3-ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies (no egg + vegan)
Vegan 3-ingredient peanut butter cookies that are incredibly easy to make and use common pantry staples. They also have no egg, no refined sugar, no dairy, are gluten-free and keto-friendly, just like my almond flour shortbread cookies!
Why you’ll love these cookies
DIFFICULTY: These vegan 3-ingredient peanut butter cookies come together in one bowl. You can make them in less than 30 minutes!
TASTE/TEXTURE: These cookies are rich and ‘buttery’ as they use almond flour and a higher ratio of liquid ingredients compared to other recipes. They melt in your mouth and are more delicate than typical chocolate chip cookies as they’re high in peanut butter.
Alternatively, if you want to make peanut butter cookies with vegan butter, check out my classic vegan peanut butter cookies.
3 ingredients to make peanut butter cookies
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Notes about the ingredients
Smooth natural peanut butter. I used creamy peanut butter which has no additives and is made of only roasted peanuts and a pinch of salt. The cookies will also work with processed peanut butter.
Almond flour adds moisture which makes the cookies feel rich and ‘buttery’. You may use other flour such as oat flour or fine white rice flour, however, they make the cookies drier and crumblier.
Maple syrup as our sweetener and partial binder. I don’t recommend replacing it with granulated sugar as they won’t bind the ingredients.
Normally, 3-ingredient peanut butter cookies rely on eggs. However, with the addition of maple syrup (to help bind the ingredients) and almond flour (which adds fat and richness), you can make peanut butter cookies with no egg!
Step-by-step: How to make peanut butter cookies
Simply add the 3 ingredients to a bowl and mix until combined. I recommend using a sturdy wooden spoon as the cookie dough is thick!
Initially, the cookie dough will be very soft and feel like a very thick paste. However, the mixture will quickly thicken up and have the consistency of soft and tacky cookie dough.
The more moist and tacky your cookie dough, the less crumbly your final cookies will be!
Use clean hands (or a small ice cream scoop) to roll the soft cookie dough into balls. The cookie dough may look too soft to handle, but it will still work!
To get 20 cookies, each ball of cookie dough should weigh around 24 grams… if you don’t eat any of the raw cookie dough (which is delicious so I will not judge)!
Place the cookie dough balls on a lined baking/cookie sheet then gently flatten them with a fork. You can make them as thin or thick as you like! The dough may stick a little to the fork, but with a bit of patience (and gravity), this step is easy.
I could fit all of my cookies on 2 cookie sheets. The cookies don’t spread much in the oven so you can place them 1 inch (2 cm) apart.
Baking these 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies
If you’d like your cookies to have crisp edges and a soft chewy center, I recommend baking them for around 10 minutes. For cookies that are crisp throughout, bake them for around 15 minutes.
These vegan peanut butter cookies are ready when they start to change in color. They will be very soft when you take them out of the oven. However, they will continue baking on the baking tray and will firm up a lot!
If you love peanut butter desserts, check out my vegan peanut butter chocolate muffins or peanut butter jam pie!
Expert Tips
This recipe is super versatile! To the cookie dough, you can also add:
– vegan chocolate chips
– vanilla extract
– spices, such as cinnamon
You can also dip the cookies in chocolate and sprinkle them with crushed peanuts or flaked salt (pictured below)! Or make them into thumbprint peanut butter jelly cookies.
I haven’t tested this recipe with other types of nut butter but readers have told me it works! Remember that peanut butter is a little more oily than other nut butter so any variations may be drier.
More easy vegan cookie recipes
Follow Rainbow Nourishments on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Pinterest, and subscribe via email to receive all of our latest recipes!
3-ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies (no egg + vegan)
Ingredients
- 1 cup (250g) smooth natural peanut butter
- 1 ¼ cups (125g) almond flour / blanched almond meal, spooned and leveled (note 1)
- ⅓ cup (115g) maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Preparing the cookies:
- Add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix until combined. Allow the mixture to sit for around 2 minutes to thicken up. The final cookie dough should have the consistency of a soft and slightly tacky paste that is thick enough to roll into balls. (note 2)
- Using clean and damp hands or a small cookie scoop, divide the cookie dough into around 20 balls (~24g each). Place the balls on the lined baking trays.
- Use a fork to flatten each ball and mark each cookie with a criss-cross pattern. You can make them as thin/thick as you like! Alternatively, you can just flatten each ball with the palm of your hand.
Baking and storing the cookies:
- Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes or until the edges are very slightly golden brown. Cookies baked for less time will be soft and chewy whereas cookies baked for longer will be crisp throughout.
- Allow the cookies to completely cool on the baking tray. Initially, the cookies will be very soft but will firm up a lot as they cool.
- For the best texture, enjoy the cookies on the day of baking either warm or at room temperature. Alternatively, store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 days, in the fridge for 2 weeks or up to 2 months in the freezer.
Notes
- For the best results, I recommend using the grams measurements. Alternatively, use the spoon and level method to measure the flour where you fluff up the flour in the container, use a spoon to add it to a measuring cup and level it off with a knife. Using a measuring cup to scoop the flour out of the container will pack it in the measuring cup and make the cookies crumblier.
Instead of using almond flour, I’ve had success with using 100g oat flour OR 50g fine white rice flour. After you mix your cookie dough, let it sit for a few minutes as it will thicken up. I prefer the cookies with almond flour as they’re less dry and crumbly. I haven’t tested this recipe with any other flour. - The softer your cookie dough, the richer and more ‘buttery’ your final cookies will be. If you’d like softer cookies, feel free to add 1-2 tablespoons of peanut butter or maple syrup. If you’d like drier cookies, add 1-2 tablespoons of almond flour.
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.
Easy and so delicious! Hard not to eat them warm straight away ! So great for my vegan daughter as I can whip them up for a little after dinner treat and the rest of the family love them.
We’re so glad to hear they’re a hit with your daughter, and the whole family! We love quick, easy, and delicious treats here too, so it’s wonderful to hear this one has become a go-to for you. Thank you so much for sharing your feedback 💛
I have made these 4 times already. (And I’m not even Vegan!)
Absolutely love them. I live by myself so it is a perfect recipe for me. Thanks for sharing
I’m going to dip 1/2 the batch I’m making today in chocolate. ❤️
Hi Debbie, that’s truly wonderful and I’m so glad this recipe is a keeper for you!! Thank you SO much for taking the time to let me know. And I hope you enjoy today’s batch too!
Can I make this with honey ?
I’ve only tested my recipes the way they’re written so I can’t be 100% sure but give it a try and let me know how you go!
These are so good! My husband tolerates the sugar free desserts and snacks I make. Partly because I rarely use sugar, this one he likes, total hit!
Aw, I’m so glad you and your husband enjoyed these! And I get what you mean about sugar-free recipes because my partner is the same haha. Thanks so much for letting me know!