Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

Hey everyone! I hope you’re all making the most of a little more time at home, and hopefully not going too crazy. I’ve been working on recipes that you make with pantry items and using not too much fresh food since we’re all running a little low right now, and these cookies are the next recipe in that series!

My parents recently went vegan, so I’ve been experimenting with vegan recipes a lot more lately. I’m really always surprised at the things you can make without eggs or butter, and how good they really can be. These are no exception, and honestly are a new fav for me.

The thing that I love about this recipe, and a lot of other vegan recipes, is that it’s super simple. You don’t have to fuss with a lot of ingredients, plus you probably already have everything you need. There’s no weird egg replacers in this recipe, and no odd ingredients. Honestly, I think it’s a solid peanut butter cookie recipe to use no matter what!

How to Make Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

Alright so we’re starting with the peanut butter and sugar. I have a couple of important notes here- first, you really don’t want to use the natural peanut butter here- the thick, sugary, classic, creamy peanut butter gets you to the texture we want here. We’re making a treat, okay?

So you beat the peanut butter and sugar together until combined. Keep in mind, we’re not dealing with eggs or butter here, so you really don’t have to beat until fluffy, just until fully combined.

Then, go ahead and beat in the vanilla extract and the milk. As I mentioned, this recipe is vegan- that means you can use almond milk, rice milk, oat milk, soy milk- whatever your milk preference is. In this case, you can absolutely also use cow’s milk if that’s what you’ve got- it will work just as well!

At this point the mixture will look a little wet, and might look like it has separated- that’s okay! We’re then going to beat in the flour, baking soda, and salt until completely incorporated. The dough will come together quickly, and should be fairly soft.

Then, scoop the cookies out onto a parchment lined baking sheet. I like to sprinkle the tops with a little extra sugar to add some texture before doing the classic fork cross-hatch, pressing down gently in both directions. Bake them for about 12 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to become a light golden-brown. Cool, and enjoy!

Tips & Tricks for Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

These are super simple to make, but I have some tips and tricks to help you along the way!

• Can I use natural peanut butter for these cookies? These cookies work best with a standard peanut butter, not natural. If you do want to use natural peanut butter, you can reduce the almond milk in the recipe by 3 tbs. and watch your bake time- they will brown faster!
• What makes these cookies vegan? We’re not using any animal products in these cookies- no eggs or dairy here. Instead, the peanut butter acts as the only source of fat, and we’re using almond milk.
• Can I substitute another milk in place of almond? Yes, you can use any milk you’d like here, but keep in mind that to keep these peanut butter cookies vegan, you’ll need to stick with a plant-based milk option.
• Don’t over bake the cookies- You want to make sure that you pull these cookies as soon as they look cracked and puffy- they will set and finish baking on the sheet pan as they cool. If you go too long, you’ll end up with crunchy cookies.
• Don’t skip pressing the cookies down with a fork- This does more than just add the classic decoration, it also helps the cookies bake and spread evenly.
• I’m at about 5,000 ft above sea level, and I find that most people who live between about 3,000-7,000 ft above sea level do not need to make any adjustments to my recipes.

Enjoy!