Soft and pillowy cookies filled with creamy peanut butter and chunks of fluffy marshmallow makes for the perfect holiday cookie to impress your friends and family! These are My Favorite Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Marshmallow Cookies and they are the only cookie that you need, this holiday season! They are not only naturally gluten-free, but they are soft, chewy, and melt-in-your-mouth, making them the perfect holiday treat!
Friends, what is your favorite type of Christmas cookie? While there are so many different types of cookies to choose from, there is nothing better than a soft and chewy cookie during the holiday season. Every single year, I look forward to #KJCookieWeek, aka the time where I share brand new cookie recipes to help you celebrate the holiday season, and it’s one of my favorite weeks of the year! From my classic Life Changing Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies to my Christmas Chocolate Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies, I have dubbed myself the cookie queen. Oh, and we can’t forget about my better-for-you take on Gingerbread Men – they’re a staple in my household during the holiday season!
But if there’s one holiday cookie that you need to make this season, hands-down, it’s my Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Marshmallow Cookies. These soft and pillowy cookies are filled with creamy peanut butter and mini marshmallows for a soft and chewy holiday cookie that practically melts in your mouth. Now, the key to making these cookies is to freeze the marshmallows beforehand. Why? Because once you bake them, it’ll help the marshmallows retain just enough of their bouncy shape that the cookies come together without them turning into a gooey mess. Since the marshmallows are frozen, this is the perfect recipe to prepare ahead of time and keep in the freezer, so that you can have delicious holiday cookies ready in a pinch!
What You Need to Make These Festive Holiday Cookies
- Gluten-Free Flour: To make these cookies gluten-free, I recommend using a 1:1 gluten-free baking flour. However, this recipe also works with all-purpose flour as a non gluten-free alternative!
- Baking Soda: The baking soda acts as a leavening agent, providing lift and helping the cookies rise to perfection.
- Sea Salt: A pinch of sea salt ensures that the cookies don’t turn out too sweet.
- Butter: What makes these cookies so soft and pillowy is the use of butter. Both dairy butter and non-dairy butter work just as well, in this recipe.
- Sugar: The combination of granulated sugar and brown sugar makes these cookies perfectly sweet.
- Creamy Peanut Butter: The key to making these peanut butter cookies is to use creamy peanut butter! Crunchy peanut butter will change the texture of the cookies and won’t work as well. My all-time favorite creamy peanut butter is by Georgia Grinders (use code KALEJUNKIE for 20% off!)
- Egg: You can use one whole egg or a flax egg to make these cookies. Both work just as well!
- Vanilla Extract: Vanilla extract is essential to any good cookie recipe. Don’t skip this!
- Mini Marshmallows: Of course, these wouldn’t be marshmallow cookies without the mini marshmallows! If you want to make these cookies vegetarian or vegan-friendly, be sure to use marshmallows without the gelatin.
How to Make These Soft & Chewy Holiday Cookies
To make these cookies, start by preparing the mini marshmallows. Add the mini marshmallows to an airtight container and place them in the freezer for a few hours before baking. When you’re ready to make the cookies, preheat your oven to 350 F.
Next, add the flour, baking soda, and sea salt to a medium-sized bowl. Whisk the ingredients together, then set it aside. Then, in an even larger bowl, whisk together the softened butter and sugars with a hand mixer. Once they’re incorporated well, add in the peanut butter, egg, and vanilla extract, and mix again until they’re fully combined. Remove the marshmallows from the freezer and add them to the batter, folding them in quickly before they defrost. Then, add the flour mixture into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix until a batter is formed.
Once the batter is done, set it aside and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a cookie scoop to scoop the dough out into balls and line them up on the baking sheet. I use a large cookie scoop, which makes each ball about 2-3 tablespoons worth of dough. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, you can also use a spoon!
Space the balls of dough out about 1-2 inches apart to make room for when they spread. Bake the cookies for 10-11 minutes. Once they’re done, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool for another 10 minutes – they will continue to bake while cooling!
