Keto Low-Carb 4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies is a quick and easy, dairy-free, paleo, and gluten-free recipe. These cookies are low-calorie and have 100 calories and 1 gram of net carbs! No almond flour is needed for this sugar-free treat. This dessert is perfect for ketosis and the ketogenic diet.
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This post was originally posted in May 2018. It has since been updated.
FOR THE FULL LIST OF INGREDIENTS AND COMPREHENSIVE INSTRUCTIONS, PLEASE SEE THE RECIPE CARD AT THE END OF THIS POST. BEFORE YOU SCROLL, THERE’S IMPORTANT INFORMATION IN THIS BLOG POST.
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Here’s another healthy dessert recipe! Peanut butter cookies are my favorite cookie! Years ago, I was obsessed with the Peanut Butter Dream cookie from Panera. They got rid of and I have been secretly waiting for it to surface again.
It hasn’t and maybe that means I should come up with my own recipe. One that is easy on the waistline!
What Type of Sweetener to Use
I use granular organic monkfruit. It has zero calories and zero net carbs and won’t spike your blood sugar. It also measures 1:1 like refined sugar, which makes it easy to convert a lot of recipes. You can find it here and use Discount Code STAYSNATCHED to save.
It does also contain erythritol. Erythritol is naturally found in some fruits and vegetables, and even some fermented food. Your body processes it a lot differently than other sugar alcohols. Bottom line, it’s a lot less gassy.
If you choose to use a zero-calorie sweetener other than this, like stevia, you will have to convert this serving into a much smaller allotment.
Is Peanut Butter Keto?
I see this asked often. Natural peanut butter is very low in carbs and it’s high in fat which could make it great for the keto diet. Peanut butter can sometimes lead to inflammation.
So those who are using keto for anti-inflammatory reasons may wish to omit peanut butter from their diet. Almond butter is a suitable substitute.
How to Make Keto Peanut Butter Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine natural peanut butter, sweetener, egg, and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Mix.
- Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.
- Create balls using the cookie dough. Flatten each ball with a fork in a crisscross motion.
- Bake.
- Cook the cookies prior to serving.
How Long to Bake the Cookies and How to Tell They are Done
The cookies will need 12-15 minutes to bake. Keep a watchful eye as oven temperatures vary highly based on altitude and other factors.
Allow the cookies to cool for 1-2 minutes on the cookie sheet before removing. The cookies will need to firm up BEFORE you handle them. If you handle them too soon they will crumble. Use your judgment on timing if 1-2 minutes does not appear to be enough.
How to Store the Cookies/How Long Are They Good For?
I like to store the cookies in sealable plastic bags for up to a week. The cookies will get softer as time goes on, so keep that in mind.
Recipe Update
I added to Monkfruit Chocolate Chips to the recipe and the cookies were amazing!
These chocolate chips are keto-friendly and sweetened with monkfruit. 60 chocolate chips is equal to 1 gram net carbs. Great macros!
Simply fold in the chocolate chips right before you mold the cookie dough into balls.
Pin this recipe for later here.
More Keto Dessert Recipes
Keto Cheesecake
Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies
Keto Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
Keto Lemon Bars
Keto Cheesecake Bombs
Keto Pound Cake
Keto Pumpkin Pie
Keto Chaffles
Keto Avocado Brownies
Click here for a complete listing of Keto Low-Carb Recipes.
FREE printable Keto Grocery Shopping list here.
Keto Low-Carb 4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup natural, unsweetened peanut butter I use Smuckers. Truly, natural peanut butter should have oil and require you to stir. You can also use nut butters, such as almond.
- 1/2 cup sweetener (Use discount code STAYSNATCHED to save 15%)
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine the ingredients in a large bowl. Stir to mix well.
- Make 12-15 balls using the cookie dough. (If you prefer really flat cookies you should aim for 15. Slightly thicker cookies will result in about 12 cookies). An ice cream scoop works well, so does rolling the balls in your hands.
- Line a cookie sheet with silicone baking mats. You can also use parchment paper. Place the cookie dough on the cookie sheet. Make sure the cookies do not touch.
- Use a fork and press down on each ball of cookie dough. Create crisscross imprints in the cookie dough to flatten the balls.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes until the cookies are golden brown. Mine were ready around 13 minutes.
