I’d like to introduce you to my new favorite cookies. This peanut butter oatmeal cookie recipe yields cookies that are tender on the inside, chewy around the middle, and just barely crisp around the edges.
These cookies are loaded with pure peanut butter flavor. They’re sweet, but not cloyingly so. If you’re a fan of my monster cookie recipe, you’ll enjoy these as well. I can vouch that they’ll be a hit with your family, friends, kids and coworkers.
Oats make these cookies more hearty than most. In fact, oats are the only structure this flourless cookie recipe needs. As long as your oats are certified gluten free, these cookies will be, too.
These cookies are easy to make, too. You don’t need to soften your butter first (just melt it). You don’t need to pull out a heavy stand mixer (your hand mixer or some elbow grease will work great). And, you’ll only need one mixing bowl. Winning!
More than any other merit, though, these peanut butter cookies are delicious. They’re cookies and that’s what cookies should be, right?
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Ingredients
This recipe is quite versatile. You’ll notice that different amounts are offered for some of the alternative options. That’s because they vary by volume (and make my job more difficult, but who can complain about extra cookies?).
Peanut Butter
As it turns out, creamy or chunky peanut butters work. I generally buy “natural” peanut butters and this recipe has worked with all of them.
Coconut sugar or brown sugar
Coconut sugar is a less refined sugar with a few trace nutrients, and I always try to work with natural sweeteners when possible. Brown sugar works well if that’s what you have on hand.
Coconut oil or butter
Either way, melt it before using. I can’t really taste the coconut oil, but it does make the cookies taste more interesting in a hard-to-put-your-finger-on kind of way. That’s why I chose to list coconut oil first. If you want your cookies to be dairy free, use coconut oil.
Eggs
Eggs act as a binding ingredient and as a leavener, which means that it helps the cookies rise. Eggs are essential if you want your cookies to turn out like mine. That said, I’ve shared some notes from readers about using flax eggs as an alternative in the recipe notes.
Baking soda
Baking soda is another leavener that helps your cookies bake up nice and fluffy. Don’t substitute baking powder; they behave differently. Always, always, always use the leavener specified in the recipe.
Quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
Quick oats disappear more into the cookies, creating a more uniform texture. I prefer quick-cooking oats, so that’s what you’ll see in the photos. Old-fashioned oats offer a more hearty and discernible texture.
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Variations
Substitute other nut butters.
I’m in love with how these cookies turn out with peanut butter, but they’ll also work with almond butter or sunflower seed butter.
Stir in some extras.
You can add up to 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, chopped nuts, raisins or dried fruit.
Make bigger cookies.
This recipe yields around 27 medium cookies (about 3 inches across). If you double the size of each cookie to use 1/4 cup dough each, you’ll end up with 13 to 14 large cookies instead (about 4.5 inches wide). The large cookies will require somewhere between 8 to 11 minutes in the oven.
Please let me know how your cookies turn out in the comments! I love hearing from you and appreciate your feedback.
Craving more cookies? Check these out:
- Monster Cookies
- Amazing Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Spiced Oatmeal Cookies
- Coffee Chocolate Chip Blondies
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Author:
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 27 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookie
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
These peanut butter oatmeal cookies are 100% delicious. Plus, they’re gluten free and easy to make in just one bowl. Meet your new favorite peanut butter cookie recipe! Recipe yields about 27 cookies.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups creamy or chunky peanut butter (that’s one full 16-ounce jar minus ¼ cup)
- 2 ½ cups packed coconut sugar or 2 cups lightly packed brown sugar
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or 5 tablespoons melted butter
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups quick-cooking oats or 2 ¾ cups old-fashioned oats (certified gluten-free if necessary)
- Optional: flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line tw0 large, rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats for easy clean-up.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter with the sugar and coconut oil. Use an electric mixer or a large spoon to mix until well combined. Add the eggs, baking soda and vanilla, and mix well. Add the oats and mix until they’re evenly incorporated.
- Drop 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie onto the prepared baking sheets. These cookies spread while baking, so leave a couple of inches around each one. Gently shape them into a more rounded mound and press down lightly so they’re no taller than 1 inch.
- Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until they’re just starting to turn golden around the edges. Do not overbake. They will flatten more as they cool. Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. In the meantime, bake your next round of cookies, and so on.
- If desired, sprinkle the cookies lightly with flaky sea salt. Let them cool completely before storing them in an airtight container. Cookies will keep well for several days at room temperature.
Hayley Schiller
Hi, this recipe looks great. I am allergic
to coconut and am on a dairy free diet. Are there any substitutions for the butter or coconut oil?. Would avocado oil work? DThanks
Kate
Hi Hayley, I didn’t try it with avocado oil so I’m not sure. Let me know if you give it a try!
Heidi
Hi! Your recipes are always so delicious. I am wondering if there is a way to leave the sugar out of this recipe entirely? I am trying to completely eliminate sugar from my diet and wasn’t sure whether they’d be edible without it?
★★★★★
Bridget
Perhaps try using mashed banana instead of the sugar?
I do this often for a natural sweetener substitute as I don’t like to put lots of sugar into recipes, so will use this method and swap out some or all of the sugar for that instead.
You can do a blend of mashed banana and some apple puree which is pure apples blended, but I would only do a cup worth rather than the amount mentioned above. Good luck! :)
Dee
Also dried dates or prunes
Kate
Unfortunately, baking is a science and you will not get a good result or even much of a result without the sugar.
Anastasia
A while back, someone living on the KETO diet mentioned that he really likes Lakanto’s Monkfruit sweetener blend. So last month, I purchased a large bag at my local Costco, at a good price of course. I recently substituted this blend for 1/2 the sugar called for in an old recipe I like for “Ginger Pear Cake.” It was delicious, and a fun experiment, since I also substituted some Almond Flour for some of the white flour and upped the amount of pears considerably. So I agree with Bridget that adding some sweet fruit might also be a good idea, or maybe a puree of soaked dates! Good luck.
Don Sommers
Can you make these as cookie bars instead?
Kate
I haven’t tried it, sorry!
Erin
Thanks for the recipe! Had everything on hand so I quickly whipped up a half batch. Used the coconut oil and coconut sugar options and added chocolate chips. The inside is soft and chewy and they are lightly crispy on the edges as promised. They were very simple to make and tasted great!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m happy you loved them!
Dee
Can I use sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter?
Kate
Sure, you can try it! Let me know what you think.
Lisa
I am so excited to try this recipe!! Do these freeze well.
Kate
Hi Lisa! They should!
Jen
Oohhh! It’s 9:42pm andPeanut Butter Oat is calling my name
Kate
I hope you love them!
Richard
Hi. I am a uk follower. Cant wait to try the cookies. Is there any chance yiu can start including metruc weights grams/ml in recipes and also degrees Celsius for oven temp. My measuring devices and ovens dont do cups and Fahrenheit..
Kate
Hi Richard! Thank you for your comment. Unfortunately, I don’t have any plans at this time to provide metric conversions as there just isn’t a simple solution for doing so. However, I do know some other readers have found conversion charts useful. Or, some who cook from my blog often, actual bough US measuring cups to help.
Maggie
Sorry. Too much fat. I could sub applesauce for the eggs, though. Wonder what to sub for the butter/oil?
Kate
Hi Maggie, I haven’t tried this recipe with either of those substitutions. Since this is a dessert, I look at them as a treat. The nut butter is also a contributor so you may just want to avoid this recipe if it doesn’t meet your needs.
Nikki
These are delicious! I did half the brown sugar and added lots of milk chocolate chips. My boys are gobbling them up!
★★★★★
Kristen
Thanks for the tip, Nikki! Did this too, and it was plenty sweet.
Kate
Thank you for sharing, Nikki.
T.C.
I just made these- they’re yummy! I used 1 3/4 cups of brown sugar to cut back a little. I didn’t use parchment paper, greasing the sheets with coconut oil worked fine.
By the way, i’m 50 and have never made cookies before, so if i can make these, anyone can :)
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing, T.C.!
