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Peanut Butter Cookies

Updated Aug 7, 2020Published Oct 29, 2017 By Julia 106 CommentsThis post may contain affiliate links.

Summary:
These keto and low carb peanut butter cookies are crisp and crunchy on the outside, and chewy and slightly soft within. You only need 4 ingredients to make them, with the option of using either almond flour or coconut flour.
stack of peanut butter cookies, with a bite taken out

Peanut Butter Cookies

4.4 from 55 votes
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Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Yield: 18 servings

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup creamy salted peanut butter (Note 1)
  • 1/2 cup powdered erythritol or 6 tablespoons confectioners swerve sweetener (Note 2)
  • 1/4 cup almond flour or 2 tablespoons coconut flour (Note 3)
  • 1 large egg

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Prepare: Preheat oven to 350 F. Set aside baking sheet lined with parchment paper or baking mat. Stir together all ingredients in mixing bowl until well-mixed; resulting dough should be thick and dense.
  • Form Cookies: Scoop 1 to 2 tablespoons of dough to form 1-inch ball, placing it onto baking sheet. Repeat until dough is used up, resulting in about 18 balls, arranged about 2 inches apart. Flatten each ball by pressing down using fork and rotating 90 degrees to press down again, forming criss-cross pattern (Note 4).
  • Bake & Cool: Bake at 350 F for 12 to 15 minutes (Note 5) or until edges of cookies are browning. Cookies will be very soft coming out of oven; cool on baking sheet before serving (Note 6).

NUTRITION

Makes 18 Servings
Amount Per Serving (1 cookie):
Calories 100 (68% from fat)  
Total Fat 8g 12%
   Saturated Fat 1g 5%
Cholesterol 10mg 3%
Sodium 20mg 1%
Net Carb 2g  
Total Carb 3.5g (Note 7) 1%
   Dietary Fiber 1.5g 6%
   Sugars 1g  
Protein 4g  
Vitamin A 0% · Vitamin C 0% · Calcium 1% · Iron 2%

PHOTOS

stack of peanut butter cookies, with a bite taken out
step by step showing how to make peanut butter cookies
flattening peanut butter balls
baked peanut butter cookies on baking sheet
tall stack of peanut butter cookies

NOTES & TIPS

(1) Peanut Butter. About 9.2 ounces weight. I use creamy salted peanut butter, without any special flavors or add-ins, and unsweetened. This is often referred to as “natural” peanut butter on package labels, and only peanuts and salt are listed on the ingredient label. There is typically some separation at room temperature, so stir up the jar of peanut butter before measuring out the amount to use. If your peanut butter has been refrigerated, it may be difficult to mix with the other ingredients; let it soften at room temperature. This can’t be substituted with powdered peanut butter.
(2) Sweetener. About 2.8 ounces weight for powdered erythritol and 2.1 ounces weight for Confectioners Swerve. Erythritol is about 70% as sweet as Confectioners Swerve; the latter measures the same as regular powdered sugar. You can substitute with your favorite dry sweetener; I don’t recommend liquid sweeteners which affect the ratio of dry to wet ingredients. To calculate the amount to use, check your sweetener’s packaging to determine how it compares to regular sugar. If it’s granulated, I recommend powdering it using a blender (like a Nutribullet).
(3) Almond Flour / Coconut Flour. About 1 ounce weight for almond flour and 0.5 ounce weight for coconut flour. Both flours produce nearly identical cookies in terms of appearance, taste, texture, and nutritional data. For almond flour, I use the blanched kind, which means the skins are taken off of the almonds so the resulting flour looks white. Note that while it’s possible to make these cookies with only 3 ingredients by avoiding any flour, I prefer using one because it helps bind everything together with a nicer texture. You can substitute with any kind of grainy flour-like ingredient, like finely ground flax meal, whey protein, or other low carb alternative.
(4) Forming Cookies. These cookies won’t spread much as they bake. If you’re particular about their appearance, form your desired cookie shape, thickness, and size prior to baking. You can also have fun decorating the cookies however you wish — I use a fork to make a standard criss-cross pattern as I flattened each cookie.
(5) Baking Time. The recipe provides a range of baking times because you may prefer softer or harder cookies. For softer, chewier, moister cookies, you’ll want a shorter baking time. For harder, crisper, and drier cookies, bake on the longer end. I typically bake for 15 minutes.
(6) Serving / Leftovers. It’s important to let the cookies cool at room temperature: they’re too soft to handle fresh out of the oven, and will harden as they cool. Leftover cookies should be completely cooled and then stored in an airtight container at room temperature. They’re best when consumed within 3 days.
(7) Carbs. The nutrition calculation assumes you are using Swerve or a similar erythritol-based sweetener that uses sugar alcohols, whose carbs are non-impact and therefore not included in the nutrition estimate. Apps that count sugar alcohols will show a higher number of carbs.

