocolate Coconut Cookies
- Grain-free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (made with cashew butter)
- Vegan Thin Mints
*This post contains affiliate links. See my full disclosure policy here.
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies (4 Ingredients!)
Ingredients
- 1 cup (112g) superfine blanched almond flour
- 1/2 cup (128g) creamy natural peanut butter, with no added sugars or oils (mine contains a trace amount of salt, if yours doesn't, then add a 1/4 tsp salt)
- 1/4 cup (80g) pure maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons coconut sugar to roll the cookies in
NOTE
- When measuring almond flour, it is a good idea to use a scale for accurate measurements. Otherwise, scoop out an overflowing cup from the bag and gently pat it down, then level off with a knife or your finger.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 375°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- To a large bowl, add the almond flour, peanut butter and syrup. Stir for a few minutes until the dough comes together into a very thick ball.
- Add the coconut sugar to a separate bowl or plate. Roll the batter into small balls, 10-12. I used my cookie scoop and got exactly 11.
- Roll each ball well in the coconut sugar until coated all around.
- Place each ball on the prepared pan about 2 inches apart. Press down each cookie gently with the back of a fork in a criss-cross pattern.. Don't completely flatten, they should be about a 1/2 inch thick, as in the picture.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the tops have slightly cracked. Do not over-bake or they can turn dry. I took mine out at 9 minutes. They should be slightly crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. Cool for 10 minutes, they will crisp up as they cool.
- Use a thin metal spatula and transfer each cookie to cool completely on a cooling rack. If you try to remove them while still warm or with your fingers, they will fall apart.
This recipe is genius!!! So delicious, healthy and quickly prepared.
Thanks!
Just made those yummies, I’m not crazy about just peanut butter so I mixed almond butter and cashew butter then rolled them in a mix of coconut sugar and date sugar plus added dairy free chocolate chips on top. They came out so moist inside and crispy outside just like you said. Thanks again for a easy and quick preparation for a super delicious treat.
Awesome to hear Diane!
These cookies are so easy and quick to make and taste delicious. I wish I had made two batches. I will make them
again and again. Thank you very much….
LiLo
Lovely to hear, thank you Lilo!
This recipe looks so good.
Is it possible to swap the coconut sugar for a different alternative granular sugar?
Yes, you can use any sugar you like!
These are yummy. I added a dash of vanilla and used almond butter. Careful, you can eat these really FAST!
Thanks.
Haha, that is what I did for my almond butter version here, check out the recipe! https://thevegan8.com/almond-butter-chocolate-chip-cookies-vegan-gluten-free/
I make these ALL the time! So good and easy to make. I actually ran out of almond flour this last time. I had about half of what was called for and I’d already added it to the peanut butter so I had to sub in some oat flour. I was scared I ruined them but they still came out delicious!
Brandi, these are better than conventional peanut butter cookies, which can be so heavy. Perfect flavor and consistency. Thank you for sharing.
Yay, so glad to hear this, thank you Jackelin!
Of making these with almond butter how much almond butter should I use since you stated that an even swap doesn’t work as well. Also why do you roll the balls in coconut sugar? Do they still turn out good workout rolling them in coconut sugar?
Hi! See the 2nd paragraph in the post, I linked to the almond butter version there. I used coconut sugar because it gives a wonderful texture to the outside of the cookies compared to every other peanut butter cookie recipe. It really adds that extra oomph in flavor and texture. There is not a lot of sweetener in the cookie base, so I think it tastes really good with the sugar coating.
Are you kidding me! These are incredible! We made them tonight and I am amazed at what just a few simple ingredients can do. Brandi you keep amazing me!!
Aww so happy to hear it Samantha, thank you so much for making them and the kind words!
I used coconut flour instead of almond. They didn’t hold well together so I added a little avocado oil
Still cooling down.
Yes, unfortunately coconut flour is not a sub for almond flour, or any flour for that matter, in a one to one ratio. Coconut flour is 5 times more absorbent than other flours, especially almond flour. Coconut flour makes things very very dry, sucks all the moisture from batter and bakes up very dry, crumbly and almost leaves a sand-like texture. It can only be used in conjunction with other flours and in very small amounts, for it to work properly. Almond flour provides the amazing texture and a ton of moisture here for the cookies, there isn’t a sub unfortunately for cookies that rely on almond flour as the main ingredient.
