Whenever I share a new dessert recipe on social media, I get a few comments from those on gluten-free diets asking if the recipe can be made without gluten. I’ve had a great experience trying different flour substitutes (like cassava flour, almond flour, and coconut flour) in various recipes, so I decided to adapt some of my recipes to be gluten-free. Today I’m sharing a gluten-free version of my Rich and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies recipe. These rich, soft, and chewy gluten-free peanut butter cookies will melt in your mouth and become your go-to recipe for chewy flourless peanut butter cookies. Enjoy them on their own or in this fun variation of Peanut Butter Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches.
I’ve got my full Gluten-Free Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies recipe at the bottom of this post. You can Jump to Recipe directly if you’re ready to get cooking, or keep reading for some cooking tips and step-by-step instructions for making soft, gluten-free peanut butter cookies.
More peanut and peanut butter recipes to pin:
- Rich and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies recipe
- Peanut Butter Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches recipe
- Thai-Style Coconut Peanut Chicken Stir Fry recipe
- Kickin’ Texas Peanut Brittle recipe
- Perfect Peanut Butter Fudge
- Vegetarian Banh Mi Bowls recipe
- After School Snack Idea: PBJ “Sushi”
- No Bake Special K Bars with Peanut Butter and Chocolate
More gluten-free dessert ideas:
- Keto Blueberry Cream Cheese Crumble
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Three-Ingredient Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Vegan Fudge Bites
- Gluten-Free Black Bean Brownies
Tips for making chewy flourless peanut butter cookies
This recipe is not much different than making regular peanut butter cookies.
With an oven preheated to 375 degrees F, you start by mixing real butter, creamy peanut butter, a good amount of brown sugar, some granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until creamy.
Instead of regular flour, I use a combination of cassava flour and almond flour in these chewy flourless peanut butter cookies. I like cassava flour (from yuca root; my favorite brand of cassava flour is Otto’s Naturals) because it’s light and powdery like regular flour and has a mild flavor. It can substitute 1:1 for flour in many recipes, but since it has different properties than flour (it absorbs liquid more than regular flour), you may need to experiment when making substitutions, or blend it with other types of gluten-free flours (like I’m doing in today’s recipe). Learn more about how to use cassava flour in this article on 40 Aprons. Cassava flour has a mild and slightly nutty flavor (even though it’s nut-free), so it works really well in cookie recipes. Similarly, it also blends well with almond flour for this reason.
Since cassava flour is light and fluffy, I recommend spooning and leveling it into a measuring cup (rather than scooping with the measuring cup, which could compact the flour and make a denser dough). I recommend this for any kind of flour when baking to ensure light and fluffy desserts. Add the cassava and almond flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the creamy peanut butter mixture and mix until everything is thoroughly combined.
Fold in 1/2 cup of Reese’s peanut butter baking chips. This adds some extra rich, peanut buttery sweetness to complement the nutty tastes of the cassava and almond flours.
If your dough is sticky after mixing the wet and dry ingredients you can chill it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Though if you can easily handle and roll them, there is no need to chill the dough. Just move along to the next step of shaping the dough into 2” balls, then flattening the balls to about 1/2″ thickness. You don’t need to get them too thin or flat, as they will flatten and expand a bit more while baking. Place the cookies about 2″ apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
Press additional peanut butter baking chips (from the reserved 1/4 cup called for in the recipe) onto the tops of the cookies. This step is mostly for aesthetic purposes… I think cookies look nice with some gooey chips on top when they are done baking.
Bake the gluten-free chewy peanut butter cookies in the pre-heated oven until the edges just barely start to become golden brown (about 9-10 minutes). They will continue to cook on the baking sheet while cooling after you pull them out of the oven, so be careful not to over-bake them thinking they look too soft. This process will ensure you have soft and chewy cookies!
Cool the chewy flourless peanut butter cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely (or until you’re ready to eat them).
They look good enough to eat! You’d never know these soft, chewy peanut butter cookies were flourless.
Soft gluten-free peanut butter cookies are definitely possible, and are a great alternative to regular peanut butter cookies. If you make these chewy flourless peanut butter cookies, let me know what you think by commenting below or tagging @fabeveryday on social media! Enjoy!
Prep Time | 10 minutes |
Cook Time | 10 minutes |
Servings |
cookies
|
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup cassava flour
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup Reese's peanut butter baking chips divided
Ingredients
|
|
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Mix butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until creamy.
- Add in the cassava flour, almond flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and mix until thoroughly combined. Fold in 1/2 cup of the peanut butter baking chips.
- If the dough is sticky, chill the dough in the refrigerator for 15 minutes (though if you can easily handle and roll them, no need to chill). Shape dough into 2” balls, then flatten the balls to about 1/2" thickness, and place them about 2" apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Press additional peanut butter baking chips (from the reserved 1/4 cup) onto the tops of the cookies.
- Bake in the pre-heated oven until the edges just start to become golden brown, about 9-10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Bake the cookies until the edges just barely start to become golden brown. They will continue to cook on the baking sheet while cooling after you pull them out of the oven, so be careful not to over-bake them thinking they look too soft. This will ensure you have soft and chewy cookies.
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