Oil Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies made with just 7 simple ingredients in 20 minutes or less! These cookies have a good amount of crispiness around the edges, but are soft inside. They aren’t as “dense” as other peanut butter cookies, thanks to a secret ingredient!
These Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are oil free! That’s right, no butter, vegan butter, canola oil or anything like it. There is a lot of peanut butter, so these cookies are by no means low fat, but if you are avoiding oil, then this is a good recipe for you!
These cookies sure don’t need oil to be chewy, rich and delicious. You won’t miss it at all. Most peanut butter cookies call for loads of butter or even shortening. These are a much healthier version of everybody’s favorite cookie! And they don’t sacrifice on taste. The secret ingredient is…… applesauce. I don’t usually like applesauce in dessert recipes, but somehow, it really works in this recipe! It makes the cookies a bit lighter, not as dense as peanut butter cookies usually are. But they still hold together well, and they DON’T taste like applesauce.
My kids love these Oil Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are a true favorite in our home. This recipe makes a pretty small batch, so they might go really fast! Double the recipe if you want more.
If peanut butter and chocolate aren’t your thing, you can leave out the chocolate chips for a purely peanut butter cookie.
These cookies can easily be made gluten free by using a gluten free blend of flour. They turn out just fine with any kind of flour you want to use. Happy baking!
If you make this recipe, let me know how it goes! Rate it, leave a comment and tag a photo @noracooksvegan on Instagram. Enjoy!
Oil Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
- 1/3 cup organic sugar
- 2 tablespoons no sugar added applesauce
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour *Can also use a gluten free mix
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- tiny pinch of salt, optional *If your peanut butter is unsalted, you may add a tiny pinch of salt.
- 1/3 cup dairy free chocolate chips, mini ones if you can find them
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Add the peanut butter, sugar, applesauce and vanilla extract to a medium bowl. Mix well until combined.
- Now add the flour, baking soda and salt if using, to the wet ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Do not over mix. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Scooping a heaping tablespoon at a time, roll into a ball and flatten onto the baking sheet a little bit, creating a cookie shape. These cookies won't flatten out much while they bake.
- Bake for 8-9 minutes. They will appear very soft and not done, but as they cool they will set. Let them cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from the pan, or they may fall apart.
The best.! I never loved PB cookies as much as now ,, these are the softest chewiest moist peanut butter cookies ever !i only subsituted gluten free flour for the the flour you have listed and they came out perfect !your recipes never disappoint!
Thanks so much!
These turned out lovely, just firm enough. Loved them!!
These really should be labeled “no added oil” since with all that peanut butter, they are absolutely not oil-free.
I wish! But that’s not how peanuts work.
According to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center (agmrc.org) peanuts are between 45 percent and 52 percent oil. So, oil-ful, yes; oil-free, no. Your heading might be misleading for people with dietary concerns who are looking for legitimately oil-free recipes. This was delicious! But oil-free it’s not.
Thanks for considering this,
Oh my goodness! I just made these tonight and I’m in love! Thankfully it’s not a big batch because I ate 4 of the 8 in 5 minutes ?.
A couple of things: I didn’t use sugar so I subbed maple syrup. Don’t overmix is key because I had to put in the freezer to firm up the dough. However, once they came out of the oven and I let them cool they weren’t super firm but just a little gooy which was fine. They were still good and I’ll make them again. Thank you!
Nora you are AMAZING! I LOVE your recipes!! Thank you for sharing them so generously!! I just made these with two substitutions and wanted to share they turned out really yummy! I didn’t have applesauce so I substituted canned pumpkin! Also, instead of sugar, I used monk fruit and they were still plenty sweet for me with the chocolate chips!
Thanks so much, Connie! Love the pumpkin substitution, I’ll have to try that.
This is the best cookie recipe ever! I use crunchy peanut butter and sub mashed banana (watered down to the consistency of apple sauce) for the apple sauce if we are out!
These cookies have a satisfying crunch around the edges while still being gooey in the middle. No idea how they keep because they never last longer than a day in our house.
Thanks Nora, you’re recipes are the greatest!
Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoy the cookies and cool to know they work with mashed banana, too.
Loved this one! I was specifically looking for a recipe without oil. I love that peanut butter gives it the “oil” as it comes from the whole food and not just empty calories. Made a small batch which is perfect for a quick dessert for the family without caloric leftovers! I made it exactly as the recipe was written. A keeper!
We made these with sunflower butter and gluten free all purpose flour. They came out perfectly. They were gone the same day, and there are only 2 of us in the house… lol. So good. Thank you for the recipe!
I made these and have made them every day for the past week. They are so delicious! I will never buy store bought cookies again! I was looking for a vegan cookie and this is the perfect recipe.
That’s so great to hear!!
Hello can I use any egg replacer or foes it have to be apple sauce? Thanks!
Applesauce does help make them soft in a good way, but you probably could use another egg replacer. I haven’t tested it though.
I have only PB2 powder in the house- could I use it or do we need the oil from the “real” peanut butter??
thank you
Sorry, I think you will need actual peanut butter for the recipe, not just powdered.
I made them with PB powder the first time, as that’s all I had in my pantry, and it made them more of a loaf consistency. They still tasted good but you kind of have to be aware of the unique texture going in to it as they are not at all similar to cookies. I probably wouldn’t make them for others but I like them as a low fat/calorie treat for myself.
These were fabulous! Even my husband loved them. Only problem…we ate them too fast 🙂
Haha, I understand how that goes!
Made them – loved them! Bam!!
That’s great! Glad you loved them!
Hi! Silly question, but could you use all purposed unbleached flour? It’s what I have on hand…
Yes, that will work. Not silly at all! 🙂
How well do these freeze? I’d like to make them ahead of time….
Oh yes, they freeze very well!
Great recipe! First batch I made I think I over mixed. It was hard to stick together. The second batch I made sure not to do it was MUCH easier to form the batter into a ball and they came out better 🙂 so.. make sure to listen when she says don’t over mix. Either way, both batches were delicious.
So glad they were good!
I LOOOOVE these cookies! The only problem is I could eat them all in one sitting! Rather than the scoop-and-flatten method, I form the dough into a log, wrap it, and refrigerate for a bit. Then I remove it and slice into double the amount of cookies.
I’m so glad you love them!
Hi Nora! Can you use light spelt flour in this recipe?
I think that would work just fine, yes! Enjoy.
I’m not vegan anymore but this is still my favorite recipe. Best cookies ever!!
I love this recipe. Not big on peanut butter so I substitute with almond butter. Absolutely delicious! Thank you
You’re welcome!
These turned out absolutely perfect and were insanely easy and fast to make. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you so much for sharing!
Could you use organic cane sugar?
Yes that would be perfect.
Wow, I could not believe how yummy these cookies are. Among the best peanut butter cookies I have ever had. Thank you for the recipe.
You’re so welcome! Glad you enjoyed them!
Cookies are my favorite! My kids would love these too!
Exactly what I was looking for. Had all ingredients on hand. Only took a few minutes to prepare. Had regular peanut butter so eliminated adding sugar. Loved by all! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Thanks for sharing Stephanie! 🙂 I’m so glad everyone enjoyed the cookies!
Stephanie, glad to hear you didn’t use sugar and they tasked good. I do not like to add sugar to recipes. Thank you!
Hi
Is 1/4 cup flour correct ?
Tks
Yes that is correct! You just don’t need much for this recipe. Hope you enjoy!