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Peanut Butter Oat & Quinoa Cookies

These chewy Peanut Butter Oat and Quinoa Cookies are the perfect healthy dessert that can be enjoyed any time of day. Naturally gluten-free & vegan too!

You know the classic peanut butter cookie, right? The one that uses like three ingredients and is chewy and crispy at the same time? Those used to be one of my favorite cookies of all time! Partly because I'm peanut butter obsessed and partly because the texture is perfection.

I didn't want to just recreate that same cookie because it's fairly simple. So instead, we're making a batch of peanut butter oat & quinoa cookies that check all those same boxes of our traditional PB cookie, but are simply…healthier!

How to make Peanut Butter Cookies

How to Make Peanut Butter Cookies

I've talked about this before, but my secret weapon in much of my baking is oat flour.

Oat flour has an amazing texture – it's chewy, it's soft, it's absorbent, but it's not too dense. It makes really amazing muffins, but as I discovered with this recipe, also amazing cookies.

I wanted to give these cookies some umph so we also stirred in some thick rolled oats, quinoa flakes and tossed in some chopped peanuts at the end. It helps make them a bit more interesting while amping up the fiber and protein content even more!

Ultimate Peanut Butter Cookie with Oats and Quinoa

A Healthy & Banana-Free Cookie

The other thing you're going to love about these cookies is that they don't use any banana!

I've created many a breakfast cookie in my day, but almost all of those cookies have banana. Since I know a lot of you are sensitive to banana, I really wanted to make sure that this one was banana-free. The secret? Unsweetened applesauce!

Similar to banana, applesauce can be used to replace eggs and oil in baking. Since apples also have some natural sugars in them (as do bananas), adding in the applesauce helps us give the cookies more sweetness without actually adding a ton of sugar.

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

 

The Ultimate Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies

Like most nights, I was dying for something sweet to curl up on the couch with, and my energy balls just we're going to cut it. I wanted a classic dessert. Something special.

So I settled on these quinoa cookies.

I was craving peanut butter, but I didn't want that class recipe. I wanted a cookie that tasted like a million bucks but wouldn't blow my day of healthy eating out of the water. A cookie that I could eat three of and not feel guilty about it. Oh, and the cookie also had to be breakfast-worthy so I could eat more the next day.

Perfect Peanut Butter Quinoa Cookies

Basically? Cookies just like these.

Sweet, chewy, nutty and delicious. These peanut butter oat and quinoa cookies are just what you would imagine them to be. Full of rich peanut buttery flavor, soft but with a slight crunch from the oats, and totally full of nutrients all at the same time.

Dunked in a glass of almond milk? I was in heaven.

Peanut Butter Quinoa Cookies with Oat Flour

More Healthy Quinoa Cookies to try:

Peanut Butter Oat & Quinoa Cookies

4.5 from 2 votes
Sweet, chewy, nutty and delicious, these peanut butter oat and quinoa cookies are just what the thing to satisfy your cookie craving!
author: Alyssa
yield: 12 cookies
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 25 minutes

Ingredients
  

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. In a separate mixing bowl, beat all the wet ingredients until combined and smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until a dough forms. 
  • Scoop the dough onto the cookie sheets (I use an ice cream scoop to do this). Flatten with the back of a wet fork and bake in the center of the oven for 13 - 15 minutes, until the cookies have started to brown and are a little crispy to the touch.
  • Cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool for another 5 or 10 minutes.

Notes

If you don't follow a gluten-free diet, feel free to substitute regular rolled oats and oat bran - there will be no change in texture or flavor!

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 110kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 13mg | Sodium: 104mg | Potassium: 94mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 40IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 0.9mg
cuisine: American
course: Dessert

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31 comments on “Peanut Butter Oat & Quinoa Cookies”

  1. Avatar photo
    Cooking in Kansas

    Delish!! For the doubled recipe, I used 1/2 cook uncooked quinoa to make a cup and a half cooked quinoa and let it cool, in place of the flakes. I also make oat flour by just processing them into small pieces. Forgot to flatten the resulting cookies and should have. They don’t flatten on their own. But they’re still fantastic, and packed with protein!! I added a few dark chocolate chips to the last batch —yum. Highly recommend you try it!

