Vegan peanut butter cookies with an amazing chewy texture and lots of peanut butter flavor. They’re also grain-free and gluten-free with paleo and keto / low-carb options. Everyone loves these! Thanks to Bob’s Red Mill for sponsoring today’s post.
I had been blogging for six years before I posted a plain peanut butter cookie recipe – these gluten-free peanut butter cookies. I’d posted other cookies with peanut butter in them before, like my chickpea cookies, but nothing was peanut buttery enough for me until those GF peanut butter cookies.
But there was no way to make them vegan. I tried and tried but egg subs just didn’t work.
So I’m super happy to be sharing these vegan peanut butter cookies today. In terms of yummyness, they may even beat the gluten-free peanut butter cookies I posted last year. It’s a tough choice!
I had tried converting my paleo chocolate chip cookies into peanut butter cookies but they were never perfect. They just weren’t peanut buttery enough!
I even warn people in that recipe not to use peanut butter but I still get comments from readers saying that they used peanut butter and loved them. But really… these are so much better!
The key to the cookies being loaded with peanut butter flavor is to use all coconut flour and not a combination of almond flour and coconut flour. I guess the almond flour, which I usually find really neutral, takes away too much from the peanut butter flavor.
By the way, here’s how to make peanut butter. It’s SO easy! You just need peanuts and a food processor or high-speed blender.
These are my go-to cookie when I have to bring something to a gathering. I’ve given this recipe out to so many people and none of them had any idea that the cookies were grain-free and vegan!
I used chia eggs to take the place of regular eggs in these cookies. If you don’t need these cookies to be vegan, you can use 1 egg and 1 egg yolk in place of the 1.5 chia eggs.
I recently ran out of chia seeds and when it came time to buy some more, finding the right brand was more complicated than I thought it’d be. There’s this kind of consumer reports thing here in Germany where they test different products. In one test, they tested superfoods, including chia seeds.
Two-thirds of all products got a failing grade and some were even found toxic and unsuitable for consumption. Chia seeds from different stores were pulled from the shelves. So I decided to just order some Bob’s Red Mill organic chia seeds on Vitacost because I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about the quality.
Bob’s Red Mill is non-GMO Project Verified, which means that the ingredients they source for their products have been declared by their suppliers to be made without the use of modern biotechnology. So if you’re worried about GMO products, you can buy Bob’s Red Mill without worry.
With their non-GMO Pledge, together with their dedicated gluten-free production, strict organic protocols and their commitment to meeting the highest food safety standards in the country I feel like I have nothing to worry about.
Chia eggs are my favorite egg replacer. I’ve used them in my gluten-free oatmeal cookies, molasses cookies, banana pancakes, and vegan pumpkin pie and many more. This chocolate protein chia pudding from Bob’s Red Mill also looks delicious!
One thing to keep in mind about these vegan peanut butter cookies is that they get soft on day two. After they cool, they need to be put in an airtight container immediately to keep them crisp.
But even then, they’ll be soft on the second day. It’s not at all bad but it’s different than the first day when they have chewy centers and crisp exteriors.
You can see what I mean by soft when you look at the end of the video when they’re picked up. If you want to make these cookies ahead of time, I recommend making the dough and baking them on the day of serving. Freezing the baked cookies might work but I haven’t tried so I can’t say for sure.
If you need to bake some cookies ahead of time and don’t want them to be soft, try my vegan paleo peppermint cookies for a great Christmas cookie. These vegan chocolate crinkle cookies would also be great!
In need of paleo cookies? Just use almond butter. They’re also super tasty that way!
Substitution questions for these vegan peanut butter cookies:
- Can I use something instead of coconut flour?
Nope! There’s no sub for coconut flour.
- Can I use butter in place of the coconut oil?
Butter will work for a non-vegan version.
- Can I use something instead of coconut sugar?
Brown sugar would work if you don’t care about it being paleo. Subbing in a liquid sweetener won’t work. Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener works for a low-carb version. But your cookies won’t be as chewy or spread as flat as the ones in the picture.
