Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies (Gluten-Free)

Welcome back to yet another ‘old but new’ recipe! These peanut butter cookies are heavenly and just the right blend of soft-chew-crunchy. They come together in minutes, require barely any ingredients and are impossible to stop eating. So excited to share this improved version!

Super quick, chewy and crunchy flourless peanut butter cookiesThis is a Joy The Baker recipe that I’d made many years ago, with significantly less sugar. While my new version is still lower on the sugar than the original, I now used a mix of brown and white as intended, instead of only brown as I’d done the last time. The brown sugar creates the chewy texture and the white sugar helps crisp the cookies up. I also added salt to balance everything out and a little vanilla extract for more flavour!

Super quick, chewy and crunchy flourless peanut butter cookies

In the absence of any flour, the white sugar and egg bind the dough and give the cookies some structure. Having said that, these are not super sturdy, and while I baked them a little longer to firm them up, they are actually best stored in the fridge so that they don’t soften too much after day one. Especially in a humid place like Mumbai right now, keeping them chilled is highly recommended.

Super quick, chewy and crunchy flourless peanut butter cookies

Super quick, chewy and crunchy flourless peanut butter cookies

The little criss-cross pattern on the cookies is optional of course, but adds a cute touch and many peanut butter cookies are usually seen with that pattern. Feel free to add chocolate chips, but personally I think the cookies are sweet enough, not to mention delicious enough, without them.

Super quick, chewy and crunchy flourless peanut butter cookies

Because there is no added fat, creaming of butter and sugar, or sifting flour, this dough is ready in absolutely no time! It also doesn’t need to be chilled before baking and you’ll basically be eating fresh cookies so much sooner than you thought 🙂 Let’s bake!

Please read the recipe notes before beginning.

Super quick, chewy and slightly crunchy flourless peanut butter cookies

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies (GF)

Super quick, chewy and crunchy flourless peanut butter cookies
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Makes: 12 to 14 cookies

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter (270 gms) (see notes)
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar (60 gms)
  • 1/3 cup caster sugar (60 gms)
  • 1 egg (see notes)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 175 C. Line a baking tray with a silicone mat or lightly grease the tray.
  • In a mixing bowl, beat the peanut butter and sugars with a hand mixer until well-blended.
  • Add the egg and vanilla and beat again to combine. Then sprinkle in the baking soda and salt and beat briefly till you have a soft and thick dough. This dough does not need to be chilled before baking, unless you prefer it that way.
  • Use a cookie scoop (highly recommended) or a spoon to scoop out equal sized portions of the dough (about 1.5 tablespoons each) and place them at least an inch apart on the baking tray to let them spread.
  • Lightly press down on the top of each dough ball with a fork, to create a criss-cross pattern. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes for light brown to darker brown cookies (I prefer them darker). Let them cool on the tray for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool and firm up completely.
  • These cookies are not as sturdy as cookies made with flour. Once they have cooled, they will be softer in the center and crunchier on the outside, but will soften further when kept at room temperature even in an airtight tin (especially if it's humid). For this reason, I recommend storing them in the fridge where they will last about 10 days and retain their texture as well. Happy baking!

Notes

*As far as possible, use a natural-style, unsalted and unsweetened peanut butter (I like Butternut Co or Sundrop). If using a more processed variety, the cookies are likely to be extra sweet and reducing the sugar further will affect the texture. You might also need to adjust the salt in that case.
*The peanut butter and egg should be at at room temperature so that they blend together easily.
*In the absence of flour, the egg binds the dough and gives the cookies their structure. I don't think substitutes are possible. See this recipe instead.
*Cook time is per batch of cookies.
*Original recipe from Joy The Baker

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Super quick, chewy and slightly crunchy flourless peanut butter cookies

23 Comments

  1. Nice recipe, looks tasty , your images are really outstanding

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  3. Aarti deepak

    Oh my god! These are mind blowing! I just baked a batch of these cookies and I just had to let you know immediately that they’re just peanut buttery god sent goodness😀

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  5. Pingback: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies | The Desserted Girl

  6. These sound so good I can only imagine how yummy these must have tasted! I think I am going to try these soon!

  7. These are my favorite! Love them!! 🙂

  8. Definitely will give this a try, especially since they are flourless. It was interesting to read that these were baked in India – do folks love peanut butter as much there as they do here in the USA? Thanks for sharing, they look great!

    • Thanks a lot! Yes, there are quite a few PB lovers here, though it isn’t as much a part of daily eating as it is in the US 🙂 I tend to prefer eating it in baked stuff 😀

  9. I like that they are flourless! Wonderful! And your pics came out great despite the lack of sunshine!

  10. acasadisimi

    so good!

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