Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

These Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies are:

• soft and chewy
• perfectly salty-sweet
• naturally sweetened!

Not only are these Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies addictively delicious, they’re also unbelievably easy to make. They require just 5 ingredients and less than 30 minutes from start to finish!

The 5 ingredients are: dates, ground almonds, peanut butter, salt and vanilla.

The dates act as a natural sweetener as well as an egg replacement, as they help to bind the mixture together and create a fudgy texture without the need for refined sugar, whilst the ground almonds act as a grain-free flour replacement and also create an amazingly chewy texture. You can also use almond flour instead of ground almonds.

Salt combines with the caramel-like flavour of the dates to create a seriously addictive, salty-sweet taste, and vanilla adds a beautiful fragrance.

The ground almonds/almond flour can be substituted with ground walnuts, ground hazelnuts or sunflower seeds, and the peanut butter can easily be swapped with almond butter.

The criss-cross pattern on top of the cookies may look fancy, but it’s super simple to do! All you need to do is to press the prongs of a fork on top of the cookies – using a wet fork makes it much easier as otherwise the fork might have problems getting unstuck from the cookies!

The recipe here only makes 9 cookies, which may seem like a small number, but if you want to make more, the quantities can easily be doubled, tripled or even quadrupled.

These cookies make a great dessert, but also work as a snack for packed lunches or an afternoon pick-me-up.

They store well for a good few days, and taste exactly the same as they do on the day they’re made, without drying out or become crumbly.

For more delicious gluten-free and vegan cookies, check out my:

• Gingerbread Cookies
• Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
• Carrot Cake Cookies
• Chocolate Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.

Helpful tools to make these Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies:

food processor

blender

hand-held stick blender

glass mixing bowl

rectangular baking tray

baking paper

5 from 4 votes

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Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

12 mins

Total Time

27 mins

 

These Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies are soft and chewy, perfectly salty-sweet and naturally sweetened! 

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: gluten-free vegan cookies, vegan almond flour peanut butter cookies, vegan peanut butter cookies

Servings: 9 cookies

Calories: 82 kcal

Ingredients (click 'US Customary' for US measurements)

• 60 g (1/3 cup) pitted dates soaked overnight in cold water or in hot water for 10 minutes
• 2 tablespoons water
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 65 g (1/4 cup) smooth peanut butter (or sub almond butter)
• 40 g (1/3 cup) ground almonds* (almond meal)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)

2. Drain the soaked dates and place in a blender or food processor (you can also use a hand-held stick blender) along with the water, salt and vanilla

3. Whizz until completely smooth, then add the peanut butter and ground almonds and mix well

4. Take a heaped tablespoon of the mixture and use your hands to form it into a small, circular, thick patty**

5. Lay it out onto a baking tray lined with baking paper (no need to grease it)
6. Repeat until the rest of the batter is used up - you should be able to make 9 cookies

7. Take a wet fork and press the prongs of the fork across the top of a cookie then turn the fork around 180 degrees and press the fork prongs over the patty again to create a criss-cross pattern - a wet fork will make this easier

8. Repeat for the rest of the cookies

9. Bake in the oven for around 12 minutes - don’t worry if they’re quite soft when you take them out as they will firm up as they cool down

10. Leave to cool completely before storing in an airtight container - keeps in the fridge for a good few days

Recipe Notes

*You can alternatively use almond flour

**If you find the mixture too gooey to shape with your hands, you can use a cookie scoop instead, and use your hands or the back of a spoon to flatten them slightly

Nutrition Facts

Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

Amount Per Serving

Calories 82

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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