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Finished cookie on wooden platter

Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

The perfect vegan peanut butter cookie! 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. 
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 24 cookies
Calories: 124kcal
Author: Sarah McMinn

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)

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

Serving and Storing - Pull cookies out when they are slightly underdone. They will continue to harden as they cool, giving you a crispy outside with a deliciously chewy center. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Raw dough can also be frozen for up to 2 months.
Make in Advance - 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!
Variations - For cakier cookies, add an extra ¼ cup of flour and bake for 2 minutes longer.
Recipe Tips
  1. Do not over-mix the dough. Over-mixing encourages the gluten to develop making your cookies gummy and dense.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
  • 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. 

Nutrition

Calories: 124kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 105mg | Potassium: 74mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 180IU | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg