A classic case of one cookie leading to another... all week long I've been very much in cookie baking mode. And these peanut butter cookies were one of the many varieties that happened. I've been making this particular recipe for several years now whenever I'm in the mood for something snack-ish and peanut buttery, but this week's batch had a slight update which took this cookie recipe up a few notches.
Unlike my usual batches of these cookies, I added a tablespoon of coconut sugar to the mix on this occasion. I also upped the temperature to 375F instead of the usual 350F I've always baked it at.
The result? A perfectly soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside scrumptious peanut butter cookie. I'm super pleased with the results. I don't think that baking a refined sugar-free, oil-free, vegan and gluten-free peanut butter cookie has ever been simpler :)
As I was putting these photos up on the blog I wondered why I always criss-cross my pb cookies with a fork -- I don't do that with any other cookie, and I make many cookies... In my head it's just not a peanut butter cookie without that signature look somehow.
The criss-crossing is something I had picked up back when I once saw a roommate make her pb cookies that way. At the time I thought it was neat, plus she knew her cookies while I was totally clueless on the subject (until living with her it somehow never even occur to me that people bake their own cookies at home lol. I thought cookies just that came in packages from the store... *facepalm*). But now I wondered what's up with that pressed pattern anyhow? So I went to look it up...
Here's what Wikipedia says about it:
"Early peanut butter cookies were either rolled thin and cut into shapes, or else they were dropped and made into balls; they did not have fork marks. The first reference to the famous criss-cross marks created with fork tines was published in the Schenectady Gazette on July 1, 1932. The Peanut Butter Cookies recipe said: "[s]hape into balls and after placing them on the cookie sheet, press each one down with a fork, first one way and then the other, so they look like squares on waffles."
Pillsbury, one of the large flour producers, popularized the use of a fork in the 1930s. The Peanut Butter Balls recipe in the 1933 edition of Pillsbury's Balanced Recipes instructed the cook to press the cookies using fork tines. These early recipes do not explain why the advice is given to use a fork, though. The reason is that peanut butter cookie dough is dense, and unpressed, each cookie will not cook evenly. Using a fork to press the dough is a convenience of tool..."
...and from that the criss-cross became a thing! So if you've ever wondered why peanut butter cookies have those fork marks, now you know :)
Ok now that the dorky cookie history lesson is done, go get your forks out and criss-cross some peanut butter cookies ;)
Vegan Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies
These scrumptious vegan gluten-free peanut butter cookies are perfectly soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Also refined sugar-free and oil-free.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Dessert
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp white rice flour
- 2 tbsp smooth natural peanut butter
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ tsp salt
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment and set aside.
2. Process all cookie ingredients in a food processor until the mixture begins to form a ball*. Form the mixture into a ball with your hands and knead briefly.
3. Tear off about a 1½ - 2 tablespoon of the dough (a ⅙ of the total amount) and roll into a little ball with your hands. Place on the prepared cookie sheet. Repeat the process with the remaining dough until you get 6 dough balls. Space them out a few inches apart on the tray. Use a fork to press down each cookie ball to flatten it, first going one way, then the other to form a criss-cross pattern.
4. Bake in a pre-heated oven for approx 10 mins until the cookies become nice and golden. Remove from oven and cool the cookies on the tray on a wire rack (they'll firm up a touch as they cool). Enjoy!
Notes
*The texture of the dough can be different depending on the peanut butter used. For example sometimes you might get a batch that’s more “oily” other times one that’s more dry + brands vary, etc. The dough should be soft and pliable. But if the mixture feels too sticky at this point, add a bit more flour (1 teaspoon at a time) and process again to incorporate; if too dry, add a bit more maple syrup.
Leah says
These cookies are so satisfying and delicious! I love how they are soft in the middle and crunchy on the outside. Will definitely be making these again and again. My 3 year old and husband who are not on a gluten free diet loved them just as much as I did.
Audrey says
Hi Leah. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave the lovely feedback! So happy to hear the whole fam enjoyed these. It's a recipe I make quite often at our home as well -- a basic tasty staple that never lasts long :)
Erika says
Very nice and simple recipes. Second day in a row Im making it as my family asked to do it again😂. Very easy to make ❤️ If a dough comes drippy, add more maple syrup. And it was my first cookies ever, so happy it turned out great ❤️
Audrey says
Hi Erika. Thanks so much for the feedback! I love that they are getting requested again :)
derek says
I followed the recipe exactly, but doubled it (i.e. 12 tbsp white rice flour, 4 tbsp natural peanut butter, etc.) and I got a bowlful of sand that had nowhere near enough liquid to hold it together. I then added double the peanut butter and squished with my hand to try to form a dough. No dice. Finally, I added an egg and got dough. they did bake nicely at 375 for 10 minute. So.... for ME the recipe worked only by doubling the peanut butter and adding an egg. I have no idea how this worked for anybody. LOL
Audrey says
Hi Derek. Thanks for sharing. I'm glad you made the cookies work for you in the end :)
If the dough is sandy it's def cuz the dry outweighs the wet in the mix for some reason. In my experience (I've been making these cookies for years without a fail) this could happen if the pb is too thick/not runny, or otherwise because the dry ingredients were measured with heaped spoons, or sometimes just ingredients differ in different places and things can act differently.. The good news is the recipe is easily adjustable. If too dry, add more maple syrup or pb, of too wet add a bit more flour and process the dough a little more until it's kneadable and sticks together.
