Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cookies (Video)
These Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cookies are also flourless and gluten-free and they’re perfect for everyone who loves peanut butter. I’m updating this recipe with some changes after a few people had trouble with the cookies crumbling, and Kara and I tested these over and over to perfect this new and improved version!
PIN Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cookies to try them later!
Many years ago I spotted a recipe for Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies on Cookie Madness, and you can imagine how the world *flourless* caught my eye in that recipe title. And these Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cookies that I adapted from Anna’s recipe became one of my favorite cookies.
The cookies were popular on the site for years, but recently a couple of people who tried them told me they were too crumbly. And when Kara and I tried them again, it set off a round of experiments where we made the cookies over and over. In our cookie-baking tests we changed one thing each time we tested them, until we came up with this new and improved recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies that are still sugar-free, gluten-free, and flourless.
Even though I only heard from a few people who didn’t have good results with the previous version, I do wish I hadn’t tried to be quite so flexible in discussing ingredient choices and had been more emphatic about the cooling time. But both Kara and I thought this new version was very tasty, so in the updated version I’m going to be very specific about just which ingredients we thought were best! And with the method and ingredients we used the cookies weren’t crumbly!
I stashed the leftovers in my freezer and each time I grab one from the freezer I’m so happy we spent all that time improving the recipe. If you like peanut butter cookies, I hope you’ll try this sugar-free version.
What ingredients do you need?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- large egg
- Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link)
- baking powder
- vanilla
- Skippy No-Sugar Added Creamy Peanut Butter (affiliate link)
- water
- sea salt
- chopped peanuts (optional)
How did we improve this recipe for Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cookies?
- For the improved recipe we used less sweetener and and preferred Lakanto Monkfruit Golden Sweetener (affiliate link) for a touch of brown sugar flavor.
- We greatly preferred the cookies with Skippy No-Sugar Added Creamy Peanut Butter (affiliate link) which we thought had the best peanut butter flavor. (Most grocery stores in the U.S. will probably have this, and at my usual store it seems to go on sale regularly.)
- We added just a tiny bit of sea salt, which we thought really enhanced the sweet flavor in the cookies.
- We kept the addition of a few chopped peanuts stirred into the batter, but you can still make them without those extra peanuts if you like.
An important tip for success with the Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cookies:
After Kara and I were into our recipe-testing spree I wished I had been more specific about the cooling time in the original recipe. You need to let the cookies cool at least 30 MINUTES to get a firm cookie that holds together well. When we did that we thought these cookies were the perfect texture and not at all crumbly.
Can you use other sweetener for the Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cookies?
I know that no-calorie sweeteners taste different to some people than they do to others, which is one reason I find no-sugar baking to be such a challenge! But Kara and I both felt Lakanto brand Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (affiliate link) tasted best in these cookies, and in this recipe we didn’t have the issue we’ve sometimes had with the golden monkfruit not mixing in as well as classic monkfruit. Of course we didn’t test every possible sweetener, so if you have a preferred brand you could try it, but definitely I will always use golden monkfruit when I make them myself.
Can you use other peanut butter for the Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cookies?
It’s no secret that I have a favorite brand of natural no-sugar added peanut butter that I recommend for most of my recipes that use peanut butter. And I’ll keep using that recipe for other things, but for these cookies we absolutely thought that Skippy No-Sugar Added Creamy Peanut Butter (affiliate link) gave the best peanut butter flavor in the finished cookie. Of course we didn’t test every possible brand of no-sugar added peanut butter so if you have a favorite brand it will probably work, but I wouldn’t recommend natural peanut butter where the oil separates for this recipe,
How to make the new and improved Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cookies:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Even though I have a favorite natural peanut butter that I’ve loved for years, we thought Skippy No-Sugar Added Creamy Peanut Butter (affiliate link) had the best flavor in these cookies.
- Use a hand mixer to beat together the egg, golden monkfruit sweetener, baking powder, and vanilla.
- Then beat in the peanut butter, water, and sea salt.
- Chop peanuts if using, add to bowl, and mix cookies again, just until peanuts are mixed in.
