These Low-Carb Peanut Butter Cookie Bars boast loads of peanut flavor in a bar cookie. They are like brownies with a chewy middle, but taste like peanut butter instead of chocolate. These cookies can be part of a low-carb, keto, Atkins, gluten-free, grain-free, or dairy-free diet.
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The recipe for Low-Carb Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
Love peanut butter cookies? Then this recipe is for you! These bar cookies are loaded with peanut flavor and have a chewy consistency, like a brownie or blondie.
This recipe is fast and easy to make. It only takes a few minutes to get them in the oven. These bars will be ready in less than half an hour.
The inspiration
I’ve always loved peanut butter cookies and wanted to try to make them in a pan for the blog. I’ve always loved the ease of making bar cookies.
For the recipe, I used my recipe for keto-friendly skillet blondies as a starting point.
What to serve with Low-Carb Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
These cookies are wonderful by themselves, or with a cup of tea or coffee. Those who love the combination of chocolate and peanut butter might want to try them with hot chocolate.
I love these cookies warm from the oven, but they are also good at room temperature or even chilled.
If you’re in the mood for a more luxurious dessert, You can add a scoop of keto-friendly vanilla ice cream or even some low-carb hot fudge sauce on top.
Is peanut butter keto-friendly?
Some people out there are really confused about peanut butter. I think that some of the confusion comes from the fact that peanuts are a legume, rather than a nut.
Legumes are excluded from a Paleo diet, but not necessarily from a ketogenic diet.
Some legumes, such as many varieties of beans, have a lot of carbs in them. Peanuts are low enough in carbs that they can be eaten in fairly small amounts without kicking someone out of ketosis.
Some people avoid peanuts because they find that legumes make their inflammation worse. If that’s you, then this recipe isn’t for you.
What peanut butter is best on a keto diet?
There are loads of brands of peanut butter out there! They are definitely not equal.
Many kinds of peanut butter are absolutely loaded with sugar and I try to avoid these. I also try to avoid any that contain artificial sweeteners, such as Splenda.
What I look for when choosing a peanut butter is for an ingredient list that contains peanuts and salt. I’m also okay with it if it contains palm oil which makes the peanut butter a “no stir”. I’m a little bit lazy and this makes it a lot more convenient.
I do avoid those peanut butters that contain shortening, artificially hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. Companies add these fats to keep the peanuts and the oil from separating, but I’m concerned about these artificial fats from a health standpoint. I may be lazy, but I’m not THAT lazy!
You can even make your own peanut butter! Check out this recipe for peanut butter from Ketogasm.
How long do I bake peanut butter cookies?
These bar cookies will change in consistency depending on how long you bake them. If you bake them toward the lower side of the time range, you will find that the centers are more chewy.
If you bake them on the higher end of the range, they will be more cake-like.
I like to take them out just as the edges are getting brown and the top is just beginning to get some color. If you bake them toward the lower end of the range, you will want to allow them to cool a few minutes before cutting them.
Final Words
These peanut butter bars are sure to satisfy a craving for peanut butter. They are very packable and perfect to take on a road trip with you.
If you love bar cookies, you might also want to try these keto magic bars from Real Balanced, our recipe for Low-Carb Pumpkin Pecan Bars, or our recipe for Easy Keto Chocolate Fudge Brownies
Enjoy!
-Annissa
Low-Carb Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
These Low-Carb Peanut Butter Cookie Bars boast loads of peanut flavor in a bar cookie. They are like brownies with a chewy middle, but taste like peanut butter instead of chocolate. These cookies can be part of a low-carb, keto, Atkins, gluten-free, grain-free, or dairy-free diet.
Ingredients
- 1 spray coconut oil
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1/3 cup granulated stevia erythritol blend (Pyure--2X sweeter than sugar)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup peanut butter (crunchy, no sugar added)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350º Fahrenheit. Spray an 8"X8" baking dish with coconut oil.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, granulated stevia/erythritol blend, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the peanut butter and one of the eggs. When mixture is smooth, whisk in the second egg and the vanilla extract.
Stir the peanut butter mixture into the dry ingredients.
Transfer mixture to the prepared baking dish. Spread evenly.
Bake in the preheated oven for 17-20 minutes. The bars will be more chewy at the lower end of this time range and more cake-like at the upper end of the range.
Peanut butter “brownies” (with pb instead of chocolate) is EXACTLY how I’d describe these!