Patrice
The cookies were very good, but not at all crispy on the outside. I left them in for 9 minutes until they looked golden. I love crispy cookies and was excited to try this recipe, but no luck. Still a good cookie and my husband loved them.
Thanks
Patrice
★★★★
Kate
These won’t get too crispy, to still be soft on the inside. Thank you for your review, Patrice!
Leanne
I don’t often comment but Kate these are truly Amazing, we love them!!! Thanks!
Kate
Thank you, Leanne :)
Velasco
Dooooode!!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for your review!
Janette Mullis
I made these and I followed the direction with coconut oil and coconut sugar. I added a half of a cup of chocolate chips.
These cookies came out great!
Thank you for the recipe!!
★★★★★
Kate
Great to hear! Thank you for sharing, Janette.
Erin
Do you have a preferred peanut butter? I’ve been been using Whole Foods unsweetened creamy for my kids…just saw that it has palm oil in it. Not sure if that would throw things off.
Kate
Hi Erin! I use organic peanut butter, not necessarily brand specific. I try to buy it just with ground peanuts. The whole foods organic should be this way.
Beth
I’ve been happily recreating your cookbook recipes all autumn long!
These are the perfect cookies for a relaxing night when you want a treat that’s low in effort. Thanks, Cookie and Kate- we love your recipes and this one is another keeper.
Going to try it with less sugar next time subbing mashed banana. Good tip with that substitution.
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Beth! I’m hesitant it will work with less sugar and banana, but I would be interested in what you think!
John Forster
This was a useful Blog very inspiring, I discovered a life changing offer through this website for weight loss – tiny.cc/bsnrgz, it makes me enjoy food more through knowing my limits
Lisa
Can I use fresh ground peanut butter or almond butter instead of from a jar?
Kate
Sure! As long as it is a creamy nut butter, it should still work well.
Holly
I made these cookies this afternoon and they have great flavor!And easy and quick! I used butter and brown sugar. I live in Colorado so because of altitude, I baked them for 15 minutes. 10 minutes was not long enough. Yum!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing, Holly! I’m glad you loved them.
Courtenay Willcox
I just made these for Thanksgiving with flax eggs and chocolate chips. I flattened them as recommended in the recipe (when using flax eggs) and baked them for 8 minutes. Crispy on the outside and just a little chewy on the inside. What a hit they are. I don’t know if they’ll make it to Thursday. Thanks, Kate!!!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing! I’m glad they worked well with flax eggs, Courtney.
Kathleen Hefley
Thank you for this! We are big fans of your monster cookie recipe and love this adaptation!
It’s been a snowy day in Boulder, Colorado and we have stayed warm making these cookies, your healthy pumpkin muffins, and the best ever lentil soup! Thanks for helping me keep my pre-Thanksgiving crowd fed.
★★★★
Donna Wishart
Not sure what I did wrong, but my first sheet of cookies was very flat; they got better with adding more oats and chilling the dough.
I used what I had re peanut butter — just commercial brand and did half and half re sugars.
I always love your recipes but something went wrong, probably on my end…
★★
Nicole
Freezing rain day so we baked. I had to skip your apple muffin recipe because we didn’t have greek yogurt, but we made these cookies. Absolutely fantastic, super quick to mix up and quick to bake, crunchy on the outside and super soft on the inside. Yum! Thank you!
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome! I’m glad you loved them, Nicole
E Staeheli
Where is the recipe?
Kate
The recipe is at the end of the post, before the comments. I hope this helps!
Kam
Sadly, these were disappointing. The texture was great but the peanut butter flavor did not come through and they were overly sweet.
★★
Kate
I’m sorry you didn’t love these. What brand of peanut butter did you use, Kam?
Sarah
Like a hearty nutter butter! Absolutely delicious!!!!
★★★★★
Kate
I’m excited you loved them, Sarah!
April Nowak
Yummy, chewy, great flavor, & texture. I used butter & brown sugar (I mis-read so I added a little too much sugar, tightly, rather than lightly packed brown sugar). A little sweet from that. Next time, I’ll measure properly & perhaps add a teaspoon of salt. They did spread, so really give a lot of space.
★★★★★