Sometimes a Friday night rolls around and you decide you absolutely must have a batch of sweet + salty home-baked cookies. Nothing else will quite satisfy your craving, but you're not interested in making anything that takes an enormous amount of effort. The good news is, these Almond Peanut Butter Cookies are comprised of staples you likely already have in your pantry, they mix up in a single bowl in a matter of minutes, and they have a short bake time of about 12 minutes.
Basically, they're the best possible answer to "gosh, I could really go for some cookies right now" that you or your significant other inevitably exclaim late at night. It happens, friends - like clockwork.
What type of nut butter should I use?
This Almond Peanut Butter Cookies recipe is flexible as far as what type of nut butter you choose to use. Often I will swap the peanut butter out of these cookies in favor of almond butter or other Paleo-friendly nuts. What I've found most important is the consistency of the nut butter itself, because it greatly affects the stability of the dough when you portion it out into cookies.
What works best?
Thick nut butter. Freshly ground nut butter from the bulk section works brilliantly because it is often quite thick. Generally, these "grind-your-own" machines offer simple ingredients lists, with many just containing the nut with no other oils or emulsifiers. Thick and spreadable commercial nut butters also performed well in my tests, though much of the time these contain extra emulsifiers or sugary additives in order to stay thick and spreadable.
What should I steer clear of?
Thin and runny nut butter that does not blend well or is on the goopy side. Basically, if you can pour your peanut butter straight out of the jar, you're probably going to need to make some adjustments to the dough.
If this is all you have on hand, you can still make it work. Some things that will help the consistency of your dough when you're working with thin nut butter are:
- Add additional almond flour
- Add one large egg to help bind
- Allow to firm up in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before scooping the dough
Want to mix it up?
Though these Almond Peanut Butter Cookies are super tasty on their own, this recipe also makes a great base to add chocolate chips, coconut flakes, or chopped nuts. I also never skip a sprinkle of coarse sea salt or finishing salt on top.
What tools do I need to make this recipe?
- a mixing bowl
- measuring cups and measuring spoons
- a wooden spoon or spatula
- a baking sheet
- parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet liner
- a fork
Are you looking to upgrade to your cooking tools or replenish your pantry? Check out my kitchen tools shop page and pantry staples shop page to find my must-have kitchen tools, pantry items, and other Whip & Wander favorites.
How long do these cookies keep?
These cookies should keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the refrigerator for around a week.
A note for special diets
Made as directed, these Almond Peanut Butter Cookies are grain-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, egg-free, dairy-free, and friendly for some SIBO diets.
If you would like to make these cookies friendly for Paleo diets, the peanut butter can be swapped out for almond butter or another Paleo-friendly nut butter.
A keto-friendly swap
If you are following a strict Keto diet and would like to adapt these Almond Peanut Butter Cookies to lower the carb count, I have had success swapping the honey for an equal measure of Stevia in the Raw (granulated baker's bag) plus 1 large egg to help bind. I find that this adaptation is less sweet than their honey counterparts, but certainly sweet enough to satisfy my cookie craving.
The nutrition facts for this Keto swap per 1 cookie (1/30 of the batch): Cal: 86, Fat: 7g, Chol: 6mg, Sod: 50mg, Carb 3g, Fiber: 1g, Sug: 1g, Prot: 3g
Remember: Nutritional information on Whip & Wander is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.
Almond Peanut Butter Cookies
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 17 minutes
- Yield: 30 small cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
These sweet + salty Almond Peanut Butter Cookies are a gluten-free, refined sugar-free, egg-free, and dairy-free treat that can be made in less than 20 minutes.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup honey (see notes in post above for a Keto-friendly stevia swap)
- ⅓ cup thick peanut butter (may sub for almond or other nut butter)
- 5 tbsp coconut oil, softened
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp sea salt, plus more to top if desired
- 2 cups almond flour
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 F (176 C)
- Cream raw honey, peanut butter, and coconut oil together in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon or spatula. Then add vanilla, baking soda, and salt and mix.
- Add almond flour and mix until a thick dough forms.
- Portion dough into 1 tablespoon spoonfuls and roll into balls. Place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking liner.
- Press down on each ball of dough with a fork crosswise, to form the traditional peanut butter cookie indentations.
- Sprinkle each cookie with a small pinch of fine sea salt if desired.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cookies should be golden brown around the edges.
- The cookies will be fragile when warm, so I like to let them cool slightly for approx 10 minutes before transferring them to an airtight container.
Notes
If made in the 1 tablespoon size, as recommended, this recipe produces small roughly a two-bite cookies.
Nutritional information on Whip & Wander is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 94
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 46 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 6 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
Adriana Lopez Martin says
wow this cookies are definitely perfection you made me craving a nice glass of cold milk and then dunk this amazing cookies in it. So yummy!
Stella says
Oh these are so delicious. I would like to try these cookies. My kids eat a lot of cookies. I think these cookies will provide both the taste and health benefits.
dixya @food, pleasure, and health says
i cant wait to try this recipe!!! it sounds so so goood.
Christine - Jar Of Lemons says
Love how petite and delicious these cookies look! I'd love to keep these around for a yummy dessert. Perfect for my family!
Nicoletta @sugarlovespices says
Simple, good ingredients in these cookies. Love them! They also look pretty and must taste awesome!
Heather says
I love that you used almond flour and these cookies are so easy to make. I love that they don't have 1000 different ingredients, they are simple and PERFECT!
Michelle Blackwood says
Love your healthy high protein version of peanut butter cookies, can't wait to try it.
Kim @ Berly's Kitchen says
My husband would love these. He loves anything sweet and bite-sized. Makes the perfect after dinner dessert!
Karyl Henry says
Oh man I haven't had a good peanut butter cookie in ages! These look so delicious, and I love the addition of almond flour and honey. What a wonderful combination, and I'll have to try this out
Michele @ Queenbeebaker says
I LOVE peanut butter cookies! They honestly have to be my favorite cookie. We are real peanut butter addicts in this house. ;-D Your cookies look scrumptious!
Natalie says
My favorite cookies are the simplest ones. And I'm a HUGE peanut butter lover so these cookies are calling my name. I think I'll make a bunch to fill cookie jar this week. Thanks for reminder 😉
Juli says
Being that these cookies are grain-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and egg-free they are perfect for my family! These sound so good!
Ginny says
I am dying to try this recipe. My favorite but with almond flour. They sound so delicious!
Shadi Hasanzadenemati says
Love tiny delicious cookies like this! yum!
Jessica Robinson says
Your peanut butter cookies look so good! Your pics make me want to take a bite out of the picture! Such a great cookie!
Jazz says
These look and sound delicious! Pinned to make later.
Kristina says
Two bit cookies, that's the perfect little size! And almonds and peanut butter cookies will always be my favorites.
Maddy says
Probably going to need to make these a bit bigger to get three or four bites! 😉
Tif says
This is so good! I need to try this!! I would make my cookies huge so it’s more than a 2 bite haha
Hanna Smith says
These sound so good! I love freshly baked cookies and will have to give this recipe a go!