- Can I use something instead of peanut butter?
Almond butter is amazing in these! For a nut-free version, you can use sunflower seed butter. I haven’t tried any other nut butters so I can’t say for sure that they would work as well. Whatever you use should be free of added fat and sugar.
- What can I use instead of the egg or chia egg?
I’m hesitant to recommend any other egg replacers in this recipe because I haven’t tried them but I’m guessing a flax egg should work.
Thanks again to Bob’s Red Mill for sponsoring today’s post! Be sure to check out their website for some coupons.
If you try these vegan peanut butter cookies, I’d love to hear how they come out!
Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies (paleo, low-carb / keto options)
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 12 cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (64 grams) coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons (84 grams) coconut oil (the oil must be solid, like room temp butter and not melted or the dough will be greasy)
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) coconut sugar, very tightly packed or Lakanto Monkfruit sweetener for low-carb
- 6 tablespoons (98 grams) natural peanut butter (the kind with just peanuts and salt) or almond butter for paleo
- 1 3/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 chia eggs (use 1 1/2 tablespoons of ground chia seeds and 3 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons water) or 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk for a non-vegan version
- 1 1/4 cups (213 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided (make sure to use vegan chocolate)
Directions
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the coconut flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer or using a stand mixer, beat together the coconut oil, sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla at medium speed until well combined, about 1 minute.
- Beat in the egg (chia or regular) on low and mix until well incorporated. Stir in the flour mixture until well combined. Then stir in 1 cup (170 grams) chocolate chips. Chill the dough for about 1-2 hours or until the dough is firm.
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C) and line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
- Roll the dough into 12 (54-gram) balls and place the remaining 1/4 cup (43 grams) of chocolate chips on the top and on the sides of the dough balls. Place 4" apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the surface of the center of the cookies no longer appears wet. They'll be very soft but will continue to cook as they sit on the cookie sheet.
- Let cool completely on the baking sheet. Store in an airtight container immediately for up to 3 days. On the first day, they'll be crisp on the outside. On the second day, the outsides soften. If the cookies are too soft for your liking, chill in the refrigerator for a firmer cookie.
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56 comments on “Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies (gluten-free, paleo, low-carb options)” — Add one!
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Wow, these are incredible. What a fabulous treat! I love the taste, the texture, the size — everything about them. I measured my ingredients by weight and the recipe came out perfectly. Waiting to see if I get some green cookies, although I’m guessing they won’t last long enough to find out. :)
I’m so glad that you loved everything about them! That is always fantastic to hear. :D Did you use sunflower seed butter? I hope that you got green cookies if that’s what you wanted. ;) Thanks a bunch for your feedback!
Oh my Lort! Ok ok, so I am brand new to this gluten free, paleo world thing. In fact, just the other day I was crying about what I was going to do and how I was going to LIVE! After all, I own a pie shop! Believe me, I would rather not be apart of this club. But after several years of severe joint pain, horrible abdominal pain, bloating and inflammation etc, etc. I finally figured out it was frickin’ gluten!! And then my husband comes back with ridiculously high triglycerides! Gahhhh!!!! Noooo!!!! So there I was scouring the internet for answers and…recipes. And then this…literally the second recipe I have ever tried to make that is gluten free and paleo. Needless to say I am city girl transplanted to country and had to travel to town to find ingredients. And I am embarrassed to say that these are better than my traditional chocolate cookies. It’s true. My husband was floored! He could not believe how good they were. Now, my hubby only ate one…and a half… because they still contain sugar but they are wayyyy better for him in moderation. And I didn’t swell up like a balloon!. Win- win! These are ahhhh-mazing, MAKE THE COOKIE!
Aww, yay! I’m so happy that you both enjoyed the cookies so much! And no need to be embarrassed. I’ve tested my original paleo chocolate chip cookies and its variations hundreds (yup) of times, so it took a while to get them perfect. ;) It indeed stinks that you need to eat gluten-free now but at least you can be happy that gluten-free in 2020 is WAY better than gluten-free just 5 fives ago. Thanks so much for your super nice comment! I hope that things will get easier for you and that you’ll start feeling better soon. :)
Indeed! Thanks for all your hard work on these! They are life’s little pleasures.
