Date-Sweetened Chocolate Peanut Butter cookies

These date sweetened, vegan, and gluten-free chocolate peanut butter cookies are made with just 6 total ingredients – peanut butter, cocoa, dates, and a couple extras for flavour. Very fudgy and very much like brownie cookies, even total sugar lovers have scarfed these down. Everyone loves a classic chocolate and peanut butter combination.

The term ‘guilt-free’ isn’t my favourite, and I know a lot of people would describe these cookies that way, but I think it’s more positive to thing of the good things you’re getting from the foods you eat. These are comparatively high in protein, magnesium, iron, and fibre, while being lower in sugar (only dates, which also add fibre). This recipe was adapted from my gluten-free peanut butter cookie recipe, which is sweetened with maple syrup.

If you get cravings, especially during your period, these are the types of sweets you can turn to. Magnesium helps to alleviate PMS symptoms – in my experience, these little cookies don’t cause a sugar crash or headache, they’ll keep your energy levels high, and still satisfy a chocolate craving. I’ve been making these for almost a decade now and they’re still one of my favourite treats.

I first published this recipe in 2018. It’s been updated with new step-by-step photographs, more helpful information, and some slight improvements to the recipe.

I don’t use affiliate links. Any links you see here are to other recipes or related information, not paid links.

Ingredients You’ll Need and Why

• Dates: any type of soft dates. If yours are a little dry, soak them in very hot water for at least half an hour before mixing. I usually get deglet noor with the stone in so that they’re softer, and they’re much more affordable than medjool.
• Coconut oil: use refined coconut oil to avoid any slight coconut flavour. I think a good (vegan) butter can also be used but I haven’t tested this. There’s not much oil added so it doesn’t taste like coconut even if you do use unrefined coconut oil.
• Peanut butter: unsweetened, with no oil added. Look for a type with just peanuts, or at most salt, in the ingredient list. Use runny peanut butter, not the dry bit at the bottom of the jar. Try with almond or hazelnut butter, or use sunflower seed butter for a nut-free version (add an extra date or two to help counteract the bitterness of the seeds).
• Cocoa: any type of baking cocoa, it doesn’t matter much (not sweetened drinking cocoa). Raw cocoa does tend to make these slightly bitter so I recommend dutch process if you want a milder taste.
• Water: or non-dairy milk. You’ll see extra liquid often added to cookies made with oil because butter contains water and pure oil doesn’t. It improves the texture of the cookies.
• Vanilla extract: this was previously optional, but I’ve changed the recipe slightly to reflect that vanilla should be added. It improves the taste, adds a more complex flavour, and makes the cookies taste sweeter.

How to Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

You will need a food processor to make these, but otherwise it’s an easy, quick recipe. It might be possible to mash the dates by hand if you’re willing to get an arm workout!

Step 1: soak the dates for an hour beforehand if they’re hard and dry. Otherwise add all of the ingredients but the cocoa and water to a food processor fitted with the blade attachment.

Step 2: blend until a crumbly dough forms and the dates are clearly broken down. You shouldn’t see any visible large pieces of date once it’s properly mixed. The dough will look seized, and that’s normal.

Step 3: add the cocoa and water and mix again to combine. The dough looks crumbly, but should hold together when pressed. If it doesn’t, either the dates or peanut butter were too dry and you’ll need to add a little more liquid.

Step 4: roll the dough into small balls, then press with a fork to create a crosshatch pattern (just like for regular peanut butter cookies).

If you can’t see the recipe video, please watch it here on YouTube instead.

Recipe Notes

Keep in mind that this is a flourless peanut butter cookie with no added eggs, and the texture is softer and slightly more crumbly than a standard butter, egg, and white flour cookie. For the best texture, keep them chilled – they taste best cold, too.

The added oil makes it possible to effectively roll the cookies and gives them a much better texture and flavour. I don’t recommend omitting it.

If you plan to dip in chocolate, make sure to cool the cookies fully first. I usually freeze them for at least ten minutes before dipping so that it sets quickly.

Try making these into energy balls or raw cookies instead of baking them (especially during the height of summer) for a chewy chocolate peanut butter ball, or bake them as instructed for a fudge-like, dark chocolate cookie.

Expert Tips for the Best Cookies

• Use runny nut butter: the dry peanut butter from the bottom of the jar will make for dry, unpalatable cookies. Mix well and use a fresh jar if needed.
• Add water if needed: the dough might be too dry for two reasons: either the peanut butter was too hard, or the dates were dry. Either way, an extra splash of water (don’t add too much) will make the dough pliable enough to roll.
• Reduce the salt: if your peanut butter has salt added, reduce the amount of salt by half or omit altogether if you’re sensitive to salt. Keep in mind that sea salt is less salty than other types like kosher salt.
• Omit the water if needed: if you’ve had to soak the dates, they’ll probably contain enough water after soaking that you won’t need to add the extra water or milk. Mix the dough first, then add a splash of liquid if needed in that case.

More Flourless Chocolate Recipes

If you’d like to try some more gluten-free cookies made with cocoa, try my flourless chocolate tahini cookies, also date-sweetened but with slightly bitter tahini and sesame seeds. These chocolate chickpea flour cookies have a texture that’s closer to a standard cookie.

Most of the flourless chocolate recipes on OE are no-bake, like chocolate coconut balls and vegan chocolate truffles. There are a handful of pudding and mousse recipes I make all the time, too – try this vegan chocolate mousse, vegan chocolate pudding (this uses a neat method, with no starch added), or chocolate chia mousse.

If you make these Flourless Brownie Cookies or any other dairy-free cookie recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.