- We had best results baking them on a silicone baking mat (affiliate link) or parchment paper (affiliate link)
- Scoop out one tablespoon of batter for each cookie and roll into balls.
- Then smash down with a fork. These are small cookies; don’t try to make them too thin.
- Bake at 350F/180C for 14-15 minutes.
- Let cookies cool at least 30 minutes before handling.
- I keep my leftover cookies in the freezer, and I have to use will power not to grab one from there too often.
More Tasty Sugar-Free Desserts:
Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cookies
Kara and I tested and tested variations to come up with this new and improved recipe for Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cookies. And these tasty cookies are flourless and gluten-free as well!
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener Golden
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 1 cup Skippy Creamy No-Sugar Added Peanut Butter
- 1 tsp. water
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1/3 cup chopped peanuts (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
- In mixing bowl, use electric beater to beat together the egg, golden Monkfruit Sweetener, baking powder, and vanilla for about a minute.
- Add peanut butter, water, and sea salt and beat together until it's well combined. (The mixture was fairly dry; just be sure the peanut butter is mixed well with the other ingredients.)
- Chop peanuts if using, and beat a few times to blend peanuts into dough.
- Use a large cookie sheet and cover with silicone baking mat or parchment paper for best results. (When we cooked them directly on a baking sheet without one of those, sometimes the bottom of the cookies got too brown.)
- Measure out about a tablespoon of batter for each cookie, roll into a ball, and then smash down with a fork. (We got 20 small cookies.)
- Bake 14-15 minutes, or until cookies are starting to feel firm and are slightly browned. (They will still feel quite soft to the touch when they're done.)
- Let cookies cool 30 minutes or longer before handling.
- I've been storing my extra cookies in the freezer, and I try not to grab one from there too often!
Notes
We preferred Golden Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener for the sweetener, which gave a nice brown-sugar flavor in the cookies.
We definitely preferred the flavor of Skippy Creamy No-Sugar Added Peanut Butter in these cookies.
This recipe was originally adapted from Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies from Cookie Madness. As no-calorie sweeteners have changed through the years the recipe has been adapted a few times. The final version you see here is the one Kara and I preferred after testing the recipe quite a few times with various combinations of ingredients.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
20Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 100Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1.3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5.9gCholesterol: 9.3mgSodium: 143mgCarbohydrates: 4gFiber: 1.3gSugar: 1.3gProtein: 4.2g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Of course since there’s no flour or sugar in the recipe these peanut butter cookies are a low-carb, Keto, and gluten-free cookie. They’re also much more South Beach Diet friendly than than a normal cookie, but if you’re strictly following the original South Beach Diet, they’re definitely high in fat for South Beach. No matter what diet plan you’re following, you may need to use portion control on these cookies if you’re actively trying to lose weight.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use the Dessert Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Recipes by Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Danica's Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
The Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cookies were first posted in 2007! This recipe has been adapted a few times since then as the world of no-calorie sweeteners has evolved, but the version you see here was thoroughly tested by Kara and I in 2023 and we loved these cookies with the ingredients listed as preferred.
83 Comments on “Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cookies (Video)”
Hi Kalyn, I am anxious to try these. I have liquid monk fruit sweetener on hand. how can I adapt this recipe to make this work? would I omit the water do you think?
I’m sorry but liquid Monkfruit is not going to work in this recipe. Since there is no flour, you need a granulated sweetener to give some texture and shape to the cookies.
I find monkfruit to leave an unpleasant aftertaste. Do you know if this is different from brand to brand?
Thanks in advance!
I haven’t tried all the brands so I don’t know about that, although I really like the Lakanto brand. But what I DO know is that different sweeteners taste different to some people than they do to others. I know a few bloggers who swear by Swerve sweetener, but to me it doesn’t taste good at all. I haven’t tried every no-calorie sweetener in this recipe of course, but I think it will work with almost any granulated sweetener that measures 1:1 with sugar. I would experiment until you find one that tastes better to you.
All the comments after this one are for previous versions of the cookies. After a couple of readers told me their cookies were crumbly, in 2023 Kara and I tested lots of variations and came up with the new and improved recipe you see here.