Thank you! Hope you have a great Thanksgiving. :)
Hello! Just wondering if these can be frozen? Thank you!
Hello! I’m so sorry to have just seen your question. It was sitting in spam for some reason. Yes, they can be frozen. I hope you’ll enjoy them! Sorry again.
Hi there!! I am just curious why its so important to use almond butter without any added fats/oils or sugars. All I have is stuff with added fat :(. Will the recipe still work??
Because when there’s added fat and sugar, it’s adding extra fat and sugar to the recipe, which makes them sweeter but more importantly, makes them more oily and possibly too greasy. I think they’re perfect as is so I’m guessing they would be too oily with extra fat.
Can I make these without chocolate chips or would it ruin the texture/taste?
It wouldn’t ruin them! I’d love to hear how they come out. :)
How was it without the chocolate chips? I also wanted to omit them.
I’ve made these without chocolate chips and they’re still super delicious!
Thanks Erin!
Pretty darn GREAT! TY for the recipe, passed it on to my vegan family
I’m so glad you liked them! Thanks for your comment and for sharing the recipe with your family. :)
I never comment on recipes, but now that I’m back to make them for the 3rd time, I’m leaving this to say these are so good no one will know they are not “regular”!!! They pass as “normal” cookies! The best cookie I have had since going to paleo/aip etc!! I make it with mostly carob chips, and a few cacao chips. I use phyllium for the egg replacer… and they are so good! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
You’re welcome! And thanks so much for leaving feedback! I really appreciate it. This recipe gets very little love (because it get so few pageviews) and I have no idea why. So your comment made me very happy! Thanks again and sorry for my slow reply. :)
I love that these are coconut flour based. Can’t wait to try them!
I hope you’ll enjoy them! :)
These were amazing! By far the best “paleo” cookie I have ever made. Thank you so much for this recipe!
You’re welcome! I’m so glad that you enjoyed them. :)
I love how you’ve used coconut flour without the use of eggs here! They look perfect!!
Right?! So many all coconut flour recipes are so eggy!
I am just curious if you know how many calories are in each cookie?
I don’t have that info but you could use this recipe analyzer for the nutritional profile. :)
Made these today with peanut butter. The color was a little darker than expected, but I only recently switched from almond butter to peanut butter for allergies so that’s probably normal. Soooooo tasty as expected. This is probably recipe #6 or 7 of yours that I made and so delicious!!
I’m so glad that you enjoyed them and the other recipes that you’ve tried of mine! I’ve made these with almond butter and they are a little lighter in color. Thanks for your comment and sorry for my slow reply!
I love this recipe but after making a few times I have some leftover egg whites. Any plans for a paleo angel food cake recipe? :)
Sorry again for my slow reply! I know this doesn’t help your egg white problem but I have these paleo blueberry muffins that have a similar texture to angel food cake. They’re soooo good! But you need whole eggs. I don’t have any plans for angel food cake but you got me thinking. ;)
Peanut butter and chocolate is my favorite combo (I know I’m not alone there) and this recipe looks just great for all diets! Thanks for sharing your recipe with us!
You’re welcome! Hope you get to try it. :)
Just made these, they’re perfect!!!! Love this cookie. Used almond butter, Lakanto and stuck with the eggs. Used Lily’s dark chocolate chips, they’re stevia sweetened and this cookie is divine!! Thank you!!
Sorry for just now seeing your comment! I’m thrilled that you enjoyed them. :) Thanks for your feedback and for mentioning which variation you made. It’s great to know that Lily’s works well here!
These cookies look so yummy, you had me at peanut butter and chocolate, but I love that they’re packed with chia seeds for a little nutritional bonus!