Kris says
I made these cookies and they turned out great. They held together perfectly and were easy to make. They also taste great. Thank you for the wonderful recipe! I had to comment to let you know how good they were after I read that review that said they didn't hold together. I think that person must not have been using this recipe because nothing they said applies to these cookies. Also, your recipes in general are fantastic and I'm so glad you are posting them! Thanks again!
Audrey says
Hi Kris. I'm glad the recipe is working out well for you. And thanks for chiming in in defence of these cookies! :) I really appreciate it.
Ricky Mayhugh says
I’ve tried this cookie recipe multiple times now just to make sure I did it correctly. The dough never stays together to knead, even after adding 2 more tablespoons of peanut butter. Use a fork to flatten; not on your life, it will just make the ball of “dough” break into crumbles. You can form a cookie shape with your fingers and it will mostly stay together. Bite into a baked cookie and it will pretty much crumble apart, so hold a napkin underneath it while you eat. The taste is not all that great either. I can’t believe the author actually make a batch of these and believes them to be delicious. Save your time and ingredients for a better peanut butter cookie recipe from another site. I won’t be returning to this site for anything vegan again.
Audrey says
Hi Ricky, sorry these didn't turn out for you. Yes, I, the author, love these cookies :) make them regularly and find them quite tasty actually. But to each their own.
I'm not sure why the recipe isn't working out for you as it's quite simple, but the key is to make sure the dough is at the right texture. If the dough is too dry and not kneadable, then there's no way the cookies won't come out crumbly and odd-tasting. So the first step to fixing whatever's been going wrong with your attempt at these would be to get the dough at the right consistency.
Things that could be going wrong to contribute to dough that's too dry:
- too much flour / improper measurement of ingredients
- substitution of another flour that might just not work here (like coconut flour or something else that dries up the dough). Not sure if you made any substitutions, you didn't mention, but that's def a leading cause of recipes going wrong in my experience.
- peanut butter is too dry / not runny / creamy.
Hope this helps, and hope you find a peanut butter cookie that works for you. All the best!
Gabriella says
Hi Audrey, I'm planning to try this recipe but with a couple of changes:
- is it OK if I use GF flour (I have Dove's Farm) instead of rice flour?
- what about using another liquid sweetener such as agave syrup or dates syrup?
Thanks!! :)
Audrey says
Hi Gabriella. Yes, a GF flour blend or something like oat flour would work well here. Can't speak for every GF flour sweepingly (since for instance coconut or almond flour would not work here on their own), but anything similar to rice flour would be fine. As for the sweetener, light agave would work best. Date syrup would work too but it's going to darken the cookies. Also keep in mind maple syrup is quite sweet compared to other sweeteners (I find light agave to be comparable though). Enjoy! :)
Suzanne says
They are delicious and so easy to make! No eggs, no dairy, it feels so right.
But who in the world would only want to make 6?? I just made the 6 and going to the kitchen to make more... thank you!
Audrey says
Haha, so true, Suzanne. But they're so easy to make, it's easy to make a fresh batch each time :) I just love homemade cookies to be fresh. Thanks for the lovely feedback.
Rose Martine says
I so enjoy your site and your recipes. Would you please consider adding a print option so we can enjoy your recipes a little more easily. Thank you.
Audrey says
Hi Rose, thanks so much!
There is a print recipe button there already: once at the very top of the page (next to "jump to recipe"), and once within the recipe section itself (next to "pin recipe" button). I just checked and the print recipe buttons are working fine for me, but if you're not seeing them for some reason, please let me know and I'll see if there's some tech issue going on.
Lesei says
Hey there! I'm a big cookie lover, and I'm on my mission to make all your yummy vegan sweets :D okay, heres the question. Can I replace the rice flour, with another flour, like almond, or coconut? I don't eat rice. Thankyou so much! Awesome new recipie ;) cant wait to try!
