Healthier Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookies (+ Video)

Super easy and delicious peanut butter and chocolate cookies, made with just a few basic ingredients. They are refined sugar- free thanks to coconut sugar and naturally gluten-free, too.

Why are these peanut butter and chocolate chips cookies healthier?

First, because of the coconut sugar! Instead of plain white sugar, or brown sugar, this cookie recipe uses coconut sugar.

Why is coconut sugar a better alternative for baking?

In a nutshell, because coconut sugar has a much lower glycemic index than white sugar – meaning that it won’t make your blood sugar spike like normal sugar does and because it’s also a bit more nutritious.

Where white sugar basically provides empty calories, coconut sugar contains a small number of minerals like zinc, iron, calcium, and potassium.

If you'd like to learn more about coconut sugar (what it is exactly, how to use it, where to buy it), check out this article of mine. It's one of my favorite sweeteners!

Use all-natural peanut butter!

I also stayed away from "classic" peanut butter and used a natural peanut butter (which is what I always buy and eat!) - all natural means it has no added oil or sugar.

Thanks to the peanut butter, there's no need to add any kind of oil to these peanut butter chocolate cookies. And since it's unsweetened, we can control the amount of sugar we put in.

If you want to stay away from refined sugar entirely, then you can skip the chocolate chips and either use chopped unsweetened dark chocolate or cocoa nibs.

I personally feel perfectly fine using chocolate chips because these peanut butter chocolate chips cookies are a treat anyway and not meant to be eaten every day.

So I don't feel the need to make these 100% refined sugar-free. But if for whatever reason you need to make these squeaky clean, just know that you can!

These peanut butter chocolate cookies are also perfect if you're gluten sensitive or celiac because the recipe doesn't call for any kind of flour, which makes them naturally gluten-free. ????

Why are these peanut butter and chocolate cookies darker than usual? 

You'll have to blame the coconut sugar for that. Although it's a great natural sweetener (see above), it has a deep brown color that will color and darken your baked goods a bit.

Not to worry though, 'cause they'll still look delicious (in my humble opinion anyway! ????) and taste ridiculously good.

Also, you might have noticed that the peanut butter chocolate cookies in the video are darker than the ones in the photos.

It's not because I used a bit too much of Photoshop, but because I used two different brands of coconut sugar for these two batches, and some brands are darker than others.

Again, not a problem at all.

A few notes on these peanut butter and chocolate cookies:

• If you do not let the batter sit in the fridge for 30 minutes as written in the recipe – in case you're very not patient, like me – they will spread too much while baking, be flat and most likely overcooked (you can trust me, I tried). You'd be disappointed, so do let them sit ????
• You can either flatten them a bit with your hands as I did in the video or with a fork as I did for the photos. If you do flatten them with a fork for the traditional criss-cross pattern, I'd recommend to re-shape them a bit with your fingers to make them perfectly round again (but it's only for aesthetics - it won't change the texture or baking)
• They might look slightly under-baked when you take them out of the oven but as long as they are golden on the edges, and slightly set they'll be perfect.
• They will be too fragile to pick up right after they come out of the oven. It's normal. Again my friend, patience. Do let them cool peacefully.

Enjoy!

If you tried these Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookies, don’t forget to rate the recipe below and let me know how it went in the comments – I love hearing from you! You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for more deliciousness and behind-the-scenes!

5 from 1 vote

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Healthier Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

Super easy peanut butter and chocolate cookies, made with just a few basic ingredients. They are free of refined sugar thanks to coconut sugar and naturally gluten free, too.

Course Snack, Treat

Cuisine American

Keyword chocolate cookies, peanut butter, snack

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Chilling time 30 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 16 cookies

Calories 169 kcal

Author Marie

Ingredients

• ¾ cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup peanut butter natural (no sugar or oil added), crunchy or smooth
• 1 large egg
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
• ¾ cup dark chocolate chips finely chopped – or mini chocolate chips, or dark chocolate bar chopped finely - use cacao nibs to make completely refined sugar free
• flaky sea salt to top, optional

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F / 175C degrees.

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together coconut sugar, baking soda, and salt. Then, stir in peanut butter, egg, and vanilla. Fold in dark chocolate chips, then chill for 30 minutes.

3. Add cookies to a parchment-lined baking sheet, about 2 tablespoons each, leaving 2 inches apart. Flatten very slightly with the palm of your hands or with a fork (the cookies will spread while baking). 

4. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until just begins to set & bottom is golden brown. Let cool for 15 minutes as they set up.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

• If you do not let the batter sit in the fridge for 30 minutes as written in the recipe – in case you're very not patient, like me – they will spread too much while baking, be flat and most likely overcooked (you can trust me, I tried). You'd be disappointed, so do let them sit ????
• You can either flatten them a bit with your hands like I did in the video, or with a fork like I did for the photos. If you do flatten them with a fork for the traditional criss cross pattern, I'd recommend to re-shape them a bit with your fingers to make them perfectly round again (but it's only for aesthetics - it won't change the texture or baking)
• They might look slightly under-baked when you take them out of the oven but as long as they are golden on the edges, and slightly set they'll be perfect.
• They will be too fragile to pick up right after they come out of the oven. It's normal. Again my friend, patience. Do let them cool peacefully.
•  

Nutrition Facts

Healthier Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

Amount Per Serving (1 cookie)

Calories 169 Calories from Fat 99

% Daily Value*

Fat 11g17%

Saturated Fat 4g25%

Cholesterol 10mg3%

Sodium 242mg11%

Potassium 161mg5%

Carbohydrates 14g5%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 9g10%

Protein 5g10%

Vitamin A 15IU0%

Calcium 34mg3%

Iron 0.5mg3%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.