Learn how to make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies that are vegan, gluten-free, and oil-free. It’s a wholesome no butter recipe resulting in healthy soft and chewy plant-based cookies.
What I love about this recipe:
- Super chocolaty chocolate chip cookies.
- Easy and quick to make.
- Perfect for batch cooking.
- Divine peanut butter flavour.
My peanut butter chocolate chip cookie recipe is plant-based, gluten-free, oil-free, no butter, low glycemic, and suitable on vegan Candida diet.
Table of contents
How to Make Vegan Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
The Ingredients
First, let me specify what this recipe does not contain. As this peanut butter cookie recipe is whole food plant-based, it does not include any refined ingredients such as refined sugars and flours, oils, or butter.
The main ingredient is obviously peanut butter. Make sure you get an organic creamy peanut butter with no additives. To be more precise, the label should list peanuts as the only ingredient.
In case you’re allergic to peanuts or choose to avoid them for any other reason, opt for almond butter instead.
Next, we add a little bit of Himalayan salt to enhance the flavours.
The mixture of ground flax seeds and water acts as binder. By the way, always grind your own whole flaxseeds and store them in an airtight container or a jar in the fridge.
Finally, plain plant yogurt adds some moistness and whole oat flour just makes those cookies cookie-like.
The Chocolaty Ingredients
Next, the chocolaty ingredients in those peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are cacao paste, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips.
Now, cacao paste can also be called cocoa paste, cacao liquor or cocoa liquor. It’s basically ground cacao beans. You may also see cacao butter referred to as cocoa butter. Both, cacao paste, and cacao butter can be bought in chunks or as buttons. I personally find buttons more convenient. It’s because you’d need to chop the big chunks on a chopping board to get the needed quantity resulting in more mess to clean up later.
In case you cannot find cacao paste and butter, feel free to use 100% dark chocolate instead.
Cacao vs Cocoa
The difference between cocoa and cacao powder is that the latter is raw i.e., not heated. It also tends to be more expensive. Since we’re going to bake the cookies anyway, it makes more sense to use cocoa powder. So, feel free to choose the cheaper option.
As far as the chocolate chips are concerned, I used a variety that’s sweetened with xylitol. However, you may use any dark chocolate chips sweetened with coconut sugar, date sugar, or any other sweetener that you’re okay consuming. Alternatively, choose chopped dark chocolate or cacao paste instead of chocolate chips.
The Sweetener
Next, the sweetener I’m using in those peanut butter chocolate chips cookies, is date sugar. It’s noteworthy that date sugar is the only whole food sweetener that can successfully replace regular sugar.
Feel free to use any preferred sweetener e.g., coconut sugar, raw cane sugar, erythritol, or xylitol. In case prefer your cookies with as low glycemic load as possible, opt for erythritol or xylitol instead.
The Directions
For the Dough
First, for easier combining, make sure your peanut butter is at room temperature. In case it’s very hard, use a double boiler or microwave oven to warm it up a bit.
Then, let’s make the flax and water mixture. To do that, in a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of ground flax seeds with 4 tablespoons of water. Let sit for about 5 minutes. As simple as that!
Next, let’s get on with the peanut butter chocolate chip cookies’ batter. In a large bowl, combine peanut butter and plant yogurt until well incorporated.
Then stir in the flax and water mixture. Again, stir well.
Now, add the sweetener (date sugar, erythritol, xylitol, coconut sugar, or raw cane sugar), Himalayan salt, oat flour, and cacao powder. Combine well using a spatula. You may combine all the dry ingredients in a small bowl and sift them through before adding to the bowl of wet mixture.
Before finalizing our cookie dough, we need to melt the cacao paste. So, use microwave oven or a double boiler and mix the liquid paste into the cookie dough.
Now, cover the bowl and chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Baking the Cookies
After that divide it into 8 balls of dough and shape them into disks between your palms. Each disk will be weight about 50 grams (1.76oz), given that you don’t eat the batter. Alternatively, make 16 cookies with 25 grams (0.88oz) each.
Place the cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and then press in the chocolate chips. Feel free to mix the chocolate chips into the batter. Finally, the baking time depends on whether you make bigger or smaller cookies. Bake the bigger cookies at 175°C (350°F) for 18-20 minutes and the smaller ones for 13-15 minutes. Let cool completely and enjoy!
By the way, the cookies are quite soft fresh out of the oven but will harden once they cool.
