Healthy No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookies
Creamy peanut butter, honey, oat flour, salt, and vanilla extract come together in this easy recipe to make a satisfying cookie that is chewy, sweet, and delicious.
I am staying on trend this week in avoiding to turn on my oven, by whipping up a simple batch of no-bake peanut butter cookies. The spin I’m putting on this is you can have them 2 ways, flattened out as a chewy no-bake cookie OR popped into the air fryer to crisp up the edges for a more freshly baked cookie-like experience. Air fryer? Wait. Is that cheating? Well, maybe a little bit, but it still beats not turning on my oven.
Reasons to Love This Recipe:
-This recipe is refined sugar free, and I have options to make it vegan friendly as well as gluten free. It is an easy recipe that is adaptable to many dietary needs.
-It takes one bowl for mixing and a tablespoon. That’s it.
-You can enjoy these straight out of the fridge or toast them in the air fryer. Air frying the dough feels like a warm cookie fresh from the oven.
-You do not have to turn on your oven to make these.
-They are healthy-ish. No flour, refined sugar free and loaded with natural peanut butter that is high in protein. They still have sugar and fat but hey, in moderation these are ok for most diets.
-They are the cutest little bites of cookies and make a great snack for kiddos or a yummy addition to lunches.
If you missed the last post for my No-Bake Cookie Dough Bites , click the link to get the recipe!
Ingredients You Need
Natural Peanut Butter-stir well if it is separated. You can substitute any nut butters that you like. You may have to adjust oat flour ratio if the nut butters are very oily and runny (like sunflower seed butter or cashew butter). If you find your dough is too loose and not holding its shape when scooped, add a ¼ cup of additional oat flour at a time until it is firm and holds its shape.
Honey-can use maple syrup as well to make this vegan friendly.
Salt
Oat flour-you can make this very easily at home by pulsing old fashioned or even instant oats in a blender until it reaches a flour like consistency. You can also substitute almond flour if you want to make this a gluten free cookie. I enjoy using a mix of both oat flour and almond flour for a chewy cookie.
Vanilla Extract
No-Bake Version
If you want to make these as a no-bake peanut butter cookie mix all the ingredients in a medium sized bowl until they are thoroughly mixed.
The dough will look very similar to my No-Bake Cookie Dough Bites. Scoop one ounce of dough onto a parchment lined baking tray with either a tablespoon or a one-ounce cookie scoop. I rolled them between my palms to smooth out the edges. Gently flatten the dough with the back of a fork for a crisscross pattern and refrigerate to enjoy when the cookie craving hits.
These are a wonderful treat enjoyed straight out of the fridge and have a soft and chewy texture. They taste like what a really good peanut protein bar should taste like, if you take out the added sugars and protein powder of commercial protein bars.
Air Fryer Version
Mix all the above ingredients very well in a medium sized bowl. Portion into one-ounce balls of dough using a tablespoon or one-ounce cookie scoop. Place the dough on a sheet of parchment lined baking tray. Roll the dough between your palms to smoothen out any rough edges.
Flatten the tops with a fork in a crisscross pattern and prepare your air fryer.
I started by lining the bottom of the air fryer with a piece of foil and placing 4 cookies in the tray. You can also use a piece of parchment paper or air fryer liners as well. These are small cookies and had an inch or so space around each other. These cookies will not spread while in the air fryer.
I air fry these cookies on the ‘Bake’ setting which has the temperature set at 325*F. Air fryers are mini convection ovens, so they cook very quickly because of the direct heat and air circulation in the machine. This means you will not toast these in your air fryer for as long as you bake cookies in the oven. I started my first test cookie at 6 minutes and burnt it to a crisp. I recommend starting out at 2 or 3 minutes and adjusting from there according to how fast your air fryer cooks. Each machine is going to be a little different.
I was looking for a nicely toasted top and slightly golden edges on the sides of the cookies. The air fryer toasted the outside of these peanut butter cookies perfectly while the centers were still very soft and doughy.
After they were done toasting, I let them sit on top of the foil in the air fryer for 5 minutes to firm up. If you move these while they are still hot, they might crumble and fall apart. There is no flour or egg to bind these cookies together and they are delicate when they are hot.
I transferred them to a plate to continue cooling and they were perfect. Crisp edges, warm, chewy middle with a wonderful hint of honey. These would be yummy dunked in cold milk or even used as a sandwich cookie with your favorite vanilla ice cream. I am sure a drizzle of dark chocolate will send these cookies into another world of deliciousness if you have any on hand. Yum!
I love that I was able to use my air fryer to give a fresh baked flavor to a simple no-bake cookie recipe. It was nice not having to turn my oven on for a batch of cookies and very quick to make from start to finish. I highly recommend adding these to your easy bake cookie list.
If you try this recipe and love it as much as I do please tag me @sunshinetxcookies on Instagram and Facebook. I post new recipes every Thursday so be sure to follow me for more delicious cookie recipes. Happy Baking!
No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup natural peanut butter stirred if it has separated
- 1/2 cup honey can use maple syrup as vegan substitute
- 2 cups oat flour can use almond flour for gluten free cookies
- 1 tspn salt
- 1 tspn vanilla extract
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients in a medium bowl with a spoon until thoroughly mixed and smooth.
- Using a tablespoon or one-ounce cookie scoop, portion equally sized dough onto parchment lined baking tray. Roll dough between palms to smooth out edges.
- With a fork, gently press down on the tops of the dough to make a crisscross pattern.
- Refrigerate and enjoy cold!
Air Fryer Toasted
- Line bottom of air fryer tray with foil.
- Place 3-4 cookies in tray and air fry at 325*F for 2-3 minutes. Air fryer times may vary, start with 2 minutes and add more time as needed.
- Cookies will be golden brown on top and edges when done. Let sit in the tray in the air fryer to set up for 5 minutes.
- Enjoy warm with a cold glass of milk or ice cream.
