The perfect vegan peanut butter cookies! These cookies are sweet and salty, chewy, and unbelievably good. They are made in under 30 minutes for a delicious sweet treat. Beware, they are highly addictive.
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It’s cookie time on My Darling Vegan!
Since the new year, I haven't shared any new cookie recipes on the blog. Perhaps this is because when it comes to cookies, I have no self control. Yes, cookies are my weakness.
But in light of the past few weeks and the overwhelming stress of living through a health crisis while balancing the daily stresses of homeschooling restless kids while making time for work, I decided I needed a few more guilty pleasures around here.
We need more cookies!
If you're like me and think that chewy peanut butter cookies are the best thing ever, then you're going to love this recipe. Soft, sweet, with a little bit of crunch, and the perfect chewy texture, these peanut butter cookies are a lifesaver. But beware, once you bite into one of these incredible cookies, you're going to have a very hard time stopping.
Don't say I didn't warn you.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Soft, sweet, with a little bit of crunch, and the perfect chewy texture, these peanut butter cookies might be the best you've ever had. But beware, once you bite into one of these incredible cookies, you're going to have a very hard time stopping.
Here is everything you need.
- Vegan Butter - Look for a high-quality non-hydrogenated vegan butter. I recommend either Earth Balance or Miyoko’s.
- Brown Sugar - Check out my guide to vegan sugars and healthy sugar alternatives.
- Peanut Butter - I recommend using natural crunchy or smooth peanut butter. Natural peanut butter has no sugar added. It's better for you and doesn't add extra sweetness to this recipe.
- Vanilla Extract
- Applesauce - The applesauce acts as the binder for these cookies. You can’t taste the applesauce but if you would prefer a different kind of egg replacer, check out my complete guide on replacing eggs to get a few more ideas.
- All-Purpose Flour - I have also made these cookies with 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Baking Blend with great success.
- Baking Powder & Soda
- Salt
Note: When I originally published this recipe, they were dipped in chocolate. This is a completely optional step but I have offered the instructions below in the recipe card.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step One - Make the Cookie Dough
To begin, mix together the dry ingredients. That’s the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk them together and set aside.
In a stand-up mixer, whip the sugar and butter until they are light and fluffy. Next, add the applesauce and vanilla extract. Once these are added, the dough will start to look curdled. Don’t worry about this. When the dry ingredients are added, the dough will sort itself out.
Finally, add the dry ingredients until they are just combined. Be careful not to overmix or the dough will become gummy and dense.
Step Two - Bake the Cookies
I prefer using a small cookie scoop for this part. With a cookie scoop, you can get evenly measured cookies with minimal mess. Scoop the cookies onto the tray, about a dozen per tray, and press down slightly by creating a criss-cross pattern with your fork (see photo above).
Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes.
Pro Tip: Remove from the oven when the edges have just started to set and the centers are still slightly underdone. This is key for the chewiness of these vegan cookies.
Once they have cooled for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet, they can be transferred to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Serving and Storing
Serving - Pull cookies out when they are slightly underdone. I found 10 minutes to be the perfect baking time. They will continue to harden as they cool, giving you a crispy outside with a deliciously chewy center.
Storing - Once cookies are completely cool, store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Raw dough can be frozen for up to 2 months.
Tips and Tricks
- The most accurate way to measure flour is to spoon it into your measuring cup, leveling it off with the back of a knife.
- Do not over-mix the dough. Over-mixing encourages the gluten to develop making your cookies gummy and dense.
- Use a middle rack to bake the cookies. Cookies can burn easily on the bottom rack of an oven. Make sure you place them on a middle or higher rack in your oven.
- Pull cookies out when they are slightly underdone. I found 10 minutes to be the perfect baking time. They will continue to harden as they cool, giving you a crispy outside with a deliciously chewy center.
- Remove from oven and let the cookies cool at least 5 minutes on the cookie tray before transferring them to a wire cooling rack. This is the final touch in creating that perfect chewy texture.
- For cakier cookies, add an extra ¼ cup of flour and bake for 2 minutes longer.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you only want to make only a few at a time, you can store the remaining dough in the freezer. To do this, roll all the dough into balls. Place them on a baking sheet in the freezer to freeze all the way through. Once frozen, transfer your cookie dough into a large ziplock bag and return to the freezer. You can store the cookies this way for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to bake, remove from freezer and bake!
I recommend using natural crunchy or smooth peanut butter. Natural peanut butter has no sugar added. It's better for you and doesn't add extra sweetness to this recipe.
For sure!
Yep! Add between 1 and 1 ½ cup of chocolate chips. I recommend mini chips. Alternatively, you can dip these cookies in melted chocolate. This is a completely optional step but I have offered the instructions below in the recipe card.
More Vegan Cookie Recipes
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Lemon Crinkle Cookies
- Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Double Chocolate Chewy Cookies
Make sure to check out all my vegan cookie recipes for some baking inspiration.
Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Cookies
- ½ cup vegan butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup crunchy peanut butter
- ¼ cup applesauce
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Dipping Chocolate (Optional)
- 6 oz dark chocolate chips
- 1 tbsp. coconut oil
- crushed peanuts
Instructions
- In a stand-up mixer, cream together vegan butter, brown sugar, and peanut butter until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides as necessary. Add vanilla extract and applesauce.
- In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and soda, and salt. With the mixer running on the lowest setting, slowly add in the flour mixture until dough is uniformly mixed. Be careful not to over mix. Cover and chill dough for one hour.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Using a cookie scoop, scoop cookies onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. With a fork, gently flatten cookies in a criss-cross pattern.
- Bake for 10 minutes until lightly brown. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for an additional 10 minutes. Transfer to wire cooling racks and let cookies cool completely.
- If dipping in chocolate: Melt the chocolate and coconut oil in a double boiler (this can be a bowl placed over a saucepan with water) or microwave.Dip the cooled cookies into the chocolate, sprinkle with crushed peanuts, and place on a parchment paper to let the chocolate set up completely.
Notes
- Do not over-mix the dough. Over-mixing encourages the gluten to develop making your cookies gummy and dense.
- Use a middle rack to bake the cookies. Cookies can burn easily on the bottom rack of an oven. Make sure you place them on a middle or higher rack in your oven.
- Pull cookies out when they are slightly underdone. I found 10 minutes to be the perfect baking time. They will continue to harden as they cool, giving you a crispy outside with a deliciously chewy center.
- Remove from oven and let the cookies cool at least 5 minutes on the cookie tray before transferring them to a wire cooling rack. This is the final touch in creating that perfect chewy texture.
- What kind of peanut butter should I use? I recommend using natural crunchy or smooth peanut butter. Natural peanut butter has no sugar added. It’s better for you and doesn’t add extra sweetness to this recipe.
- Can I make these cookies with almond butter? For sure!
- Can I add chocolate chips? Yep! Add between 1 and 1 ½ cup of chocolate chips. I recommend mini chips.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the