Oil-free and easy Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies taste just like the classic version. Whip up a batch in less than 30 minutes or freeze them for later. Simple ingredients only!
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These classic Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies taste just like the version you enjoyed as a kid. Super soft on the inside and perfectly crispy on the outside, it will be hard to stop at just one!
Even better, this recipe is totally oil-free, doesn’t need an egg replacement, and like my Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies, can be easily adapted for gluten-free.
A one-bowl recipe and freezer-friendly, you can enjoy these vegan cookies whenever you want and not have to worry about much cleanup. Bake a batch in just 30 minutes for an after school snack, dessert, or to enjoy with a glass of dairy-free milk.
Ingredients
These cookies have no complicated ingredients. Head to your pantry and get started! Here's what you need:
- Peanut butter - Both smooth and crunchy will work. Use your favourite brand of peanut butter, whether it’s all-natural or “non-natural”. The peanut butter at the top of a new jar is best as opposed to the end because it’s super creamy and easier to work with.
- Granulated sugar - Use white or cane sugar (you’ll need a little extra for sprinkling).
- Vanilla extract - For flavour. You can omit it if you don't have any though.
- All-purpose flour - Also known as plain flour in the UK. Make gluten-free peanut butter cookies using oat flour instead.
- Baking soda - Feel free to omit if you don’t have any, but the texture is marginally better with it so use some if you can.
- Baking powder - To help the cookies rise and keep them fluffy.
- Salt - Use only 1⁄4 teaspoon of salt if your peanut butter is already salted.
- Unsweetened non-dairy milk - Any kind will work. Use less milk if using gluten-free oat flour.
How to Make Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
This is an easy vegan cookie recipe that can be made in less than 30 minutes. There’s no need to worry about egg replacements or adding the right amount of oil. Mix in 1 bowl and you’re done!
Follow these steps to make the peanut butter cookies:
- Preheat your oven and line a large cookie or baking tray with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Blend the peanut butter and sugar (by hand or with a hand mixer or stand mixer).
- Add everything else and mix until combined.
- Form your cookies by scooping out dough (use an ice cream scoop or cookie scoop so each cookie is uniform in size) and rolling into balls.
- Press a fork into each ball of dough to flatten them down and form the classic criss-cross pattern then prinkle the top of each cookie with some granulated sugar.
- Bake the cookies and when done leave on the tray for 5 to 7 minutes before attempting to move them.
Success Tips
- Do not add the milk to the peanut butter before the other ingredients. The peanut butter will seize. Make sure to mix the ingredients in the order stated.
- Never place cookie dough balls on a hot baking sheet. They’ll spread out too much and turn out thinner than you want. Keep your prepared sheet away from the preheating oven while mixing the dough.
- Weigh the flour with a scale. Measuring cups are not accurate enough for consistent results.
- Use a good quality salt and not cheap table salt. It makes a big difference to flavour in recipes like this. Maldon Sea Salt Flakes are my favourite for finishing food.
- Don't overmix the dough or the cookies will be dense and not soft.
- If you don't have an electric mixer, mix the dough by hand. Be aware that this does become hard work when the dough eventually stiffens up.
- If the fork sticks as you press down into the dough balls, dip it in water first and shake off the excess. Alternatively, dip the fork in flour.
Variations
- Fold in chopped peanuts or chocolate chips to the dough.
- Dip or half dip the baked and cooled cookies in melted chocolate for a chocolate and peanut butter dream.
- Add a sprinkle of cinnamon to the dough for warmth.
- Sprinkle each cookie with a little flaky salt instead of granulated sugar.
- Set out a small bowl of extra granulated sugar to roll the dough balls in before baking for a sugar-coated cookie.
- Looking for an almond flour cookie instead? Try my recipe for Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies.
- Too hot to bake? Try my No Bake Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars instead.
Storage Tips
Baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks at room temperature. You can also freeze them in a container for up to 3 months. Add an extra 3 minutes on to the bake time.
Rolled balls of cookie dough can also be stored carefully in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Lay them out on a lined baking tray and press the tops down with a fork before baking.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, follow my directions for making them with gluten-free oat flour.
