This healthy peanut butter skillet cookie is a lighter take on a cast iron skillet cookie! Undetectably dairy free, vegan, and gluten free, you won’t stop at one spoonful!
I have a new love of my life. The healthy peanut butter skillet cookie. Crisp on the edges and gooey in the middle and pairs very well with a big fat scoop of ice cream on top.
Coconut milk ice cream to be specific. Oh, and it’s stuffed to the brim with melty chocolate chips. Literally the most perfect cast iron skillet cookies in the history of cast iron skillet cookies.
You could say we’re pretty serious, yeah.
If you’ve never made a cast iron cookie skillet, well then allow me to introduce you to your next love of your life.
Because this peanut butter cookie skillet is the freaking bee’s knees. So incredibly easy, doesn’t require your hands to become a sticky mess, and guess what?
It’s an entirely gluten free, vegan peanut butter cookie skillet, but you wouldn’t even know because the ingredients come together so seamlessly, you’d swear you’re eating the real deal!
In fact, my mom even inquired why I didn’t make this one gluten free and dairy free like I normally do haha! That is how undetectable it is. If my mother can’t pick up on it, none of y’all can haha!
Trust me, this healthier version of a peanut butter pizookie (ya know, a cookie pizza!) will have your jaw on the floor!
Healthier peanut butter cookie skillet ingredients
This cookie skillet comes together with the simplest of ingredients, and we even have a few swaps if you need to!
For this gluten free peanut butter cookie skillet, you’ll need:
- Gluten free flour: I recommend Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten free baking flour, but I’ve also tried these with cassava flour- they work just as well! If you don’t have gluten free flour, nor need it, feel free to use all-purpose flour 🙂
- Peanut butter: crunchy or smooth works fine here 🙂
- Coconut sugar
- Unsweetened applesauce
- Vegan butter or coconut oil: I prefer vegan butter, but it’s up to you!
- Chocolate chips
That’s it! A surprisingly short list, I know! So then, how do we get it into skillet form?!
Let’s find out (I feel like the Owl from the Tootsy Roll Pop commercials lol)!
How to make a vegan peanut butter skillet cookie
Have you ever made a cast iron chocolate chip cookie skillet? If you have, making a peanut butter version isn’t all that different! But if you’re a complete beginner (hey we all start somewhere!), then let’s go through the steps!
They’re easy, I promise 🙂 It’s actually a very similar process to making my vegan chocolate chip cookies!
Preheat your oven and grease the cast iron skillet (or pie dish if you don’t have a skillet). Then whisk together the flour and baking soda and set that bowl aside while you prepare your wet ingredients.
Beat together the coconut sugar, applesauce, vegan butter, and peanut butter until everything is smooth. I recommend using a hand mixer, but feel free to use a stand mixer instead.
Then just combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients like you would for making regular vegan peanut butter cookies. Mix it until it’s completely consistent, like the below pictures. If you need to, you can add in a tablespoon or two of dairy free milk.
Fold in the chocolate chips until they’re evenly distributed.
Now pour the batter into a cast iron skillet, and bake until lightly golden!
Cast Iron Skillet Cookie Tips & Tricks
Now that you have the basics of this peanut butter cookie skillet down, let’s go over some tips and tricks to ensure that your healthier pizookie comes out even better!
- What to do if you don’t have a cast iron skillet: I highly recommend cooking this cookie skillet in a cast iron, but if you don’t have one, don’t worry! You can also use a 10″ pie dish, just the same!
- Use chunky or smooth peanut butter: if you want a smoother and gooier inside, stick with smooth peanut butter, but chunk will work as well!
- Vegan butter definitely gives it a more cookie taste: but some people don’t like vegan butter, or can’t consume it due to a nut allergy- totally understandable! Then I recommend using coconut oil- for less of a coconut taste, use refined coconut oil!
- No coconut sugar? Not a problem! This cookie skillet definitely doesn’t have to be refined sugar free if you don’t want or need it. In that case, swap in organic cane sugar, no problem!
- Add in extra vegan peanut butter cups for the ultimate gooey skillet cookie: I like using Lily’s Sweets, but if you make this cookie skillet with almond butter instead of peanut butter, you can try out these homemade almond butter cups!
I hope you love this healthy peanut butter pizookie as much as I do! If you give it a go, let me know in the comments below!
As always, I’d absolutely love to see your beautiful recreations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there!
Happy baking, scooping, and cookie pizook-ing!
