Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
Yield
13 cookies
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Peanut butter, shredded coconut, and rolled oats form the base of these soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies. Brown sugar lends a light caramel flavour which pairs so well with the peanut butter and sea salt. They're completely flourless, in addition to being vegan and gluten-free, but no one will be the wiser. You must try these in my Obsession-Worthy Peanut Butter Cookie Ice Cream for a decadent summer treat! This recipe is from Oh She Glows Every Day (page 213).
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon (5 g) ground flax*
- 3 tablespoons (45 mL) water
- 1/2 cup (53 g) unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup (52 g) gluten-free rolled oats
- 1/2 cup (68 g) packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (reduce salt if using salted peanut butter)
- 1/4 cup (49 g) mini non-dairy chocolate chips**
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) natural smooth peanut butter***
- 1 teaspoon (5 mL) pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons (30 mL) pure maple syrup
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C), and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the ground flax and water to a medium bowl, and whisk until combined. Set aside.
- To a large bowl, add the coconut, rolled oats, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and chocolate chips. Stir to combine.
- To the same bowl as the flax mixture, add the peanut butter, vanilla, and maple syrup. Stir until smooth. The mixture will be very thick.
- Using a spatula (this helps to scoop up every last bit), scoop the wet mixture on top of the dry ingredients, and stir until thoroughly combined. The batter will be very dry at first, but this is normal! You'll need to put some elbow grease into stirring. I like to knead the dough with my hands to make it all come together. (You can also use electric beaters, but I prefer to get in there with my hands and knead until no dry patches remain.) If for some reason your dough is still too dry to shape into balls, add a teaspoon of water and mix again.
- Lightly wet your hands (shaking off excess water) and form about 13 balls, just smaller than golf balls. Stop and rinse off sticky hands as needed. Place each ball onto the prepared baking sheet about 2 to 3 inches apart. Gently press down on each ball to flatten into a 1-cm (just less than 1/2-inch) thick disc. If there are any leftover chocolate chips in the bottom of the bowl, scoop them up and push them into the tops of the cookies.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. The cookies tend to only spread out a little. They'll be delicate coming out of the oven, but they will firm up as they cool. The bottoms will be golden. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before carefully transferring to a cooling rack until completely cooled. Once cooled, the cookies will remain soft and chewy. For a firmer texture, transfer the cookies to the freezer (my favourite way to enjoy them!). Store leftovers in an airtight container or freezer bag in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Tip:
* If you have a flax allergy you can swap 1 tablespoon ground flax for 1/2 tablespoon ground chia seed. The cookies will turn out a bit thicker, but it works in a pinch.
** I use Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips which are vegan.
*** Be sure to use 100% natural peanut butter in this recipe (you should only see peanuts on the ingredient label), as some testers have reported that the recipe doesn't work when using peanut butter that contains added oils or sugar. Avoid using thick or dry peanut butter as the cookies won’t spread out that much. If you prefer homemade peanut butter, you can easily make your own peanut butter if you have a heavy duty food processor. Simply process two cups of roasted peanuts for 5 to 10 minutes until smooth, scraping down the bowl as necessary. This will make just under 1 cup of peanut butter.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)photo credit: Ashley McLaughlin
Hi Angela,
Thanks so much for your recipe + post! I’ve been following you for years and I absolutely love your recipes. They’re all fairly easy and always turn out delicious! This one looks super yummy. :) I’m also from Ontario, Canada, but I just moved to Seattle to get married two months ago! :) Just wanted to send my support from the West Coast to a fellow Canadian. I’m sorry you’ve been going through a hard time these past few months, but I’m glad you’re back and I hope you’re feeling better. I can’t wait for your next cookbook!
Hi Angela, just wanted to say that I’m another person who can relate.
I’ve been struggling with mental health — depression which then created anxiety — the past twelve years, and it reached a point where I was having anxiety attacks — and once a panic attack — every single day at work. During the panic attack I seriously couldn’t breathe for almost a minute. I was having like sharp rapid fire intakes that I couldn’t stop, it was like I was hyperventilating or something and it was so terrifying and I felt so ashamed afterward having such a huge audience witness it.
I still am struggling at my new job — I was so ashamed I quit my other one — but thankfully so far I’ve managed to swallow the attacks down long enough to do them in private.
I struggle with the idea of taking medication, because I know the *reason* I’m so depressed, and in my mindset I just can’t help but think if I were to create artificial happiness with pills, I might as well get hooked on alcohol and the like while I’m at it.