Thank you! Hope you get to try them. :)
I’ve felt like I’m having a cookie reawakening lately Erin, so these look amazing! It’s almost like I forgot how much I love cookies until I baked a batch last week, and now I’m hooked. Up next, pb chocolate chip!
How could you forget something like that?! Haha. I’m happy you had a reawakening! :D
These cookies look delicious! I usually use a flax egg in my cookies, but I’m excited to use a try a chia egg in these!
I hope you’ll like the change! :)
These look amazing! I have all the ingredients except for coconut flour. I love that you used chia eggs as a substitute :)
Thanks! I hope you’ll get to try them. :)
What is your recommendation for substituting coconut oil (due to allergies)?
Butter will work for a non-vegan version. For vegan, a butter sub would probably work.
Will a flax egg work in place of the chia egg?
Sorry for just now seeing your question! Hopefully you found the answer in the post. :) I’m hesitant to recommend any other egg replacers in this recipe because I haven’t tried them but I’m guessing a flax egg should work.
I made a double batch of these for Christmas and we’ve already eaten half of them :) (I used ghee instead of coconut oil since I only had unrefined on hand and didn’t want the strong coconut flavor, and I used the egg option instead of the vegan option.) I made a double batch the very first time ever making these because I just knew they’d be amazing like all your recipes!! Thank you and Merry Christmas!!
Aww, yay! That makes me so happy to hear that you were confident enough to make a double batch the first time around. And I’m really glad that you think the other recipes are amazing, too. :D Thanks a bunch for your nice comment! Your reviews always make me smile. :) Merry Christmas to you, too!
Is it ok to use gluten-free flour?
I made a badge just now and I feel they didn’t look right and I left them for five more minutes and now they are dry. :(
I’m not sure what you mean. Coconut flour is gluten-free flour. Do you mean an all-purpose gluten-free baking mix (that’s meant as a sub for regular all-purpose wheat flour)? If so, that’s why they didn’t work. :( Like I said in the post, you have to use coconut flour. There’s no sub for coconut flour as it absorbs so much more liquid than any other type of flour.
These cookies look so delicious and perfect for Christmas!
These sound great and I certainly rate your paleo chocolate chip cookies at the very top of my “Best Chocolate Chip Cookies” list. I make them with a low carb sweetener due to Diabetes and only add 2 Tbsp Coconut suagar for that caramelizing effect that you cannot get with lowcarb sweeteners. I have made countless (no joke) Keto or lowcarb Chocolate Chip cookies and not one recipe comes remotely close to the kind made with white flour. Sorry to any of the great bloggers out there that are offended but they just don’t. Just using the alternative flours is never going to be the same, which is okay most of the time and sometimes not. But somehow you nailed the right ratios of ingredients, using the Almond butter is key and making them very large also makes a huge difference. I’ve also struggled with Peanut butter cookies being rather bland and not having the right texture. I love them a bit chewy with some crispness around the edges. Frankly I gave up and I’d also given up on the Chocolate chip until making yours, I almost hesitated and I’m SO glad I didn’t I also made a variation of Oatmeal that are
low-ish carb, using Truvia brown sweetener or Swerve Brown plus 2 Tbsp Coconut sugar and they came out fantastic. So, I’m incredibly excited to give these Peanut butter cookies a go! I’m curious if you’ve ever made them with Peanut flour to boost the peanut flavor? I have some Peanut flour on hand, I’ll make these as you wrote the recipe and then experiment later on with the Peanut flour, for scientific purposes you know.😉
Hi Lisa! I’m sorry for just now seeing your comment. What kind of low-carb sweetener do you use in the paleo chocolate chip cookies? Adding a little coconut sugar is a good idea! I’ve never really liked any of the low-carb versions of the cookies I’ve attempted because the texture just seemed so off. I’m really happy that you enjoy them so much! My first idea was to try them with peanut flour to make them super peanutty but I really can’t imagine them being any more peanutty than the version listed below. And I like that you’re going to try these first as written and then experiment. Thank you. :) I’d love to hear what you think! Thanks again for your lovely comment and sorry again for the slow reply!
