Gluten-Free Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
For the best gluten-free, vegan cookie, these Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies will be your new go-to! Made with delicious peanut butter cups and dark chocolate chunks, you won’t believe they’re grain-free, dairy-free, and lightly sweetened with coconut sugar!
The most delicious peanut butter chocolate chip cookies!
Peanut butter + dark chocolate + cookie dough…is there a more delicious combination? I’m a major chocoholic (as evidenced by the TONS of chocolate recipes on this website), and can’t get enough of it with peanut butter. These peanut butter chocolate chip cookies combine all our favorite things in life and I guarantee you are going to love them! They’re thick, doughy, and chewy with a deliciously crisp outer edge. Plus you get melted dark chocolate peanut butter in each bite…divine!
Aside from being 100% delicious to eat, they’re super simple to whip up and full of nourishing ingredients. But what exactly makes them so healthy? These peanut butter cookies are:
gluten-free + grain-free
vegan friendly & dairy-free
packed with healthy fats
simple ingredients
refined sugar-free
Ingredients you need to make them
- Refined Coconut Oil: I like to use the refined version to ensure there’s no coconut flavor! Make sure the coconut oil is softened and not completely melted for optimal cookie texture.
- Coconut Sugar: this keeps the cookies refined sugar-free.
- Vanilla Extract: an essential for baked goods!
- Creamy Peanut Butter: make sure the ingredient list doesn’t contain any extra added oils or sugar!
- Flax Egg: if not vegan, you can easily substitute a regular egg. For a flax egg combine 1 TBSP flaxseed meal and 2.5 TBSP water and let sit for 5 minutes until a gel forms.
- Blanched almond flour: make sure you shop for almond flour and not almond meal!
- Baking powder + Baking soda
- Sea salt
- Dark chocolate chunks
- Dark chocolate peanut butter cups: make sure to shop for a gluten-free and dairy-free variety if needed! I like to chop these up before folding them into the batter.
how to make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies:
- First, you’ll cream the softened coconut oil and coconut sugar with a hand mixer until it’s light and fluffy. Then mix in the peanut butter, vanilla extract and flax egg.
- In a separate bowl whisk the almond flour, baking soda, baking powder and sea salt until well combined. Make sure no clumps remain!
- Add the peanut butter mixture to the dry ingredients and continue to mix until a cookie dough forms. Fold in the dark chocolate chunks and peanut butter cups.
- Cover the bowl and allow the cookie dough to chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (the hardest part!)
- Once ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set it aside.
- Use a cookie scoop or roll the dough into 12 balls and place on the sheet 2 inches apart. Press down lightly and sprinkle with a touch of sea salt.
- Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Allow the cookie to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
do you need to chill the cookie dough?
Yes! This is the hardest part of the recipe but chilling the dough creates the ultimate peanut butter cookie texture! The end result is an extra thick cookie bursting with rich, luscious flavors.
You’ll need to chill the dough in the refrigerator covered for at least 1 hour before baking. Alternatively, dough can be chilled up to 1 week if you’re looking to prep ahead!
how to store peanut butter cup cookies
Cookies stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. You can alternatively store the cookies in an air-tight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Just reheat them in the microwave for a few seconds to enjoy warm when ready to eat!
More peanut butter recipes to make
- No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars (vegan)
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Caramel Tarts (gluten-free, vegan)
- Easy Peanut Butter Cornflake Bars (gluten-free, vegan)
- Grain-Free Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites
I hope you love these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies as much as I do! If you love them, please leave a review in the comments below and let me know what you thought. xoxo
Print
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 12 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
For the best gluten-free, vegan cookie, these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies will be your new go-to! Made with delicious peanut butter cups and dark chocolate chunks, you won’t believe they’re grain-free, dairy-free, and lightly sweetened with coconut sugar!
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup (67g) refined coconut oil, softened
- ⅔ cup coconut sugar
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup (128g) creamy peanut butter
- 1 large egg or flax egg
- 1⅔ cups (160g) blanched almond flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅔ cup (4 ounces) dark chocolate chunks, or chocolate chips
- ½ cup mini dark chocolate peanut butter cups, chopped, make sure they’re vegan
- Flaky sea salt, to sprinkle on top, optional
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, cream together coconut oil and coconut sugar until light and fluffy using a wooden spoon or an electric mixer. Mix in peanut butter and vanilla extract. Incorporate in the egg or flax egg until well blended.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add into the peanut butter mixture and mix until just combined. If your dough seems dry or crumbly, add 1-2 tablespoons of dairy-free milk to get to a thick dough texture.
- Fold in chocolate chunks and chopped peanut butter cups. Chill the cookie dough, covered, for at least 1 hour and up to 1 week. This helps the cookies stay nice and thick when they’re baked and helps the flavors develop.
- When you’re ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°. Divide the dough into 12 balls and arrange about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Press down slightly. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, if desired.
- Bake cookies in batches in the middle of oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until just pale golden brown. Cool cookies on baking sheet for 5 minutes and transfer to racks to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. You can also freeze the cookies in an airtight container or freeze the dough balls.
