Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
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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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So I just made these and they cooked up all flat – not fat and fluffy like yours. What did I do wrong? They taste good though. I forgot the step where they went into the fridge. Could that be it?
Yes, skipping the refrigerating step would’ve caused that problem. Glad they tasted good though! 🙂
Delicious! They didn’t look like the photo and my batter separated (oh, what did I do wrong?), but they were still yummy.
Hi Debby, Did you use an electric mixer? It can cause the peanut butter to separate.
I just did exactly the same thing! Same brand of peanut butter (Jif) and everything. Glad I am not alone. 😉 I was looking here to see if I could find out what I had done wrong. Wish I read these first but I thought how difficult can a 4-ingredient cookie be? Boy, was I wrong. This is the ONLY recipe of yours Jenn that hasn’t worked for me first time round and I have been an avid follower of yours for years. I cook at least one recipe of yours every week. I never knew that using a mixer would cause peanut butter to separate. You might want to add a note to the recipe for folks like me.
So sorry AnnMarie! I’ve added a note to the recipe so other people don’t make the same mistake. 🙁
Jenn- I’m confused – why do 1 3/4 cup measurements have different gram measurements ? I had enough peanut butter when I measured by my us cup but not when I measured by scale ? Then I checked and saw that 13/4 brown sugar was less in gram weight . What am I missing ?
Hi Lee Ann, Grams are determined by the weight, or mass, of the ingredient, and is measured with a scale. Volume (cups) is the amount of space that an ingredient takes up. 1-3/4 cups of peanut butter weighs more than 1-3/4 cups of brown sugar. Hopefully that clarifies. 🙂
It does but I’m not sure the density calculation is correct . I had 1 3/4 cup peanut butter but this was about 50 g lighter than stated . Anyway they turned out really fab – I don’t think they needed more peanut butter
Glad they turned out well! There could be slight variations w/ weight depending on the brand of peanut butter, how it is measured, etc.
I used Skippy . Oh well – I’ll stick to cup measurements when making them . And you are so right – they taste like the inside of a Reeses cup . They lasted 1 day in our household – all eaten
Hi. I want to try this recipe but can’t find brown sugar anywhere!!! I purchased “golden yellow sugar”. Can I use that instead? By the way, I have tried so many of your recipes and they are always so great that I’ve made them multiple times and they’re in regular rotation at our place. Thank you!
So glad you like the recipes, Sue! The flavor of golden yellow sugar is a bit lighter, but it should work. Please LMK how they turn out if you try them with it!
These were absolutely delicious! Best peanut butter cookies I have ever made. My family couldn’t get enough of them.
I tried to make these using Jif creamy peanut butter. I could not get the dough to play dough consistency – the oil separated from the dough. I tried scooping and baking them anyway, and the cookies came out greasy and kind of tough, and they were swimming in oil on the cookie sheet. Do you have any idea what went wrong? I used a mixer, could that be the problem?
Hi Ruby, So sorry you had trouble. Creamy Jif should be fine. I think the mixer is definitely the issue — if peanut butter is overmixed, it can separate.
I just finished making a batch of these yummy cookies. Perfect timing, as I’m all out of flour (used the last of it making your Blueberry Coffeecake AKA Boy Bait!), and can’t seem to find it anywhere. I’m also just using my pantry items and that meant chunky peanut butter. I would normally go out and get the creamy peanut butter, but this version was delicious too! All the men in the house gave them a big thumbs up! I look forward to making them “correctly” when I’m able to get all the right stuff. This is my 3rd recipe this week from you Jenn – love everything!
Keep them coming, and stay safe!
Nancy
Just took them out of the oven. Very, very good! Great consistency- little crunch on the outside, soft on the inside. The sea salt is a nice addition too. I used creamy Jif peanut butter with no problem.
Thanks Jen – another super recipe! 😊
These were fantastic. Made them yesterday and they’ve all been eaten by today. Chewy sticky peanut butter cookies that are so easy and cheap to make! Love them, big fan of your website from the UK. Thanks Jenn x
I can’t make them again as I will eat them all… again. These are delicious and I’m not usually a peanut butter cookie person.
🙂 Glad you like them!
Made these tonight b/c I had everything on hand and was craving a peanut butter cookie……they were great, BUT 253 calories PER cookie? Don’t think I’ll do it again.
A success- just like all the recipes from your cookbook and site. Husband and neighbors alike loved them. Can’t wait to make them with the grandsons. Thank you – Jenn
Stay safe