- Remove the cookie sheet from the oven. Allow the cookies to cool for 1-2 minutes on the cookie sheet before removing. The cookies will need to firm up BEFORE you handle them. If you handle them too soon they will crumble. Use your judgment on timing if 1-2 minutes does not appear to be enough.
- After 1-2 minutes place the cookies on a cooling rack to fully cool.
staysnatched
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KAT
How many fat grams ?
staysnatched
Scroll up. All of the macros are documented.
Sandhya Hariharan
I totally adore Peanut Butter cookies.. Now that this is low carb and with mere 4 ingredients, I can have them all.
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry
Peanut butter cookies are a favourite here, I love that these only need four ingredients and are low carb too, super delicious
Mike @ ASaucyKitchen
These look so simple yet so tasty. I’ve been using erythritol in baking a lot more lately and it’s such a good substitute – thanks for posting!
Katie | Healthy Seasonal Recipes
I didn’t know that about Swerve. I should try baking with it. I have a bag of it, but have only used it to sweeten yogurt. Great cookie recipe too!
Natalie
I love peanut butter cookies and these look and sound simply delicious! I love how easy it is to make these and the fact it’s low carb, which is exactly my type of diet these days.
Amber Bennett
A recipe that calls for things I already have in the kitchen. My absolute FAVE!! <3
staysnatched
Yaaassss! I’m thinking about making another batch because EASY and DELISH!
Pat Marino
Made your low carb peanut butter cookies. Delicious. Thank you for your great recipes. I wish that I found your site sooner. Pat
staysnatched
You’re so welcome. I’m glad you enjoyed them! I hope you try more of my recipes.
Janee
Is the micros for 1 cookie? Loves these cookies so yummy
staysnatched
Yes. The macros are for one cookie.
Katie
Do they need to ne refrigerated to store?
staysnatched
You can. I store room temperature in Ziploc bags.
Brandy
I just made these and they were really good. I am confused by the calculation too. I also used the Smucker’s Natural Pb. The label reads 4 net carbs per 2 tbsp. 16 tbsp in a cup, that’s 64 net carbs in the recipe, divided by 15 equals 4.26 carbs. What am I missing?
staysnatched
Mine reads 1 cup is equal to 16 net carbs. You should always calculate your own macros and go with your calculation.
jess
4 carbs in 2 tbsp, 16 tbsp in a cup equals 4×8= 32 ÷15 = 2.something
April Zahner
I used xylitol {it’s what I had on had} and added two tablespoons of almond flour. SO delicious…best low carb cookie I’ve tried and I’ve tried quite a few!
staysnatched
I love your variations. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Stephanie
Brandi! These cookies CHANGED MY LIFE. Seriously, it’s such a challenge to find a great cookie recipe that fits in my keto macros, but this nails it. The flavor and texture are spot on to the peanut butter cookies I grew up on, and for half a carb!? Incredible!
I even tried to make the dough for further on my second batch (because my 1 & 4 year olds were gobbling them up) by adding an extra eggs, but that didn’t turn out well (the Swerve dissolved and leeched out of the dough, so I was left with unsweetened cookies that were essentially fried in their own oil ????????????).
You clearly put a lot of effort into perfecting this! Looking forward to trying more recipes on your site.
staysnatched
Your comment made me smile! These cookies are my favorite dessert recipe on the site. I am so glad you enjoyed them! I can’t wait to here what you think of other recipes.
Cathy Giddings
I was just thinking of adding an egg because they were so crumbly, so I am glad I read this. What can I do to make not quite so crumbly? Otherwise they were super!!!
staysnatched
Hi! You can try experimenting with different brands of peanut butter.
Candice
I have made these a few times and my husband told me tonight he likes these more than the traditional ones! Thank you for sharing your recipe with the world!
Anonymous
I tried it with almond butter they came out very crumbly fell apart when cooled.
staysnatched
Any opposition to peanut butter? That is my preferred ingredient.
Sharon hodgkinson
I used peanut butter and my cookies fell apart also. What am I doing wrong.
staysnatched
It could be the brand of peanut butter used, how long you baked the cookies, or how long you let the cookies cool. It took a lot of experimenting for me to get the cookies just right.
Tania
If I use stevia instead of swerve how much do I use?
staysnatched
Swerve measures 1:1 to real sugar. You will follow your standard stevia conversion.
