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Vegan peanut butter cookies are a quick and easy recipe that comes together in 20 minutes or less. Each bite is soft, chewy, sweet, and full of melt-in-your-mouth flavors. The best part? They’re freezer-friendly!
Table of Contents
❤️ Why you’ll love this recipe
- 10-minute baking time: All you need is 10 minutes in the oven for perfectly soft and tender peanut butter cookies.
- Diet-friendly: These cookies are dairy-free, egg-free, and gluten-free, making them great for a wide range of dietary preferences and needs.
- Make ahead: Feel free to make this recipe days or weeks ahead of time, then store your cookies in the freezer. You can even freeze the dough.
- Simple ingredients: There is nothing crazy going on here — just simple, healthy ingredients that will make you feel better about indulging in 1 or 2 extra!
If you love vegan peanut butter cookies, you should really check out our oatmeal raisin cookies, 2-ingredient peanut butter cookies, Cookie Monster cookies, or Mexican sprinkle cookies.
🥜 Vegan peanut butter cookies
Whether you’re plant-based or not, these vegan peanut butter cookies are about to send shockwaves through your tastebuds. They couldn’t be easier to make and turn out perfect every time.
Peanut butter is the type of ingredient that can be added to anything and completely transform it into a hit (who’s with us?). Combined with ingredients like oat flour, vegan butter, and brown sugar, they’re soft, chewy, and melt-in-your-mouth good.
If you’re a peanut butter fan, you’re really going to want to give this recipe a try! No fancy equipment is needed — you probably already have everything you need!
🥜 Which is the best peanut butter to use?
Both natural and smooth peanut butter work for these vegan gluten-free peanut butter cookies. We personally prefer the taste and texture of natural peanut butter. However, if you don’t have any on hand or prefer the other variety, feel free to swap it in.
Note: If you decide to use all-natural peanut butter, give it a good stir before measuring it. This will help evenly distribute the oils, ensuring your cookies aren’t a runny mess.
🧊 Do I have to chill the cookie dough?
Another reason we love this recipe so much is that you don’t have to chill the dough! You heard that right — mix, roll, and bake.
The only caveat is that if you live in a warm climate (like us in the Caribbean), you may need to chill them for a few minutes in the fridge or freezer. We recommend chilling the dough while your oven preheats.
🌱 Are peanut butter cookies vegan?
Unlike other peanut butter cookie recipes, this one is completely egg and dairy-free. We made a few simple tweaks to achieve a consistency that’s just right:
- Instead of regular butter, we opted for vegan butter.
- To replace the egg, we went with cornstarch. It may be our favorite egg replacement in cookies since it adds an incredibly chewy texture.
How easy is that? These dairy and egg-free peanut butter cookies will convince even the biggest vegan baking skeptics!
🛒 Ingredients & substitutions
- Oat flour: Provides a chewy texture while adding nutrients like fiber, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorous. Plus, it means these vegan peanut butter cookies are also gluten-free. For a 1:1 substitute, use brown rice flour.
- Leavening agents: We add both baking powder and baking soda to give a lift to the cookies, making them perfectly light and tender.
- Salt: To enhance the flavor of the cookies. If your peanut butter is extra salty, reduce the amount of salt by at least half.
- Vegan butter: Brings a rich, buttery flavor that makes the cookies feel extra indulgent. Use a good-quality brand like Melt, Miyokos, or Earth Balance. It’s best to use vegan stick butter as it contains less water than the tub variety.
- Brown sugar: For a chewy cookie with deep, rich, molasses notes, you need brown sugar! Remember to check that it’s vegan-friendly (you should be safe with organic). No brown sugar? Make your own by mixing 1 cup brown sugar and 1-2 tablespoons molasses.
- Peanut butter: You want natural and smooth peanut butter for a similar flavor and texture as this recipe. Just make sure to give it a good stir so you’re not just using the oily portion on top.
- Maple syrup: In addition to the brown sugar, we use maple syrup to sweeten the cookies. You can also use agave, coconut nectar, or brown rice syrup.
- Vanilla: We suggest pure vanilla extract for the most flavor-intense results.
- Cornstarch: This is what takes the chewiness factor of the cookies over the top. Don’t skip the cornstarch!
- Cane sugar: To roll the cookies in, creating a sweet, slightly crunchy exterior.
For a complete ingredient list and step-by-step guide, scroll down to our recipe card.
📝 How to make vegan peanut butter cookies
Step 1: Mix the cornstarch
Preheat your oven to 350°F with the rack in the center, and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and warm water. Set aside.
Step 2: Combine the wet ingredients
Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on, cream the softened vegan butter and brown sugar together on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Next, mix in the peanut butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and cornstarch mixture.
Step 3: Add the dry ingredients
In a separate bowl, whisk the oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Slowly add this to the wet ingredients, mixing on low until incorporated.
Step 4: Roll the cookies
Place cane sugar in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Roll balls of dough (about 1 ½ tablespoons of dough per cookie), coat with sugar, and place 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Use a cookie scoop for this part if you have one!
Step 5: Make the crisscrosses
With the tines of a fork, make a crisscross indent on each cookie, leaving the cookies fairly thick. Bake until the cookies are barely golden at the edges but still slightly underdone in the center, about 7-10 minutes depending on your oven.
