At nearly every one of our Saturday high school marching band competitions, the Band Boosters Club prepared a hot meal for us in the evenings before we dressed in our uniforms to perform. They always set up multiple folding tables to create a makeshift buffet line, yet they tried to change the menu for us at each event.
Burgers, spaghetti, taco salad… And at the final competition of our season in late November, they even splurged for a full Thanksgiving meal! All 250+ of us in the band and color guard would line up, waiting our turn to grab a plate and walk down the line and politely ask the chaperones serving us for the entrées and sides that looked good.
At the very end of the buffet tables, right before we plunged our hand into the icy cold coolers to grab a water bottle, the chaperones sometimes set out a small dessert for us as well. They splurged for apple pie and pumpkin pie at our Thanksgiving feast, but we usually found small packets of cookies instead, like Oreos, Nutter Butters, and Grandma’s Cookies.
The latter were my favorite… Sweet, soft, chewy—just the way I love my cookies! The regular chocolate chip and the chocolate brownie flavors always disappeared first, so the freshmen that had to stand at the back of the line usually ended up with the oatmeal raisin and peanut butter cookie packages.
Even as a chocoholic, I still enjoyed those last two—I don’t discriminate against any soft and chewy cookies!
These Healthy Practically Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies remind me of those marching band competitions and the Grandma’s Cookies we enjoyed with our meals. They’re just as soft and chewy—if not even more!—and absolutely bursting with peanut butter flavor. Yet unlike those packaged cookies, these contain no artificial ingredients, butter, oil, eggs, or refined sugar!
And they still taste like “normal” peanut butter cookies—I promise!!
Let’s go over how to make these healthy peanut butter cookies!
I debated for a long time whether to call these peanut butter cookies “flourless” or “practically flourless.” That’s because instead of “regular” flour, you’ll make your healthy cookies with oat flour (like this, or this for a gluten-free version!)… And oat flour is just finely ground oats!
So… Flourless? Practically flourless? I’ll let you be the judge. But either way, I love oat flour and how yummy these healthy peanut butter cookies turned out!
Tip: You can easily make your own oat flour at home! Just follow my tutorial here.
Remember to measure your oat flour correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I have!) Too much oat flour will make your cookies turn out cakey or dry. And we definitely want nice, soft, chewy peanut butter cookies!
The next key ingredient in these healthy peanut butter cookies is—you guessed it!—the peanut butter. I highly recommend using my easy blender peanut butter recipe! You just need 2 ingredients + a blender to make it, and it only takes 5 minutes to prepare. Super simple! And although I may be biased, I think it tastes even better than store-bought!
Tip: If you’re using store-bought peanut butter, make sure it’s (a) creamy and (b) the natural drippy-style kind where the only ingredients are peanuts and salt. Crunchy peanut butter doesn’t work in this recipe, and peanut butters with other added ingredients (like sugar and preservatives) are a bit too thick.
You’ll skip the eggs and use a touch of milk to give the cookie dough enough moisture instead. I generally use cashew milk or almond milk because I have enough family members who are lactose intolerant… So it means they get to eat these healthy flourless peanut butter cookies too!
You’ll sweeten your cookies with coconut sugar (like this!) instead of refined granulated sugar. Coconut sugar is exactly what it sounds like: sweetener that comes from coconuts. However, it does not actually taste like coconuts! It has a rich caramel-like flavor similar to brown sugar, and you can generally find it right next to the regular sugar on the baking aisle.
Once you’ve dropped your cookie dough onto your baking sheet, remember to flatten it a little bit with a spatula! These healthy flourless peanut butter cookies spread a little, but not very much, so flattening the cookie dough gives them a spreading “head start” before baking.
I shared these practically flourless peanut butter cookies with a neighbor who’s a personal trainer (I give lots of treats to her and her family!)… And she said these were her all-time favorite thing I’ve ever baked! ♡
And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! 🙂 ) I’d love to see your healthy peanut butter cookies!
