So begins the time of the year when it’s totally acceptable to have a freezer bursting with cookies. There’s always something on hand for unexpected guests, not to mention evening nibbles while cozied up in front of the TV, which we’ve been kinda glued to lately (oops). My friends and family are about to be bombarded with cookies over the next few weeks. I just hope they don’t mind when I force them to fill out a recipe feedback form removing all pleasure from the cookie eating experience. There are always strings attached, you know.
These peanut butter chocolate cookies are made gluten-free by using almonds and gluten-free oats – both ground in my Vitamix to make a flour. You can either grind it yourself in a high-speed blender or you can buy pre-made almond and oat flour. I weighed and measured the amounts to take the guess work out of it for you. As is the case with many of my vegan cookie recipes, a flax egg (which is simply ground flax mixed with water) mimics the texture of a traditional hen’s egg.
Almond flour gives these cookies a crispy, chewy, and crumbly quality. If you’re looking for a softer texture, you might want to try swapping the almond flour for an all-purpose gluten-free flour (and perhaps a touch of almond milk if the batter is dry). After the cookies came out of the oven, I sprinkled them with flaked sea salt to bring out the peanut butter flavour and make everything pop! Flaked sea salt, where have you been all my life?
Crispy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yield
20 medium or 15 large cookies
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
These gluten-free and vegan chocolate chip cookies are crispy, chewy, and perfect for dunking into a glass of almond milk! Ready in a half hour, you'll turn to this recipe again and again due to its quick prep time and irresistible flavour.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ground flax
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1/4 cup (45 grams) non-dairy buttery spread*
- 1/4 cup (70 grams) natural smooth peanut butter or almond butter**
- 1/2 cup (80 grams) lightly packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (55 grams) organic cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats, blended into a flour (105 grams or 1 cup oat flour)
- 1 cup almonds, blended into a meal (145 grams or 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons almond meal)
- 1/3 cup mini non-dairy chocolate chips (or regular size chips)***
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, mix together the ground flax and water. Set aside for a few minutes so it can thicken.
- With an electric mixer or in a stand mixer, beat the buttery spread and peanut butter until combined.
- Add both sugars and beat for 1 minute more. Beat in the flax mixture and vanilla extract until combined.
- Now, beat in the dry ingredients (baking soda, baking powder, salt, oat flour, and almond meal) one by one.
- Stir in the chocolate chips, reserving about 1 tablespoon for pressing into the top of the dough balls.
- Shape 1-inch balls of dough (smaller than golf balls) and place on the baking sheet 2 inches apart. You can also use a retractable cookie scoop. If chocolate chips aren’t sticking to the dough, just press them in with your fingers. There is no need to flatten the balls as the cookies spread out while baking. Press reserved chips into the tops of the dough balls.
- Bake for about 11 to 13 minutes until spread out and lightly golden. The cookies will be very soft coming out of the oven, but they will crisp up as they cool. Allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a cooling rack for another 10 minutes.
Tip:
- * I use soy-free Earth Balance.
- ** Be sure to stir the peanut butter well before using. Also, avoid using the dry nut butter that's often found at the bottom of the jar. It's simply too thick and dry for this recipe and will result in cookies that don't spread.
- *** For "pretty" cookies, reserve 1 tablespoon of chocolate chips for pressing into the tops of the dough balls before baking. I use Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Eric’s two cents – “I’m not a big peanut butter fan, but if you put a plate of 12 of these cookies in front of me, I’d probably still eat them all.”
Wise words, husband, wise words.
Is there anything that could be substituted for almonds/almond flour? These look amazing, but almonds don’t agree with me!
You might be able to sub it with another flour, but you probably wouldnt need a full cup. I would add it slowly until the right texture if acheieved (not too dry but not too sticky)
Could I replace the cane sugar with raw honey? If so, how much would I use?
On a side note, not sure if you have seen this yet…I just found that Earth Balance makes a sweet cinnamon “butter”. It is awesome and great to use for baking.
Hey Tammy, Im not sure as honey is a liquid and sugar is dry. It would change the make up of the recipe. Youd probably have to add more dry ingredients.
Hahahaha! I like Eric! I love crispy cookies. I’m not much for soft cookies actually, and I believe tha is because I’m a huge fan of dipping cookie sin almond milk. These sound really good. I hope you’re recipe testers like them!
these look so good, I will have to try them.
by the way, I’m always tempted to hand out surveys (it must be the marketer in me) but my friends told me that those dogs won’t hunt. I hope you get a better response :D
I love the added sprinkle of salt at the end! I bet it takes them over the top. Word.
Love you including grams. North america is so out of the loop on it! And you don’t have to dirty multiple measuring cups!
Haha! Love Eric’s quote ;)
The best thing to nibble on in front of the TV! Thanks for the recipe, my whole family loved them!
