Crispy, chewy peanut butter chocolate chip cookies made healthier with oat flour and natural sweeteners. Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, and 11 ingredients!
These peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are the perfect healthy plant-based treat. They’re made with simple & healthy ingredients like oat flour, peanut butter, and coconut sugar, but they’re crispy, chewy, and so satisfying! After multiple weeks of recipe testing and hundreds of cookies in my belly, I finally nailed a perfect vegan, gluten-free, and oil-free (minus the chocolate chips) cookie recipe!
Ingredients
These peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are made with 11 simple ingredients:
- natural peanut butter: Use unsweetened. If it’s unsalted, add a pinch of salt to the cookie dough.
- coconut sugar, maple syrup, and molasses: Maple syrup adds moisture while molasses adds a deeper, brown sugar-like flavor. You can also sub 3 tbsp (as recipe is written) brown sugar for the coconut sugar and molasses. I have also successfully made these cookies with more coconut sugar instead of maple syrup, but the result is slightly drier and crispier.
- vegan milk: You can use almond, coconut, soy, oat, or whatever milk alternative you prefer.
- oat flour: I make my own by blending rolled oats in a high powered blender, but you can also buy pre-made oat flour.
- almond flour: Adds moisture. You can replace with more oat flour, but the cookies will be drier.
- corn starch: This helps hold the cookies together and produces a chewier texture.
- chocolate chips: Technically not oil-free, since cocoa butter is actually oil, but the cookie dough itself is oil-free so we’re rolling with it. Plus chocolate chips make all baked goodies taste 10x better.
- Finally, you’ll need baking staples such as vanilla extract and baking soda.
Cookie Baking Tips
- Peanut Butter: You want your peanut butter to be smooth and runny for easy mixing and optimal results. Don’t use bottom-of-the-jar hard and clumpy peanut butter. If your peanut butter is cold and stiff from the fridge, microwave it for 15-30 seconds until runny.
- Cookie Sheets: If possible, opt for cookie sheets that are light in color as these absorb less heat. Dark cookie sheets get hot very quickly and may burn the bottom of the cookies. If using a dark cookie sheet, reduce temp to 325°F.
- For best results, line your baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Cookie dough too sticky? If your dough is too sticky to handle, chill in the fridge for an hour and increase baking time 2-3 minutes.
- Cookie dough too dry? If your dough seems too dry, add extra milk until a smooth and slightly sticky dough forms. You don’t want the dough to be so sticky that you can’t handle it.
- The cookies will still be soft in the center when you take them out of the oven, but they will firm up as they cool. Let them cool completely on a rack before eating.
How to Store Cookies
Make sure the cookies have completely cooled before transferring to a container.
Short Term (3 days)
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. If using maple syrup, they tend to stick to each other, so place a small piece of parchment paper between each cookie if stacking them.
Long Term (3 months)
Store in a freezer-safe container or bag for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, thaw at room temperature the night before or microwave for 15-30 seconds until softened.
Helpful Baking Tools
- silicone baking mat or parchment paper
- aluminum cookie sheet
- cooling rack
- cookie scoop
More Vegan Cookies!
- Grain-Free Matcha Sugar Cookies
- Snickerdoodles
- Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- Oat Flour Persimmon Snickerdoodles
- Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Sugar Cookie Bars
I hope you love these healthier peanut butter chocolate chip cookies as much as I do! If you try them out, don’t forget to tag me in your photos on instagram @ellielikes.cooking and/or leave a comment down below and let me know how you liked them! I love seeing you recreate my recipes in your own kitchen 🙂 Happy baking!
*These cookies were also featured in this CBD cookies article, so make sure you check it out if you want to add a little CBD twist!*
Healthier Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (Vegan, GF, OF)
Ingredients
- 4 ½ tbsp unsweetened peanut butter (72g)
- 1 ½ tsp molasses
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup + 2 tbsp coconut sugar
- 2 tbsp soy milk
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp oat flour (135g)
- ¼ cup + 2 tbsp almond flour (42g)
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp corn starch (10g)
- ¾ cup vegan chocolate chips
Instructions
- Your peanut butter should be smooth and runny. If it's too hard, microwave for 15-30 seconds until runny.
- Combine peanut butter, molasses, maple syrup, sugar, soy milk, and vanilla extract in a bowl and mix until uniform.
- Add in oat flour, almond flour, baking soda, and corn starch and mix until a smooth dough forms. If your dough is still dry, add in more milk 1 teaspoon at a time as needed. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Chill dough in fridge for about an hour or until no longer sticky.
- About 20 minutes before pulling out the cookie dough, preheat your oven to 350°F and set aside a lined cookie sheet.
- Scoop about 2 tbsp of cookie dough and roll into a ball. Place on cookie sheet and flatten slightly with your hands. Repeat with remaining cookie dough, leaving about an inch of space in between each cookie. Bake 11 minutes.
- Let cookies cool for about a minute on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.
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