After my freshman year of college, my mom and I flew to Alaska with a small group from our church. Since many Alaskan residents depended on the summer tourism industry for their entire year’s income, we taught Vacation Bible School at the local Methodist church, which basically acted like free childcare for the adults while they worked.
The day before we took off, I baked eight dozen cookies, half chocolate chip and half peanut butter, for our little group to enjoy during our trip. I followed the recipes from my favorite healthy cookbook, and although that chocolate chip recipe turned out perfectly…
The peanut butter cookies weren’t my favorite. The instructions called for chopped peanuts, which I included for everyone else, even though I’m not a big fan of nuts in my cookies (or brownies, for that matter!). They also turned out more crunchy than chewy—exactly the opposite of how I like my cookies!
So over the years, I worked hard to create the perfect recipe for supremely soft and chewy peanut butter cookies, ones full of flavor but made from entirely wholesome ingredients. After lots of recipe testing, my taste testers unanimously agreed…
These truly are the Ultimate Healthy Soft & Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies! They’re just 108 calories and contain no refined flour or sugar, yet they taste just as sweet and nutty and irresistible as traditional recipes. They’re also really easy to make—no mixer required!
Watch how I make them in my video below, then grab the recipe directly beneath the video!
Hi
Are your calories per cookie or slice of cake?
The full nutrition information is included beneath my recipe — that should answer your question! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think if you try these cookies Rukaya!
I’m wondering if these will work if a scoop of vanilla flavored protein powder is added?
No, I don’t recommend adding vanilla protein powder to these cookies. The cookie dough will be dry and crumbly, and it won’t come together properly. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of these cookies if you try them Melissa!
I am making these cookies and the batter is like large grit sand and no way will be able to shape into a ball. Do you know what I could have done wrong? Thank you.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Diane! Let’s get this sorted out. 🙂 What brand of flour did you use, and how did you measure it?
King Arthur stone ground white whole wheat.
And how did you measure it? 🙂
I see in other recipes I looked at yesterday that the trend is to list ingredients as if everyone is going to weigh them. Unfortunately, I do not have a scale and this was my mistake. Thanks again, I’ll try it again another Sunday afternoon!
It’s still possible to make these cookies without a kitchen scale Diane! I’m just trying to help us figure out how to ensure your cookies turn out perfectly next time. 🙂 If you measured the flour with measuring cups, can you describe how you did that? The more detail you can provide, the better I’ll be able to help you!
Amy;
Hi,I am going to make your peanut butter cookies soon,I haven’t found a kitchen weigh scale to cake your cookies that I can see clearly due to my low vision.I use the method of arriating the flour then I spoon the flour in the measuring cup and then I flatten the flour with a flat knife.same thing with sugar etc.
I am going to exchange your cookies with my cousin and she makees and bakes her low sugar cookies with me as well.
Can I freeze your cookie dough recipes and bake them at a later date?How do I go about properly freeze your cookie dough?
Kim
I’m so honored that you’d like to try another one of my recipes, Kim! That truly means so much to me! You’re really sweet to exchange cookies with your cousin. I can’t wait to hear what both of you think of these peanut butter cookies! 🙂
I’ve actually had much better luck with freezing the fully baked and cooled cookies, rather than the cookie dough, so that’s what I’d recommend doing for most of my cookie recipes. I don’t recommend freezing snickerdoodles, gingersnaps, or other cookies with a sugar coating on the outside; that coating doesn’t thaw well at all! I also don’t recommend freezing decorated cookies, like sugar cookies with frosting or icing. The plain sugar cookies without frosting or icing are fine to freeze though! Does that make sense?
To freeze my fully baked and cooled cookies, I typically line a baking sheet with foil (for easier clean-up later!), and place the cookies in a single layer on top. Place that in the freezer for 1-2 hours or until the cookies are fully frozen. Transfer them to a zip-topped bag. If you can fit two layers of cookies (ie stacks of two!), then I put a paper towel in between the two layers to prevent the cookies from sticking together. Squeeze out as much air as you can from the bag before sealing it and sticking it in the freezer.
Then to thaw the entire bag of cookies, I place that in the refrigerator overnight. However, to thaw individual cookies, I’ll pop one of those in the microwave! I use 30% power for 30-60 seconds (the amount of time depends on the wattage of your microwave!) or until they’re warmed all the way through. When thawed like that, they basically taste freshly baked!
Does all of that make sense?? 🙂
Amy;
Hi,thank you for replying to my letter and I will follow your instructions and freeze the cookies that I make from your website.I will let you know how much we and my three cousins love and enjoy your cookies ok.
My cousin wants me to make her a batch of the snickerdoodle cookies from your website.She will then make me 12 dozon of her haystack cookies.
Soon I am going to make your peanut butter cookies after I go buy the ingredients to make them at home.
Kim
It’s my pleasure, Kim! I’m always happy to help you! It truly means SO much to me that you’d continue to look for new recipes of mine to try and share with your loved ones. Your kind notes always make my day! 🙂 I’m really excited to hear what your three cousins think of these peanut butter cookies — and maybe even the snickerdoodles, if you end up making those too!