Audrey says
Hi Lesei. Coconut and almond flours would both not work great here. Coconut flour works completely differently to all other flours I know of and requires a lot of water in the recipe, which means a recipe especially designed for this ingredient. Almond flour is not absorbent enough for this specific recipe, so they won't bind properly. You can use another type of grain flour (sorghum, buckwheat, etc.), or if you're looking for grain-free you can use cassava flour. Keep in mind that each flour alters the flavor of the cookies slightly though, so once you try them you might want to add a bit more cinnamon to the next batch for example, or vanilla, etc. to play around with the flavors if you're not fully happy with how they turned out. Have fun :)
Rebecca says
I have a question. If i don’t have a food processor, can these be mixed in a blender or by hand? Thanks!
Audrey says
Hi Rebecca, a food processor will work best here. A blender can potentially be made to work -- the challenges are:
1. Over-blending can be an issue, as blenders tend to blend things down much more quickly and into a finer consistency. Also it might be hard to get it to blend through evenly, as some parts will blend much more quickly than others. You might need to knead the dough a little bit by hand at the end to even it out. See the consistency of the dough in the video above so you know what to aim for.
2. Over-heating a blender can be an issue as well, since some blenders can get overwhelmed when there's not enough liquid in the blender. So it's something to watch out for.
I'm not sure about mixing by hand. I haven't tried. I feel like the processing (or blending, if you go that route) adds heat to the process due to the mechanical mixing motion, which warms up the ingredients gently and causes the maple syrup to act a little bit differently. That said, I can see it working -- you might just need to start mixing with a wooden spoon at first, and then switch to kneading by hand for a while until the consistency looks right.
If you give either method a go, would love to hear how it worked out for you.
Katy K.B. says
Hi, I baked these cookies yesterday, but they came out very hard. I mixed everything as in the recipe except the vanilla extract. During kneading the dough was very crumbling. What could have gone wrong?
Audrey says
Hi Katy. Sorry the recipe didn't work out for you as expected. Did you make any substitutions? If not, then it sounds like maybe your peanut butter was a bit hard? Was it the end of the jar? It needs to be creamy for the recipe to work. Otherwise, maybe something about the flour measurement was off. There is a note in the recipe about the consistency of the dough and how to adjust it before you bake in case it's a bit too dry -- and if the dough is crumbling it's definitely too dry. Hope that helps you get the next batch right :)
Jeanette says
I am in LOVE with this recipe !!! I have been making more and more vegan treats for my toddler. Baking petrifies me but these were super easy and reminded me of the expensive cookies I would spend $4.50 on from a fancy coffee shop. We have ran out and we need to make more !!!!
Audrey says
Thank you so much for sharing, Jeanette! I loved seeing your beautiful version of these cookies on Instagram :)
Nina says
Can you use an other type of flower as well? X
Audrey says
Hi Nina. Yes, if you're not gluten-free these should work well with regular all purpose flour. If you are gf, then I think the next best thing would be to use brown rice flour or sorghum flour. Also can try cassava flour for a grain-free alternative. The texture and flavor will change slightly though with different flours. White rice is relatively neutral, that's why I used it here.
Cassie Autumn Tran says
Cookies are my weakness. I once ate a whole box of Oreos as a kid--probably not the best idea in the world...but anyhow, I definitely adore baking a batch of somewhat healthy and vegan cookies for myself. The aroma filled in the kitchen is just wondrous! These peanut butter cookies are most certainly a knockout. Peanut butter combined with maple syrup and some flour make the best cookie dough in the world!
Audrey says
I couldn't agree with you more, Cassie :) The baking aroma is my favorite part.
Naomi says
Great recipe, I made a lot of substitutions and am very satisfied with the result! What I did different-- I had a small amount of tahini, about a teaspoon left and used the rest as creamy peanut butter. I also did half cassava, half mochiko (sweet rice flour) and used date syrup instead of maple. I omitted baking soda, as I did not have any, and just used a spoon to blob on the dough for 6 cookies. They turned out perfectly shaped, I was surprised! I baked for 8 mins, turned pan, and 4 more minutes for 12 total. Mine are a bit doughy on the inside, I'm guessing since I did not flatten them but I like them that way :) I was very surprised, especially with the addition of the mochiko to have such a pleasing result. Thank you!
Audrey says
Hey Naomi. Thanks for sharing. Love your adaptation here :) So happy the recipe inspired you to get creative! <3
Hillary says
So easy, and perfect number of cookies for being stuck inside during an ice storm! I might play with ingredients a little, as I’d like a stronger PB flavor and less of a vanilla extract flavor in mine. Also, it was hard to make the fork impressions - my fork was getting stuck. Do you have suggestions for what to add if too dry without adding more sweet? Thanks!
Audrey says
Hi Hillary. So glad you liked the cookies :) If you were having a hard time pressing the cookies down, it sounds like they were a touch on the dry side. You can add a little bit more pb instead of more sweetener to moisten the dough mixture (or even a tiny splash of water). Alternatively, try a different brand or batch of peanut butter that's a bit more runny.
Hillary says
Thank you! It *was* towards the end of the PB jar - a new jar would be runnier.