These look yummy Angela! I thought I would also share my peanut butter cookies, which have just 4 ingredients, and no butter, sugar, oil, or flour! http://fresh-you.blogspot.com/2012/03/these-peanut-butter-cookies-couldnt-be.html Have a nice afternoon, and thanks again for your AWESOME creation — this amazing blog!!!!!
These look SOOOOOO good !!
I like the new Header! But I must say, I like the old one better. The text was much more . . . you.
I made these tonight and they are divine! Thanks for the great great recipe! I didn’t have anymore Earth Balance so I use coconut oil and they turned out wonderfully! Also, I want to try them with almond butter next time!
oh i love cookies!!!!! These look the best to have!!! YUMMY !!!!
My favorite type of cookie! Thank you! My freezer too is jammed packed already with treats!
These cookies look and sound amazing, Angela. I haven’t baked with almond flour yet, but one of my friends loves to bake with it. Maybe I’ll buy a bag and start with these!
These cookies are delicious! I substituted coconut oil for Earth Balance and it came out perfect.
The reviews are in: they were amazing! (Read: WERE). My husband, also Eric, even dropped one on the floor that hadn’t been vacuumed as recently as it should’ve been and he screamed, “I dropped my cookie!!!!” and picked it up and ate it anyway. I used more PB and less Earth Balance, got them a little too wet so they took longer to bake and needed a higher temp (or my oven needs to be calibrated). It was wonderful to eat a cookie and not get the sick feeling that I usually get if I give in to wheat. The kids are gone this weekend and missed out but this is going to be THE recipe. Thanks again!
Ooh, flaked sea salt! There’s so many types of salts that I’ve been wanting to try (Epsom, sea, Himalayan, etc.). Guess I have to add this to my list too, haha!
I love the last photo and all the textures in it!
Made these today- they’re quite tasty! Thanks for the recipe! :)
I made these tonight for a party where there was going to be a gluten-free guest. I’m vegan, so this was the perfect recipe. Everyone loved them … and were surprised to hear that they were gluten-free and vegan. They were a big hit! Thanks for the recipe!
Aw Im so happy to hear that Kathy!
Just made these!!! 10pm at night! They are DIVINE! Oh my lord when is your book coming out, I’m sold lol. This is the loveliest combo, salty, nutty, chocolatey and crispy. My dough was probably a little wet looking at your pics, I had to drop it onto the tray but they turned out great anyway I think maybe next time I should weigh, rather than measure might be more accurate. But huge huge thank you. Your recipes never fail to please I use a lot of yours as staples here and have shared with my mum too! So ill definately be down for at least two copies of your book when it’s out :D
Hey Tash, Awww thank you, I appreciate it so much!! So glad you enjoyed them.
I made these wiht my 10 year old son. Easy to make and super yummy.
I made these cookies tonight, oh my god, they’re amazing! Hands down the best pb gluten free/vegan cookies i’ve ever had. Thank you!
Wow, I would never guess those were gluten-free! I don’t have a Vitamix, so I might have to try this with storebought almond flour!
Thanks for the yummy idea, I will definitely treat myself to some of these this week! I’m definitely bookmarking this recipe!
Angela, thank you for the recipe. I have been following your blog for months. I am not vegan but always searching for healthier recipes. That’s how I stumbled upon your site one day. I made these today and my kids thought Mom fell off the “Healthy Eating ” wagon, there was no way I could convince them that these were good for them. Come to think of it I made a lot of substitutions, but I still think of it as your cookie. I have been using coconut sugar (it does not spike up your blood sugar) and oil a lot lately, substituting them in all kinds of conventional recipes. That’s what I used in this recipe instead of EB and cane sugars. I don’t like peanut butter and, according to nutritionist Julie Daniluk and a Toronto ND Natasha Turner, it is highly inflammatory, so I used almond butter instead. I love the texture that almond flour gives them, but I used quinoa flour to go with it as I had no oats on hand. And the last switch – raw cacao nibs in place of ch. chips. You can’t beat the intensity of the chocolate flavour. Once again, thank you for the inspiration. I have a list of your recipes that I want to try.
Hey Janna, It’s a pleasure to meet you! Thanks for your lovely words :)
Of all the cookies I have made from your recipes, this is by far my and my family’s favorite. I made a batch last night and before we got out the door this morning, they were gone. It was a chore just getting the bowl of batter out of my daughters’ hands to put them in the oven. (She kept telling me that she just wanted to taste it again to make sure it was good.) I will make these again and again.
I have now baked 3 batches of these for christmas parties and gifts, since I was blown away with how they turned out. I just realized that christmas day is still 6 days away, and I am unsure how long these stay fresh for! I let them cool for hours and then put them in a tightly sealed ziploc bag. Do you think that is suffice? Or should I freeze them?
Have made these twice in the past few days and they are SOOOOO delicious. The almond flour makes them so rich and tasty. Great recipe!
You are my HERO today! I never made gluten-free cookies before, made these as a gift, and love them so much I could barely stand to give them away! Thankyouthankyouthankyou for posting this recipe. :)
Made these today, my friends and family couldn’t get enough of them! It was my first time trying a gluten-free cookie recipe, and I was so pleased with the results! Thanks for your amazing recipes!
