These simple 4-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies bake up moist and chewy with loads of nutty flavor in each nibble. Pair one warm cookie with a glass of chilled non-dairy milk for a blissful sweet treat experience. Grab the recipe and chat a bit about coconut sugar..
Cookie Time is Any Time. These cookies are so healthy I snack on them at any hour of the day. Cookies like these make great mid-morning snacks, pre-workout perks, afternoon nibbles or pre-bedtime treats. These cookies also make perfect back-to-school lunchbox additions. (Yikes, did I really just say the "S" word already?)
PB&J Option: Add a dollop of your fave jam to the center of each cookie before baking for a PB&J spin on these cookies. I like to use apricot or strawberry jam.
Flour Talk. I boosted the nutrient power of these cookies by using garbanzo bean flour! It has a slightly nutty yet mild flavor and adds some protein and fiber to each cookie. You could also substitute with any of the following, gluten-free status will vary though:
* homemade ground oat flour
* spelt flour
* all purpose flour
* any gluten-free flour blend
The mashed banana boosts the texture a bit and acts as a subtle egg replacer. These are not fluffy cookies, but rather, soft and chewy. I highly advise you stick the dough in the fridge for at least twenty minutes before rolling the dough into balls, since the freshly blended dough is quite soft.
Coconut Sugar. I adore coconut sugar in cookies. It reminds me of traditional brown sugar, but I like it because 1) I know that it is vegan (most brands will even label their bags with a vegan symbol) and 2) the manufacturing process is less harsh on the final product. Here is what DrWeil has to say about coconut sugar:
"Coconut sugar, more accurately coconut palm sugar, is made from sap of the coconut palm that has been extracted and then boiled and dehydrated. It provides the same number of calories and carbohydrates as regular cane sugar (about 15 calories and four grams of carbohydrate per teaspoon) so you wouldn't be gaining any advantage in these respects by making a switch. However, coconut sugar is 70 to 79 percent sucrose and only three percent to nine percent each of fructose and glucose. This is an advantage, because you want to keep your consumption of fructose as low as possible, and cane sugar is 50 percent fructose. Coconut sugar is caramel colored with a taste that is similar to that of brown sugar and can be substituted for cane sugar in most recipes." - DrWeil, Is Coconut Sugar a Healthier Sweetener?
Also a huge bonus is this little tidbit: "The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization named coconut palm sugar the most sustainable sweetener in the world in 2014. The trees use minimal amounts of water and fuel, especially compared to sugar cane production, and produce for about 20 years. It has no artificial ingredients and is not chemically altered in any way." - livestrong, coconut sugar
Lets get to it!
4-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
By Published 08/12/2014
Chewy and sweet peanut butter cookies that are vegan, gluten-free and sweetened with organic coconut sugar.
Ingredients
- 1 cup chunky peanut butter, salted (organic) -- almond butter can be subbed, softened
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon garbanzo bean flour (or sub with your fave flour)
- 1 cup organic coconut sugar
- 1 large ripe banana, mashed
- optional: ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, vanilla bean or extract to taste (I added ⅛ teaspoon vanilla bean powder)
- optional: chocolate chips would be a nice add in too!
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a large baking sheet.
- Make sure the nut butter is soft and stirred well. Add it to a large mixing bowl.
- Fold in the sugar and mashed banana. Add in optional spices.
- Lastly, fold in the flour. Once combined, the dough will be on the soft side, kind of like a soft playdoh texture.
- You can either glob the dough right onto the baking sheets for oddly shaped cookies, or (advised) place dough in the fridge for at least 20 minutes to chill. Upon chilling the dough, you can roll it into balls and use a fork to create nice patted down patterns on top.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool. Serve warm or place in fridge to chill. Delicious served cool or warm. Eat in the next few days, or freeze.
Yield: 14 cookiesPrep Time: 00 hrs. 10 mins. Cook time: 00 hrs. 15 mins. Total time: 25 mins.
Nutrition
- Calories: 205
- Fat: 10
- Totalcarbs: 24
- Protein: 8
- Dietaryfiber: 3
- Iron: 13%
- Serving size: 49g
Tags: cookies,dessert,peanut butter,vegan,glutenfree
Alyxe Diehl says
Didn't have any coconut sugar so I used dates instead. It was still sweet and didn't compromise the consistency of the cookie at all.
Kathy Patalsky says
I have tried it!
Rolanda says
Went looking for a gluten free, vegan cookie recipe, decided to try this one. So glad I did ! My other half just found out she's allergic to egg whites, wanted to show her there's still good food out there.
These were a home run for the family!
I used 1/2 buckwheat & 1/2 white rice flour, and half white & brown sugars (ok, not vegan here).
Got 22 cookies....YUMmm
Thank you for posting this story & recipe ! ! !
Mary says
You absolutely definitely need to google "aquafaba"! Perfect egg white replacement
Fern says
Currently eating one (read: three) of these cookies, they're amazing! The hint of banana taste puts them way above any other peanut butter cookie recipe I've tried, definitely making them again. Thanks 🙂 x
Heidi says
So good!!! My roommates loved them. I halved the recipe as I was almost out of PB (sad day lol) and subbed oat flour. This made 11 bite sized cookies... And now they're all gone! Thanks for the great recipe. Will definitely be making more.
anonymous says
Does the flavor of the banana come through in these cookies? I'd like to make these for a friend who I know would prefer to not have a strong banana flavor in a peanut butter cookie (otherwise it's just a banana cookie, they say), so could I substitute a flax "egg," or something else, for the banana?
DeeCeeBC says
Spelt is a species of wheat and is NOT gluten-free. Perhaps you could substitute coconut flour.
