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Made with just five ingredients, these flourless peanut butter cookies are thick and chewy, packed with peanut butter flavor, and finished with a sprinkle of sea salt.
It’s hard to believe you can make such a good PB cookie without any flour or butter, but this flourless peanut butter cookie recipe from Ovenly really works. The cookies are thick and puffy with chewy centers, intense peanut butter flavor, and a sprinkle of sea salt to balance the sweetness. They taste a little like the inside of a Reese’s peanut butter cup—in the best possible way.
They’re also incredibly simple to make: whisk together brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla, stir in the peanut butter, scoop, chill, and bake. As a bonus, they’re naturally gluten- and dairy-free.
“This peanut butter cookie recipe is so good—delicious and packed with peanut butter flavor! I would eat the whole tray if it were socially acceptable.”
What You’ll Need To Make Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
- Creamy Peanut Butter: Use a smooth commercial peanut butter, such as Jif or Skippy. Natural peanut butter can separate and has a different consistency, so I don’t recommend it here.
- Light Brown Sugar: Sweetens the cookies and contributes to their soft, chewy texture and caramel-like flavor.
- Eggs: You’ll need two large eggs. They give the flourless cookies the structure they need to hold together.
- Vanilla Extract: A generous splash rounds out the peanut butter flavor.
- Flaky Sea Salt: Sprinkled over the cookies before baking, it balances the sweetness and makes the peanut butter flavor pop. Maldon is my go-to.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
Make the dough: In a large bowl, whisk the brown sugar and eggs until smooth, then whisk in the vanilla. Add the peanut butter and stir until completely incorporated. Keep stirring—the dough will thicken considerably and become more cohesive as you go.
Scoop and chill: Scoop the dough into generous mounds and arrange them on the prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle with sea salt and then refrigerate or freeze briefly until firm. Chilling helps the cookies hold their thick, puffy shape in the oven.
Bake and cool: Bake until the cookies are lightly golden and cracked on top. They’ll still be quite soft when they come out of the oven. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet before transferring them to a rack. They’ll firm up as they cool while staying soft and chewy in the center.
More Peanut Butter treats You’ll Love
Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups (packed) light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1¾ cups creamy peanut butter, preferably Skippy (see note)
- Coarse-grained sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position. Line two 13 x 18-in (33 x 46-cm) baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, vigorously whisk together the light brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla until combined. Add the peanut butter and mix with a rubber spatula until well combined and the dough is very thick. It will take about 3 minutes of stirring to get to the right consistency (it gets thicker as you continue to stir). (Note: Do not use an electric mixer for this process, as it can cause the peanut butter to separate.)
- Using a #20 (3-tablespoon) cookie scoop, drop the dough into mounds onto the prepared baking sheets. (If you don’t have the right cookie scoop, form the dough into balls by hand; they should be the size of generous golf balls.)
- Sprinkle the dough balls lightly with the sea salt. Slide the baking sheets into the freezer for 15 minutes, or into the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes.
- Bake the first pan for 18 to 20 minutes, until lightly golden and cracked on top. Let cool on the pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining cookies. The cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for several days.
Notes
- For best results, use a smooth and creamy commercial peanut butter, like Skippy. (I do not recommend all-natural or chunky peanut butter.)
- Freezing Instructions: The cookie dough can be frozen for up to 3 months. Scoop the dough into balls, sprinkle with salt (and press lightly so it adheres), let set on a baking sheet in the freezer, then place in a sealable bag and press out as much air as possible. Bake as needed directly from the freezer. (Allow 1 to 2 minutes longer in the oven.) To freeze after baking: let the cookies cool completely and store in an airtight container separating layers with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Before serving, remove the cookies from the container and let them come to room temperature.
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you’re following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Can I use dark brown sugar?
Sure, that should be fine.