The classic peanut butter cookies you crave are now sugar free! Sweet and satisfying, these are a perfect dessert option for anyone cutting back on their sugar intake. With just 3 ingredients, you can make these easy Sugar Free Peanut Butter Cookies recipe in minutes.
Remember these popular 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies?
Like all of you, my family can’t seem to get enough of them.
Today’s recipe is another take on the 3 ingredient criss-cross cookie concept–only this time it’s SUGAR FREE!
These 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies are Day 7 of our 12 Days of Cookies
Be sure to check out all of the other days for more goodies!
Day 1 – Fluffernutter Cookies
Day 2 – Toffee Coconut Oatmeal Bars
Day 3 – Double Chocolate M&M Christmas Cookies
Day 4 – Lace Cookies
Day 5 – Whipped Shortbread
Day 6 – Chocolate Spritz Cookies
Day 7 – You’re on it!
Day 8 – Wasabi Chocolate Crinkles
Day 9 – Christmas Sprinkle Cookies
Day 10 – Stained Glass Cookies
Day 11 – Cream Cheese Meltaways
Day 12 – Peppermint Sugar Cookie Cups
SAVE THIS 3 INGREDIENT COOKIE RECIPE TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!
Every batch of peanut butter cookies I make disappears almost as fast as you can say “cookie jar.” I can’t seem to resist “just one more” of those perfect treats.
Unfortunately, my blood sugar doesn’t always love sugary cookies as much as my taste buds do. Sure, I could just stop eating cookies to avoid the afternoon sugar crash.
But what kind of life is a life without COOKIES?
No life at all.
So, I dusted off my cookie crumb covered fingers and got to work. By swapping the sugar in the original 3 ingredient recipe for sugar substitute, I was able to get the same amazingly tasty results!
No complicated ingredients or methods. Just delicious, nutty and sweet peanut butter cookies–that won’t wreak havoc on your blood sugar.
Ingredients for Sugar Free Peanut Butter Cookies
- peanut butter
- egg
- granulated sugar substitute (see below for my favorites)
THAT’S IT! I love not having to set out a zillion ingredients to make a batch of cookies. Always keep these ingredients stocked and you’re just minutes away from homemade cookies.
Steps for making Peanut Butter Cookies without sugar
Making these cookies is easy as can be.
STEP 1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
STEP 2. Mix together the peanut butter, egg and sugar substitute in a mixing bowl.
STEP 3. Roll the cookie dough into 1 inch balls and arrange in rows on the baking sheet. Flatten the cookies with the back of a form, making a criss-cross shape on top of each cookie.
STEP 4. Bake cookies for about 12 minutes. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
The hardest part is waiting for the sugar free peanut butter cookies to cool! The sweet peanut-y aroma as these cookies bake is almost impossible to resist.
TIP: The cookies will be soft when you first take them out of the oven. They continue hardening the longer they cool. Be careful not to over bake!
Sugar Substitute Suggestion
Choosing the right swap for your sugar makes all the difference in this peanut butter cookie recipe. The sugar substitute should be granulated, like regular white sugar. Do not use liquid or powdered sweeteners!
- Stevia – it’s what I used
- Granulated Monk Fruit – I haven’t yet tested this recipe with it, but plan on doing so in the future.
If you use it to make this recipe, I’d love to hear what you think, so leave me a comment below.
These natural sugar free sweeteners mimic the texture and chemical make up of real sugar remarkably well. Unlike artificial sweeteners, they also tend to leave less of a “chalky” or “chemical” aftertaste.
That said, if you love baking with sweeteners like Splenda (sucralose), they are a great option for these 3 ingredient sugar free cookies!
What kind of peanut butter is best for cookies?
To make this recipe truly sugar free, use a creamy natural peanut butter with no added sugars. They will be a bit more crumbly than peanut butter cookies made with shelf-stable peanut butter.
If you’re not totally avoiding sugar, you can also make these cookies with a standard shelf creamy peanut butter (like Jif). It won’t be totally sugar free, but it’ll still have WAY less sugar than your average cookie!
Are these cookies gluten free?
Yes, they are! These easy sugar free cookies are also low carb, keto friendly and dairy free. Hip hip hooray!
