Healthier Homemade Nutter Butter Cookies Recipe
Apr 24, 2019 • Updated Feb 07, 2024
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Easy and delicious Nutter Butter Cookies. These crunchy cookie sandwiches feature a creamy peanut butter filling sweetened with maple syrup and gluten-free cookie dough. The ultimate treat for kids and adults—and much healthier!
What Makes This Recipe Great
Okay, friends, I’m going to keep this one short because the recipe name says it all–these are 3 Ingredient Healthy Nutter Butter Cookies that also happen to be vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, and refined sugar-free— that’s right, no egg, no granulated sugar, no regular all-purpose flour, no fuss! But I promise you, these peanut butter cookies are JUST as delicious as the original. Almost sounds too good to be true, right?
Store-bought Nutter Butter cookies are technically vegan, aside from the sugar, which may not be vegan sugar (yes, that’s a thing). However, they are definitely not gluten-free for those allergic (me), and the ingredient list isn’t too appetizing.
Let’s take a peek:
Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Folic Acid), Sugar, Peanut Butter (Roasted Peanuts, Corn Syrup Solids, Hydrogenated Rapeseed, Cottonseed And Soybean Oils, Salt), Soybean Oil, Rolled Oats, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean And Cottonseed Oils, Salt, Leavening (Baking Soda, Calcium Phosphate), Cornstarch, Soy Lecithin (Emulsifier), Vanillin – An Artificial Flavor.
The ingredients for my Healthy Nutter Butter Cookies?
Peanut Butter, Oat Flour, Maple Syrup
In addition to the ingredient list being much much shorter and completely whole food based, it’s also a lot easier to make and fun too! There isn’t too much to say except TRY IT! I’ve given it to 3 different friends who all loved them so much they asked me to make them a full batch to satisfy their craving.
P.S. If you liked this vegan/healthy re-creation, check out these Tahini Teddy Grahams and these Vegan Cheez-Its.
Ingredient Notes
With simple ingredients and no need for a stand mixer or electric mixer, these peanut butter sandwich cookies come together in no time!
- creamy peanut butter + more to fill: Look for a nut butter with no added ingredients, ideally only peanuts and maybe salt! If you want to use natural peanut butter, I recommend a no-stir option.
- maple syrup
- fine oat flour: Sift for fine texture and best results
- vanilla extract: optional
- baking powder: optional
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, sift oat flour and combine the dry ingredients with peanut butter and maple syrup. Stir with a spatula until combined and smooth. A cookie dough should form that pulls away from the sides of the bowls and be workable with your hands.
- Scoop 1 tsp-sized balls of dough, and use 2 to create a peanut shape. Press down onto a lined baking sheet, making sure two pieces are connected, and score with a fork to create a crosshatch pattern if desired. Arrange in a single layer.
- Bake for 9 – 12 minutes, or until lightly golden brown, and allow to cool on a wire rack fully before filling. Cookies will firm up significantly once cooled, so don’t be alarmed if they seem softer at first. Mine were done at exactly 10 minutes.
- If desired, sandwich a spoonful of peanut butter between two cookies. Enjoy!
Expert Tips
- The only real note I have for you is to consider the weather when filling them. I’d reserve the peanut butter filling until you’re about to eat, especially if the weather is warm, because things can get a little melty and messy otherwise. Or–refrigerate/freeze your treats to avoid the mess!
Storage Tips
Store leftover homemade nutter butters in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer to keep the filling from getting too messy. Thaw at room temperature for a few minutes and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
Store-bought versions are not particularly healthy. According to the package of nutter butters, the ingredients are:
Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Folic Acid), Sugar, Peanut Butter (Roasted Peanuts, Corn Syrup Solids, Hydrogenated Rapeseed, Cottonseed And Soybean Oils, Salt), Soybean Oil, Rolled Oats, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean And Cottonseed Oils, Salt, Leavening (Baking Soda, Calcium Phosphate), Cornstarch, Soy Lecithin (Emulsifier), Vanillin – An Artificial Flavor.
My homemade version is a healthier alternative made with just 3 ingredients!
More Healthy Snacks and Treats
Almond Butter Rice Krispie Treats
If you make this recipe, be sure to let me know what you think with a comment below! Follow me on Instagram for more delicious recipes!
Healthier Homemade Nutter Butter Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter + more to fill look for a nut butter with no added ingredients, ideally only peanuts, and maybe salt!
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 3/4 cup fine oat flour sift for fine texture and best results
- optional
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F while you prepare the cookies
- In a large bowl, sift oat flour and combine with peanut butter and maple syrup. Stir with spatula until combined and smooth, a dough should form that pulls away from the sides of the bowls, and be workable with your hands.
- Scoop 1 tsp sized balls of dough, and use 2 to create a peanut shape. Press down onto lined baking sheet, making sure two pieces are connected and score with a fork to create a hatch pattern if desired.
- Bake for 9 – 12 minutes, or until lightly golden brown and allow to cool fully before filling. Cookies will firm up significantly once cooled, so don't be alarmed if they seem softer at first. Mine were done at exactly 10 minutes.
- If desired, sandwich a spoonful of peanut butter between two cookies. Enjoy!
Notes
Expert Tips
- The only real note I have for you is to consider the weather when filling them. I’d reserve the peanut butter filling until you’re about to eat, especially if the weather is warm, because things can get a little melty and messy otherwise. Or–refrigerate/freeze your treats to avoid the mess!
Storage Tips
Store leftover homemade nutter butters in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer to keep the filling from getting too messy. Thaw at room temperature for a few minutes and enjoy!Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love & nut butter,
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