These vegan, gluten-free, coconut flour peanut butter cookies are chewy with crisp edges. They’re perfect if you’re craving a treat that’s both sweet and a little salty. These vegan coconut flour cookies are grain free, dairy free, egg free, and refined sugar free. They’re a nutritious dessert or snack that is sure to satisfy both kids and grownups.
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What to serve with these coconut flour peanut butter cookies
For an extra indulgent treat, make ice cream sandwiches using these cookies and this no-churn banana bread ice cream. It’s easy to make and is also refined sugar free and vegan.
Main ingredients and substitutions
These coconut flour peanut butter cookies call for only five ingredients, the first of which is natural, smooth (aka creamy) peanut butter. You can substitute crunchy peanut butter if you prefer. Just be sure to use a brand of peanut butter that doesn’t contain any added sugar. The only ingredient listed on the jar should be peanuts. Alternatively you can easily make your own peanut butter at home by blending up peanuts in a food processor.
I sweetened these vegan peanut butter cookies with maple syrup. I love the flavor combination of peanut butter and maple syrup, and I find that using a liquid sweetener gives these cookies a soft, chewy texture with just the right amount of crispiness around the edges. You can substitute other liquid sweeteners such as agave if you prefer.
Coconut flour is my preferred gluten-free and grain-free flour these days. It adds a subtle, coconut flavor and satisfying texture to these cookies. I don’t recommend substituting other types of flour in this recipe because coconut flour is much more absorbent than most other flours.
How to make them
These vegan, gluten-free peanut butter cookies are quick and easy to make. Start by allowing the peanut butter to come to room temperature, then mix the wet ingredients and salt together. Next you’ll add the coconut flour and mix once more.
The next step is to refrigerate that mixture for 30 minutes in order to achieve a cookie dough consistency.
After 30 minutes of chilling time, you’ll scoop out a tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball in your hands before placing it on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Repeat with the rest of the dough (this recipe makes approximately 14 cookies).
Next you’ll use your fingers to flatten the balls down into round, cookie shapes before baking them for 10 minutes.
Once the cookies are finished baking, allow them to cool off for at least twenty minutes before removing from the pan and serving.
Storage and freezing
Store these vegan coconut flour cookies in an airtight container for up to five days or freeze them for up to six months.
Optional additions
To add an extra layer of flavor to these coconut flour peanut butter cookies, stir 1/2 cup each of dairy-free dark chocolate chips (or chopped dark chocolate) and/or chopped peanuts into the cookie dough.
More gluten-free cookie recipes to try
These coconut oil cookies are easy to make and delicious.
These buckwheat cookies are nutritious yet decadent.
These chickpea flour cookies are sweet, chocolaty, and satisfying.
These vegan pecan cookies have crispy edges and soft, chewy middles.
Coconut Flour Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe (Vegan & Gluten Free)
These coconut flour peanut butter cookies are easy to make and so delicious. They have the perfect balance of sweet and salty flavors. These vegan coconut flour cookies are perfect for a nutritious, make-ahead dessert or snack.
Add the peanut butter, maple syrup, pure vanilla extract, and salt to a large mixing bowl and mix well.
Add the coconut flour and mix well.
Refrigerate the cookie dough for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Scoop out 1 tablespoon of dough into your hands and roll it into a ball, then place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Repeat until all the cookie dough has been formed into balls.
Use your fingers to press the dough balls down and flatten them into circle shapes.
Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes.
Let the cookies cool off for at least 20 minutes before serving.
Notes
Store these coconut flour peanut butter cookies in an airtight container for up to five days or freeze them for up to six months.
Optional additions include 1/2 cup each of chopped peanuts and/or dairy-free dark chocolate chips.
Coconut flour is high in fiber, protein, low-glycemic, and since coconut is a fruit and not actually a grain-based flour, it is naturally gluten-free, grain-free, and nut-free!
Use a Binder. Binders like xanthan gum and guar gum provide structure in gluten-free baking to make up for the missing gluten. This prevents cookies from being too crumbly plus it also helps with freshness.
Using natural peanut butter requires a serious stir, Cook's Illustrated notes. Those oils and fats need to be completely reintegrated into the other solids before it can be used. Otherwise, parts of the peanut butter will be drier than others and it could affect the final texture of your cookies.
A quick rule of thumb is to swap about 1/4 to 1/3 cup coconut flour for 1 cup of regular flour. Due to its high absorbency, you'll also want to increase the number of eggs. To help you try this unique ingredient, we've rounded up eight of our best coconut flour recipes.
As a stand alone flour, coconut flour does not yield crunchy baked goods the way almond flour does. Coconut flour does work incredibly well in cake and muffin recipes. Because many do not consider coconut a nut, coconut flour is a great alternative to almond flour for those with nut allergies.
Oat Flour. With its creamy, earthy flavor and delicate texture, gluten-free oat flour is a staple of my gluten-free baking recipes. It bakes up soft and smooth, adding necessary starch to many GF baked goods and keeping them moist and tender due to its high fat content and stable protein structure.
Gluten-free flours often contain fine starches, so they absorb more liquid than conventional flour. To address this, gluten-free recipes usually call for more liquid and produce looser batters. They may also call for a larger quantity of leavening, like baking powder, to help add volume and lighten the texture.
Add more fat or liquid: It might just be that you need a bit more moisture in your recipe, especially if you're converting a regular “gluten-ful” recipe to gluten-free. Try adding anywhere from ¼ to ½ cup of liquid or fat to the recipe and see if that helps.
Using xanthan gum helps provide some of the stickiness that gluten free goods lack, replacing some elasticity. Xanthan gum mimics some of gluten's most essential properties by sticking to flour and its moisture. This helps create moist goods that hold their shape after being baked.
Adding cornstarch thickens the dough, so that they expand as they bake. As they cool, the outside will solidify and become just a little bit crispy, while keeping them extra soft in the middle. As always, be careful not to over bake the cookies. This will make them the wrong kind of chewy.
Most of today's graham crackers are made from refined wheat flour. If you are on a gluten-free diet, this is a problem. However, gluten-free grahams are easy to make at home. And even if you aren't gluten-free, making homemade graham crackers is a fun—and tasty—way to experience classic graham crackers in a new way.
The BEST peanut butter for today's cookies is a processed creamy peanut butter, preferably Jif or Skippy. Natural-style peanut butter is my choice for eating, but it just doesn't produce the same type of cookie as its processed counterpart.
Butter will make your cookies taste buttery; shortening will make them taste suspiciously vacant, like Katy Perry's voice post-autotune. Yes, shortening yields chewier cookies than butter does, because butter contains water and shortening doesn't.
This is why it has a fluffy, light texture and pale golden color. We often reach for almond flour in baking recipes when we're looking for a light, fluffy, cake-y texture with neutral flavor, because almond flour has a milder flavor than almond meal, and tends to fluff up nicely when baked!
Use a 1:4 ratio when substituting coconut flour with all-purpose flour. This means that for every 1 cup of regular flour, you only use ¼ cup of coconut flour. Following this ratio will help make your low-carb baked goods come out the way you hope.
Yes, coconut flour is gluten-free. Coconut flour is typically made by grinding the dried meat of a coconut—which is naturally gluten-free—into a fine powder. It is also grain-free, low in carbs, and high in fiber, potassium and iron.
Introduction: My name is Arline Emard IV, I am a cheerful, gorgeous, colorful, joyous, excited, super, inquisitive person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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