Do you have any experience with anti-anxiety/depression pills? I know my attitude toward them isn’t the healthiest, and hearing someone else’s account would be helpful.
Hi Angela,
First of all, I’m so glad to hear that you’re feeling better, and happy to see you back here! Congratulations on your third book!
I’ve been holding off on buying an ice cream maker, but I just might have to if only to make this delicious-looking recipe. ;)
Happy summer!
I was so happy to see your post! And I Just finished making this recipe and is as amazing as all your creations.
I have missed your postings so much! But I thought you must of been so busy with two bambinos, but it makes my heart brake hearing about your struggles, the first step is accepting them and the second asking for help! Nobody loves you more than your family so you can always count with them, and you are just doing the right things. Bravo! At the same time I have to say you are amazing, working on a third book, what a great news, cannot wait to read it. You are brave and an incredible lady!
Take care of yourself, a huge hug from an unconditional admirer
I’ve made several batches of these cookies already this week, first for a vegan friend of mine and then for me (vegan-curious) because OMG, they are so yummy. This time around, I doubled the recipe and used a mix of Enjoy Life’s semi-sweet chunks and dark chocolate chips. Spectacular result. Also, I make my own peanut butter in a vitamix using lightly salted dry roasted peanuts so I shook some sea salt into the batter but didn’t exactly measure. The salt content was fine.
This is one of the best vegan cookie recipes I have ever come across, thanks for sharing!
Just wanted to say a huge congrats on book 3 (I’ve been secretly wishing for another one the last few months)!!! And thank you for sharing your story! I’ve been off social media and so primarily go to your website for recipe inspo and was missing hearing your voice and stories. So glad you are back and sending you warm and positive thoughts. The ONE thing for your next cookbook we would love is just bigger serving sizes….my husband and I always remark how you literally nail every recipe- we’ve never had a single bad meal from any of your cookbooks or site. However, we always lament that there are never any leftovers :( (cue tiny violin) . So if your next book can produce giant batches of your amazing creations, we’d be eternally indebted (ooh, and maybe more freezer meal options too??). Thank you!!!
Thank you for all of this, Angela. You’re fabulous and, well, even more fabulous in my eyes for sharing your story and allowing yourself to be vulnerable. In this picture perfect social media world we live in, we need to see authenticity. I appreciate your words and your recipes so much!
This has become a go-to. Its so easy, quick and not super messy to make, I even sometimes make it after dinner when I just need something sweet and can’t let that idea die. They stay so yummy and chewy when stored in the fridge. And because of the minimal ingredients, I don’t even feel super guilty eating one on my way to work in the morning… genius recipe, thank you! :)
Have you ever tried brown bread ice cream? It looks and sounds slightly like this recipe. I might try to make a hybrid recipe! Thanks for the inspiration!
Thank you for sharing your story. Always so brave to tell the world when times are hard. And congrats on the cookbook! Can’t wait to see it. And oh yeah…..this ice cream is amazing.
Thank you so much for being open and honest Angela, it’s wonderful to know you are doing better! I haven’t read your blog in over a year since university has taken up alot of my spare reading time, but reading your recent posts is like returning to a familiar feeling of hope for me. I cannot WAIT to preorder your next cookbook!
I substituted almond butter and raisins in place of the PB and chocolate chips, also left out coconut, and now they’re a delicious oatmeal raisin cookie!
In the 3 cookbook, I wish to see, more gluten free recipes please. And indications of how to do things if you don’t have a food processor, in the recipe modifications !
These are my family favorites! Thank you!
These are the best cookies ever! I made them yesterday and could easily have eaten the whole batch.
I stopped at 4, and froze the rest for another day.
Hi Angela, what if I want my cookies to be crunchy.
Can I use baking soda instead?
These are my new favorite cookie. They were chewy and delicious with slightly crispy edges. Freezing them afterwards instead of storing in a container keeps that chewy ness that I love. Only takes a few minutes to pull out a couple and let them defrost.
The ones I left out got very soft by the next day.
So good!
I was looking for tasty flourless cookies, and finally found ones I actually like! Thank you for your thoughtful ingredients and recipes… Much appreciated!
A new Cookbook! I can’t wait.
I have both of yours now and honestly have not yet found a recipe of yours I didn’t like. I’ll admit to tweaking a few to match my tastebuds and make them my own, but I’m so excited to buy the new one as soon as it comes out.
Keep up the fantastic work and thank you for opening up about your struggles. My youngest son suffers from Anxiety and Depression and I know first hand how hard it is to talk about it.
Silvia