  2. Avatar photo
    Vickiy Van Beek

    Is Gluten free oat bran the same as gluten free flour? Can I blend GF oats in my blender to get the correct ingredient for the cookies? THANK YOU!!!

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  5. Finally got around to trying these and they are awesome! I did tweak a bit since I didn’t have a few ingredients on hand but wanted to pass along in case others in same boat. As many have said, quinoa “flakes” are still not the easiest to acquire so I used cooked quinoa instead (having found it a wonderful ingredient for fluffy pancakes). I also didnt happen to have oat bran on hand so I just used whole wheat flour since I’m not avoiding gluten but still love a heathy cookie. I also can’t resist throwing unsweetened coconut flakes or flax meal in anything. So, one could argue its a totally different recipie but I’d say it’s just proof it’s a great base that you can tweak any way you like and it’s a good cookie. No stevia needed. (Oh, and used loose brown sugar for coconut sugar). I’m trying hard to not eat them all before morning but it’s not looking promising. ;). Will have to make another batch for the freezer. Made your pb breakfast cookies earlier in the week as written but omitted the chocolate chips because I’m trying to dial down the chocolate in take. They were a little bland without them but then I came to like the simplicity of them. Great website! Keep’em comin. I find I like quinoa better for baking than eating as part of a meal.

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  10. Great taste! I didn’t have quinoa flakes, so I cooked some quinoa and blended it into a thick paste. I also didn’t have oat bran, so I blended some steel-cut oats into a coarse flour. I doubled the sugar 🙂
    They are delicious! Thanks for the recipe.

    1. Quinoa paste is such a good idea! I wonder what else you could use that for. I’m thinking it would be a nice replacement for some fat in recipes perhaps. Or could help thicken up sauces / soups. Glad you enjoyed them!! xo Alyssa

  11. Avatar photo
    Erin @ Texanerin Baking

    I’m kind of scared of quinoa after cooking it plain once and finding it awful, but flakes… this sounds like something I could try! The cookies look magical and sound awesome. I guess I need to try to find some quinoa flakes. 🙂

    1. You must give quinoa another shot 🙂 It’s such an awesome ingredient and it’s so healthy!! Quinoa flakes are great as well – they’re awesome in baked goods, but also just as tasty in granola or eaten like oatmeal. Mmmm!

  12. At the risk of sounding stupid, are quinoa flakes different than quinoa, and if so, where do you buy them???

    1. There’s no such thing as stupid questions (that’s what my mom always used to tell me!) 🙂 Quinoa flakes are to quinoa what oatmeal is to oats. You can pick them up in most natural grocery stores (like wholefoods or other coops), but can also get them online. Here’s a link: http://astore.amazon.com/queofqui-20/detail/B001JJXDSC

  13. Oats are highly addictive and send the blood sugar soaring much like wheat. It is another grain to stay away from. This is per Dr. William Davis author of Wheat Belly.

    1. Thanks for sharing. I’ll have to do some reading about this. I’ve never heard that before, but would definitely like to learn more.

      1. Your welcome.

        I highly recommend the book Wheat Belly by Dr. Davis. Changed my life. I was doing oat groats every morning and sprouted wheat bread, thinking it was much better. The detox since giving these up has been incredible. Per this book Gluten free is not so great because they use potato starch, rice starch and tapioca starch to replace wheat. These also send the blood sugar soaring, which causes the body to store FAT and the fat is always stored internally first before you see it externally. That is the health danger. By the time we see it, our insides are covered in fat layers.

        There you have it. Thank you for your blog as I just tried Quinoa because of you and enjoyed it very much.

        Deb

  14. I just tried your cookies and they are soooo delicious and crunchy ! By the way, I love your website (which I discovered few days ago !) : lots of wonderful recipes to eat healthier !

    1. So happy you enjoyed the cookies Etaine!! Aren’t they delicious? But they’re also healthy, so you don’t have to feel guilty about eating them! Glad you’re also enjoying the site 🙂 Welcome!