Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

These easy-to-make gluten-free peanut butter cookies are sealed with a kiss – Hershey’s Kisses placed on the cookies while they are still warm from the oven.

The bonus: The cookies are naturally gluten free, with no flour at all, making them good crowd-pleasers. Plus, the peanut butter packs a protein punch, which we’re always looking for in our house. Thank you to my friend Rebecca who provided the flourless peanut butter cookie recipe. I just added a kiss.

Peanut butter jars can easily become contaminated by bread crumbs spread on a sandwich knife. We always have two jars of peanut butter and two jars of jelly in our house, marked in permanent marker: GF ONLY and NOT GF. My mother has a squeeze bottle of jelly, so crumbs don’t get in the jar.

I’m a crunchy, natural peanut butter fan. True, natural peanut butter is a pain. The oil separates, so you need to plunge your knife into the jar to mix it up, inevitably resulting in an overflowing mess.

Still, one look at the ingredients and you’ll be convinced to go natural. Most peanut butters contain sugar and hydrogenated vegetable oil. Even mainstream natural brands like Skippy Natural and Jiff Natural contain added sugar, palm oil and salt.

By contrast, Trader Joe’s organic crunchy unsalted peanut butter has one ingredient: peanuts. And the Whole Foods 365 Everyday PB has two ingredients: peanuts and salt (though, curiously, their 365 Organic brand has added palm oil).

While you’re at it, check your jam or jelly. Most contain high-fructose corn syrup. Who needs that? Buy a brand that contains simply fruit or is sweetened with other fruit juices.

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

(gluten-free, dairy, kid-friendly)

By Gluten-Free Nosh
Printable recipe

    1 cup natural chunky peanut butter
    1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
    1/2 cup granulated sugar
    1 egg
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
    Hershey’s Kisses, unwrapped


    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together peanut butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, baking soda and vanilla extract in a large bowl.

    2. Using moistened hands, roll dough into 1-inch balls.  (If the peanut butter mixture is too dry and not sticking together, you can add a teaspoonful of milk to the bowl.)

    3. Place peanut butter balls on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Space cookies 2 inches apart; they will spread.

    4. Bake cookies until puffed and golden, about 10-12 minutes.

    5. Immediately after removing baking sheets from oven, gently place a Hershey’s Kiss on top of each cookie.

    6. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 24 to 36 cookies.



Filed under desserts, Recipes

10 responses to “Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

  1. Jane

    These cookies are fantastic. I just made the recipe twice and it made four dozen cookies. I ate one while it was still warm. The kiss was perfectly melted.


  2. Jillian

    I’m wondering did you ever taste Hodgson Mill’s GF brownie mix? I’m wondering if they are as good as Betty Crocker’s GF brownies? Thanks! I need to make GF brownies for my brother, and want to make sure they taste good!


    • Jillian,
      I’ve never tried Hodgson Mill’s brownie mix. I actually just made Betty Crocker gluten-free brownies last night for my daughter to take to a school party. I liked the Betty Crocker brownies, though they were a bit dense.

      Try my secret for jazzing up gluten-free brownies: When the brownies are done baking, place unwrapped Andes mints on top of the hot brownies in the pan — enough to more or less cover the brownies. Then pop the pan back in the oven for 1 minute. Take the pan out of the oven, and spread the melted mints with a knife, like frosting. Cool and cut into squares. Presto — mint brownies, gluten-free of course!

      Thanks for reading!



  3. rebecca

    Great addition with the kiss!!


  4. lisa

    Looking forward to trying this recipe! We freqently use almond and cashew butter. Can you substitute?


  5. melissa

    i heard that eve is going to make gluten-free thin mints next!! let’s cheer her on.


    • Melissa,
      Thanks! Yes, it’s Girl Scout cookies season, and I’m working up my energy to make gluten-free Thin Mints and maybe other Girl Scout classics. I feel bad that my younger daughter had to sell the cookies but can’t eat them at all.


  6. Phyllis Adams

    Looks good to me. I’ll bring the milk. You bring those yum yum peanut butter cookies!


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