How to Store Those Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
There are several ways you can store those peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.
- Place the cookies in a loosely covered container or a jar and store them on kitchen counter for up to two days.
- Secondly, keep them in an airtight container or a jar in the fridge for up to a week. If you want them to be soft and moist, heat them up in microwave or regular oven.
- And lastly, for longer keeping, stick the cookies into a zip lock bag and store them in the freezer. They should keep for several months. Whenever you need a cookie, heat one up either in the microwave or regular oven. The latter results in a crispy cookie and the former in a moister one.
If you’re here, you must be into healthy vegan cookies! So, go and check out the below recipes as well:
- Vegan Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oatmeal Cookies: 3 Ways
- Cranberry Cardamom Cookies
- Soft Gingerbread Cookies
- No Butter or Oil Shortbread Cookies
- Crunchy Gingerbread Cookies
For all of you, visual learners, watch the below video of those peanut butter chocolate chip cookies:
Download my FREE Guide to Plant-Based Diet
Including a full day’s meal plan!
Learn the basics, prepare your kitchen and pantry, compile a balanced meal plan, handle challenges with family and friends, learn the tricks of dining out as well as travelling.
Learn the secrets of weight loss, better health and happiness!
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies [Vegan, Gluten-Free, Video]
- Total Time: 38 minutes
- Yield: 8 cookies 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Learn how to make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies that are vegan, gluten-free, and oil-free. It’s a wholesome no butter recipe resulting in healthy soft and chewy plant-based cookies.
Ingredients
- 120g (4.23oz, about ½ cup) additive-free unsalted creamy peanut butter
- 60g (2.12oz) cacao paste
- 15g (0.53oz, 3 tbsps.) cocoa powder
- 20g (0.71oz, 2 tbsps.) dark chocolate chips
- 60g (2.12oz, 5 tbsps.) date sugar
- ¼ tsp. Himalayan salt
- 2 tbsps. (14g, 0.49oz) ground flax seeds + 4 tbsps. (60g, 2.12oz) water
- 90g (3.17oz, 4 tbsps.) plain plant yogurt (almond, soy, oat)
- 25g (0.88oz, 3 tbsps.) whole oat flour
Instructions
- First, for easier combining, make sure your peanut butter is at room temperature.
- Then, in a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of ground flax seeds with 4 tablespoons of water. Let sit for about 5 minutes.
- Next, in a large bowl, combine peanut butter and plant yogurt. Then stir in the flax and water mixture.
- Now, add the sweetener, Himalayan salt, oat flour, and cacao powder. Combine well with a spatula. For an even result, you may sift the dry ingredients through before adding them to the wet mixture.
- Finally, using microwave oven or a double boiler, melt the cacao paste and mix it into the cookie dough.
- Now, refrigerate the cookie dough for 30 minutes.
- Next, divide the batter into 8 balls of dough and shape them into disks between your palms (about 50 grams each). Place the cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. For smaller bites, make 16 cookies (25 grams each).
- Then, press in the chocolate chips. Alternatively, mix the chocolate chips into the batter.
- Bake the cookies at 175°C (350°F) for 18-20 minutes (13-15 minutes in case of smaller cookies). Let cool completely and enjoy! FYI – the cookies will be quite soft fresh out of the oven but will harden once cooled.
Notes
I strongly recommend using a scale rather than cups and tablespoons when measuring out the ingredients.
Always grind your own whole flaxseeds and store them in an airtight container or a jar in the fridge.
Feel free to use additive-free almond butter instead of peanut butter.
You may substitute cacao paste with 100% dark chocolate.
Instead of chocolate chips or buttons, use chopped dark chocolate or cacao paste.
Substitute oat flour with raw buckwheat flour or brown rice flour.
Nutritional info per cookie (with erythritol): 201.8 kcal, 7g carbohydrates (13.9% of kcal), 16.2g fats (72.2% of kcal), 5.5g saturated fats, 6.6g protein (13.1% of kcal), 4g fibre, and 79.06mg sodium.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Oven
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie (1/8 of the recipe)
- Calories: 230.6 kcal
- Sodium: 79.06mg
- Fat: 16.4g
- Saturated Fat: 5.6g
- Carbohydrates: 13.7g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 6.8g
Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For every purchase made from the links in this post, you’ll be able to support my work. So you can look after your health, and contribute to my mission at the same time. Thank you!
You’re welcome to PIN the below image!
