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
Kay says
What a great recipe my daughter loves these! And she is a hard one to please, so you done well!
Marisa F. Stewart says
I've wanted to make some almond peanut butter cookies for a long time. I just haven't had the chance. Well, now that I'm stuck in the house this is the perfect opportunity. You give some really great tips for success. I can see me enjoying them with my afternoon tea and book.
Leslie says
This is a great, classic cookie recipe! Sure to please anyone! Thanks for sharing!
Danielle says
I can't wait to try this recipe. I am out of cookies and I really need to fill my cookie jar ASAP. I love when I have plenty 🙂
Tammy says
I think the honey adds a great depth of flavor to these! Such a delicious and wholesome twist on nut butter cookies ^_^ I wish I could reach in and grab one 😀
Amy Liu Dong says
These cookies looks really delicious and I love how easy to make this recipe for my kids. Thank you!
Kelly Anthony says
I love that I can make these cookies for my family and not worry about them eating too much-refined sugar. I love that this recipe has simple ingredients and are also easy to make.
Heidy says
These almond cookies look wonderful. I also love how you have made the instructions easy to understand and follow. I think I might make a double batch---do you think they will freeze well? They seem like they would.
Anne says
Yum!! Made these today with my 2.5 year old. We had to make a bunch of small substitutions: almond meal for almond flour, agave nectar for honey, earth balance for coconut oil and then went without vanilla because we were out. We also added chocolate chips at the end— delicious!!! Will make these over and over again.
Whip & Wander says
I'm so glad you enjoyed them, Anne! They are such a tremendous cookie because they're nice and flexible for pantry staples.
Sue says
I live at a high elevation, so typically add 25 degrees. My peanut butter was a bit runny so according to directions I added more almond flour. They turned out very dry and burned at the bottom, probably because I put the temperature up. I'm going to try another batch because the ingredients are great, and I like that there were such positive feedback. I will make the alterations but fake at a lower temperature.
erin says
just made these and they are great! i used unrefined coconut oil so that tiny bit of flavor comes through, which i love. i also used good ol JIF peanut butter and only cooked for 9 minutes as i wanted to make sure they were soft. taking them out at that time kept them in tact, but close to breaking if not careful. they certainly were not crumbly. they are a tad on the dry side but not too much so. thanks for the recipe!
Whip & Wander says
I'm glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Bree says
These are really good! I didn’t have honey so I replaced it with maple syrup. We also added 1/3 cup of chocolate chips. The coconut oil makes them buttery and rich. Definitely addictive and will make again.
Whip & Wander says
I'm so glad you enjoyed these, Bree! They are a favorite cookie jar cookie in my house!
Elizabeth says
These cookies are amazing. I’ve made them so many times and a lot of people have asked me for the recipe. Everyone in my household loves them and other than adding a few dark chocolate chips sometimes I follow the recipe exactly. Sometimes I have to add a bit more almond flour to stiffen up the dough, but otherwise it’s perfect.
Linda Grace says
Not sure what happened....but I checked and took them out at 10 minutes. They were burnt. Now trying 8 minutes. I even made them a larger size.....what went wrong?
Whip & Wander says
I'm not sure how you ended up with that result. I've tested these many times and generally find that they need the full 12 minutes plus rest time to stay golden and intact, so I'm unsure how your batch ended up overcooking at 10. Did you substitute any ingredients or is was oven running a little hotter than 350 F? Also, what kind of peanut butter are you using?
Suzan Ozkaya says
It’s more like a soft dough. Should I put in fridge to firm up? Otherwise it’s too soft to roll onto a perfect ball
Whip & Wander says
The dough should be quite dense and rollable without refrigerating, though it doesn't need to roll into a perfect ball as you'll be pressing the dough down with a fork before baking. Refrigerating the dough should certainly help it to firm up if if you'd like to try, or you might consider increasing the almond flour slightly if you find that the dough is still too slack. Let me know how that works for you 🙂
Jyothi (Jo) says
Almonds are the best nuts to go inside a cookie and with peanut butter these cookies are simply the best of the kind. Looks absolutely delicious!
Lauren @ Delicious Little Bites says
These seem so easy and SO yummy! I LOVE that they are keto since I follow keto most of the time!
Ayanna @ 21FlavorsofSplendor says
I love the simple ingredients. My daughters would love making and eating these.
Paula @ I'm Busy Being Awesome says
Such a great tasty treat, the salt on top is the best part
Mimi says
They look so yummy, such a great snack