Couldn’t even pick them up before they crumbled.
There are other good reviews and comments for these cookies so I am confused as to why they don’t work for some people. For the crumbling I would ask if you let them cool well. Also did you use a good quality peanut butter?
they were good at first but turned rock hard after a few hours maybe baked too long…used half sugar and half stevia.
any ideas why?
I’m sorry to hear that. Baking the cookies too long would definitely make them much more firm. I haven’t made these cookies with sugar so I don’t know how that would affect the result. Also if you used peanut butter that contained sugar that might affect it too.
Can homemade cashew butter be used in place of peanut butter? I want to try something different.
Thanks
I haven’t ever tried it that way, so all I can really say is try it and see what you think. I can’t think of any reason why it wouldn’t work but I am not sure cashew butter will give as much flavor in a cookie as peanut butter does. But it might be great!
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Hi, i made a batch of these tonight as i had a rare sweetie craving, but they were too crumbly to eat as a cookie, just disintergrated into crumbs. any idea what i can do to firm them up a bit? The peanut butter i used (meridian) was peanut only with quite a high oil content. would that be the problem?
Sorry that happened for you. I’m wondering if you let them cool long enough. Or possibly the high oil amount is the problem, since it’s only the peanut butter + the granulated Stevia that gives these structure. When I buy a jar of natural peanut butter, I sometime drain some off before using it, so you could try that. Hope that makes them work.
Been craving the old fashioned pb cookie, but I am on Weight Watchers. Made these this afternoon and was very pleased with the outcome. I used the Stevia in the Raw like you did and I used a natural crunchy peanut butter. Just enough to kill those cravings.
So glad you enjoyed!
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Hi! Do you have any suggestions for making these a high altitude friendly cookie? I was going to try them this weekend!
I live in Utah where the altitude is relatively high and haven’t had trouble with them. I’m afraid I’m not a good enough baker to know how to adjust for high altitude though, sorry!
I’m just north of you in Idaho (4700 feet, so borderline high altitude). I’ll just try them as is! Thanks for the quick response!
Made these tonight! They came out wonderful and tasted so good! Been craving a low carb no sugar cookie! Love your posts!!
Made these tonight and they came out wonderful and tasted great! Thank you for posting this..Been craving a low carb cookie!
Wish I could post a picture of them!
So glad you enjoyed them!
Would these be lower in calories with PB2? I tried calculating it and it came out to 18 calories per cookie, but I'm not sure if I did that right?
I don't know enough about PB2 to know the answer to that; also I'm not sure it would work because the bulk of the peanut butter is important in this recipe. Love to hear what you think if you try it!
I used Equal (I have Hypoglycemia and cannot have Splenda or any Sucralose). Cooked 13 min. When they were done, I sprinkled a little more Equal on top while they were hot. Then I froze them, and ate them while frozen, which made them not crumble. Turned out really good.
Glad you liked it!
OH YUM! Love love love these!!!
Thanks Haley, glad you are enjoying the recipe!
Sue, peanut butter is limited to 2 Tablespoons per day, so maybe one VERY small cookie, but they're really calorie dense so I'm guessing it might slow down your weight loss even at that amount.
Can you eat these on phase 1???
I usually drain off some but not all the oil; then mix in the rest.
I'm planning to make these cookies next week, they look fabulous! Should I mix the oil into the natural peanut butter before I measure it out, or should I pour the oil out?
I'm going to make these next week, they sound wonderful! Do I mix the oil into the natural peanut butter before I measure it out, or do I pour out the oil?
You would definitely need to remix the oil…the oil in natural peanut butter separates because it has not been hydrogenated (thickened). It would be dry as sand without it, guaranteed…
I'm sure everyone lives in differant areas I'm in Florida but I used a product called Walden farms as my peanut butter it has no calories sugar or carbs so my cookies now have nothing to them but the calories from the egg
Thanks Kelly!
I love your recipes!
Mandy, hope they enjoy the cookies!
