Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies + VIDEO

Soft peanut butter cookies with crisp edges and a chewy center. SO tender and wonderful, especially warm out of the oven. Eat them plain, rolled in sugar, or just with a glass of milk for a peanut butter lover’s dessert. This recipe is free of: wheat, gluten, soy, fish, shellfish, tree nuts and sesame.

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WHY THESE GLUTEN-FREE PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES ROCK

A lot of gluten-free cookies look stiff, even in their photos. I set out to make a chewy, tender peanut butter cookie that would be a delight to bite into.

I did so by using ONLY using brown sugar, which has more moisture in it, to ensure a soft cookie. Then, I also added an extra egg yolk, to help with moisture content, richness and tenderness. 

I also add more vanilla than most recipes.

These three tweaks will make all the difference. You will be making these every time you’re craving a cookie!

WHAT TYPE OF PEANUT BUTTER TO USE IN THESE COOKIES

This recipe works best with regular peanut butter, and not natural. I think natural can be too runny. I just used Walmart’s brand, Great Value, but think most brands are similar enough it shouldn’t matter. 

Most people with a soy allergy can handle soy lecithin, which is the oil used in many brands of peanut butter. If you cannot, I’ve found Peter Pan peanut butter doesn’t use soy oils.

CAN I MAKE THESE PEANUT FREE?

Two of my kids have peanut allergies, so I TOTALLY get it. I hardly ever make peanut butter cookies, and try to do so when they’re at school and give them away and sanitize my kitchen after, but my other two love them like I do. (Some people don’t feel comfortable having peanuts in the home at all, and that’s OK too. My kids are not contact reactive.)

A peanut butter substitute we love is SunButter, made out of roasted sunflower seeds. Unfortunately, it’s not the best to bake with because it will turn green after being baked due to the chloropyll and baking soda chemical reaction. (Unless that doesn’t bother you. It doesn’t affect taste, just appearance.) I haven’t recipe tested replacing the peanut butter for Sunbutter, but plan to do so soon and will report back. If you try it before I do, please leave a comment below. I would assume it would sub in 1:1, though it is a bit runnier.

WHAT GLUTEN-FREE FLOUR TO USE

With a family of six, I’m all about stretching my dollar. I recipe tested this with just Walmart’s brand, Great Value, all purpose gluten-free flour blend. It’s actually quite similar in ingredients to King Arthur Measure for Measure. I would think King Arthur’s would also work well too. 

You cannot sub in a single grain flour, when it takes several to mimic regular/wheat flour. Every brand is slightly different in the mixture of grains they use and proportions, so sub it out at your own risk.

DO I HAVE TO MAKE THE FORK MARKS?

The classic cross hatch indentations on peanut butter cookies is pretty iconic, but honestly, I like them without for two reasons. One, I can get them in the oven faster without stopping to do this, and that means faster into my tummy! And two, it does maker for crispier sections on the cookie as they stand out and get heated up/crisped more than the rest. I prefer a soft cookie, but if you like the look and texture…go for it! There’s no wrong answer her.

You make the shape by pushing down on the center of the cookie with a fork. Once it’s made the indentation, you rotate your fork 90 degrees and press down again, making the lines intersect. You can see in the photos that I did a mixture of both so you can see what it would look like either way.

SOME PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES DON’T USE FLOUR…WHY?

I’ve ran across some easy peanut butter cookie recipes that completely omit the flour, so then they’re naturally gluten-free–but I find they’re flatter and I don’t love them as much. If you’re going to the trouble to make cookies, make the real, original recipe. 

TIPS FOR MAKING GLUTEN-FREE PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

• Spoon and measure your flour
• Make sure you compact your brown sugar when measuring
• Bake for no more than ten minutes, and even then–all ovens bake differently, so keep a close eye. They should still seem a little undone in the middle. They will finish setting up as they cool. If you wait until they seem set in the oven, they will turn harder and crunchier once cool.
• If you’re not using the fork tines to squish the cookies/make the indent before baking, the cookies will be just fine. It’s just for that classic look. It really doesn’t affect the taste. If you don’t smoosh the dough down with the fork, they will puff a bit when you cook them. I like to smack the pan on the counter right when taking them out of the oven to help them flatten out and to give them that beautiful crackling on top. 

DO I HAVE TO ROLL THE COOKIES IN SUGAR BEFORE BAKING?

No, this is not essential. It is up to you if you want to include this extra step for a pretty, sparkling topping and a bit more sugary taste.

WOULD THIS RECIPE WORK FOR PEANUT BUTTER BLOSSOMS?

Yes! The iconic peanut butter blossom (a peanut butter cookie, rolled in granulated sugar and then topped with a Hershey kiss) would totally work with this recipe. All you need to do to transform these is to not make the fork marks, roll it in sugar, and top it with a Hershey’s kiss once it comes out of the oven. I know those are super popular around Christmas time, and there would be no better cookie base than this!

TOOLS NEEDED

• Stand mixer with paddle attachment, or large bowl and electric hand held beaters
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Rimmed half-sheet baking pan and silicone baking mat, or unbleached parchment paper
• Cookie scoop (not essential but oh so nice!)
• Rubber spatula
• Metal spatula
• Cooling wrack

INGREDIENTS NEEDED

For these chewy gluten-free peanut butter cookies you will need:

• Creamy peanut butter (not natural peanut butter)
• Brown sugar
• Butter
• Vanilla
• Eggs
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Gluten-free all purpose flour that includes xanthan gum

OTHER GLUTEN-FREE COOKIES FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT

I adore cookies. I’d rather have a cookie other than most other treats. So, naturally I have lots of cookie recipes. I love my Double Tree Chocolate Chip Cookies, Double Chocolate Cookies, Maple Cookies, or Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. So many cookies and so little time! Everything on my site is gluten-free, so go crazy looking through my recipe index and finding all sorts of yummy things to eat.

DO I HAVE A VIDEO SHOWING HOW TO MAKE THESE COOKIES

Yes, I do! I show you how to make these cookies from start to finish for those that like visual directions. The video should auto populate, and if it doesn’t, it’s embedded into the bottom of the recipe card. If all else fails, you can view it on my YouTube Channel.

DON’T FORGET TO PIN IT, SO THAT YOU DON’T LOSE IT. BE SURE WHILE YOU’RE THERE BE TO CHECK OUT MY OTHER GLUTEN-FREE PINS.