I used coconut flour instead of almond flour and it didn’t work at all. I don’t know if there’s a big difference between the two but I don’t see how this recipe can work with no oil or butter. It was a dry crumbly mess. They didn’t even bake like cookies, just dry crumbly balls. I even added another 1/4 cup of maple syrup, at this point I was able to form one giant ball but when I tried to scoop and flatten the dough it just crumbled. So I put it in the oven as balls and nothing happened. I can’t see how anyone got this to turn out well without adding some kind of oil.
Kathleen-the reason your cookies did not turn out is because you didn’t follow the recipe and subbed coconut flour. Coconut flour and almond flour are complete opposites. Almond flour is HIGH fat and full of moisture, which is why the cookies work workout without adding oil and why you see tons of positive reviews for them. Coconut flour has practically NO fat, is extremely drying and crumbly and is about 5 times MORE absorbent than regular flour, especially almond flour. Anytime you use coconut flour, you are completely altering the result and should NEVER be used as a sub in a recipe, but only used in recipes that actually call for it, as the remainder of the recipe will account for the drying effect of coconut flour. If you follow the recipe using almond flour, as listed, you will see how they work perfectly. Additionally, I removed your 1 star rating, as it isn’t fair to give a low rating to my recipe hurting the overall rating, when you changed it.
These cookies are so great, I make them all time when I need a quick treat! I usually use crunchy natural peanut butter because that’s what I buy.
Do you think these would work with your pecan butter recipe instead of peanut butter?
Wow! I must say I was hesitant at first with so few ingredients but these blew me away! I ate 4 right out of the oven. This will definitely be my new go to peanut butter cookie recipe! Do you think it would change it much if I added chocolate chips next time? They don’t need it but sometimes I like the combo 🙂
Thanks!
Yay! Yes, chocolate chips should be yummy!!
I enjoyed this recipe. I think that my almond flour was a little too mealy. Nice quick and in a pinch recipe!
Yum!
So easy so delicious so healthy, too. The best recipe of peanut butter cookies I know.
These are delectable, Brandi. Every recipe of yours I’ve made has been fantastic, so I doubled the recipe right away, confident that I’d like them. I mean, who only bakes 11 cookies? Clearly your family has more cookie restraint than mine! Or you bake more often that I do! 😉😆
These are delectable, Brandi. Every recipe of yours I’ve made has been fantastic, so I doubled the recipe right away, confident that I’d like them. I mean, who only bakes 11 cookies? Clearly your family has more cookie restraint than mine! Or you bake more often than I do! 😉😆
hahaha! So glad you love them Christine!
Good recipe. I used what I had i.e. half a cup of almond flour, half a cup of oat flour and brown sugar in place of maple syrup.
Thank you.
Hi Brandi,
Do you think i can sub oat flour for the whole recipe? I dont have any almond flour on hand.
Hi Danielle, unfortunately using oat flour will make them extremely dry! Almond flour is what makes them so moist because they are high in fat!
So delicious! I baked them for 9 minutes and they came out perfect, both the texture and the taste! This is the second time I’ve made them and it won’t be the last. Thank you for this recipe!
So easy. Perfect.
Love these! And so simple.
Made these tonight – delicious and so simple to make!! 🌎🌱🙏🏽❤️
That is awesome, thank you Christina!
So easy and so tasty! They are sort of dangerous to have around because it is hard to stop eating them!
So simple to make. My 11 year old did it. Best peanut butter cookie ever, my dad thought they were from a bakery!
LOVE THEM!!!!!!
ADDICTIVE!!!!!
I was out of Almond flour … so tried with Quinoa flour … success. I will try next time with almond flour. Just thought you’d like to know.
Thank you for sharing Claudia!
Hi- I would love to try these except I don’t have any almond flour.
I have gluten free all purpose baking flour, rice flour or coconut. Can I mix these somehow?
Thanks!
Hi Liz! Unfortunately, those flours will not work here. Since the cookies are only 4 ingredients and the almond flour is the main ingredient, subbing it would ruin the recipe. You need almond flour for it to work. Almond flour is high in fat and is what makes the cookies moist and give amazing texture. The other flours would make them dry and crumbly. I have another peanut butter cookie recipe here that doesn’t use almond flour (uses rice flour): https://thevegan8.com/vegan-peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-cookies/
Avoiding sugar. How would they turn out not rolled in sugar? Thanks.
Still delicious, just less sweet and won’t have the crispy texture coating.
We made these super simple cookies today, and they were devoured instantly! Perfect taste & consistency! Soo Yum!