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Filed Under: Desserts, Low Carb, Per Serving: Under 5g Net Carbs Tagged With: 0-30min, 1-5ingredients, almond flour, coconut flour, eggs, erythritol, featured, gluten free, oven, peanut butter, vegetarian

About Julia

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Julia is a recipe developer and the founder of Savory Tooth. Since 2015, she has been sharing simple recipes for tasty dishes, mostly low carb and gluten free. Learn more.

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newest oldest most voted
Gayle

I’ve made these with both flours. Both are delicious, but I prefer the coconut flour. The almond flour cookies are a bit tougher, while the coconut flour cookies are melt in your mouth fantastic. The only change I made was using less sweetener. I only use 2-3 tablespoons because I like more peanut butter flavor and less sweet.

Vote Up25Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Mike

Well, I have tried countless Keto type recipes online. All of them claiming to be delicious and taste just like the real thing. Each one more horrible than the next. Ewwww. Tried this one using Splenda (powdered), coconut flour and natural unsweetened peanut butter, one egg and Eureka! This one is great!!! Yay!!! Finally a recipe that I will use over and over. Thank you thank you. ( I would recommend using a little less sweetener, maybe 1/4 cup )

Mike

Vote Up15Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Nancy

Just fyi powdered splenda off the super market shelf is not keto friendly, it has maltodextrin as a bulking agent, adding carbs
Natural mates makes a sucralose that uses erithyroil as the bulking agent, its twice as sweet as sugar but it is the absolute best sweetner I’ve found in terms of tasting like sugar. And I’ve been doing low carb/keto diets off and on for 20 yrs (sweeteners have come a long way!) However. Ive only found the natural mates on amazon though.

I’m going to try this recipe with confections erithyroil.

Vote Up4Vote Down  Reply
2 years ago
Patti Harris

Just made these cookies with a couple changes:
3 TBS Swerve confectioners
3 TBS Swerve brown
1 TBS. melted butter
Really good, sweetness just right and not crumbly!

Vote Up15Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Dana

So did you exchange the brown sugar and confectioners for the sugars and amounts in the original recipe, and just added the melted butter?

Vote Up0Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Emmy

My cookies just came out of the oven and smell wonderful. I used the coconut flour and confectioners swerve. I used a #50 cookie scoop and got 16 cookies. The cookies do harden as they cool. My cookie was crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Very pleased with the recipe.

Vote Up13Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Steven Bencs

I added 72% cacao chips. Perfect after dinner snack to satisfy the sweet tooth in a keto-friendly way.

Vote Up10Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Tasha

I left out the sweetener, the natural organic PB & Almond flour do enough! ❤️

Vote Up10Vote Down  Reply
4 years ago
Ezl

I looked at comments before making and noted several comments calling them dry. After mixing I note consistency and ended up adding 2 tablespoons heavy cream. They were perfect when baked. Since I like to smell vanilla when I am baking I added a quarter teaspoon smelled wonderful as they baked ..

Vote Up9Vote Down  Reply
4 years ago
Katie

Made recipe as – is in mini muffin pan 13 min 🔥

Vote Up8Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Sadonna Daniels

Making these in mini muff pans. Hope they’re as good as you say 🥰

Vote Up1Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Sid

My partner made these last night as soon as I came across the recipe, so simple to pull together and so tasty. We used ground almonds instead of flour and it worked just as well. Make sure you have patience and let them cool before you eat one, unlike I did, I couldn’t wait – they are so much sweeter when warm, perfect when cooled. Terrific recipe and can double up as a fat bomb 🙂

Vote Up5Vote Down  Reply
4 years ago
Denise

These are the best keto friendly cookies! I took some to work for friends who are on keto and they were in awe how good these were compared to the 3 ingredient cookies they have been using. I did make one little change! I didn’t have powdered swerve so I used granulated swerve and worked out perfect.

Vote Up5Vote Down  Reply
4 years ago
Nicole

Peanut butter cookies are my favorite! I do have a question though, I live by myself and shouldn’t eat the whole batch by myself. Can you freeze the dough to use at a later date? Will it hold up well?

Vote Up4Vote Down  Reply
2 years ago
Mary S

Wow, Wow, Wow!!! The best I’ve tried so far – for sure!

Vote Up4Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Joann

These were too good and I ate the whole batch in one day!

Vote Up3Vote Down  Reply
2 years ago
Julie

Just made them, surprisingly they taste like regular cookies. Great recipe!

Vote Up3Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Diana

WARNING: Make these cookies, but…
Don’t use your favorite wooden spoon to mix this dough. Use your hands–I learned the hard way, snapped my spoon handle in two .Working these cookies with your hands is the way to go, since it’s crumbly and you’ll have to squeeze it together before rolling it into a ball. I made a double batch, using the fork method for the first half and flattening the second half with my hands so I could keep the crumbling to a minimum. All turned out delish and well worth the upper body exercise. 😉

Vote Up3Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Brittany Leanza

12 minutes was way too long for my cookies- they were almost black before I realized they were actually burning. So after starting another batch- 7 minutes was perfect.

