Almond Flour Peanut Butter Cookies

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Almond flour peanut butter cookies are gluten-free, low-carb, and keto-friendly. They’re very quick and easy to make, keep fresh for days, and are super-delicious!

Ingredient Discussion

Scroll down to the recipe card for a summary, this is a discussion of the different ingredients used.

1.5 cups almond flour

1/2 cup natural peanut butter – smooth or crunchy (I use crunchy)

4 tablespoons maple syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Almond flour is not milled in the same way that, for example, regular wheat flour is. Almond flour is simply very finely ground almonds.

Almonds have a thin brown skin so some almond flour is ground with the skin left on, resulting in a brownish flour. But usually the almonds have been blanched (very briefly boiled) to remove the skin, which leaves the almond flour a paler color. The taste is very similar, although blanched almond flour is less ‘gritty’. Whether blanched or not, almonds are naturally gluten-free, so your cookies will also be gluten-free.

You can use any type of peanut butter that you have on hand. I try to find more natural varieties because they are usually lower in sugar and salt. I also like crunch peanut butter, but if your preference is for smooth, then use what you like best. If you use a ‘popular’ supermarket brand of peanut butter, you might like to reduce the amount of salt that you add to just ⅛ teaspoonful so that the salty flavor isn’t overpowering in your cookies.

Maple syrup comes in light, medium, and dark varieties and the general rule of thumb is that the darker the syrup, the more robust the flavor. For this recipe, you can use whichever variety you prefer, or whichever variety you have in your pantry or refrigerator. I usually buy a medium syrup and find that works very well.

Vanilla. Wow – there is a LOT of online conversation about the difference between vanilla extract and vanilla essence, and each brand seems to do things a little differently. Generally speaking, “essence” is often a chemical substitute containing little or no actual vanilla bean. However, that’s not true for all brands. What we do know today is that a product labelled “extract” is generally stronger in flavor than a product labelled “essence”, so just be aware. In this recipe, I have used vanilla extract, but if you use vanilla essence, your cookies will still be wonderful!

Baking soda – also known as bicarbonate of soda, bicarb soda, or sodium bicarbonate – is a leavening agent which, when combined with an ‘acid’ like sugar, creates bubbles and therefore our baked goods rise. A general rule of thumb is that for each cup of flour you use, add approximately ¼ teaspoon of baking soda. Please also note that baking soda is different from baking powder.

Salt. I’ve listed ‘sea salt’ in this recipe because I like to use freshly ground salt in my baking, but you can use whichever variety you have readily available. Iodised, non-iodised, table salt, Himalayan salt – whatever tickles your fancy.

Detailed Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (or 175 degrees Celsius) so that it will be warming while you’re preparing and combining the ingredients.

Add the three dry ingredients together in one large bowl – the almond flour, baking soda, and salt. Remember that if you’re using salted peanut butter, you could reduce the amount of salt in your ingredients to about ⅛ teaspoonful.

Combine the three wet ingredients (peanut butter, maple syrup, vanilla) into a smaller bowl, and mix well. It will look like thinner peanut butter.

When the wet ingredients are well combined, pour them into the dry ingredients. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to mix them together to make a dough.

There is enough mixture to make 16 really decent sized cookies. To get them all equally sized, I divide my mixture into rough quarters while it’s still in the bowl. Then I divide each quarter in half, making eighths. I use my clean hands to pick up an eighth, break it in half, and roll each half into a ball – thus ending up with 16 equally sized balls.

Arrange the hand rolled cookie dough balls on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Make sure there is enough space between each ball so that when you press them down (next step), they don’t touch. See my photo.

When you’ve placed all the cookie dough balls on the baking tray, take a fork and a small glass of water. Dip the fork quickly in the water, shake off the excess, then press the tines of the fork horizontally into the ball, flattening it a little. The cookie doesn’t have to be completely flat – just not a high round ball. See my photo.

Dip the fork back into the glass of water between each cookie or two because the little bit of water on the fork helps to prevent the fork from sticking to the cookie. Just don’t’ forget to shake the fork off because you don’t want to add too much liquid to the cookies.

After all the cookies have been slightly flattened with the fork, pop the tray into your preheated oven and set a timer for 10 minutes. This makes cookies that have a nice little crunch on the outside, but that are still soft on the inside. If you prefer your cookies to be crunchy all the way through, you can leave them in the oven for 12 or 13 minutes. But no longer! Remember that the cookies will continue to cook on the baking tray after you take them out of the oven. 

Leave the cookies on the hot tray for 10 minutes after you’ve removed them from the oven (despite the overwhelming urge to try one!!). They should still be nice and warm after 10 minutes of sitting on the bench, but even more delicious (hard to believe, I know, but true!). 

While you’re waiting, you can boil the kettle to make a nice hot drink to accompany your cookie, and wash up the bowls, spatula, cup measures etc. Then everything will be clean and ready for you to enjoy.