Made them this afternoon. Love the texture. I had natural peanut butter, but it’s not chunky, so I topped the bars with small red jacket peanuts. I like the look, but I also get the crunch. This ones a keeper. Thanks
Good to know it works this way as well! Glad you like the recipe!
-Annissa
So true. Peanut butter “brownies” (with pb instead of chocolate) is EXACTLY how I’d describe these!
These look amazing and perfect! Love the consistency of these
Yum, I love cooking with almond flour and this looks delicious and easy too. The ingredients sound simple with a great flavour combination.
I love this recipe! I couldn’t believe how easy and delicious these bars are. Will definitely be making again!
You guys I just made these and they are everything I could have possibly hoped for. They taste exactly like a high carb blondie you would find at your local bakery but kete and filled with the rich taste of peanut butter. I’m honestly shocked how such simple ingredients can come together so well. I’ve been doing keto for almost a year now and I’ve always struggled to find recipes for brownies and blondes that have good texture but these must contain some kind of sorcery because they’re perfect
I added 3 tbsp sugar free chocolate chips and baked them for 20 min to get a cake like texture with a chewy center. I can’t wait to try these with almond butter.
Hi Jess,
I’m so glad these worked for you! I contemplated adding chocolate chips to mine as well. I love peanut butter and chocolate together. You might also be interested in my recipe for maple pecan blondies.These have a similar texture, but a different flavor profile.
-Annissa
If you want to use regular sugar in this recipe should it still be 1/3 cup.
Hi Judy,
Pyure is supposed to be twice as sweet as sugar, so you will need to increase the amount of sugar you use if you want them to be the same sweetness. I would use somewhere between 1/2 cup and 2/3rds cup. More if you like things sweeter and less if you don’t.
-Annissa
Mine came out drier than I would have liked even though I only baked them for 18 min. Next time will add more peanut butter and bake them for only 15 min. The flavor was good but not peanutty enough for me.
I can’t wait to try these! One question… I’m overwhelmed with the choices of peanut butter at the store & wondered if you would give a couple of your favorites. I’m fairly new to keto.
Hi Cheryl,
I purchase different brands. I typically look for an organic, no-stir variety that doesn’t have any sugar added. I also avoid any trans fats. It can be easier to find one that you have to stir that doesn’t have sugar, but then you have to stir it really well before measuring it and somehow I always manage to get it all over the place.
Annissa
If I am using swerve or Monk fruit with the amount still be 1/3 cup?
You will want to adjust the amount according to sweetness. If the sweetness level of your sweetener is equal to sugar, you will want to use 2/3 cup. Be aware that using a different sweetener can sometimes change the results due to the different qualities of each one.
-Annissa
I changed the recipe a bit, only because of what I had on hand. So I used PB fit chocolate peanut butter powder instead of chunky peanut butter. This made the recipe a lot more liquidy because you have to use water for the powder. I did add a tiny bit of regular chunky peanut butter about 2 tablespoons. And then I used 1/3 cup of swerve. The batter was a lot more like cake batter, I put it in the oven at the same temp for 20 minutes and it definitely looks like a cake. The flavor is pretty good but I would prefer it to be more peanut buttery. Next time I’ll try adding more peanut butter. The texture is quite nice, it’s very similar to cake. I also added sugar-free Hershey’s bite-size bar on top for a frosting.
Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for sharing your substitutions!
Annissa
I added 1/4 C sugar free chocolate chips and a sprinkle of xanthun gum. cooked for just 17 minutes and it’s a great dessert! Does not make you miss other desserts at all
Not missing sugary desserts is our goal!
-Annissa
I made this 2 x, the second time I added 1/2 tsp xanthan gum, and I used 1 cup allulose instead of Pyure as that’s my preferred sweetener. I also had some Choc Zero white chocolate chips and added 1/4 cup of them to it.
It rises much more than the original recipe and takes at LEAST 20 minutes. I probably should have stopped at 20, but I felt some of the center wasn’t done, so did a total of 22 mins.
It’s cooling now, but I think this is a winner! My dad is a peanut butter nut, so I wanted to perfect it for “our” tastes in order to make for the holidays when my folks come down and surprise him with a sugar free option. And, I’m T2 diabetic, so I can enjoy it as well!
It does seem that allulose makes cookies a bit softer and more gooey.
I hope your dad loved the surprise!
-Annissa