Note: If you are baking for someone with celiac disease, make sure you check the label on your peanut butter to ensure cross contamination with gluten products.
Peanut Butter Recipes
After you fall in love with 3 ingredient sugar free peanut butter cookies, give these other delicious peanut butter desserts a try!
- Peanut Butter Crinkle Cookies
- Frosted Peanut Butter Cookie Cups
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Rice Krispies Treats
- Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprints
- Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Dream Bars
- No Bake Peanut Butter S’Mores Cookies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Looking for more sugar free peanut butter dessert ideas? This Sugar Free Peanut Butter Fudge created by my friend Aimee is a must-try!
3 Ingredient Sugar Free Peanut Butter Cookies
Equipment
- parchment paper
- Baking Sheet
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar substitute I use stevia
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment or with a silicone baking mat.
- In a medium bowl, mix the stevia, peanut butter and egg together until well incorporated.
- Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place on the prepared baking sheet. Using the back of a fork, make a criss-cross pattern on each cookie.
- Bake for 12 minutes.
- Allow to cool on the baking sheet for a minute or two before transferring to a wire rack.
Comments & Reviews
These are so good, it is dry and crumbly, but very good. Even my husband and daughter liked them.
Thank you, Evelyn!
I made these so I could have a treat while every one else was eating theirs. I feel like these are super sweet. I used Swever Sweetener. I couldn’t even eat a whole one.
Sharla,
some people have commented that the recipe for the 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies made with sugar is too sweet as well, so they have reduced the amount the use to either a 1/2 or 3/4 cup. Perhaps you could do the same with the Swerve and see how that tastes? I’d love to hear your feedback as others might be feeling the same! Thanks!
That helps a lot might make
You used a cup of Stevia? I only ask.because when I have subbed Stevia for sugar it is far less in quantity ie: a tablespoon of Stevia to a cup or more of sugar. Want to make these today….yum! Thank you.
Cindy, I did! I was curious about the amount as well, but the package of Stevia that I had said to use 1 cup of Stevia for 1 cup of sugar, so I went with it as I’m unfamiliar with using sugar substitutes. If you have more experience with them and use a different amount I’d love to hear about your results!
These are lovely I used monkfruit sweetener 1:1 with Adams natural chunky peanutbutter and added just a pinch of salt it worked wonderfully. Thank you !
Katlyn, you are most welcome! I’m so glad you loved them, that’s so wonderful to hear, thank you so much! I’ve never used monkfruit sweetener, but I know this will help quite a few others who do.
I read other reviews about the sweetness and decided to cut back on the stevia. I used 1/3 cup stevia and 1/3 cup truvia brown sugar. My husband has the sweet tooth and he said they were really good. One review said they were dry, but we didn’t think they were. Maybe that person baked them too long. Thank you for the recipe.
Cookies were to dry and to sweet will use less sweetner but not sure how to make them more moist
Lynda, yes, they are a drier cookie. Perhaps adding a second egg will help with the moisture though I haven’t tried it.
Great idea, I agree they were a little dry I will definitely try the extra egg next time.
I did not think cookies were moist.
I love these peanut butter cookies. Delicious. To me all cookies are a little dry not suppose to be moist.
You are crazy. These are horrible. The worst garbage I ever ate. And yes, I followed the directions exactly.
Can I use Monkfruit instead of Stevia?
I haven’t baked with a monkfruit sweetener, so I’m not completely sure. If you’ve used it previously to make cookies, it would probably work in this recipe.
I’m curious about the nutrition info is it really based on serving size as 1gram?
Sorry about that, Lisa! I forgot to set the serving to “cookies” and it automatically defaults to grams if nothing is filled in.
The nutritional info has been corrected. Thanks so much for bringing that to my attention.
I used the granulated monk fruit and it’s amazing, I’m making this recipe for a friend who is a diabetic. I hope he loves them just as much as I do!
These are horrible. The worst garbage I ever ate. And yes, I followed the directions exactly. I would never ever recommend these to anyone.
Russ, I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t like them, and I appreciate that you let me know. I hope these cookies didn’t deter you from trying some other recipes here on the site.