Vegan peanut butter cookies that are wonderfully crunchy and packed with peanut butter flavor. Super quick and easy to make using everyday ingredients.
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.
All about the peanut butter
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 vegan 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.
Troubleshooting the cookie dough
So, depending on the brand of peanut butter you use (and the brand of vegan butter too) you might end up with a dough that is just the right consistency or it may be too dry. 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). You don’t want a wet dough though, so add in the non-dairy milk a tablespoon at a time until you reach the right consistency.
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. I think the ideal is to aim for around 20 cookies from your dough.
Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies Q&A
Can I make these gluten-free? I haven’t tested these cookies as gluten-free yet, but I have had great success just doing a switch from all purpose flour to a gluten-free all purpose flour blend when making cookies generally.
Just use your initiative, if the dough seems a little too dry (gluten-free flours absorb more moisture) then you may need even more non-dairy milk then you would in a batch made with regular flour. So just add as much non-dairy milk as needed at the end so you have a good textured dough that can roll easily into balls.
How long do these peanut butter cookies last? They last up to a week covered at room temperature. You can also keep them covered in the fridge.
Can I freeze them? Yes you can! Baked cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months.
You will love these vegan peanut butter cookies! They are:
- Crunchy
- Perfectly sweet
- Packed with peanut butter flavor
- So satisfying
- Quick and easy
Keep them covered at room temperature where they will stay good for up to a week. You can also keep them stored (covered) in the fridge.
More vegan cookies!
- Vegan Chocolate Cookies
- Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Shortbread Cookies
- Vegan Sugar Cookies
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!
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Crunchy Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 35 mins
- Yield: 20
Description
Vegan peanut butter cookies that are wonderfully crunchy and packed with peanut butter flavor. Super quick and easy to make using everyday ingredients.
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)*
Instructions
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Roll the dough into balls, and then roll them in sugar and place evenly onto a parchment lined baking tray.
- Flatten slightly with a fork.
- 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 (and vegan butter) that you use. 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.
*Keep a check on your cookies as they bake. Ovens can differ quite a lot and some readers have reported that 15 minutes was too long for their cookies. So just keep an eye on them in the last few minutes.
*Adapted from Food Network.
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Vegan
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
These cookies are absolutely amazing! My husbands words were “they are the best cookies I’ve ever had!” We went vegan October last year after being veggie for a long time, and I only started trying out vegan baking this year (I’ve always loved cooking, but never been a successful baker, vegan or veggie) and every single recipe I have used of yours has been amazing, so thought I should leave a comment to say thank you!
★★★★★
So glad to hear that Jennifer! Thanks so much!
Hello! Can you use vegan margarine for this recipe instead of the butter? Thank you!
Yes definitely!
Another great recipe!
I baked this for my family friends, everyone loved it!
Please post more cookie recipes!
Thanks!
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Hi Jae! So happy to hear! We’ve done a ton of cookie recipes, just type ‘cookies’ into the search bar to see all of them. Let us know if there are any in particular that we’re missing. We love baking cookies! 🙂
Is honey sunflower butter usable? Response quick please! 🙂 thank you
★★★★★
Probably, but I haven’t tried that. If it’s very similar to peanut butter then most likely.
Hi I’m a 11 year old baker and through out my search for good vegan recipes i fell upon this recipe for peanut butter cookies. Ive made so many vegan peanut butter cookies in my life time that were ok but i decided to try this one and this was the best vegan peanut butter cookies ever! They were so light and fluffy and amazingly tasty now i have this page book marked so i can make it a lot, i make it every time we buy a thing of peanut butter (around once every 2 weeks.) I also happened to try your vegan snickerdoodle recipe which was also one of the best recipes ever! thanks for sharing all of your amazing recipe!
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That is so awesome Esma, thanks so much for your lovely comment. I’m so pleased they were a success (and the snickerdoodles too!). 🙂
I just made them and they turned out real nice, how much egg replacement did you used the second time to make them less crunchy?
★★★★★
If you don’t want them crunchy, then you can try adding in a flax egg. If you do though then you likely won’t need to add in any non-dairy milk.
I LUV peanut butter cookies and really wanted to try this recipe. Unfortunately I didn’t have all the necessary ingredients (getting stuff from the grocery store is challenging right now) so I experimented with what I had on hand. I had turbinado sugar, but not quite enough so I did half turbinado and half date sugar. I also didn’t have enough flour, so used a cup of all purpose and 1/2 cup of almond flour. The result was tasty, but very crumbly. Next time I bake these, I’ll try to follow the recipe! Is there a good substitute for the white sugar?
Hi Melody, the white sugar really works great in these cookies, but turbinado sugar should also work okay. The crumbliness is most likely from the almond flour which isn’t a good swap for all purpose. 🙂
Is it natural peanut butter you use?
No, we used a commercial style peanut butter, but natural does also work fine.
I used natural peanut butter and rolled them in turbinado sugar. This is my new favourite cookie recipe. They’re really good. Hello from Canada.
Thanks Cathie!
We LOVE these so much, my teenage boys adore them and so do their school friends.
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks so much!
Could you use vegetable oil instead of vegan butter? I don’t have any and it’s a bit difficult to get to the shops.
Hi Louise, it won’t work in this recipe. You could try coconut oil if you have that on hand though. Or, if you have the ingredients, we have a recipe for homemade vegan butter that works great in baking.
I made these cookies and added dried cranberries as chunks in it. The taste was amazing!!! Sadly, the cookies spread extremely and melted together, so in the end I had more like cookie pizza. Still ate it and as stated, the taste was great! But I don’t know, what went wrong, that they spread so much! Anyway, thank you for the recipe! Will try again!
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Hi there, it might be the brand of vegan butter you’re using, next time you can let them chill in the fridge for 10 minutes before baking. That should hopefully solve the over-spreading issue.
Made another batch of these cookies (bc they are so good, kinda addicting!) and put them in the fridge for 10 minutes prior to baking, as you suggested. Worked perfectly, no overspreading! Thank you very much, very happy with these cookies!
★★★★★
Fantastic! Thanks for letting us know! 🙂
These really are the best! My husband likes crisp cookies and these are completely irresistible. I used crunchy peanut butter instead of smooth. I think next time I may try rolling them in turbinado sugar instead of regular, for a little extra crunch. No extra milk needed – easy, quick, perfect vegan treats. Thank you, Alison!
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks so much Susan!
Oh my goodness 😋. Just made these cookies no milk needed and they were absolutely delicious. Even my two teenage sons loved them and they’re non vegans. Definitely a recipe to keep thank you so much x
★★★★★
Wonderful to hear that Maria! Thanks for the awesome review.