Once the cookies are cool, serve them and enjoy! Store any leftovers in an airtight container, in the fridge, for up to one week.
If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a review and rating below! To see more recipes and behind the scenes, follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube! I’m also now on Pinterest, so stop by and take a look at what’s new.
** Photography by Tanya Pilgrim
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ Cup Gluten-Free Flour, you can also substitute all-purpose flour
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ Teaspoon Sea Salt
- ½ Cup Butter, unsalted and softened
- ½ Cup Granulated Sugar
- ¾ Cup Brown Sugar, packed
- ¾ Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
- 1 Large Egg
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1 ¼ Cups Mini Marshmallows, frozen
Instructions
- To make these cookies, start by preparing the mini marshmallows. Add the mini marshmallows to an airtight container and place them in the freezer for a few hours before baking.
- When you're ready to make the cookies, preheat your oven to 350 F.
- Next, add the flour, baking soda, and sea salt to a medium-sized bowl. Whisk the ingredients together, then set it aside.
- Then, in an even larger bowl, whisk together the softened butter and sugars with a hand mixer. Once they're incorporated well, add in the peanut butter, egg, and vanilla extract, and mix again until they're fully combined.
- Remove the marshmallows from the freezer and add them to the batter, folding them in quickly before they defrost.
- Then, add the flour mixture into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix until a batter is formed.
- Once the batter is done, set it aside and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop the dough out into balls and line them up on the baking sheet. I use a large cookie scoop, which makes each ball about 2-3 tablespoons worth of dough. If you don't have a cookie scoop, you can also use a spoon!
- Space the balls of dough out about 1-2 inches apart to make room for when they spread.
- Bake the cookies for 10-11 minutes. Once they're done, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool for another 10 minutes – they will continue to bake while cooling!
- Once the cookies are cool, serve them and enjoy! Store any leftovers in an airtight container, in the fridge, for up to one week.
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What others are saying
Hands down best peanut butter cookies I’ve ever had! This is my new go-to and I can’t wait to try other mix-ins like chocolate chips or m&ms! Love your content 🙂
Wow! I am thrilled to hear that, Sarah! Thank you so much for making this recipe and for leaving such a kind review!
Did I miss the part about the flour being mixed in? I went to put them in the oven and the bowl of flour was sitting beside the oven . oops
Sorry about that, Ally! I just updated the recipe to make it more clear, but you can add the flour into the wet ingredients after you add the marshmallows in.
These were so nice and chewy and yummy! Easy to make. Appreciate they were gf. When they were in the oven I wondered if maybe I was supposed to flatten them before baking as they retained the cookie scoop shape. They eventually flattened more while they were cooling on the tray. Mine came out misshapen and definitely not as perfectly cute as yours. Thanks for sharing a great recipe Nicole!
These are so good! Sweet, salty, gooey deliciousness. Is the nutritional value listed anywhere?
Hi Jackie! Unfortunately I do not provide nutritional information for my recipes. However, you can plug the ingredients into an app like MyFitnessPal and grab the nutritional information that way.
I haven’t had peanut butter cookies in over 5 years, since before my Celiac diagnosis. I saw a fluffernutter cookie recipe the other day, and realized that I have been missing the sweet/salty cookie goodness in my life, so I searched for a gluten free recipe. Yours stood out so I made a batch this weekend. SO delicious! These are the best peanut butter cookies EVER, not just for gluten free!
Thank you!!
Hi Diana! I am so thrilled to hear that. Thank you so much for your review!
Is it absolutely necessary to freeze the mallows beforehand? Was looking to make these and realized I’d have to push it off if I did that.
Me and my 8 year old daughter (both celiac) made these today and we are obsessed! Best cookies we’ve ever made. They don’t taste GF at all! My 8yo did it almost all herself too which made her so excited. Will be making again asap! We went ahead and kept our extra marshmallows in the freezer to be prepared 😂
I am so happy to hear that, Claire! Thank you so much for making this recipe and for sharing it with your daughter.