The peanut butter contains all the fat you need for a good cookie. Butter or oil is not necessary in this recipe.
You can use any nut or seed butter you like, but the taste will be different depending on which kind you use. Almond butter or cashew butter will work, or you can use sunbutter or other seed butter as a nut-free option.
Many peanut butter cookie recipes require you to chill the dough for 30 minutes in the refrigerator before baking. This helps to prevent the cookies from spreading out too much in the oven. This step isn’t necessary for this recipe, so feel free to form your cookies as soon as the dough is ready and bake them up right away!
Having said that, if you get called away while making them, the dough will keep in the fridge whether rolled or still in the bowl, until you get back. Just let it warm up a little at room temperature for a bit so it softens enough to roll and flatten them with ease. If already shaped and on the tray you can bake right from the fridge.
Recipe
Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
Author:WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ingredients
- 1 cup / 240 grams peanut butter , smooth or crunchy
- ¾ cup / 150 grams granulated sugar , white or cane (plus some extra for sprinkling)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup / 125 grams all purpose flour , (plain flour in the UK), use gluten-free oat flour for GF
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda , (bicarbonate of soda in the UK)
- ½ teaspoon salt , (use ¼ teaspoon if your peanut butter is salted)
- ¼ cup / 60 mls unsweetened non-dairy milk , if using oat flour you will need less. See instructions.
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 ° F ( 175 ° C) and line a large cookie or baking tray with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the peanut butter and sugar together really well until smooth. If you don't have a mixer you can do the mixing by hand but it does become hard work when the dough becomes stiff later.
- To the bowl add the vanilla, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and milk (don't add the milk if using oat flour) and mix again until everything is combined and you can no longer see any dry flour. You will probably need to stop and scrape the sides of the bowl down with a spatula a few times during mixing so all of the flour gets incorporated. It will become stiff and difficult to mix. That's normal and is what gives us perfectly short, melt in the mouth cookies! If you are using oat flour start without the milk and add it slowly and gradually only if you need to, bearing in mind the batter should be very stiff.
- Scoop out about 2 tablespoons of mixture per cookie (using an ice cream scoop or cookie scoop will enable you to get them all even sizes). Roll into balls and place on the baking tray at least 2 inches apart. Using a fork flatten them down in a criss-cross pattern so they are about ½ to ¾ inch high. If the fork sticks you can dip it in water and shake off the excess before using it to press the dough down.
- Sprinkle the top of each cookie with some granulated sugar and bake for 12 to 14 minutes. 12 minutes will give you soft, underbaked in the middle cookies and 14 minutes will give you crunchier, crumblier cookies. These cookies don't really spread so will look much the same when they come out as they did going in.
- Remove from the oven when done. They will be really soft while hot so leave them on the tray for 5 to 7 minutes before attempting to move, then transfer to a cooling rack with a spatula. They will firm up as they cool.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Baked cookies can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
NOTES
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Bonnie L Darby says
Hi dear Mel,
Could these be made with peanut butter powder and just add more milk?
Thanks ever so!
Melanie McDonald says
I've never tried peanut butter powder in this recipe (or in any other baked recipe) so I don't know. Just the hugely different fat content will affect how the cookies turn out though. The peanut butter is the only source of fat in this recipe. I think you'd be much better off finding a recipe that already uses peanut butter powder than trying to modify this one and risk a bad result. Ingredients aren't cheap and I'd hate for you to waste them. Hope that helps!
Pam says
Made these this morning to take to a social gathering tomorrow. Wow! Can't believe how great they are and easy. Followed the directions exactly, and they came out amazing. Now, to try Mel's recipe for vegan sausage. Have not yet found a recipe I like with VWG, so I'm a bit shy. But, every recipe I try from this site, I love, comes out perfectly, and is family approved! Thank you for such fantastic recipes!
Melanie McDonald says
Thank you so much, Pam! That means a lot. I hope you enjoy the sausages too!
Lori Taylor says
These did not get crispy for me, even with extra baking time, but they taste great! I am not vegan, but I made these for a holiday celebration with vegan relatives in mind. The recipe is a keeper. Thank you.
