Honey Sweetened Peanut Butter Cookies
on Apr 04, 2016, Updated Aug 22, 2024
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Honey Sweetened Peanut Butter Cookies made with whole wheat flour and no butter, oil, or shortening. This whole food dessert recipes is a family favorite!
Honey Sweetened Peanut Butter Cookies made with whole wheat flour are one of our new favorite cookies. These cookies are made with honey, whole wheat flour, and lots of peanut butter. You won’t need any other fat/oil like butter or shortening in this recipe either because the peanut butter has you covered. I like this fact because that means I can still make cookies when I run out of butter over the weekend but we still want to make a treat on Sunday night.
This simple one dessert is going to becomes a family favorite in no time. Here’s a little tip when it comes to buying whole wheat flour. I like to buy white whole wheat flour. This means they milled the flour from soft white wheat berries. Traditional whole wheat flour is made from hard red wheat berries. Flour made from the soft white wheat berries is more tender and tastes less “wheaty”. It’s a great option for baked goods.
You can also use whole wheat pastry flour which is made from the white wheat berries and is also ground more finely than traditional wheat flour. Both are pretty easy to find and I feel like they make a big difference when it comes to making cookies and muffins or cakes with whole wheat flour.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Healthier Ingredients: Whole wheat flour and honey provide a nutritious twist.
- No Extra Fats: Peanut butter adds flavor and removes the need for other fats.
- Better Texture and Taste: White whole wheat or pastry flour ensures a tender, flavorful cookie.
Recipe Ingredients
- Peanut butter— natural and normal will both work, smooth or creamy
- Honey —I like to buy local, it seems less bitter than cheap store honey
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Whole wheat flour
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How To Make Honey Peanut Butter Cookies
Step #1. Preheat the oven and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, combine the peanut butter and honey, mixing until smooth.
Step #2. Add the egg and vanilla, and stir until well incorporated.
Step #3. Mix in salt, baking soda, and flour until a dough forms. Roll the dough into small balls (about 1 tablespoon each) and arrange on the prepared baking sheet. Gently press each ball with a fork.
Step #4. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, until they turn slightly golden brown. Be careful not to overbake, as honey can burn easily. Remove from oven and transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.
Recipe FAQs
I like to buy white whole wheat flour. This means they milled the flour from soft white wheat berries. Traditional whole wheat flour is made from hard red wheat berries. Flour made from the soft white wheat berries is more tender and tastes less “wheaty”. It’s a great option for baked goods.
Yes! I make double batches all of the time and we’ll eat one batch and freeze the other. Make sure you properly store them in an airtight container or Ziploc bag.
Yes, cookies will be soft upon coming out of the oven. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 1-2 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. If the edge is firm, the cookies are done. However, if you leave an indentation, they need to bake for a bit longer.
Expert Tips
- For the best flavor and texture, opt for natural peanut butter with minimal additives. It’ll give your cookies that irresistibly creamy texture without being too oily.
- If you find your dough too sticky to handle, don’t hesitate to chill it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. This makes it easier to roll into balls and helps the cookies maintain their shape while baking.
- While the recipe suggests white whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour, feel free to experiment with other types of flour like almond or oat flour for a different twist on texture and flavor.
- Honey in the dough means these cookies can go from perfectly golden to overly browned in no time. Start checking them a couple of minutes before the timer goes off to ensure they don’t burn, especially if it’s your first time making the recipe.
More Cookie Recipes To Consider
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Honey Sweetened Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup peanut butter, natural and normal will both work, smooth or creamy
- 1 cup honey, I like to buy local, it seems less bitter than cheap store honey
- 1 large egg
- 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment or a baking mat.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer combine the peanut butter and honey and beat until totally incorporated. Stir in egg and vanilla.
- Add the salt, soda and flour and mix until it comes together to form a dough.
- Shape dough into small balls (about 1 tablespoon of dough each) and place on the prepared sheet. Use fork to lightly press each dough ball down.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until cookies become slightly golden brown. (Note: Be careful to not over bake! Honey burns much more easily than sugar.) Remove from the oven and place the cookies on a wire rack to cool.
My cookies didn’t work at all! The dough was so crumbly – I baked them anyways and they were so dry. Like sawdust! I followed the recipe – using natural PB, Honey, and 1/2 WW flour and 1/2 All purpose – any ideas?
Was your PB the gooey oily kind? Feel free to reduce the flour by half next time.
This is my new go-to peanut butter cookie recipe! I used crunchy peanut butter and added in whole rolled oats for some added hearty-ness and they are quite delish! Thank you
Mine too! It just feels good doesn’t it?! I love the idea of some crunchy peanut butter! I’m going to try that ASAP.
I find that 1 cup if honey is very sweet. I’ve done less honey each time I’ve made this but it does make them more dry. next time I think I’m going to up the peanutbutter to make up for lost moisture.
Sounds like a great idea! Please let me know how it goes.
Do you happen to know the calorie count per cookie on these? Thanks 🙂
No, but I’m on it! I should have it on there by the end of the day!
I had a little shy of a cup worth of honey and I used all-purpose flour. These tasted just like regular peanut butter cookies. My kids had no clue I was out of sugar and had to try a random recipe for subbing it with honey. Thank you. This is now saved as a family favorite.
Hi,
I am new to baking. I would like to decrease the number of ingredients in this recipe to the absolute minimum of just the 1 cup of peanut butter, 1 cup of honey and the 2 cups of flour. Can you give me an idea of the consequences of leaving out the egg, vanilla, salt and baking soda? I’m not sure what the purpose of each of those ingredients is. I need to leave out the egg for sure because of allergies. I’m not sure if the vanilla, salt or baking soda cause any food reactions. Thank you for any suggestions you might have.
Chris
Vanilla and salt just taste food and very few people have allergies with them (depending on what alcohol is used in the vanilla) and the baking soda helps to make the cookies fluffy. I’d add them, taking them out, you aren’t going to have much left and I think you’ll end up with an odd end product.
Thank-you SO much for this recipe, i made some for my mom and she loved them! I used all-purpose flour instead of wheat, so the dough was a little sticky, so I put the dough in the fridge for a few minutes and it was nice and firm
Great tip! Thank you for taking the time to come back and share that with the rest of us. I’m so glad you liked them!
I followed the recipe exactly and they baked perfectly but the taste is just okay. They taste more like a honey cookie and I can barely taste the peanut butter.
The batter was So Tasty but the baked cookies had almost no flavor. I followed the recipe to a T. Not sure what went wrong. (Full disclosure – I am very new to baking but had two very successful bakes before this one, full of flavor.) I used Jif Natural PB.
That’s so weird. I haven’t used that PB before but in my mind it’s just about like any other peanut butter. I used the Costco organic peanut butter. Sorry they didn’t work out for you!
Hey I really wanna try this recipe but I only want about 12 cookies?
Feel free to half the recipe!
Made these tonight, SO good!