Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
Soft, chewy, and free of eggs, dairy, and gluten! These Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies will satisfy your sweet tooth while being free of allergens.
If you’re looking for more vegan and gluten free sweets then check out some of my other favorites like Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Cashew Clusters, Vegan Snickers Bars, Strawberry Chocolate Bars, Chocolate Covered Raisin Clusters, or Vegan Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookies.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
- Ready In: 30 minutes
- Makes: 20 cookies
- Main Ingredients: vegan butter, light brown sugar, almond flour, Dutch cocoa powder
- Flavor Profile: rich chocolate with peanut butter
- Dietary Info: vegan, gluten free, eggless
- Difficulty: Easy!
- Why You’ll Love It: soft and chewy chocolate peanut butter cookies with a sparkly top
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Soft & Chewy: This recipe for Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies makes an incredibly soft and chewy cookie! Using peanut butter always helps create soft and chewy cookies.
- Naturally Gluten-Free: This recipe for chocolate peanut butter cookies is naturally gluten free, meaning I use naturally gluten free flour versus using a gluten free flour blend that you’d buy. In this recipe, I use almond flour combined with coconut flour for an incredibly soft and chewy texture that is not gooey or gummy, like some gluten free flours can be.
- Vegan or Not: This vegan cookie recipe uses vegan butter and coconut milk, but if you are not vegan or dairy-free and want to make this with real butter and cow’s milk you can easily make those swaps! Sometimes you just need gluten free and eggless if you are baking for someone with allergies, so using real butter and dairy would be totally fine in this recipe. I’ve tested this both ways and both make a delicious cookie!
Jump to:
- A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Ingredients
- Easy Substitutions
- Baker’s Tips
- How to Make Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
- Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies FAQ’s
- More Chocolate Peanut Butter Recipes
- Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
- The Bake Shop
While I'm not vegan or gluten free, I became an expert in vegan and gluten free baking when I owned my bakery as we were very inclusive and offered a menu of vegan and gluten free options too! This recipe for vegan chocolate peanut butter cookies uses my favorite flour mix (coconut and almond flour) for the best texture without using a gluten free flour blend that contains gums!
Enjoy these cookies with a vegan drink like Coconut Hot Chocolate, Vegan Blueberry Milkshake, Creamy Vegan Chocolate Smoothie With Almond Butter, or Iced Blueberry Latte.
And, if you are looking for more vegan and gluten free recipes like Salted Almond Dark Chocolate Bars, Vegan Dark Chocolate Mini Peanut Butter Cups, Puppy Chow Candy Clusters, Homemade Crunch Bars or Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Bars.
Ingredients
- Vegan Butter: I use Miyoko's Organic Vegan Butter. You can also use vegetable shortening if you prefer.
- Light Brown Sugar: I'm using my homemade light brown sugar, but store bought also works.
- Coconut Milk: I'm using organic coconut milk in place of eggs (no flax egg here!). You can also use almond milk or oat milk, but I think coconut milk is best as it's very thick and creamy where oat milk or nut milks can be more watery.
- Peanut Butter: I use organic creamy peanut butter, don't use chunky here. I always use natural peanut butter for the best flavor, just be sure to stir it up really well. Almond butter, cashew butter, pistachio butter, or even tahini or sunflower butter will work here.
- Dutch Cocoa Powder: You'll need organic Dutch cocoa powder, be sure it's sifted. I use Dutch cocoa and not natural as it provides the best, rich chocolate flavor. Natural cocoa powder will give you a more bitter underdone because it is more acidic because of the natural acids. Unlike Dutch cocoa which has been treated with an alkali to neutralize its natural acids and create a nice sweetness.
- Coconut Flour: I love mixing organic coconut flour with almond flour for a gluten free flour blend that's perfect for cookies and has no gums in it!
- Baking Powder: I'm using baking powder because there's Dutch cocoa powder in these cookies. For more info on leavening agents, be sure to check out my post the Difference Between Baking Soda and Baking Powder.
- Cane Sugar: You'll need organic cane sugar to roll the cookies in. This is optional, but it's what gives these a great texture and beautiful presentation.
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Easy Substitutions
- If you're not vegan, just use regular butter and milk for delicious soft and chewy eggless cookies.
- If you want to make vegan peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, add vegan chocolate chips or dark chocolate chunks, you can do that too. Just be sure they are vegan chocolate chunks (read ingredients!). I recommend adding 85 grams (3 oz).
- Try adding in chopped up dark chocolate peanut butter cups, like my Vegan Dark Chocolate Mini Peanut Butter Cups for a Reese's style cookie!
- You can use a different nut butter in place of peanut butter. Almond, cashew, pistachio or walnut butters all work. You can tailor add ins differently, if you swap out the butter. If using cashew butter add in some chopped cashews. If using almond, add in some chopped almonds.
- If you want a sweet a salty cookie, skip the cane sugar roll on the tops of the cookies before baking and top these with flaky sea salt after coming out of the oven.
Baker's Tips
- Always weigh ingredients for the best results.
- I use my stand mixer for ease, but if you prefer to use a hand mixer, you can do that too.
- These cookies don't spread much because of the mix of almond flour and coconut flour, so the size you make the cookie dough balls are about the size the cookies will come out.
- Rolling these in cane sugar is optional, but it gives these a really nice texture!
- If you want to press the centers with a fork for the classic peanut butter design, you can totally do that!
- Be sure to store in an airtight container to these stay fresh.
- You can freeze these cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 months too.
- High Altitude — Bake at 375°F for 12 to 14 minutes or until the cookies look set and dry on the edges.
How to Make Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the vegan butter, light brown sugar, and vanilla extract.
- Mix on low until there are no butter chunks.