Step 6: Let the cookies rest
Remove the cookies from the oven and let them rest on the baking sheet for another 5 minutes. Gently transfer them to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling. Happy eating!
If you have questions about these vegan peanut butter cookies, check out our FAQs or leave a comment down below!
🌡️ Storage & reheating
For any leftover vegan peanut butter cookies, follow these simple storage tips:
- Room temperature: Keep them covered, in an airtight container on the countertop for up to 4-5 days.
- Fridge: To stretch the storage time, transfer the cookies to the fridge where they’ll last for up to 10-14 days.
- Freezer: If you made a double or triple batch, don’t worry! Egg and dairy-free peanut butter cookies are perfect for the freezer. Add them to a freezer-safe bag and they will keep for 3-4 months.
- Freezing dough: Portion the dough into small balls, then place them into a freezer-safe bag or container. When you’re ready for cookies, bake them straight from frozen.
- Reheat: Thaw baked cookies on the countertop for 30-60 minutes. You can warm them up in a toaster oven at 300 degrees F for a few minutes.
♻️ Variations
- Chocolate chips: Add vegan chocolate chips to the batter for bursts of melty chocolate in each bite.
- Chocolate dipped: Once your vegan peanut butter cookies are baked, dip them in melted dark chocolate.
- Ice cream sandwiches: Make peanut butter cookie sandwiches by smearing dairy-free ice cream on one cookie and closing it up with another.
- Chunky peanut butter: For added crunch and texture, use chunky peanut butter in place of smooth peanut butter.
🧑🍳 Top tips
- Crosshatch: Dip your fork in flour before pressing down on the peanut butter cookies to prevent the dough from sticking.
- Cool before eating: The cookies may be puffy as they come out of the oven, so it’s important to let them set completely before eating them.
- Don’t over-bake: The cookies will continue baking a little after removing them from the oven, so leave them on the pan for the amount of time listed in the instructions.
- Stir the peanut butter: Prevent runny vegan peanut butter cookies by giving your natural peanut butter a thorough stir before measuring it.
💬 FAQ
Your peanut butter cookies may be falling apart because you added too much flour, which results in a dry, crumbly texture. Unfortunately, when the cookies are baked there’s no way to fix this. Try breaking them up over ice cream as a delicious garnish!
If your dough is too soft to roll, it’s best to chill it for 30 minutes. If it still doesn’t firm up, you likely need to add a little more flour.
Although it will technically turn into a different recipe, dairy-free peanut butter cookies can be made with Sun Butter for an allergy-friendly option.
If you’re suffering from hard or crunchy peanut butter cookies, they were either baked too long or the oven was too hot. Try reducing the time cooking, and if that doesn’t work, buy an oven thermometer to make sure the temperature is correct.
🍴 More baking recipes
If you enjoyed these vegan peanut butter cookies, be sure to check out some of our most popular baking recipes:
- Chocolate Chip Mug Cake: A quick mug cake that comes together in less than 10 minutes.
- Snickerdoodles: Vegan snickerdoodles made without the need for cream of tartar.
- Banana Almond Flour Muffins: A healthy, simple, and gluten-free muffin recipe.
- Double Chocolate Chip Muffins: Soft, tender, and sweet muffins made with two types of chocolate.
- Banana Oatmeal Cookies: The perfect option when you need a healthy treat!
- Almond Flour Peanut Butter Cookies: A sweet treat made with just 3 ingredients.
Easy Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
Equipment
- Baking sheets
- Parchment paper
- Stand mixer
Ingredients
Dry
- 1 cup oat flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Wet
- ¼ cup vegan butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup natural smooth peanut butter
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons warm water
For rolling optional
- ¼ cup cane sugar
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F with the rack in the center, and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and warm water. Set aside.
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on, cream the softened vegan butter and brown sugar together on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Next, mix in the peanut butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and cornstarch mixture.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Slowly add this to the wet ingredients, mixing on low until incorporated.
- Place cane sugar in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Roll balls of dough (about 1 ½ tablespoons of dough per cookie), coat with sugar, and place 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Use a cookie scoop for this part if you have one!
- With the tines of a fork, make a crisscross indent on each cookie, leaving the cookies fairly thick. Bake until the cookies are barely golden at the edges but still slightly underdone in the center, about 7-10 minutes depending on your oven.
- Remove cookies from the oven and let them rest on the baking sheet for another 5 minutes. Gently transfer them to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling. Happy eating!
Notes
- Crosshatch: Dip your fork in flour before pressing down on the peanut butter cookies to prevent the dough from sticking.
- Cool before eating: The cookies may be puffy as they come out of the oven, so it’s important to let them set completely before eating them.
- Don’t over-bake: The cookies will continue baking a little after removing them from the oven, so leave them on the pan for the amount of time listed in the instructions.
- Stir the peanut butter: Prevent runny peanut butter cookies by giving your natural peanut butter a thorough stir before measuring it.
- Nutritional information is a rough estimate and should not be taken as health advice.
Nutrition
Note: We’ve updated this post to include new information and helpful tips about the recipe.
These were delicious! They had a wonderful, soft texture.
Hey Karen!
We’re so glad you enjoyed them. Thanks for leaving a comment!