Crunchy Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

Oh YUM! Crunchy vegan peanut butter cookies!

If you love peanut butter as much as I do, then you want to put it in as many things as possible, and baking it into cookies is nothing but a very fine idea.

Of course peanut butter cookies is kind of a classic, so there’s no need to reinvent the wheel here or anything, it’s just a case of veganizing an old fave. And really, I made these 3 times to try out some different things and every time I made them they came out slightly differently, but ALL 3 batches were sensationally good. So I don’t think it’s really possible to mess this one up!

There’s just a couple of things to be aware of that I’ll get into below.

The first time I made these I couldn’t find my regular favorite peanut butter brand in the store (which is Black Cat, a South African brand), so I got an American brand instead. It was just a standard smooth salted version, but clearly must have contained a higher proportion of oil or something, because the first time I made it, I didn’t need to add any extra wet ingredients to get my cookie dough to the right consistency, it was easy to roll into balls.

The first batch came out almost like shortbread – with that awesome hard crunch you get with shortbread. I was a big fan!

But because they were so shortbready, I wondered how it would be if I added a flax egg to the recipe. So I did this to the second batch and again – this batch came out deliciously, but was more soft and chewy, quite similar in texture to my soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies. Which is great, but I thought the first batch was likely closer to a classic peanut butter cookie.

So…. for this third batch that you see pictured, I decided to stick with the original recipe for the first batch, BUT in the meantime my usual peanut butter brand was back in stock so I used this one instead.

And suddenly my cookie dough was just too dry, it would not form into balls, it was just crumbling. So I had to add in a little soy milk and then it was great.

So, depending on the brand of peanut butter you use, you might end up with a dough that is just the right consistency, you’ll know this by whether or not you can roll it into balls quite easily. It needs to stick together when you roll it into a ball, not crumble and break apart instantly. If it rolls easily then you have a perfect cookie dough and there’s no need to add any soy milk (or other non-dairy milk) to your cookie dough.

However, if it breaks apart and crumbles when you try to roll the cookie dough into balls, then your dough is too dry. You can then add a little non-dairy milk until the dough is the consistency that can easily roll into balls (as pictured above).

They are really quick and easy to make – taking 35 minutes in total and making in the region of 20 cookies, depending on how big you roll them.

My first batch made 22 cookies, my second 24, and in this batch there are 20. I mean it’s the same amount of dough, it just depends on how large you want to roll those balls.

These vegan peanut butter cookies are wonderfully crunchy, sweet, peanut-buttery and satisfying.

Have with a glass of non-dairy milk for a milk and cookies afternoon treat or with a cup of tea.

I hope you enjoy these vegan peanut butter cookies – any thoughts or questions, post them in the comments section below and please do rate the recipe too, it’s so helpful! Thank you!

For more divine vegan cookies, check out these recipes:

1. Vegan Chocolate Cookies
2. Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
3. Vegan Snickerdoodles
4. Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
5. Vegan Thumbprint Cookies

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Crunchy Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

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★★★★★

4.7 from 15 reviews

• Author: Loving It Vegan
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins
• Total Time: 35 mins
• Yield: 20
• Category: Dessert
• Cuisine: Vegan

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Description

Quick and easy vegan peanut butter cookies that are wonderfully crunchy, sweet, peanut-buttery and satisfying. A perfect dessert or filling snack!

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Ingredients

• 1 cup (200g) Sugar + 1/4 cup (50g) for rolling
• 1/2 cup (112g) Vegan Butter
• 1 cup (250g) Smooth Salted Peanut Butter
• 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 and 1/2 cups (190g) All Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 Tbsp Soy Milk (or other non-dairy milk)*

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Instructions

1. Add the sugar and vegan butter to a mixer and beat them together until creamy. Add the peanut butter and vanilla extract and mix in.
2. In a separate bowl, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix in (by hand, don’t use your electric mixer for this part).
3. Test the cookie dough by trying to roll some into a ball. If it holds together perfectly then you’re good to go. If it crumbles and won’t hold together, then add in 1 Tbsp Soy Milk and test it again. If it still won’t roll into a ball, add another 1 Tbsp Soy Milk and test again. You may not need to add any soy milk to your cookie dough, or you may need up to 3 Tbsp.
4. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
5. Roll the dough into balls, and then roll them in sugar and place evenly onto a parchment lined baking tray.
6. Flatten slightly with a fork.
7. Bake for 15 minutes until golden on top. They will be soft when they come out of the oven but will firm up as they cool.

Notes

*You may not need the soy milk at all or you may need a little more, up to 3 Tbsp of soy milk, this will generally depend on the brand of peanut butter used. Add it only a Tbsp at a time and test to see if you can roll the dough into a ball before adding any more.

*Adapted from Food Network.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 Cookie
• Calories: 183
• Sugar: 13.8g
• Sodium: 236mg
• Fat: 9.1g
• Saturated Fat: 1.8g
• Carbohydrates: 22.7g
• Fiber: 0.9g
• Protein: 3.7g

Keywords: vegan peanut butter cookies