- Add in the peanut butter and coconut milk.
- Add in the peanut butter, coconut milk, and the dry ingredients: almond flour, cocoa powder, coconut flour, baking powder, and sea salt in that order.
- Mix on low until combined.
- In a small dish, add the cane sugar. Using your hands, from the dough into 20 balls and roll in the cane sugar. Place on the prepared baking sheets and flatten them slightly so they are about 2-inches in diameter.
- Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until the cookies look set and dry on the edges. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheets. (Be sure to check the Notes at the bottom of the recipe for high altitude baking instructions).
Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies FAQ's
Yes, vegan means dairy free as well.
I use milk in place of eggs, this combined with the peanut butter creates an incredibly soft and chewy cookie! I also use a mix of almond flour and coconut flour, with coconut flour being the key here as this flour will help keep these cookies incredibly soft and tender. These cookies have all these components combined together, making them so soft and chewy. Just be sure to store them in an airtight container so they stay soft.
Yes! If you’d like to use regular butter you can use that in place of vegan butter.
Peanut butter does more than just add flavor here. It also helps work as a natural binder in these eggless cookies and it helps keep them soft and chewy! You can use any other kind of nut butter in its place, if you prefer.
I only use natural peanut butter, I always use the Costco Organic Peanut Butter (ingredients are just peanuts and salt). I have not tested this with traditional peanut butter as those tend to have seed oils, flavors and added sugars, which are just not needed at all.
No, they are more of a chocolate cookie with peanut butter as the secondary flavor. But, if you don't want peanut butter flavor, use cashew butter instead and you'll just have delicious vegan chocolate cookies as cashew butter is incredibly neutral in flavor.
Yes, if you want to swap out the peanut butter for almond butter, cashew butter, oat butter – any other kind of butter will work!
If you are nut free, you can use tahini, sunflower butter or even oat butter in place of peanut butter.
Absolutely! You can use any kind of milk you like – coconut, cow’s, almond, oat, pistachio, even chocolate milk will work (and be delicious!).
I am using my own mix of almond flour and coconut flour. I find this mix works incredibly well for cookies when you want them to be soft, tender and chewy. Plus, using these two flours eliminates gums and other added stabilizers usually found in gluten free flour blends. I have not tested this with a gluten free all purpose flour blend. Though, I do find the Namaste Organic Perfect Flour Blend usually works really well. I would recommend that one if you want to try a blend, but I don't know how they will come out.
Incorrect measuring. If you have too much dry ingredients and not enough wet ingredients, your cookies will be come dry and crumbly. Especially too much almond flour. Be sure to use a digital food scale and measure properly for perfect cookies every time!
Because we're using a mix of almond flour and coconut flour, these don't spread much at all. You need to make the dough balls the size you want the finished cookies to be as I note in the instructions.
These cookies are soft and chewy so they need to be stored in an airtight container. That means a Tupperware or zip bag. You can also freeze them in an airtight container. They will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 3 months.
You can freeze either, but I find it's much easier to just freeze the baked cookies as all you need to do is store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. But, if you want to freeze the cookie dough, you'll need to roll it out into the balls and place on a baking sheet. Then, freeze the baking sheet until the dough balls are firm. Transfer to an airtight container, making sure to place parchment paper between each layer so they don't freeze together. When you're ready to bake, be sure to thaw the dough to room temperature, then bake as instructed.
More Chocolate Peanut Butter Recipes
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Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Stand Mixer
- Half Sheet Pan
- Parchment Paper Sheets
Ingredients
- 113 grams vegan butter (softened)
- 170 grams light brown sugar (packed)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 170 grams peanut butter
- ¼ cup coconut milk
- 113 grams almond flour
- 43 grams Dutch cocoa powder (sifted)
- 28 grams coconut flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 28 grams cane sugar (for rolling)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the vegan butter, light brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix on low until there are no butter chunks.
- Add in the peanut butter, coconut milk, and the dry ingredients: almond flour, cocoa powder, coconut flour, baking powder, and sea salt in that order. Mix on low until combined.
- In a small dish, add the cane sugar.
- Using your hands, from the dough into 20 balls and roll in the cane sugar. Place on the prepared baking sheets and flatten them slightly so they are about 2-inches in diameter.
- Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until the cookies look set and dry on the edges. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheets.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
Video
Notes
- Always weigh ingredients for the best results.
- I use my stand mixer for ease, but if you prefer to use a hand mixer, you can do that too.
- If you're not vegan, just use regular butter and milk for delicious soft and chewy eggless cookies.
- You can use a different nut butter in place of peanut butter. Almond, cashew, pistachio or walnut butters all work. You can tailor add ins differently, if you swap out the butter. If using cashew butter add in some chopped cashews. If using almond, add in some chopped almonds.
- If you want a sweet a salty cookie, skip the cane sugar roll on the tops of the cookies before baking and top these with flaky sea salt after coming out of the oven.
- These cookies don't spread much because of the mix of almond flour and coconut flour, so the size you make the cookie dough balls are about the size the cookies will come out.
- If you want to press the centers with a fork for the classic peanut butter design, you can totally do that!
- Be sure to store in an airtight container to these stay fresh.
- You can freeze these cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 months too.
- High Altitude — Bake at 375°F for 12 to 14 minutes or until the cookies look set and dry on the edges.
Nutrition
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I blew it with these cookies. I’m used to baking cookies longer at altitude, so I baked them close to 16 min and burnt the bottoms a little. They are still delicious but I’m hoping my husband eats them all quickly so I can have a re do!
Haha, love an honest baking mistake! Happens to me all the time! Baking at high altitude is always shorter though for everything, so just remember that for round two!