4.96 from 25 votes

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Name: Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: ½ cup granulated sugar; ½ cup light or dark brown sugar¹ (firmly packed); ½ teaspoon baking soda² (recommended but optional); ¼ teaspoon salt; 1 cup creamy peanut butter³; 1 large egg; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (recommended but optional); Additional granulated sugar (for sprinkling)

By Sam MerrittPublished Apr 13, 2020

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Servings: 18 cookies

15 mins

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These Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies are so simple to make! Made in just one bowl with no flour and no butter, ready in 15 minutes! Despite their limited ingredient list, these cookies are incredibly soft, chewy, and full of flavor! Try them and I’m sure you’ll be a fan, too!

flourless peanut butter cookies on a silpat lined baking sheet

You guys know I’m not a gluten-free blogger. Not even close. Nor am I a butter-free blogger… I can’t remember the last thing that I made without butter.

And yet, this butter-free, flour-free flourless peanut butter cookie recipe is not just one of the best gluten-free cookie recipes I’ve tried, it’s just hands down one of the best cookies. Period.

It holds its own against some of my favorites like my chocolate chip cookies and butter cookies. When I make cookies in this house, I usually give away most of them so that I don’t eat all of them myself. Zach and my sister protested when I tried to give these away. Again, this was over a flour-free, butter-free cookie. Who would’ve thought?

This recipe was inspired by a 3-ingredient version that’s been making the rounds across the internet for years, but it took me until now to finally try it for myself. Of course I’ve made some modifications, but if you only have peanut butter, an egg, and sugar in your pantry you can make these at home (I’ll include notes on how below).

Flourless peanut butter cookie ingredients — Ingredients (and 3 of them are optional!)

What You Need

I get that right now ingredients can be scarce (check out my Crazy Cake for a basic pantry-staple cake recipe) and none of us are about to make an extra grocery trip to the store to pick up a pound of butter or a bag of flour that we’re heart-breakingly out of. So today’s recipe has you covered with staple pantry ingredients (and half of them can be omitted or substituted).

You need:

Peanut butter. This ingredient you can’t substitute or omit. My preference is creamy but I believe crunchy would work just fine. I have not tried this recipe with natural peanut butter, but since that type can be finicky I can’t recommend it with this recipe.
Sugar. I use a mix of granulated and light or dark brown sugar. If you don’t have brown sugar, substitute it with more granulated, and vice versa. So long as you use a total of 1 cup (200 grams) of sugar, you’ll be good to go.
Egg. Again, this can not be omitted nor do I know of a working substitute. A large or extra large egg will work best.
Vanilla extract. If you don’t have it, leave it out, but I love the depth of flavor it adds.
Salt. Again, this can be omitted, but if you have it use it for better flavor.
Baking soda. I like using baking soda because it encourages the cookies to spread, subtly adds to their flavor, and gives the cookies a pretty, crinkly appearance. If you don’t have it, leave it out. Since the cookies won’t spread as much without it, be sure to gently flatten the cookie dough balls with your fingers or with the tines of a fork before baking.

Some of these ingredients are my personal preferred additions, but as you can see the cookies can ultimately be made with just 3 ingredients: peanut butter, sugar, and an egg (so please don’t ask me how to substitute any of those!).

Cookie dough balls on a baking sheet being flattened with clean fingers

flourless peanut butter cookies on a silpat lined baking sheet

I was going to include a “Tips” section here but this recipe is really so simple and straightforward I really don’t have any. There’s no mixer needed (though you can use one if you prefer), no tricks, nothing fancy required.

I do want to note that I have a classic peanut butter cookie recipe on the site. If you have all of the ingredients and the time to make them, that one will always be my favorite recipe, but this one is a very satisfactory runner-up in a pinch.

two cookies, one with a bite out of it

OK, hopefully I’ve convinced you that these flourless peanut butter cookies are every bit as tasty as the flour-filled and butter-laden ones that you’re used to. If I can get behind them, I think anyone can 😉

Enjoy!

More Recipes You May Enjoy

Are you more of a visual learner? Check out my YouTube channel where I show you exactly how I make this recipe step-by-step in my own kitchen.

4.96 from 25 votes

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

These Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies are unbelievably simple to make! Made in just one bowl with no flour and no butter, ready in 15 minutes! Despite their limited ingredient list, these cookies are incredibly soft, chewy, and full of flavor! Be sure to check out the how-to VIDEO!

Prep: 5

Cook: 10

Total: 15

Servings: cookies

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Equipment

Ingredients

▢ ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
▢ ½ cup (100 g) light or dark brown sugar¹, firmly packed
▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda², recommended but optional
▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
▢ 1 cup (280 g) creamy peanut butter³
▢ 1 large egg
▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, recommended but optional
▢ Additional granulated sugar, for sprinkling

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (if you don’t have parchment paper, just drop cookies directly onto an ungreased cookie sheet).
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together sugars, baking soda, and salt until combined.
½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, ½ cup (100 g) light or dark brown sugar¹, ½ teaspoon baking soda², ¼ teaspoon salt
Add peanut butter, egg, and vanilla extract and stir until completely combined.
1 cup (280 g) creamy peanut butter³, 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Drop by 1 ½-Tablespoon-sized scoop onto prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with additional sugar and then lightly press down with your fingers to slightly flatten.
Additional granulated sugar
Transfer to 350F/175C preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes or until edges are just beginning to turn a light golden brown.
Allow cookies to cool completely on the cookie sheet as they will be too fragile to move when warm. Do not over-bake these cookies or they will be dry and crumbly.

Notes

¹You may substitute this with ½ cup of granulated sugar (for a total of 1 cup/200g) of granulated sugar if you don’t have brown sugar.

²I prefer these cookies with the baking soda, it gives them the crackly tops and helps them to spread. However, if you don’t have it you can leave it out. Just lightly sprinkle your cookie dough with additional granulated sugar and then flatten with the tines of a fork in a criss-cross pattern before baking to help encourage the cookies to spread.

³I have only tested this recipe with traditional peanut butter, I believe crunchy peanut butter would work just fine but I have not tested it with “natural” peanut butter where the oil separates.