Healthy peanut butter cookies without sugar! These keto cookies are vegan (dairy-free, eggless), low-carb, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, soft, and chewy. They are a great treat for kids and adults alike and can be quickly prepared!
When I crave something sweet, I often make vegan cookies! Baking cookies isn’t as complicated as making a layer cake, and it takes just 10 minutes of prep time. Cookies are a perfect dessert that can be made healthy with peanut butter instead of regular butter. This low-carb cookie recipe is furthermore egg-free, which makes the cookie dough edible, yum!
I already shared a recipe for Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies with only 3 ingredients, however, it’s a no-bake recipe. Also, I was asked many times if I can create recipes that are keto-friendly, so I whipped up these keto peanut butter cookies with simple ingredients!
These low-carb cookies contain only 8 ingredients in total, and you might have them all in your pantry. And if not, I will list a couple of substitutes below in the printable recipe card and under “Tips & Substitutes”.
How To Make Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies?
You just need two bowls, all ingredients, and then you can start to make these easy peanut butter cookies. Check the step-by-step pictures below:
STEP 1: First make the flax eggs and here is how: Add flax seeds and water to a small bowl, whisk and set aside for 5 minutes. I recommend grinding whole flax seeds in an electric coffee/spice grinder or blender.
STEP 2: Combine all dry ingredients for the cookies in a mixing bowl and whisk.
STEP 3: Add the wet ingredients and mix with a hand mixer or use a spoon. If the dough appears too dry, simply add a little more water or plant-based milk.
STEP 4: You can also add 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of vegan chocolate chips or raisins. Use sugar-free chocolate chips or nuts/seeds of choice for a low-carb keto version.
STEP 5: Scoop about 1 heaped tablespoon of the dough into your hands and form a ball.
STEP 6: Place the dough balls onto your lined baking tray. Gently press each dough ball down with your hands or with a spoon. Bake the vegan cookies in the oven for 13-16 minutes. Let cool completely & enjoy.
Which Peanut Butter?
I used creamy peanut butter which is basically unsweetened, but it contains a little salt. You can use peanut butter without salt, however, then I would recommend adding a pinch of salt to the cookie dough! Crunchy peanut butter is fine too!
Please do not use powdered peanut butter (such as PB2) because it contains 90% less fat than regular peanut butter and the cookies won’t turn out as soft and delicious.
Tips & Substitutes
- Soft cookies: If you are just like me and prefer soft cookies, I recommend shaping the cookie dough into thicker cookies. If you make them thin, they won’t turn out as soft, but rather crunchy or crisp. Also, don’t bake them for too long. I noticed 13-16 minutes are just perfect (depending on your oven).
- Peanut butter: You can make these gluten-free vegan cookies with different kinds of nut butter, for example, almond butter, cashew butter, or coconut butter.
- Ground nuts/seeds: You can use any ground nuts (e.g. ground almonds which is almond flour), desiccated coconut (if you like coconut cookies), or seeds of choice. Please note that the cookies will turn greenish if you use sunflower seeds because of a reaction with the baking powder. They are still fine to eat, it just looks strange, haha.
- Coconut flour: If you don’t have coconut flour, you can use the double amount of most other flours. I have tried 4 tablespoons of oat flour, which worked fine. Oat flour is just ground oats (blend oats in a blender until it’s flour). Please leave a comment below if you try out any other flour (e.g. regular flour if you are not gluten-free).
- Sweetener: I used a sugar-free sweetener (birch sugar/Xylitol) for these sugar-free cookies. But you could use coconut sugar, date sugar, or any other granulated sweetener if you don’t mind whether the cookies are low-carb or not. A liquid sweetener like maple syrup should be also fine, but then you will need to add a little more flour. Use Erythritol (e.g. Swerve) for a keto version.
- How to store? Store these healthy chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container on the counter for a few days or in the refrigerator for about a week (probably even longer). You can also freeze the cookies!