Patty says
Made this recipe for the first time and loved it!!! Ty!!! Question for you… have you tried to make the 1 tablespoon size. Any suggestions with the cook time on smaller 1 Tbsp sized cookies. TIA.
Melanie McDonald says
Glad you enjoyed them! I'd guess about 7 to 8 minutes for smaller 1tbsp cookies but haven't tried it. I like big cookies! If you try it maybe cook 1 or 2 cookies first as an experiment then do what works well with them for the rest.
Jessica says
The flavor is great but the texture was off for me - super sandy and crumbly. They fell apart when I shaped them with a fork. After reading comments, I see where you mention not to use the bottom of natural peanut butter though and I think that's why my texture was off. Mine was towards the bottom. Next time I know to use a new jar. What really matters is taste and these taste great! If only they were calorie free :-)
Kathleen says
These cookies are so good! They're easy to make, have great texture and taste fantastic! Another great recipe Mel, bravo!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Kathleen. Glad you're enjoying them! I have a new festive cookie recipe coming very soon so watch this space ... It's my best yet!
Courtney says
Had a craving for something sweet and made your pb cookies last night for the first time. They are perfect. I’m staying at a cottage without appliances and made the dough with a spoon, but I can’t imagine how they could be better. ✨
Star says
Best peanut butter cookies ever. The family loved them
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! I'm really pleased you all enjoyed them!
Melané Fahner-Botha says
Wow, I don't blame you. At all!! Hats off for your business sense and good for you for taking that stance. It sounds immoral to me and hope that more will rise up against that attitude.
Thank you so much for your time and effort in answering my question and I appreciate what you need to do to protect yourself. Keep on doing what you do so well.
Amy says
So quick, easy and delicious!! Perfect texture ?
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm really pleased you enjoyed them Amy and thanks so much for stopping by to leave a review/rating. It's much appreciated!
Melané Fahner-Botha says
Mel, is there a reason why you don't give a link to Yummly's? Your recipe book is great but that leaves me with recipes all over the net and up till now Yummly is the best to concentrate everything in one programme.
A Virtual Vegan says
Many reasons but mainly their terms and conditions which state:
"By uploading, posting, submitting or otherwise transmitting any Content through the Services, you grant Yummly a worldwide, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free license, with the right to sublicense, to use, store, copy, adapt, modify, create derivative works, distribute, license, sell, transfer, publicly display, publicly perform, transmit, stream, broadcast and otherwise exploit such Content (in whole or in part) and/or to incorporate such Content in other works in any form, media or technology."
I'm certainly not agreeing to that and had them block my recipes from being added there a few years ago because of that and because of their shady business practices. Things might have changed now but a few years ago they were showing full recipes in their app, then when we all complained about that they were showing them in iframes and stripping ads from our websites. Both of those things are major issues for publishers like me because without visits to our sites, and without people seeing the ads, we can't continue doing what we do.
I hope that explains it! And don't even get me started on some of the other recipe apps that totally exploit recipe creators like me ... I could go on all day but I'll get off my soapbox now!
Dawn says
Melané, I pin all of these great internet recipes to Pinterest so they’re all in one place. I just create Board categories as a cookbook might, i.e., Appetizers, Cookies, Cakes, etc. It’s very helpful to me. Hopefully, it will be to you also.
A Virtual Vegan says
Pinterest is great. I am very active there myself. Thanks Dawn!
Mary says
I would like to try this recipe. Can we use natural peanut butter?
A Virtual Vegan says
Yes natural peanut butter is fine as long as it's nice and creamy. I use natural peanut butter myself. Just don't use the drier part at the end of the jar.
Mary says
Thank you very much! I'm going to try these with my grand daughter and let you know how they turned out. By the way, if you keep your jar of natural peanut butter upside down and in the fridge, it will remain unseparated and smooth/creamy all the way through.
A Virtual Vegan says
That's all well and good if you don't have a husband who doesn't do the jar up properly. Every single time. And oil would run everywhere all over everything underneath. So I gave up doing that. Haha!