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:
- Vegan Chocolate Cookies
- Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Thumbprint Cookies
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Crunchy Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
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Prep Time: 20 mins - Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 35 mins
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Yield: 20 -
Category: Dessert -
Cuisine: Vegan
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Quick and easy vegan peanut butter cookies that are wonderfully crunchy, sweet, peanut-buttery and satisfying. A perfect dessert or filling snack!
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 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
Can’t wait to make these with my little girl
★★★★★
These are the peanut butter cookies I’ve been looking for!!!
I had tried many, many recipes but these are the winners. Perfect taste, consistency and super easy to make. I used brown rice and oat flour for gluten free😁
Thank you a ton~
★★★★★
Yay! So happy to hear! Thanks for posting! 🙂
Hi Alison
Can i switch vegan butter to coconut oil?because at my country there’s no have sold any vegan butter…
Thx for the great recipe!!
Love it…
Hi Valencia, I haven’t tried it myself with coconut oil, but on other cookie recipes people have commented that they made the switch and it turned out great so it’s definitely worth a try! All the best and let us know how it goes!
These were great!
★★★★★
Yay! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Great recipe 🙂 super simple, really enjoyed the cookies! Also very thankful that the measurments in gramme worked out
★★★★★
Awesome Val! Yes, weighing things out is the most accurate way to do it! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
WOW! I’m not vegan so I made these using nutella instead of peanut butter and rolled them in desiccated coconut. They were incredible, thanks.
Awesome! Glad to hear! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
These cookies are awesome! I’ve made them before, but today I took them to my family’s Easter Dinner, and they were a hit. My family isn’t vegan, but they didn’t believe these cookies were vegan because they were so good lol.
★★★★★
Oh that’s wonderful! Always so much fun when that happens! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Delicious but mine completely fell apart when cooked . I don’t know where I went wrong.☹️
Did you use a different flour other than all purpose?
I really liked the cookies, but I left out the part about rolling them in sugar. I felt like they were already sweet enough. Next time I’m making them I am definitely using less sugar (I dont know, maybe my peanut butter was sweet or I just like them less sweet) The recipe worked great otherwise, thank you 😊
★★★★
Awesome Fenix, definitely adjust them to your tastes, glad you liked the recipe! 🙂
Fantastic! I loved these. Thank you. Cant wait to try some more of your recipes.
★★★★★
So glad you loved them! Thanks so much for posting! 🙂
Im in love with these and ive made them multiple times! Works perfect always. My boyfriend thinks they are too sugary however ): he isnt a huge fan of sweets except cookies, but is still picky. Makes him hard to spoil! If you have any low sugar recipies please let me know! Hes a huge fan of peanut butter and chocolate combos
★★★★★
Hi Alex, I’m not really one for the low sugar recipes, hahaha, but I have had people comment on various recipes that they reduced the sugar without making any other changes, so you could definitely try that! We have quite a few peanut butter and chocolate combos on the site (use the search bar – on the menu if you’re on mobile or top right on desktop – to find them). Thanks for posting and your great review! 🙂
Hey I was wondering if you could help me figure out what went wrong with these cookies when I made them. I did a half recipe because I didn’t really need to have 22 cookies just for me and my mum to eat them in one sitting haha 🙂 and I used coconut oil instead of vegan butter. When i was rolling them, they were very soft and would come together but not into balls, more like patties and so I didn’t add any soymilk. I took them out of the oven after 15 minutes and let them cool but they were a weird powdery consistency. They tasted good but the texture was weird and I know that I must have done something wrong. They also didn’t get as flat or cracked as yours 🙁 what could i have done wrong? I really want to try them again. Thanks!
Hi Sophia, I would really just try the recipe exactly as written without adjustments, halving or increasing the recipe and substituting ingredients are always risks to the outcome. Some people have commented on other cookie recipes that they have switched coconut oil for vegan butter but this isn’t something I would recommend at the outset because I have not tested the recipe like that at all.
Easy recipe, I made with my granddaughter! As I used salted peanut butter, I think I should have used a little less salt, but nevertheless a hit.
★★★★★
Glad it was a hit! I usually use salted peanut butter as well, and don’t find it too salty, but definitely adjust next time as you prefer it! 🙂
Yum yum! This is Lulu!
★★★★★
Hello my gorgeous niece! So glad you liked the cookies! 🙂
I made this recipe with peanut butter oil instead of vegan margarine. Texture was fine for rolling balls with this change. Also healthier as it will have less saturated fat.
I’m going to make these tomorrow! Do you think chunky peanut butter could be used to add a little crunch?
Hi Alison, I haven’t tried that, but it should be fine! Let us know how it goes! 🙂
Great recipe but 375 for 15 minutes was unfortunately far too much and burnt my first batch – did a new batch at 350 for 10 minutes and came out perfect.
★★★★
I’ve made these pb cookies 3 times already since reading this recipe and am about to go make another batch today!
They are so good!!! Great flavour, great texture, just all around great!
I followed recipe exactly, only I used a low fodmap all purpose flour and crunchy peanut butter (I like the texture the peanut chunks give)
Thanks for a great recipe!!!
(Oh, and I cook for less time… ~10 – 12 mins – I burnt my first batch 😛
Thanks for sharing Sammy! 🙂
Just made these to cheer up a very rainy soggy day in Derbyshire and they are delicious! Love your recipes!
★★★★★
Fantastic! Thanks so much Laura! 🙂