My 8 year old daughter and 14 year old son are diabetics and as we speak these cookies are in our oven. I'm praying they like them because of the low card and sugar free of them. I know they are really excited to finally have a treat!
Exitaisle, sounds interesting. I've never seen PB2.
I'd like to see low calorie Spenda recipes using peanut flour also called PB2 and powdered peanuts or defatted peanut flour. Very few calories and seems like it ought to cook up like regular flour. I want to create a bar or cookie using already cooked steel cut oats (they are crunchy) peanut flour for flavor and protein that can also carry some almonds, cocoa and other items like blue berry and pineapple.
In other words, a low cal, flour free, sugar free vehicle for tasty items sort of like an oatmeal cookie
Lisa, so glad you're enjoying them!
LOVE the peanut butter cookies! I've made them 3 times and they are always good! For those of us who can't have flour or sugar, this cookie is a treat!
Lisa
I don't really know anything about baking with stevia, so you'd have to experiment and see what works. I'd love to know how it turns out if you try it.
The recipe for the cookies looks wonderful. Can I make it with Stevia? If so, how much would I use? thanks.
Thomas, I'm getting a fun mental image of that! So glad you liked it.
WOW! Great recipe!! So easy my 4yr old helped me with it!!
I tried these and they're helping my cravings. I can't wait to try the PB & chocolate. I'm hoping the "splenda" after taste won't be so strong for those. Thanks!
Nomadic D, glad you liked them. I'm intrigued by the use of yogurt. (And I know what you mean about the need to stop eating them!)
I just made these and they are amazing! Thank you for this recipe! I substituted 1/2 c. agave syrup for the splenda like someone suggested, and then also, once half the ingredients were in the bowl I realized I was out of baking powder! I looked up substitutes and used 1/4 tsp. baking soda and 1/2 c. yogurt, and then didn't add any water. The batter was pretty liquidy, but they turned out super fluffy and moist. I recommend trying it with yogurt. Now if only I could stop eating them…
Jessica glad you found a variation that worked for you. I just want to caution anyone who sees that comment that sometimes lower-fat peanut butters have added sugar, which would actually make them *worse* for South Beach Dieters, so be sure to check the sugar content if you're following South Beach.
Hi Kalyn,
Thank you so much for posting these delicious recipes! I tried the peanut butter cookies and they came out delicious! I didn’t have all the ingredients, so I had to improvise. I didn’t have the vanilla extract, so I used vanilla cognac instead (it was the only thing vanilla I could find!) and I used a pinch of lemon extract. They are so moist and delicious! 🙂
I made these using stevia (the concentrated powder kind). I added just under 2 tbs of soy flour to make up a bit of the bulk, although next time I would use regular whole wheat flour. They tasted a bit bitter -not sure if it was the stevia, the brand of peanut butter or the soy flour, but overall the taste and texture were very good for a sugar-free and almost flourless cookie.
Rachel, you’re welcome! Very glad you liked them.
My friend Whitney and I made these cookies tonight, and they were awesome! We only had the Splenda packets, so once we emptied about 15 of those we only had about 1/4 of a cup of sugar, so we filled the rest of the cup measurement with Splenda brown sugar blend. They are amazing! Super sweet, but not crunchy like you said they would be, and certainly not crumbly. I think the brown sugar made them a little softer. We also made them big, but still got 14 cookies out of the batch. We thank you for the recipe.
I’m baking these right now for a diabetic client- I didn’t have granulated. I’m concerned, but hope they will come out alright! Thanks for the recipe. Great blog!
I can’t wait to make these! I’m going to tweek it a little more though. I’m going to try using egg substitute and I have tried a product which I really like called PB2. It’s actually powdered peanut butter that you mix.(2TBSP mix to 1TBSP of water) This product has 85% less fat than even low fat peanut butter. It’s also less than 2gms of sugar. I found it on the net. I’ve had weight loss surgery and can’t do sugar or high fat products. Hey, the surgery worked, I’m down into size 3/4 jeans, and it’s fun altering recipes to be able to eat things I used to!!!