More vegan cookie recipes:
Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ultimate Vegan Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Paleo Vegan Sugar Cookie Cut Outs
Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
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If you make something from The Banana Diaries, I would love to see your creations! Make sure to leave a review in comments section, as well as giving it a rating so that others may find the recipe. Also, follow along with me on Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and Facebook for more vegan recipe inspiration!
PrintHealthy Peanut Butter Cookie Skillet
This healthy peanut butter cookie skillet is a lighter take on the classic peanut butter pizookie! Undetectably dairy free, vegan, and gluten free, you won’t stop at one spoonful!
- Prep Time: 7
- Cook Time: 22
- Total Time: 29 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups 1-to-1 gluten free baking flour, all purpose flour, oat flour, or cassava flour
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 tbsp vegan butter or coconut oil, softened to room temperature but still cold
- 1/2 cup all-natural peanut butter
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F and grease a cast iron skillet or baking dish with coconut oil or olive oil.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda.
- In a separate medium bowl, combine the coconut sugar, applesauce, softened vegan butter or coconut oil, vanilla extract, and peanut butter using a hand mixer.
- Fold in wet ingredients into dry to create a thick dough.
- Fold in chocolate chips until evenly distributed throughout the peanut butter cookie dough, then pour the dough into the skillet.
- Spread it evenly around the edges and place the skillet in the oven to bake for 22-24 minutes, or until the toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool before slicing and serving with ice cream!
Keywords: peanut butter skillet cookie, healthy peanut butter skillet cookie, cast iron skillet cookie, vegan peanut butter cookies, vegan cast iron cookie
oh my goodness this absolutely amazing! i love how it’s nice and gooey on the inside, crisp on the outside. the perfect blend 🙂
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Aw thank you so much!! I’m so happy you loved it!!! Enjoy 🙂
It looks absolutely stunning! I have tried a PB cookie skillet once and loved it so much. 🙂
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Aw thank you, Ela!! That means the world to me!! Have a beautiful day!
What size iron skillet did you use for this? I think the one I have is probably too big for the recipe.
Hi Lynda! I used a 10-inch one for the photo, but I’ve also used 13-inch as a test run of the recipe and it worked great! You can also use a pie dish as well!
Can you use PB powder instead of the real peanut butter??
Hi JB! So I haven’t tested this with peanut butter powder- you would definitely have to add water to it because the liquid part of PB adds to the texture, but so does the fat, so I can’t guarantee that it will have the same results as regular peanut butter. If you try it out, please let me know!
Can I replace peanut butter for another nut or seed butter for this recipe? Thank you for sharing your recipes! Love watching your recipes videos! Learning so much about vegan desserts from you. Thank you again!
Hi Dorothy! You can replace peanut butter with any nut or seed butter, as long as it’s smooth nd creamy!! And AW this is so wonderful to hear! Thank YOU so much for being a part of this community!! So grateful to have you 🙂 Let me know how it comes out! Enjoy!
Super gooey and amazing. Easy to make and even easier to eat. I haven’t baked in awhile and this was the best thing ever. Can not recommend enough
★★★★★
So beyond happy to hear this, thank you so much!! Enjoy! 🙂
Hi! Can I use coconut flour or almond flour?
Hi Jessica! SO I haven’t tested this out with almond flour or coconut flour. I can’t guarantee the result because I haven’t tested it myself, but if you want to try almond flour, almond flour can be 1:1 with regular flour but typically requires another binding agent, so you might want to add in 1 tbsp ground flaxseed and water if you go that route!
So good! Extremely gooey and super simple, also I love that there are no eggs/flax eggs in it! It makes it a lot better texture wise!❤️❤️ Another amazing recipe!
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Aw thank you so much!! So glad to hear it 🙂 Enjoy!!
Hi! Could you use regular grass fed butter instead of vegan butter or coconut oil?? I’m so excited to make this for my husband’s birthday!! Thanks!
Hi Erica! Absolutely, not a problem!! Enjoy, and happy birthday to your husband!!
I’m in love with this cookie skillet! Wow so so good! Since it’s bascially just a giant cookie, I’m treating it as a serving for one 😛
★★★★★
HAHA that’s amazing!! Enjoy 🙂
What can I use in place of applesauce?
Hi Terri! I would recommend sticking to the applesauce if you can, but you can also swap in 2 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 4-5 tbsp water! 🙂
I have no applesauce but I’m not vegan, could I replace the applesauce with an egg? And if so how many?
Yes absolutely! You can use 2 eggs!