Healthy Practically Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (120g) oat flour (gluten-free if needed and measured like this)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup (64g) homemade creamy peanut butter
- 3 tbsp (45mL) unsweetened cashew milk, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup (96g) coconut sugar
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the oat flour, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, stir together the peanut butter, milk, and vanilla. Stir in the coconut sugar. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Chill the cookie dough for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Drop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet using a spoon and a spatula. Slightly flatten using a spatula. (The cookies should spread some, but not a lot, if there isn’t too much oat flour in the dough!) Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy Practically Flourless Chocolate Chip Cookies
♡ Healthy Practically Flourless Extra Fudgy Brownies
♡ Healthy Practically Flourless Chocolate Mug Cake
♡ Healthy Practically Flourless Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Soft & Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
♡ Healthy Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Hi Amy, thanks for such lovely recipes. Btw can I substitute coconut sugar with jaggery?
Also will you try doing some recipes with jaggery?
It’s my pleasure Jewel! I’m honored that you’d like to try making my recipes! 🙂 Jaggery actually isn’t a common ingredient we have here in the US where I live. I don’t know that I’ve even seen it in grocery stores, so I don’t know that it’s possible for me to easily create recipes using it. I wish that weren’t true though — I’d love to play around with testing it in recipes! 😉 If you have a granulated / powdered form of jaggery, then I think it should work in place of the coconut sugar. I’d love to hear how your cookies turn out if you end up making them!
Oh my good, your page is like a treasure under the ocean! It has so many different types of cookie and cake recipes that are low calories and I just love it.
I just want to make low calories treats so that I can eat many of them in a day ^^ Thank you very much.
You’re so kind, Theron! Your interest in my recipes truly means the world to me. I can’t wait to hear which of them you decide to try making and what you think of the baked goodies! 🙂
Our Jewish Holiday of Passover is approaching. Could I use Almond Flour
Thanks for your opinion
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Eileen! Yes, you may substitute almond flour in this particular recipe of mine. You’ll likely need to use a bit more (ie 1-2 tablespoons extra) because almond flour isn’t as absorbent as oat flour. The cookie dough should be somewhat wet before chilling and still a bit sticky after chilling (hence why I say to use a spoon and spatula to transfer it to the baking sheet in Step 3!). 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these peanut butter cookies!
Thank You Very Much for your quick response. I am making my list of things to make and this cookie will be 1st
Enjoy and keep up the great work you do for us all 🙂
Eileen
It’s my pleasure, Eileen! I’m honored that you’ve already started a list of my recipes that you’d consider trying. That’s such a huge compliment! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these peanut butter cookies!
Can I use Almond Flour?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Eileen! Yes, you may substitute almond flour in this particular recipe of mine. You’ll likely need to use a bit more (ie 1-2 tablespoons extra) because almond flour isn’t as absorbent as oat flour. The cookie dough should be somewhat wet before chilling and still a bit sticky after chilling (hence why I say to use a spoon and spatula to transfer it to the baking sheet in Step 3!). 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these peanut butter cookies!
Awesome, and thank you Amy! I love your recipes and instructions.
You’re welcome, Gayle! That means the world to me that you love my recipes and instructions. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know — you just put the biggest smile on my face! 🙂
Would this work with powdered PB??
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Max! I don’t recommend substituting powdered PB, whether as the dry powder or mixed with water. Powdered peanut butter often doesn’t behave the same as regular peanut butter in baking recipes, and it will alter the texture of these cookies (aka they’d turn out dry and cakey or crumbly, not soft and chewy!). I don’t want you to waste your time or ruin your cookies! 😉
However, I do have some recipes that use peanut flour as an ingredient, and your powdered peanut butter would probably work much better in those! You can find those recipes here.
If you end up making these cookies (or any of those other recipes!), I’d love to hear what you think of them! 🙂
These have such a rich, peanut butter taste – I love them. I made my own flour using the food processor and old fashioned oats so mine were a bit more coarse but still great. After chilling, my batter was really think. Is that how it’s supposed to be? Or maybe that was a result of the somewhat “chunky” flour?
Thick – not think.
It means a lot that you tried making my recipe, Angela! I’m so glad you enjoyed their flavor. The cookie dough should be really thick after chilling, although still a little sticky. It shouldn’t be dry or crumbly though!
Did your cookies spread at all while baking? If they did, then your cookie dough probably had the right consistency!