Hi Angela! I just wanted to tell you how much i love these cookies. I’ve made three batches in the last two weeks! Thanks for the great recipe :)
Thanks Raquel! So glad you like them.
I have been saving the tab with this recipe for weeks, and suddenly I couldn’t wait anymore and just made the whole batch and hour ago. Yes, it is 5 am in the morning, so what? These cookies are unbelievable. The only changes I made were that I substituted vegan butter spread with cooled coconut oil, peanut butter with raw almond butter, didn’t put any baking powder and used raw turbinado sugar instead of 2 types of sugar in the recipe. Turned out amazing! Thank you!
So glad they worked out for you! I’ve had success using almond butter too (maranatha roasted no stir is amaaaazing!)
I loved these! I made them with coconut oil instead of Earth Balance and the dough was very sticky, but they turned out wonderfully. My husband can’t resist them (and he is allowed to have dairy and soy).
Hey, has anyone tried freezing the uncooked cookie dough balls? I was hoping to be able to make a double batch and freeze some so i can make quick cookies after school some days when they kids are starving! :)
Just a note for anyone reading. I froze a few of these rolled into balls uncooked and then baked them yesterday and they were amazing!!!
so glad this worked out for you Tash!
I just made these and they are INCREDIBLE! I was a craving a decadent treat, but wanted something without the guilt. Thank you for these! I’ll be filing this recipe away in my stash! :oD
I’ve been looking to make these for awhile and finally had the chance to do so today. They are excellent! Beautiful flavor and nice, chewy consistency. First time making gluten free cookies too!
I can’t get over how good these are. No, seriously, I don’t know whether I should love you (for sharing such an amazing recipe) or hate you (for sharing a recipe that’s so good that I’m sure to get chubbier if I make them as often as I’d like to)! I live with 3 boys, and these were gone within 24 hours…and while I’d like to say it was all them, it definitely was not!
hah they don’t last long in our house either!!
Made these today- AMAZING! Crisp cookies are the only kind my husband likes, so he’ll be very happy when he gets home…
My dough was crumby-dry, so I added 2T homemade almond milk to help things bind together a bit. They did not spread at all- I might add more nut butter next time…?
Thank you!
I just LOVE baking and cooking all of your different recipes! It is such a fun treat to escape my busy week and explore the many fun ideas you share. When you post your recipes, they’re not just recipes, they’re a part of your soul! Your work seems to always be filled with sunshine and a love for life! Thank you for all of your hard work. We all enjoy your creativity and drive!
Aw thank you so much! I’m so happy you enjoy them so much :)
Dang these are heaven! I couldn’t stop eating the batter while I was making them haha it’s a good thing I decided to do a double batch. It is my last day at my job tomorrow and I’ve become very attached to the people there so I’ll be taking in everything that actually made it into the oven for my lovely work pals. :) Thank you for all of your wonderful recipes!
Finally made these and they turned out amazing – my husband is sensitive to almonds so I made flour out of sunflower seeds instead – so good!
I loved the cookies! they are so delicious!
and thanks for the metric measurements, made it SO much easier!! :))
But I have one question:
If I shape them into balls and bake them, mine never spread out.
They just become those funny-looking cookie mountains… What can I do?
Hey Annie, You can try flattening the dough slightly before baking…that should help anyway! ENjoy
These are simply amazing. Nobody would ever know that they were vegan, plus there is great depth of flavor and nice moisture in the cookie. I’m blown away.
Tried these over the weekend, they were (they vanished, lol) a winner, will be making these again and again. The only issue I had was it did not spread out, after 6 minutes I realized that, and I flattened them with a spoon. So next time I’ll do that before baking. Made my own flour in the food processor and used 3/4 cup brown sugar as opposed to two types, don’t know if that’s why they did not spread. But either way, they are great! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
These cookies are fabulous! Thank you so much for this delicious recipe!
Wow! These are amazing! Made them tonight for a holiday gathering and can’t believe how scrumptious they are. The only note I would make, is that natural pb has a lot of oil and the bottoms of my cookies are a tad oily. So, just be careful not to scoop out too much of the oil after you mix it throughout the pb. So good!
The flavor is fantastic. Not too sweet. I baked these twice, and my dough didn’t spread out at all. Second time I tried melting the Earth Spread. I’m not sure what to do without having to manually press them down before baking. I also have to bake them over 13 minutes to get the crispy effect. Maybe my oven isn’t hot enough. Thanks for this recipe. I plan on shipping a batch to a friend if I can get the spreading issue solved.
HI Angela,
LOVE your site!!!!!
I can’t find non-dairy buttery spread in Asia…can I just use butter instead?
THANKS! :D
Mmmmm we are enjoying these fresh out of the oven right niw. Only thing we changed was using sunflower butter instead of peanut butter. One of the best cookies I’ve ever had. Thank you so much.