Fast-Paced Foodie says
I love the idea of a dollop of preserves! Raspberries would be like a linzer cookie, but better!
JenH says
made these today and they are very tasty! I didn't have coconut sugar so I used date sugar and I only had about 3/4 Cup. Also, I used smooth, unsalted peanut butter. They were good, thanks for the recipe.
jenniferthurmansebestyen says
Oh my! These will be making it into my son's lunchbox next week for sure!!!
Kyra says
Yum, and with only 4 ingredients - too easy! I haven't used coconut sugar before, it is quite expensive here in Australia. Can't wait to give these cookies a try (need some more peanut butter!) 🙂
disqus_1513oCqa0X says
These look delicious and I love an easy recipe, but there are some concerns surrounding coconut sugar regarding its sudden popularity. When a coconut tree is tapped for its sugar, it can no longer produce coconuts! Some sources argue that after a fair amount of time, whilst not tapping the tree, the tree may produce coconuts again; some reportedly have, but it has been said that the yield and quality suffer quite a lot. Plus, you have to wait ages with a 'useless' coconut tree (no tree is useless!) for a good few years. I guess the main issue is the potential over-tapping of trees and the possible price hike in coconuts and coconut products - which are a wonderful, healthy thing and happen to be incredibly cheap. I don't know, thought it was worth mentioning! I love your blog though!
chizakura says
For me, this was the sort of recipe where upon reading it, I had to get up and make it right away. I can't get over how awesome these are with only four ingredients!
While chunky peanut butter is usually my preference, we have smooth in the house right now, so I made these with smooth, unsalted peanut butter, but otherwise followed it to a T. They turned out perfect! 🙂 Thankyou!
Cait says
This looks delicious! Do you think that one could sub applesauce for the banana?
Kathy Patalsky says
yes! that is a great idea. However, I would probably add in another spoonful of flour, or reduce the peanut butter a bit because applesauce is less thick than banana. OR add a teaspoon of flax or chia seeds to the applesauce and let it sit about ten minutes to thicken up
jenny wright says
I love easy few-ingredient biscuits. cant wait to try these. I love all of your recipes Kathy!
Kathy Patalsky says
Thank you!
John Hartil says
Oh ...these are rather yummy looking
issa mose says
Yum, can not wait to try this recipe! And how cute is that glass? Where is it from? 🙂 🙂
Osha Key says
I think it may taste even better than white flour! Better texture, and closer to the real food. White flour tastes just like cardboard.. Will have to make them to be sure 😀
Osha Key says
Can I just tell you how much I love your food photography!! It inspires me to experiment in my own kitchen and even play with my camera! So pretty! <3
Briana says
awesome! what is the serving size you used to get your nutrition info?
Kathy Patalsky says
1 cookie, about 12-14 cookies per batch. Used 14 cookies for nutritional info
Guest says
pfffft who can stop at one cookie!?
kim@hungryhealthygirl says
Love the ingredient list! What a perfect after-school treat... it's getting close to that time again. 😉
Natalie says
These look yummy. I like the use of garbanzo flour, much healthier than white and I bet you can't even taste it! Yum.
Kathy Patalsky says
Nope! You totally cannot taste the difference. The peanut butter takes over.
... says
Mine was slightly more bitter than the organic flour I typically use. However, the garbanzo flour had been in my fridge for a few months (though unopened so the chance of oxidizing should be lower). But the cookies were still quite yummy and I'd gladly have a faint bitterness for all the extra protein and fiber.
Amanda - Create N Plate says
Trying these tomorrow! They look awesome!
Kathy Patalsky says
Super! Thank you
Joanna Strycharz says
Trying these tomorrow. They look fabulous. Love the glass, too.
The Peace Patch says
Yay...it's Peanut Butter and Banana Day and these look truly scrumptious! Even better if they're sandwiching some vegan ice cream...yumza! Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
The Vegan Cookie Fairy says
Interesting that you made these with mashed bananas! I'll have to try that sometime. I just ate a packet full of biscuits but I could really do with one (or three) of these cookies!
Renard Moreau says
[ Smiles ] Great! I love peanut butter!
Thank you for this delicious cookie recipe!
Mary says
These sound like a great recipe, and I'm definitely going to try them! And then try them again with cocoa powder added! However, I have to disagree with one of the quotes from Dr. Weill that said "However, coconut sugar is 70 to 79 percent sucrose and only three percent to nine percent each of fructose and glucose. This is an advantage, because you want to keep your consumption of fructose as low as possible, and cane sugar is 50 percent fructose." While he's correct that it is best to keep your consumption of fructose low, he's completely wrong to say coconut sugar is a low fructose sugar!
Sucrose is made of 50% fructose and 50% glucose. So coconut sugar may be only 3-9% of free fructose molecules, but as soon as you digest the sucrose, that's a lot more fructose! If we use the minimum numbers from the ranges (70% sucrose = 35% fructose, 35% glucose) and 3% fructose, that means coconut sugar is still 38% fructose. Using the max numbers (79% sucrose, 9% fructose) = coconut sugar is 48.5% fructose! Which isn't significantly different from normal table sugar (which is 50% fructose, as you said), although it is still a bit better, especially when you add the sustainability reason. Coconut sugar also has some micronutrients and inulin fiber, but they're negligibly small amounts. So, I'm going to try making these with pure glucose sugar, which is 0% fructose, instead of coconut sugar. Then these cookies will only have a tiny bit of fructose from the banana 🙂 Thanks for a yummy looking recipe!
... says
Where do you even get pure food grade glucose ? I've only seen it in my science lab, never in a grocery store.
EDIT: Ah, I forgot it was also called dextrose in food contexts. I found some on Amazon. 🙂