Chocolate Chip Chocolate Chips
As mentioned in the printable recipe below, chocolate chips are totally optional. I used just 1 1/2 tablespoons of semi-sweet chocolate chips, but you can actually use sugar-free chocolate chips to make keto cookies. Or use a bar of dairy-free, sugar-free dark chocolate and chop it into chunks with a knife.
It’s also possible to make your own keto chocolate. I shared the recipe in the blog post of my homemade Vegan Bounty Bars. You will find it in the recipe notes!
Should you give these healthy peanut butter cookies a try, please leave a comment and rating below, and don’t forget to tag me in your Instagram or Facebook post with @elavegan #elavegan because I would love to see your remakes!
More Healthy, Vegan Cookie Recipes
- Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cookies
- Soft Coconut Sugar Cookies
- Double Chocolate Chip Fudge Cookies
- Hazelnut Cookies
- Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
- Vegan Thumbprint Cookies
- Chocolate Stuffed Cookies
- Vegan Coconut Macaroons
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Edible Vegan Cookie Dough
Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
For The Cookies
- 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax seeds + 6 tbsp water, see notes)
- 3 tbsp (48 g) peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
- 1/2 cup (60 g) ground nuts/seeds of choice (see notes)
- 2 tbsp (20 g) coconut flour (see notes)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
- 3 tbsp sweetener of choice (see notes)
Add-Ins (Optional)
- Dairy-free chocolate chips
- Raisins
- Nuts/seeds
Instructions
- You can watch the video in the post for visual instructions.Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius) and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- To make the flax eggs, simply add ground flax seeds and water to a small bowl, whisk and set aside for 5 minutes.
- Combine the dry ingredients for the cookies in a bowl and whisk. Add the wet ingredients and mix with a hand mixer or spoon. If the dough appears too dry, simply add a little more water or plant-based milk.
- Add-Ins: You can also add 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of vegan chocolate chips or raisins. Use nuts/seeds of choice for a keto version.
- Scoop about 1 heaped tablespoon of the dough into your hands and form a ball. Place the dough balls onto your lined baking tray. Gently press each dough ball down and bake the cookies in the oven for 13-16 minutes. This recipe makes just a small batch of 6 cookies.
- Let cool completely and enjoy. Store leftover cookies in an airtight container, either on the counter for just a few days or in the fridge for about a week.
Notes
- Flax eggs: You can also use ground chia seeds instead of flax seeds. Half of a large banana (mashed) or 1/4 cup of applesauce should work fine as well.
- Nuts/seeds: You can use any ground nuts (e.g. ground almonds = almond flour), desiccated coconut, or seeds of choice.
- Coconut flour: If you don't have coconut flour you can use the double amount of a different flour, for example, 4 tablespoons of oat flour. Read the blog post above for more information.
- Sweetener: I used a sugar-free sweetener but you could use coconut sugar, date sugar, or regular sugar if you don't mind whether the cookies are low-carb or not. A liquid sweetener like maple syrup is also fine but then you will need to add a little more flour. Use Erythritol (e.g. Swerve) for a keto version.
- Add a pinch of sea salt if your peanut butter brand doesn't contain salt.
- Check the step-by-step process shots above in the blog post.
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
Simple and Delicious Vegan Cookbook by ElaVeganCLICK HERE to order!If you are using Pinterest, feel free to pin the following photo:
How can I sub baking powder for baking soda?
Use 1/4-1/3 baking soda and 1 tsp of vinegar.
H Ela WOW WOW WOW!! I must made these and they are outstanding!! I used chia seed for the “eggs”, pure Almond Butter, Sunflower seed flour for the “seed/nut” category, MCT oil (only coconut based oil I had on hand) and erythritol and I am blown away at how delicious they are. I am vegan keto, so truly appreciate you sharing this recipe, you are a legend.
Makes me so happy, Esther! Thanks for your great feedback. 🙂
the recipe is, I feel like, omnipotent, Thank you, one of my favourites.
I am glad you like it, Elizabeta. 🙂