Hi Erin,
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
For your paleo Chocolate Chip cookies your recipe calls for 3/4 Cup Coconut Sugar. I used 1/2 Cup packed Truvia Brown, 1/4 cup Coconut Sugar and Choco Perfection Chocolate chips. (Unfortunately they discontinued those). I plan on making them with all Coconut Sugar just for my husband and sampling one to see the difference. He’s eaten them with the combo sweetener and LOVED them and he’s only loved about 5 of the lowcarb, grain free desserts and thought the rest okay. Btw, I used the base of the Chocolate Chip cookie recipe for Snickerdoodles, omited the Vanilla, added Cinnamon and rolled them in a light coating of Maple sugar & Cinnamon and those were really good too.
In other recipes I’ve used Lakanto Monk fruit golden. It has a Maple like flavor that’s pretty good, of course none of the alternative sweeteners are the same as real maple or Coconut sugar. For a white sugar replacement I use Swerve powdered, I do not like the granular at all, so never buy it anymore. Swerve powdered works really well in Cakes, cupcakes, Sweet breads, Ice Cream and most things like Mousse or Puddings. And the odd cooling effect of Erythritol can be masked by other flavors or by adding a small amount of a real sugar. It’s not great when heated though, as it recrystalizes upon cooling and not great in cookies imo. Swerve recently created Swerve Brown but it was hard to find at first and more expensive so I tried Truvia Brown and was really pleased. I like it much better than the Lakanto Monk Fruit Golden, it resembles real brown sugar in moisture content and feel, but you can tell it’s Erythritol based. There’s another new sweetener called Bocha Sweet, extracted from the Kabocha squash, but it costs a whopping $16.99 per lb! I hear its great, supposedly tastes exactly the same as sugar, but until the price drops I guess I’ll have to take their word for it.
Another Sweetener through Choco Perfection I know I like, is made from Chicory root. I haven’t purchased it due to the $16.99 per lb price but I have tried their Chocolate.
I tolerate the Erythritol based sweeteners pretty well and since I’m diabetic and struggle to keep the weight down I have to avoid real sugars mostly. However, the texture issue is real. Some people don’t mind it, but it can be quite an issue especially in cookies or when heating or caramelizing. I find that using only a few tablespoons of a real sugar, like maple or Coconut makes a huge difference in the taste and textural outcome of the cookie.
So, if someone is trying to lose weight, just trying to cut back on sugar or needs to from a medical standpoint, this might help. It still may not be quite as perfect as using a real sugar for the entire recipe but it made a really big difference for me. It makes the cookies and other baked goods more than just edible, but quite delicious.
And lastly, I just want to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude for all your efforts. Your detailed explanations and instructions regarding the recipe creation, what does work, what might, or might not work and the bits of your life you share that led you to blog in the first place. Oh, and the ad nauseum questions
you lovely, generous bloggers put up with.
I read the comments often and think it takes special individuals to do this.
Sorry for the length, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Hi Lisa! My apologies yet again for another super slow reply. I didn’t realize I wouldn’t have internet at my in-laws over the holidays (I wrote you last right before we left). :/ I’d love to hear how you think the all coconut sugar version compares! And a snickerdoodle version sounds delicious. I haven’t had one in so many years so maybe I’ll try that. I can’t thank you enough for your sweeteners guide! I don’t have access to any of those sweeteners you mentioned so I have to order them all from the US. Shipping and customs are very expensive on already absurdly expensive products! And with the way I retest recipes, it’s not possible for me to experiment with different expensive sweeteners (which my gut doesn’t seem to like, anyway!). So what you wrote will help me save a ton of money. :) Thank you also for your super kind words. I think this must be the nicest and most appreciative comment I’ve ever gotten! Your comment about the comments made me laugh. I’ve gotten to the point of just asking people to read the substitution questions section where their specific question is already clearly answered. I spend so much time writing the posts and then people don’t read them. I know people are in a hurry but it gets frustrating. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are having a great start to 2019! Thanks again. :)