Vote Up3Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Julia

Could be that your oven is running hotter than mine (I have an oven thermometer that I use to verify the temperature). I wonder if you would have a different baking time if you used an oven rack positioned in the lower half of your oven.

Vote Up1Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Peter McNaughton

I made this with lanko monk fruit sweetener and almond flour. Very good cookies.

Vote Up2Vote Down  Reply
2 years ago
Jannie Lynn

Taste was great, very dry, does not hold form, falls apart. We followed this recipe exactly! When we pulled the cookies out of the oven some fell apart on the pan! We let the cookies cool before attempting to eat them. They continued falling apart. They seemed a bit soft on the inside, outside was not crunchy but they were brittle. Extremely dry to taste. Used monk fruit for sweetener and 2 TB. coconut flour.

Vote Up2Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Damn Daddy

Great cookies! I’ve been playing with variations of a similar recipe for a couple years now:

* I’ve found Almond Flour works best. I was surprised to find Cashew Flour didn’t work well, but both texture and taste weren’t as good.

* Allulose sweetener tastes most natural to me. It’s not quite as sweet as sugar alcohol-based sweeteners, but the next addition more than makes up for that. Plus allulose doesn’t affect my stomach like erythritol can.

* Add 2 Tablespoons Buttermilk Powder – Helps the Almond Flour hold the cookies together, also adds an extra burst of sweetness and a creamy-yet-crumbly texture. Adds about 1/2 gram of carbs to each cookie, but so worth it.

* Dash of vanilla extract or caramel flavoring!

* Sugar-free Baking Chips – A handful or a whole bunch! Make sure the chips don’t use Maltitol as a sweetener, as it’s not a low-carb substance.

Or just follow the simpler recipe above. It’s already delicious without messing with it!

Vote Up1Vote Down  Reply
1 year ago
Sarah

I don’t know how this recipie has so many good reviews. I just made this trying to find a good dessert for my dad and brother for Christmas (they are both diabetic)
Thank God I tried the cookies a few weeks before I made them at Christmas because they were so dang dry and bland.
I followed the recipie to a T. Using the swerve and coconut flour. Even went out and bought the necessary ingredients because I didn’t have them on hand.
Would not recommend. 😭😭

Vote Up1Vote Down  Reply
2 years ago
Julia

What brand of peanut butter did you use? Is it the natural kind (just peanuts and salt)?

Vote Up0Vote Down  Reply
2 years ago
Jackie

Oh my!! Been craving peanut butter cookies. Tried several keto recipes an they were awful, but these are Amazing! After seeing 30 plus high ratings I figured I would give them a try. Quick easy but most of all DELICIOUS! My son said these are a keeper. Thanks for sharing your recipe!

Vote Up1Vote Down  Reply
2 years ago
Jeanne

Made these today and they are delicious . . . Thank you!

Vote Up1Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Karen

These cookies are delish, but unfortunately, the erythritol gave my husband and I severe GI issues. Would pure Monk-fruit drops work in this recipe? Since it would be missing substance, wasn’t sure if I should add something in its place. Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Vote Up1Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Julia

If you use pure Monk Fruit drops, I would add more (about 6 tablespoons) dry ingredients to make up for the lack of dry sweetener bulk. I’m thinking ground flaxseed, unflavored protein powder, ground pecans, or extra almond flour. Or a mixture of the aforementioned; my only concern is that they will add an unwanted taste or texture to the final cookies (e.g., the cookies may taste too strongly of flaxseed or almond). Also, keep in mind that the nutritional makeup of these cookies will be impacted, if that’s of concern to you.

Another option is using a dry sweetener that isn’t erythritol-based, possibly Monk Fruit In The Raw, which is a dry sweetener that measures the same as sugar and Swerve. You can find more information about it here: https://www.amazon.com/Monk-Fruit-Raw-Sweetener-Ounce/dp/B00BMAGFCO

Vote Up4Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Karen

Thanks, Julia. Unfortunately, the Monk Fruit in the Raw has Maltodextrin in it, which also causes GI issues for us. I think I’ll try adding flax-seed or ground walnuts or extra almond flour. Thanks so much for your response.

Vote Up1Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Theresa

I don’t have POWDERED erythritol… Can regular erythritol be used instead? When I was baking non-keto PB cookies before, I always used regular sugar over powdered sugar.

Vote Up1Vote Down  Reply
4 years ago
Julia

Regular erythritol can have rather large granules, which don’t incorporate as well in dough, which can crystallize later and produce a “cooling effect” when eating them. To avoid these potential side effects, I recommend powdering regular erythritol using a small blender like a nutribullet.

Vote Up2Vote Down  Reply
4 years ago
Rose Mary Cagle

I made these excellent; only I used almond creamy peanut butter and used 1/4 cup sugar in the raw, I don’t like using artifical sweeteners, and I added 1 cup all natural chocolate chips! Delicious! A keeper.

Vote Up0Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago

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