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Just 5 simple ingredients produce these crunchy, nutty, gluten free cookies. You’d never guess they have no flour!
Before I get to it, I have a very important question. Are you a creamy or crunchy peanut butter lover? I asked you all on IG this weekend, and the split was pretty much down the middle. Me? I’m a chunky girl all.the.way.
This recipe features crunchy peanut butter, and while you could certainly substitute creamy, I think you would be making a big mistake. Come on… Give chunks a chance.
I’ve been wanting to make another batch of gluten free cookies since my last GF cookie adventure, but I didn’t want that cookie to be chocolate again. I tried my hand at a couple different approaches to this new cookie, and both times, I failed miserably.
One batch is sitting in our freezer, because it actually turned out to taste really good, but it was one big crumbly mess (don’t worry, you’ll see that when 2015 get its own one of these), and the other was picked up by the trash truck last week.
The one in the freezer will make a great topping for ice cream or yogurt! The other one couldn’t be saved. I didn’t even want to force the birds to eat them.
This glorious recipe is the result of “third time’s a charm,” and I seriously couldn’t believe how good these cookies were. Thankfully, the first and second tries taught me a few things not to do, so I can help you have success right off the bat.
WHAT KIND OF PEANUT BUTTER SHOULD I USE?
First of all, my initial mistake was using natural peanut butter that was way too oily. There was absolutely no “glue,” and I could probably have added an egg to fix that, but I didn’t. That is the batch that is in the freezer. It just crumbled. No structure.
The second batch has structure, because I added some other ingredients to hold the dough together, but the taste was just blah. Crunchy, nutty cardboard. YUM.
All that being said, your best bet is to use a thick peanut butter. I found the best result to come from Skippy Natural. You may certainly use homemade (consider using this recipe for cinnamon raisin peanut butter and omitting the cinnamon and raisins– OR DON’T– I’m sure that would be delicious!), just make sure it’s nice and chunky.
My favorite part about this recipe is that it comes together in 5 minutes. No chilling, not even any rolling of the dough… Just straightforward cookie business that gets cookies into your mouth in under 20 minutes.
This recipe is so easy that I just want you to get right down to baking them TODAY so I’m keeping this post short and sweet (do you even actually read the words I write?!). I’m sure you have all of the ingredients right now.
These cookies, while they’re crunchy on the outside, are chewy and soft once you get to the inside.
No butter, no oil, no flour, but all the taste you expect.
I might even go out on a limb and say your taste testers won’t even be able to tell they’re anything out of the ordinary. And your gluten free friends will love you!
PLUS, these chunky cookies are full of little peanut pieces which make texture lovers (me!) happy. Everybody wins and the prize is one ticket to peanut butter heaven.
Seriously… You’re going to love them. Enjoy, peanut butter lovers!
Gluten Free Flourless Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup chunky peanut butter*
- 1/2 cup brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl with a spatula, stir together peanut butter, brown sugar, and baking soda. In a small prep bowl, beat the egg and vanilla together. Add egg to peanut butter mixture and stir with spatula until evenly distributed.
- Scoop the dough with a cookie scoop (I use this #50 cookie scoop for all of my standard size cookies) and drop onto baking sheet. There is no need to roll the dough into balls. Bake 7 cookies per baking sheet, 10-11 minutes or until edges and tops start to brown. If you prefer crunchier cookies, bake up to 13 minutes.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature up to 7 days. Cookies may be frozen, up to 2 months.
Notes
Can’t get enough peanut butter? Try more of my peanut butter recipes.
Check out all of my gluten free recipes (there are a ton!).
Of course, if you just love cookies (gluten free or not), there are lots of those as well!
ABOUT LYNN
Welcome to Fresh April Flours! I’m Lynn, the woman behind the recipes. I am thoroughly enjoying sharing my love of baking with the world. The feel of the recipes you’ll find here is fun, simple, approachable, and most of all tasty. Read more...
Oh Lynn, you are torturing me! I have a list of things to bake when Lent is over and I can come out of peanut butter purgatory! These are on the top of the list!
Your photos in this post have me (almost) licking my computer screen. So gorgeously composed – it seems like I could just reach in and grab a cookie (or four).
I am definitely a chunky, texture-loving girl. No smooth peanut butter in our house! And yay for third-times-a-charm. Persistence pays off deliciously 🙂
Oh, no! I forgot that PB was off your list for a little while. I’m terribly sorry… I really am! But as soon as Easter rolls around, you need to whip these up. They take no time at all! Which is awesome but also a little dangerous as well, haha. Also, I’m so glad we are in agreement about the texture of peanut butter. There really is no fun in creamy!
I love a classic peanut butter cookie! I especially love how these are flourless and how little ingredients they require. Delicious!
Me too, Thalia! I hope you try them! 🙂
Oh gosh, these look fantastically delicious! I generally prefer chunky peanut butter, but find myself most often buying creamy because it’s easier to make sauces with. Can’t wait to try these 🙂
Yes, we buy creamy for smoothies and such because it just makes life easier… But surely the only way to eat an apple or celery or ANYTHING WITH PB ON IT is crunchy!!
Hi Lynn, I “accidentally” bought a jar of crunchy peanut butter (grew up on creamy so don’t normally buy crunchy), and was searching online for some recipes to use it and found your site and this recipe. I literally just pulled a batch out of the oven, and they are DELICIOUS! Thanks for experimenting and discovering such a yummy recipe with so few ingredients! Definitely going in my recipe box, and will share with my gluten-free friends and refer them to your site for more inspiration. Can’t wait to try some of your other recipes!
I’m so glad to hear about your happy accident! Thanks for letting me know, Christine! I hope to see you around the blog more often 🙂
I make my own peanut butter and used it in this recipe. I’ve made them in the past with no issues, but this time I made the peanut butter just minutes before making these cookies and the dough is soooo thick. I started researching and found your blog. I see you’ve said “If it is thin, this recipe wont work well.” Do you know why? And do you know if there is a way to fix it or is the dough ruined? Thanks!
Hi Adrianne– bummer! I advise against the thinner “natural” peanut butters because I tried this with that and it didn’t work at all. There was no “glue” to hold it together. That being said, if you say your dough is very thick, perhaps you need a bit more liquid. Maybe try adding a teaspoon of water at a time to the batter? Or maybe another egg? I’m not quite sure what to tell you without looking at it, but maybe something to bring a tiny bit more moisture to the dough would help.
My oh my, these are good! Unbelievably easy, and sooo tasty! Thanks for sharing. The Skippy Natural was a great suggestion. Our store carried it in the extra chunky version, and it worked out perfectly. Crispy edges, chewy middles — perfect! Made them a tiny bit smaller, as they’re very rich, and got 22 from the batch.
Thanks so much for this, Suzy! This recipe is almost 5 years old now, so I’m glad to see it getting some love! It’s a favorite of mine!
My kids and I absolutely love these cookies. Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe.
I’m so glad, Hanna! Thanks for letting me know!
I just made these cookies and they’re soooo delicious! I used chunky almond butter instead of peanut butter to get a more neutral flavor and it worked out great! I ended up baking them for 14 minutes because I prefer a crisper cookie, and the cookies got nice almost-crispy edges and a softer middle, which wasn’t exactly what I was going for, but they were still incredible! So happy with this 🙂
Awesome, Lizzie! So glad you enjoyed them.