Lawanda
Thanks for sharing great recipe I followed it and added sugar-free chocolate chips.. DELISH!!! ????
staysnatched
Awesome! I’m so glad you liked them!
REBECCA
Stevia measures half the amount called for sugar. So this recipe called for 1/2 cup so I put 1/4 of a cup of Stevia into the recipe.
Debbie Wood
Yum!! I made these with Almond meal x 2 tbspns & only 1/4 cup Erythritol & Tablespoon Coconut sugar & Awesome! I thought maybe too sweet with 1/2 cup! SO great Thank you (Aust 170C for 20mins) cooled
Maureen Drowsy
Your cookies and brownies recipes sounded so good, these are two things I’ve really been missing. I was so disappointed once I got to the ingredients and saw they include eggs for both recipes as I am allergic to eggs. Oh darn!! ☹
staysnatched
Hi there. Sorry about that! Most of my baking recipes include eggs.
Dee
Maureen, Chia eggs work great in recipes. Just take a teasspoon or tablespoon of Chia seeds and add a little water. You will notice it makes a substance similar to egg white but you get the same effect in the recipe as with regular eggs.
YOLANDA OROZCO
Hi! I just realized that I used powdered Swerve! They are awesome though! Now i’m afraid to try with granular Swerve.
staysnatched
Stay with it if it works!
Sara
Amy I bake with erythritol, I either use powdered or run it through my Ninja to powderize it. I find it helps with the grittiness.
Debbie
Hi there. Not understanding the carb count. If there are 48 carbs in a cup of peanut butter, how does that equal 1 carb per cookie when you’re only making 12-15? You would have to make 48 for tgem to be only 1 carb, right?
staysnatched
I count net carbs.
Laura
Maybe it doesn’t include the carbs in the sweetener? That’s the only way I can find a new of under 2g. The sweetener itself is 24 carbs total.
staysnatched
There are zero net carbs in the sweetener. Which sweetener are you using that has net carbs?
Karen
So I just tried making these using the powdered peanut butter with added water to measure out to one cup of peanut butter. Everything else was just like the recipe. It has turned into a liquid mess for some reason????. I just put it in the fridge hoping it will harden up a little to form actual dough. I thought since the powdered peanut butter and water transitions well into peanut butter for sandwiches and celery, there would be no issue. Still not sure what caused it to become more like soup?! Anybody else tried this?
staysnatched
I wouldn’t use powdered peanut butter for a recipe like this.
Sherry
Great flavor but very crumbly and very dry. Had to have a drink nearby. Felt like sawdust in your mouth. What may I have done wrong?
staysnatched
What brand of peanut butter and what brand sweetener did you use?
Natalie
i used maranatha peanut butter because it was lower in carbs. i used Truvia. i wish i had used a little more to make them sweeter. I added 1tsp of “not xantham” and 1 T of almond flour as my first batch was crumbly. i folded in probably a 1/2 cup of sugar free chocolate chips. i have a convection oven and i started checking these cookies at 8 minutes because i burned my first batch.
Tonya
Did I do something wrong these cookies just fell apart. I did exactly what the recipe called for….
staysnatched
You may have not allowed them to cool long enough. When you remove them from the oven they will be too soft to handle.
Tania
I’m curious of how you come up with 4 g of carbs per 1 cookies, my Swerve has 4 gram of carbs per tsp.. and theirs 24 tsp in 1/2 cup so carbs are more like 9 g per cookie… please anyone correct me if I’m wrong. On the plus side they are lovely!
staysnatched
Hi, Swerve has ZERO net carbs per serving. Erythritol is subtracted from the formula for net carbs. I am documenting net carbs in this recipe.
Amy
I just wonder why anyone needs any sweetner at all? Peanut butter is naturally sweet!
staysnatched
I don’t find natural peanut butter sweet. Peanut butter with added sugar is. If you don’t want sweetener, modify the recipe to your taste.
Carter Horn
I use “Kroger Natural Creamy”, it has 2 net carbs per serving. The serving size is 2 tbsp. which is 8 servings per cup. I made 20 servings, which comes out to 0.8 net carbs per serving.
If your on Keto you can make a fat bomb out of it my putting a little butter on one when you eat it. Trust me it’s great. But then I any from the South, and every thing taste better with butter…lol.
