Easy Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
Irresistibly soft and chewy peanut butter cookies with crackly tops and a rich, nutty flavor. Just three simple ingredients and no dairy or eggs required!
- Total time
- 22 mins
- Makes
- 14 cookies
- Oven
- 350°F
- Ingredients
- 7
About these cookies
These are the peanut butter cookies you remember: soft, chewy middles, crackly tops and that fork crosshatch on every one. A full cup of natural peanut butter makes them taste strongly of peanut, and packed brown sugar adds a caramel note. There's no butter, egg or mixer involved. You stir everything in one bowl and have cookies cooling in about 20 minutes.
Steps
- Tap a step to check it off.
Tips for success
- Stir the jar of natural peanut butter until the oil is completely mixed back in before you measure. If the oil is still separated, the dough can turn out greasy in one batch and crumbly in the next.
- Pack the brown sugar firmly into the cup. It holds most of the moisture here, so a loose cup gives drier, cakier cookies.
- These cookies barely spread, so the fork press decides how thick they end up. Flatten each ball to about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm), and dip the fork in water between presses so it doesn't stick.
- Take them out at 10–12 minutes, as soon as the edges are set and the centers still look a little underdone. They firm up as they cool, and overbaking is the main reason they turn dry.
- Don't skip the 5 minutes on the sheet. They're very fragile while hot and can break if you move them too soon.
Swaps
- Natural peanut butter → almond butter or sunflower seed butter, measured 1:1. Almond butter tastes milder. Sunflower butter can turn the inside of the cookies slightly green because it reacts with the baking soda. It's harmless and still tastes good. Conventional no-stir peanut butter also works, but the dough will be a bit stiffer and the cookies a little sweeter.
- Unsweetened almond milk → any unsweetened plant milk, such as oat or soy, or even water, measured 1:1. The cookies barely change. A sweetened plant milk works too but makes them slightly sweeter.
- Brown sugar → coconut sugar, measured 1:1. You get a darker, less chewy cookie with a toasty flavor. If you use cane sugar, choose one labeled vegan or organic, since some is filtered with bone char.
- All-purpose flour → a 1:1 gluten-free baking blend. The cookies come out a little more delicate and crumbly, so give them the full 5 minutes on the sheet.
Storing
Keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. For longer storage, freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months. You can also freeze the fork-pressed dough and bake it straight from the freezer, adding 1–2 minutes to the time. To make stored cookies taste fresh again, warm them at 300°F (150°C) for 4–5 minutes.
