Chewy and soft peanut butter cookies with 3 main ingredients; almond flour, peanut butter, and date paste. These 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies are one-bowl cookies and:
- Whole food plant-based
- Oil-free
- Sugar-free
- Vegan
- Low-carb
- Paleo
- Grain-free
These cookies are perfect for families with kids since they are so easy to make. Great because they are sugar-free. Kids will love to mix the dough, roll the balls and press them down with a fork or a cookie stamp.
This chewy peanut butter recipe is also sweet and soft. You can flavor the cookies with vanilla, gingerbread spice, ginger, almond, or orange peel. Even without sugar or butter, you can make delicious baking.
These cookies can be made for diabetics since they dont have white sugar or butter. Dates dont spike the blood sugar, since they have fiber.
Where did peanut butter cookies originate?
Peanut butter was not used in cookies until the 1930s. The cookie balls became famous for a Pillsbury Flour Mills Company recipe and are known for the criss-cross fork marks. Peanut cookies, though, were made already by the Aztecs.
Ingredients for these gluten-free cookies
Almond flour
To make these gluten-free, almond flour is the best option. It allows these to be moist and chewy since the almond flour is also very fatty. This is perfect since these cookies dont have any added oil or butter.
You can also use coconut flour, but coconut flour makes these much dryer and crumbly. If you change for this, use less of the coconut flour.
Date paste
Check the whole recipe for date paste HERE.
For date paste, you need 1,5 cups of pitted Medjool dates and ¾ cup of water. Blend them to smooth paste in a food processor. This amount makes some extra that you can use for something else. It will keep weeks in the fridge.
Peanut butter
Use sugar-free organic peanut butter. Any other nut butter will work also. If you want to use strong tasting spices, cashew- or almond butter will work better for the cookies since peanuts have a strong flavor. To make your own nut butter, the Nutramilk machine is great for this. (this is an affiliate link)
Vinegar and baking powder
You don't have to use these ingredients, but they make the dough a bit fluffier and rise slightly in the oven.
Spices
I used 1 teaspoon gingerbread spice in this recipe. These cookies are delicious without any additional seasoning since peanut butter, and date paste has sweetness and nuttiness. Some vanilla goes well with these, though.
Other spices you can use if you want to.
- Vanilla
- Cinnamon
- Cardamom
- Grated orange zest
- Chocolate chips
- Chocolate powder
- Punch flavor
- Bitter almond flavor
- Rum flavor
Equipment
You don´t need any special equipment to make these cookies. Just measurement cups, a bowl, spoon and fork. You can use a food processor to mix the ingredients evenly but I just did it with a spoon and it worked great.
One fun thing you can consider, though, is a cookie press. You can make lovely patterns or letters with one. A cookie press works great with these homemade cookies since they keep their shape well during cooking, and you can see the marks you make.
How to make peanut butter cookies
STEP 1
Measure your ingredients. Preheat your oven. Mix all dry ingredients together.
Step 2
Add the date paste, peanut butter and vinegar. Mix everything together.
You can microwave the peanut butter for 1 minute so it becomes softer if you have stored it in your refrigerator. Mix with a spoon until firm dough.
Step 3
Roll balls from the dough. You should get about 15 small cookies from this amount of dough
Step 4
Press down the balls. You can use a fork, a glass, your hands, or a cookie press for this.
Step 5
Bake your cookies for 12 minutes at 350 F, or 175 Celsius. If you want less soft and more dry consistency, then bake for up to 20 minutes. Make sure they only get golden brown and not burnt on the edges.
Serving tips
Great with tea or coffee as a snack.
Kids will love these healthy treats and you dont have to worry about sugar consumption.
You can also do peanut butter sandwich cookies. Then make the cookies a bit flatter, bake them for 10 minutes. Fill with cashew cream flavored with vanilla.
How to store
You can store these at room temperature for up to a week. If stored on the countertop, they can get a bit dryer. If stored in refridgerator, they will last longer.
Recipe variations
Chocolate chip peanut butter cookies: Mix some began dark chocolate chips in the dough.
Chocolate cookies: Change ¼ cup of the almond flour to cacao powder, add also 1 tablespoon maple syrup.
Energy bars: Make them to a bar form, change ¼ cup of almond flour to rolled oats. Mix in also 2 tablespoon of raisins and some crushed nuts. This will make a great energy bar.
FAQ
Traditional ones are not, made of butter, sugar, flour and peanut butter, they are calorically dense, have saturated fat and high glycemic index. You can make healthy peanut butter cookies by removing the butter altogether, and changing the white sugar to date paste, maple syrup or stevia. Instead of white flour, use rolled oats
A fork is easy to use to press down the cookies, so they bake evenly. Otherwise, the cookies are too dense. The earliest recipes of peanut butter cookies suggested pressing the dough balls with a fork, hence the famous marking.
Yes they can, store up to 3 months in the freezer.
You added too much flour or baked them too long or at too high temperature.
You can add chocolate chips, raisins, orange or lemon zest, dried cranberries, rolled oats, crushed nuts, different spices like cinnamon, vanilla, ginger or artificial flavoring.
Rolling the dough to a ball when making cookies makes them naturally round and even so, you don't have to use a cookie-cutter.
Can dogs eat peanut butter cookies?
Yes, if the cookies are sugar- and salt-free, dogs can also enjoy peanut butter cookies in small amounts. They're calorically dense. Most important is that they don't have xylitol as a sweetener; this is dangerous for dogs. Bitter almonds are also toxic.
Nelli was just crazy about these cookies; she was busy all evening because she had to watch my every move. Peanut butter is a rare treat for her. She got to lick the spoon and was rewarded with one cookie. Don't give too many, though, since dogs don't digest almonds well, and not too many are good.
Gluten-free peanut butter cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond flour 2,4dl
- ½ cup date paste 1,2 dl
- ⅓ cup peanut butter 80 ml
- ½ teaspoon vanilla sugar or drops
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon gingerbread spice optional
Date paste
- 1 cup pitted Medjool dates or other soft dates
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Put your oven on at 350F, 175 C
- If you don't have ready-made date paste, make the paste by blending soft dates and water in a food processor. Blend on enough, so it forms into a smooth, fluffy paste.
- Measure all your dry ingredients and mix them in a bowl.
- Warm your peanut butter in the microwave for 1 minute, so it becomes a bit softer. Mix in the date paste, peanut butter, and vinegar with the dry ingredients. Mix until everything is formed to a smooth dough.
- Roll the dough into even-sized balls. This amount should make 15 small cookies.
- Press the dough balls with a fork, glass, or cookie stamp, so they become flattened.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 12-15 minutes. If you want them crispier and not soft, then bake up to 20 minutes, but make sure they don't burn.
Notes
- Vanilla
- Cinnamon
- Cardamom
- Grated orange zest
- Chocolate chips
- Chocolate powder
- Punch flavor
- Bitter almond flavor
- Rum flavor
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