Calling all peanut butter lovers! This cookie recipe is so easy and so healthy you’ll probably find yourself baking them as soon as you’re done reading this…and eating them at every chance you have. These cookies only require 4 simple ingredients, are vegan, gluten free, and absolutely delicious. Cookies like these make for great mid-morning snacks, pre-workout nourishment, afternoon treats, or after-dinner dessert.

For my first time making these Healthy Peanut Butter cookies, I was especially excited to use my new Peanut Butter created by a local company out of Hoboken, the Peanut Butter Boy. I used their “crunch power” flavor because I’ve always been fond of that added crunch in my cookies. But what’s great about these cookies is that any nut butter would work. I can’t wait to try this recipe with almond butter, cashew butter, and hazelnut butter.

Not only is the nut butter choice up to you, but also the flour as well as any kind of add-ins you’d like to include. Think chocolate chips, raisins, cranberries, coconut flakes, etc.

Take it from an Expert

What makes these cookies especially good for you is the coconut sugar. Here is what Dr. Weil has to say about coconut sugar:

“Coconut sugar, more accurately coconut palm sugar, is made from sap of the coconut palm that has been extracted and then boiled and dehydrated. It provides the same number of calories and carbohydrates as regular cane sugar (about 15 calories and four grams of carbohydrate per teaspoon) so you wouldn’t be gaining any advantage in these respects by making a switch. However, coconut sugar is 70 to 79 percent sucrose and only three percent to nine percent each of fructose and glucose. This is an advantage, because you want to keep your consumption of fructose as low as possible, and cane sugar is 50 percent fructose. Coconut sugar is caramel colored with a taste that is similar to that of brown sugar and can be substituted for cane sugar in most recipes.” – DrWeil, Is Coconut Sugar a Healthier Sweetener?

To sum it up, if you’re going to use sugar, coconut sugar is your best option.

And in terms of flour, the options are almost endless:

*homemade ground oat flour
*spelt flour
*all purpose flour (not gluten free)
*any kind of gluten free flour
*garbanzo bean flour – slightly nutty, yet mild flavor and adds some protein and extra fiber

I used coconut flour because it’s simply what I had in my kitchen and it worked really well with these cookies!

And for the final ingredient, low and behold the smashed banana, which acts as a subtle egg replacer. The banana creates a soft and chewy texture, rather than a light and fluffy one.

Ready to bake these Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies?

Ingredients:

1 cup chunky peanut butter, salted (organic) – or any choice of nut butter
1 cup + 1 Tbsp of your fave flour
1 cup organic coconut sugar
1 large ripe banana, mashed
optional: 1/4 tsp cinnamon, vanilla bean or extract to taste
optional: chocolate chips, raisins, cacao nibs, etc.

Directions for Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a large baking sheet. (I recommend coconut oil)
Make sure the nut butter is soft and stirred well. Add it to a large mixing bowl. (To soften nut butter, place closed container in large bowl of very hot water, after 5 minutes should be softened).
Fold in the sugar and mashed banana. Add in optional spices.
Lastly, fold in the flour. Once combined, the dough will be on the soft side, kind of like a soft playdoh texture.
You can either glob the dough right onto the baking sheets for oddly shaped cookies, or (advised) place dough in the fridge for at least 20 minutes to chill.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove and allow them to cool for 10 minutes or so. Serve warm or place in fridge to chill.
Eat in the next few days, or freeze.

Yield: 14 Healthy Peanut Butter cookies

Prep Time: 00 hrs. 10 mins.

Cook time: 00 hrs. 15 mins.

Total time: 25 mins.

Recipe for these Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies was originally adapted from HealthyHappyLife.com