If you fancy a spot of weekend baking but don’t fancy the mess and lack the time, this is the recipe for you my friend! These scrummy peanut butter cookies take 15 minutes to make from start to finish with 5 minutes of measuring and mixing and 10 minutes of baking. They couldn’t be easier to make, just measure and mix the ingredients in a bowl then roll little balls and press down with a fork and pop them in the oven for 10 minutes. That’s it! Did I mention that they’re also gluten-free and vegan? You’d never know it when you taste them as they are just perfect little peanut butter cookies and devilishly moreish!
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These vegan and gluten-free peanut butter cookies are so easy to make that my kids now make them by themselves! And it's a one-bowl recipe so, as far as kids cooking goes, they're pretty mess-free too!
Equipment
To make these cookies, all you need is a weighing scales (or measuring cups and spoons), a bowl, a spatula, a baking tray, an oven and 15 minutes of your time.
Main Ingredients
The vegan and gluten-free ingredients are super simple:
- Peanut Butter: make sure you use a plain un-sweetened one otherwise your cookies will turn out desperately sweet! I also avoid palm oil which you can find in a lot of peanut butters so check the ingredients label carefully. (see this article or search google for the many reasons why to avoid palm oil).
- Oat Flour: if you are coeliac, make sure to use gluten-free oat flour (but you probably already know that!). I usually make my oat flour by whizzing up normal porridge oats in the food processor (1 min / sp. 10 in the Thermomix).
- Dark Muscovado Sugar - I love using this sugar as it is deep and rich and is less refined than white sugars. It works really well in these peanut butter cookies.
- Coconut Oil - don't worry, it doesn't make the cookies taste of coconut! You can use vegan butter if you prefer.
- Ground Flax Seeds - mixed with a little water and left for 5 minutes, these little seeds perform the same function as eggs would in a regular cookie recipe. They ensure that the cookie will have a little softness and not be completely brittle. They also provide essential omega-3 fatty acids to our diets!
- Oat milk - you can use any plant-based milk that you like. Oat milk works well since we are also using oat flour but really you can use whatever you have in your fridge!
Please see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for full list of ingredients and their quantities.
Basic Instructions
It doesn't get much simpler than this recipe for cookies!
- Mix together all the ingredients in a bowl.
- Place spoonfuls of the mixture onto a lined baking tray and press each down with the back of a fork.
- Bake at 180°C for 10-12 minutes.
- Leave to cool on a wire rack.
Please see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions.
Variations
- Substitute the oat flour for another gluten-free flour of your choice. I would stick to the firmer wholegrain flours like rice flour, millet flour, or sorghum. A plain gluten-free flour mix would work fine (something like Dove's Farm gluten-free flour mix) too but I just wanted something a little less refined for this recipe.
- If you don’t like coconut oil, feel free to substitute with vegan butter or any other non-flavoured oil.
- The oat milk can also be substituted for any plant-based milk of your choosing.
- The ground flax seeds do the job of eggs and give the cookies that soft chewy texture so try not to leave those out. If you prefer, you can substitute with other egg alternatives.
Batch Size
I make these cookies in small batches because they’re so easy and quick to make so we really don’t need a biscuit tin full of them! The recipe is enough for 9 small cookies but feel free to double or triple the recipe if you want to make more!
I’m a small cookie kind of girl so you may want to double up the recipe to make bigger cookies. Remember that you’ll need to cook them a little longer if you want to make them bigger.
Peanut Butter Cookies FAQs
I’m paranoid about other people’s children coming to our house with a peanut allergy that I haven’t been told about. So, I hardly ever serve peanut items to anyone other than my own family, just in case. If you do have a peanut allergy, you could substitute for almond or hazelnut butter instead.
Well… ahem… each batch hasn’t lasted long in our household so I haven’t been able to test this out. They should last for up to 3 days in a sealed container.
Instruction Video
See the 15-minute peanut butter cookies (vegan and gluten-free) web story.
📖 Recipe 📖
15 Minute Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 55 g oat flour (or other gluten-free wholegrain flour)
- 45 g dark muscovado sugar
- 45 g peanut butter
- 20 g coconut oil (or any other flavourless oil)
- 1 tablespoon oat milk (or any other plant-based milk)
- ½ tablespoon ground flax seeds
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch Himalayan pink salt
Instructions
- Set the oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Measure all the ingredients into a bowl and mix together until really well combined.
- Take a small amount and roll it into a ball (I use a ½ tablespoon of mixture for each cookie) then place the ball onto the baking tray and lightly press down with a fork in two different directions. Repeat until all the mixture is used. It should make about 9 small cookies.
- Put the baking tray in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Check after 10 minutes to see whether the cookies are nicely browned and slightly firm to the touch. They may need 2 or 3 more minutes depending on your oven.
- When ready, pull the baking paper onto the cooling rack to quickly remove them from the hot baking tray. When cool enough to handle, remove the cookies from the baking paper and leave to cool on the cooling rack. (They harden up on cooling so you really need to try and hold back the urge to eat one straight away! Believe me, it’s worth the 10 or 15 minutes wait!)
Notes
- You could substitute the oat flour for rice flour, millet flour, or sorghum. A plain gluten-free flour mix would work fine too but is obviously more refined. Likewise, if you don’t like coconut oil, feel free to substitute for a different non-flavoured oil. The oat milk can of course be substituted for any plant-based milk of your choosing!
- If you don’t have oat flour, don’t worry, it can easily be made from plain oats. Just weigh the same weight of oats into a food processor or blender and whizz until it forms a powder. (In the Thermomix, do 1 min / sp. 10).
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a ⭐ star rating ⭐ on the recipe card!
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