Jackie
I’ve made these a couple times already but I do add about 1/4 cup of almond flour to them and they’re absolutely delicious!
staysnatched
Wonderful! I may have to try your method the next time I make a batch!
Kara
These cookies just saved my diet…Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!
Connie
These were delish and a hit with my hubby!! I used Lakanto sweetener and what a great flavour! Simple to make, followed directions and they came out great! Thank you!
Betsy
Love, Love, Love these cookies!!! I’ve been on Keto for over a year and everyone had told me that the 3-4 ingredient cookies were dry and fall apart so I never tried them before. I read all of the recipes I could find and liked what I read in yours the best. You gave great hints as well as great ingredients details. I cooked them yesterday and my husband (not a Keto eater) & I can hardly keep ourselves from over eating them! They are moist, chewy, do not fall apart, and are anything but dry! Can’t wait to share them with our grandchildren. Next time I might even add the chocolate chips. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I am now signed up to get updates from you all the time. I’m so excited!
staysnatched
Hi Betsy! This made my day! I’m so glad you both enjoyed them! And thank you for signing up for updates! Feel free to drop me a line if you ever have questions or requests for recipes!
June
Hello Brandi, I just made a batch of your cookies and they are outstanding!! I have a similar recipe I have been using for about 15 years with only 4 ingredients but it is not Keto. I am now following a clean Keto diet and am so happy to have this recipe so I can occasionally enjoy a delicious dessert or snack. I have signed up for the free tips and Keto recipes and look forward to enjoying more heavenly recipes from you…Thank you very much !!
staysnatched
Hi June! This is such wonderful news! I’m so glad you enjoyed them and glad to have you on my email list!
Rebecca S Burriss
I just made the peanut butter cookie, oh my gosh I love them. Great peanut butter taste and not too sweet. I can’t wait to try the chocolate chip cookie recipe. Thanks for sharing!
staysnatched
You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed them!
Linda
Will try real soon they sound awesome
Marilyn
Made a batch today delicious but they were a little crumbly
staysnatched
Use a silicone baking mat and be sure the cookies have fully cooled before handling.
EHuffman
For me there really wasn’t much taste, I’m going to try this again with a pinch of salt to help bring out more flavor.
Bay
Hi Brandi,
Do you prefer a silicon baking mat over parchment paper for these cookies and how long should I let them sit before eating?
staysnatched
I definitely recommend the silicone baking mat. It works wonders. I would let them sit at least 15-20 minutes. The longer they sit the firmer they will become.
Bay
Thank you!!!
Bay
Bought a silicon baking mat yesterday after work and made these cookies as soon as I got home. They were delicious. I made six plain peanut butter cookies and six peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. I HIGHLY recommend these! I wish we could upload pictures. Ordered the brownie pan from Amazon yesterday as well. I’ll be making the avocado brownies when the cookies are gone. THANK YOUUUUUUU!! Let me know how I can support – I’m all ears!
staysnatched
Thank you! I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe. Do you follow me on Instagram? I would love for you to follow me and upload your photos and tag me! https://www.instagram.com/stay_snatched/ You can also join my email list here: https://pages.convertkit.com/9a4ab8e9db/06bfda7e28
Suz
I was a big cookie baker before Keto. And so miss my cookies. We were going on a weekend to the coast and wanted something to take with me to prevent me from feeling left out on the treat front. These cookies came out perfect.Looked beautiful and had the right texture. But I’ve put a note to myself to cut the sweetner to 1/3 Cup as they were way to sweet for me and left that cool feeling. I did substitute brown swerve for regular. Do you think that may have done it? Or I may try the monkfruit sweetner and see how that works. Really want to make these work. Thanks for all your hard work.
staysnatched
I don’t think it was the brown sweetener, many people feel like Swerve has that effect. I don’t notice it much, or I may just like it.
Liz Jeffers
I just made these yummy cookies.. Oh My Goodness!!! I used Monk fruit sweetener. Sooo yummy! Thanks again for this wonderful recipe.!!
staysnatched
You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed them!
Anne D
These cookies are so good and so easy! I have made them with almond butter and mixed nut butter I found at Costco and both were so good! I added Lily’s chocolate chips as well. They were a big hit! Thanks for the recipe!
staysnatched
I love your substitutions!