Austinite, great idea to substitute Agave nectar for the Splenda, and thanks for letting us know so other people can try it too.
I don’t like the aftertaste of Splenda, so I made these using 1/2 cup of agave nectar (next time, I’ll probably use even less, for just a hint of sweet). They turned out wonderful!
The batter was quite sticky, so I needed to coat my fork with cooking spray a few times to pat them down, but it worked. Great recipe!
Karina and Rhapsody, I love the idea of trying different kinds of butters. Yum.
I made them with almond butter instead of peanut butter. They were great — I ate 3 for dinner! As an expat in Europe it’s hard to eat healthy, so I really appreciate your recipes, even if I can’t find all the necessary ingredients! 🙂
— Rhapsody
Kalyn- These look fab- and are easily gluten-free using gluten-free brands.
And if you can do sunbutter- butter made from sunflower seeds- give that a try. Sunflower butter makes scrumptious cookies.
I have made these for several years too and I love them
Wonderful! I always need recipes that are away from the norm – make sure everyone has a taste. Yum!
Way to go Kalyn, they look like the regular cookies…I could eat the whole batch!
Angela, I was also wondering that and actually I’m not completely sure if baking powder or vanilla have gluten. I know sometimes it can come from some unlikely sources. You might have your friend check the ingredient list and see what she thinks. I will also ask some of the gluten-free bloggers that I know.
Would these also be gluten free? One of my friends has Celiac Disease, and these might be a good option for me to make for her for my Christmas party…
Great recipe and website! Thanks for the inspiration.
Gretchen, no peanut butter in Peru? Now that’s just sad.
Blest, I really have no idea how that would work, since I’m not a baker! I think if you didn’t want artificial sweeteners I might just use Anna’s version.
Christine, I do like the recipe, and if you’re not doing phase one I think Anna’s idea for Splenda brown sugar blend might be great too. (Hmm, maybe I’ll try that next!)
You could use real peanuts just be sure to grind them fine.I added a banana and some honey for the sugar. Cant wait for mine to be done.You can purchase an aluminum free baking powder.
Yes, grinding your own peanut butter would work well if you have a powerful enough blender. Using a banana and honey would definitely be a lot more sugar than my recipe with Stevia though, so I just want to caution against that for people who really want a sugar-free cookie.
They sure look like peanut butter cookies to me! This is a recipe I’m going to try!
I’m another of those “don’t do artificial sweeteners” people…
What would you think of a skosh of maple syrup or molasses? And then maybe a half cup or so of whole wheat flour…?
By the way, I invented a whole wheat pumpkin chocolate chip muffin you might like!
Those look tasty! If I can get my hands on some peanut butter, I shall have to try them!
Tanna, they taste like peanut butter cookies too!
EMWK, they are really very good, especially if you’re a peanut butter lover like me!
Sherry, I know what you mean, thanks!
Anna, great idea! See, this is why you’re the baking guru,not me!
Patricia, they were, thanks!
Lucy, I don’t know if Stevia will work. Does it come in a powder form? I think you need the bulk of the powder to make the cookie stick together.
Maria, can you believe I baked?
Biggles, love the idea of a touch of Cayenne!
OoOoOoo, this reminds me of a recipe I nearly made, once. Ran out of some ingredient and wasn’t in the mood to go buy it.
What intriqued me was the addition of a tsp or so of cayenne powder. That and butter and sugar really sounded kinda good to me. Not sure what it’d do with the splenda and so forth. Thought I’d drop that on the floor, for ya.
Biggles
I am glad you tried baking:) The cookies look good!
I will have to give this a try. I don’t do slenda though. I hate the stuff. I will try it with stevia and see how that works.
They look so good, Kalyn!
I think Splenda’s brown sugar blend would be good too. Of course, that would add extra sugar since the blend is not entirely sugar free.
My peanut butter cookies, with or without real sugar, never come out the same twice anyway. It’s good to have a healthy option though. Thanks!
I was just looking for a sugar-free cookie recipe for grandma. Thanks a million!
Well shucks those look like peanut butter cookies. Incredible!