Notes
To make a flax egg: whisk together 1 tablespoon flax meal with 2.5 tablespoons water and let set for 10 minutes before using
I’ve made these a few times. I always use almond butter instead of peanut butter, which I believe makes them a little more dry. One time I added an extra flax egg and they came out soooo moist and delicious. Would definitely recommend doing that if you plan to use almond butter. This is my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe on the site! Thank you Bakerita!
Thanks so much for the feedback, Anna! Certain nut butters (even just varying by brands) can be more or less dry/runny, so thanks for sharing the tip about the extra flax egg if the nut butter is thick & dry. So glad you’re loving them!
Hello. Love your cookies. Trying to go through making them all in prep for the holidays later in the year. Tried this today for the first time. I used flax egg and followed directions to a T. My dough came out crumbly, just like described by other reviewers. Perhaps it should be mentioned in tips that this is a possibility and to add milk if this occurs. It will help people know what to expect and what to do. Just a suggestion. I had to wait 10 mins for the cold dough (refrigerated over night) to warm and slowly worked on rolling the balls and flattened/shaping them with my hand significantly. The cookies did spread well with some cute gentle cracks on top. At the end, I wound up with twenty 3 inch really good looking and delicious s. Thank you and please keep vegan and refined sugar free cookies coming! ❤️
So glad you enjoyed them, Margarita! I added that tip to the recipe – thanks for the suggestion. Hope you find many others you love!
Hi Rachel! I have made these a few times and each time that I do, the dough turns out super crumbly once I combine the flour…is there something I can add to fix this? Once cooled, I am able to clump it together and they turn out SO GOOD regardless, but I wanted to see if I am missing something or if there is something that can be added to help with this?
Hi Kim, what kind of peanut butter are you using? I always use natural, runny peanut butter, but if you were to use thicker peanut butter, I can see why it would get dry. You can always add a tablespoon or two of dairy-free milk to make the dough workable :)
I’m super overdue on commenting on these because I bookmarked them to make for later because OMG THEY LOOK AMAZING
Hope you love them Kayle!!
Easy to make and so delicious! I even subbed coconut sugar for erithrytol and came out great!
Amazing!! Thank you so much for the feedback, Marissa :D
Do you mean that you substituted erithrytol for coconut sugar, meaning that you used erithrytol instead of coconut sugar? I was kinda confused by your sentence above.
I’m guessing she meant that she replaced the coconut sugar with erithrytol!
I guessed that too, but the words in front of and behind “for” are reversed. It just isn’t clearly understandable. I’m beginning to read a lot of postings from people who don’t understand that the word “for” in a sentence that uses a form of the verb substitute means “instead of”. (i.e. THIS for THAT means you changed to THIS instead of THAT.) This mistaken usage scares me because it makes a sentence confused and the meaning unintelligible.
Can you offer an alternative to Almond Flour. I am allergic to Almonds.
Thank you..
Blessings,
Hi Elsie, oat flour should work well here, but I’d use 1 1/2 cups instead of 1 2/3 since it’s a little more absorbent! Enjoy :)
Hi Rachel, I’m not able to eat oat flour or almond flour. Do you have any other suggestions? Can all purpose gluten free flour be used in your recipes?
This recipe is delicious!! I was wondering where I can find the nutritional information (calories, macros) for each cookie! Thanks so much!
So glad you’re loving them, just updated the recipe with nutritional info!!
Hi Rachel, can you share which brand vegan mini peanut butter cups you use? Thank you!
Hi Abeer, I used Justin’s for these!
Awesome!!!
So glad you’re loving them Amanda!!
These cookies are AMAZING! I substituted monkfruit sweetener for the coconut sugar and they still turned out perfectly. Super delicious and will definitely make again! Thank you Bakerita for always creating new, delicious GF/DF recipes :)
So glad you’re loving them, Katie!!
I tried this recipe, the dough is too crumbly and its difficult to work & form into balls with despite refrigerating for an hour as i always do with my cookies too! They also came out in the same shape i rolled them, which has never happened to me when i bake cookies. Any tips? I used runny & natural peanut butter.
They taste really good though!
Hi Noura, thanks for clarifying about the peanut butter since that would have been my first guess. Are you measuring the flour by volume or weight? If by volume, is there a chance you’re packing the flour in tightly and possibly overmeasuring it? That could describe the drier dough and cookies that don’t spread as much. I’m glad they were still tasty!
You say 1TBSP of flax seed for 3TBSP of water at the beginning of the article, and then 1TBSP of flax seed for 2.5TBSP of water at the bottom… Which one should I do ?
Hi Ana, 1 tablespoons flax meal to 2.5 tablespoons water is my standard flax egg measure!
Loooooooooved these so much. Really, really good. I brought them to work and everyone who had one raved about them.
The texture is just perfect. Pillowy, tender, slightly chewy….kinda crackly. Hard to describe, but oh so good!
So thrilled they were a hit! Thanks so much for the feedback, Alyssa :)
Another perfect recipe from Bakerita!
What a compliment! Thanks Sherry :)