BEST Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies
This easy gluten free peanut butter cookies recipe, made in the classic crosshatch style, is rich with tons of peanut butter flavor.
Servings: 24 cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups smooth no-stir peanut butter
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, chopped
- 1 ½ cups all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; click for details)
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 eggs at room temperature, beaten
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Granulated sugar for dipping or sprinkling optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line large rimmed baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper and set them aside.
- In a small, heavy-bottom saucepan or a microwave-safe bowl, place the peanut butter and chopped butter. Place the saucepan over medium-low heat (or in the microwave for about 45 seconds on high) and stir until melted and smooth (about 2 minutes). Set aside to cool briefly.
- In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, salt and granulated sugar, and whisk to combine well. Add the light brown sugar, and whisk again to combine, working out any lumps.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the melted peanut butter and butter mixture. Mix to combine.
- Add the beaten eggs and vanilla, and mix again to combine well. The cookie dough will be soft and sticky.
- If the cookie dough is too sticky or soft to handle, or it feels particularly greasy, cover it and refrigerate it for 10 minutes or less. If you refrigerate it for too long, the dough will become crumbly.
- Pull or scoop off pieces of dough, each about 2 tablespoons in volume. Roll each piece of dough into a round between your palms.
- Press the ball into a disk about 1/2-inch thick and place about 1 1/2-inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Wet the tines of a salad fork, dip in the optional extra sugar, and press the tines firmly into the top of each cookie. (See Recipe Notes)
- Wet the tines again, and press them again into the top of the same cookies in the opposite direction to make a crosshatch pattern.
- Place the cookies, one baking sheet at a time, in the center of the preheated oven and bake.
- For less crunchy cookies, bake until pale golden all over (about 15 minutes). For very crunchy cookies, bake until uniformly golden brown all over (about 18 minutes).
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet until set (at least 5 minutes) before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- The cookies will be very fragile when they first come out of the oven, so it is very important to let them sit on the baking sheet until they are set. They will crisp as they cool.
Video
Notes
About dipping the fork in sugar: When you dip the fork in sugar, it sticks mostly to the top of the fork. Instead, I often prefer to sprinkle the tops of the cookies with the additional sugar after shaping. Republished: Recipe originally published on the blog in 2013; modified again in 2016, and once more in 2021. Method tweaked, added photos, video, and text; recipe ingredients unchanged.
