Ultimate Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

December 04, 2019

Here’s how to make the best vegan peanut butter cookies, soft and perfectly crumbly, with just the right salty sweetness (and optional chocolate drizzle).

This post was created in partnership with ALDI. All opinions are our own.

It’s cookie time! What’s your ultimate cookie? These vegan peanut butter cookies are where it’s at for Alex and me! They’re soft but perfectly crumbly, and salty sweet. Decorated with the classic criss-cross pattern, they’ve got a sparkle of sugar. And a chocolate icing drizzle makes them look even more fun. (Plus, Larson and I are choco-holics!) All the ingredients for these cookies are from ALDI, our favorite place to stock up on high quality, affordable and organic baking ingredients. Ready to bake?

NEW store location! There’s a new Indianapolis ALDI location: it’s at 5151 E 82nd Street, Indianapolis, IN 46250! To celebrate the grand opening, there’s a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, December 5, 2019 at 8:25 am. The first 100 customers will receive a Golden Ticket with an ALDI gift card, and customers can enter to win a year’s supply of ALDI produce!

Want to try it too? Let us know if you head to ALDI to stock up and make this recipe! Head to the ALDI website for a store locator. Tell us in the comments below or tag us on Instagram using @acouplecooks and @aldiusa.

Are they really the BEST vegan peanut butter cookies?

OK, we’ll be honest. Alex and I are picky cookie people! The cookies we like aren’t just a sugar bomb. They’re cookies that have nuance, distinct flavor and texture, and are just sweet enough. If you follow along with us, you’ll know Alex and I love to make vegan desserts and plant based recipes, though we don’t eat exclusively that way. Here, we’ve come up with a recipe for the very best vegan peanut butter cookies. And they are seriously good.

Eat them plain as a classic peanut butter cookie, or add our simple chocolate icing to make them suitable for a holiday cookie tray! They’re a perfect healthy-ish Christmas cookie, but they work for anytime too. Our son Larson is totally obsessed with them (we keep them in the freezer and use them on special occasions).

The tricks to making vegan peanut butter cookies

You won’t have to mention these are vegan (to people who’d be wary). All you’ll have to mention is that they’re incredible peanut butter cookies! They’re not too sweet, perfectly salty, and have the best soft but crumbly texture. Want us to reveal the magic? Here’s how our trick is done:

Coconut oil. Instead of butter, these vegan cookies use organic coconut oil.
Just enough sugar. These cookies are sweetened just enough, and a sprinkle on top adds another sparkle.
Lots of peanut butter. Peanut butter adds texture and big peanut flavor. It also helps as a binder: no egg needed!
Almond milk. Non-dairy milk works perfectly here!

Tips for an even bake

It’s hard to get an even bake and appearance on cookies! Of course, they’ll taste good either way: but it’s nice to have a picture-perfect appearance. Here are our secrets for making the perfect vegan peanut butter cookies:

Measure 1 1/2 tablespoons dough (or use a Size 40 cookie scoop). A cookie scoop isn’t required here because you’ll re-form the cookies into balls with your fingers. The most important part is to portion it out in exactly 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough. A cookie scoop is nice for this job if you have one!
Bake each baking sheet separately, and rotate the sheet halfway through. To get the most even bake, it’s nice to bake each baking sheet separately, instead of all 24 cookies together. It improves airflow and helps to keep the heat even (instead of having one sheet closer to the heat source). Also make sure to rotate the sheet halfway through the bake time.

Add a chocolate drizzle if you’d like!

Now, these vegan peanut butter cookies are incredibly tasty as is! Serve them plain as the classic peanut butter cookie. But for the holiday season, we decided to decorate these cookies by adding a vegan chocolate icing! Powdered sugar icing is our favorite easy icing for cookies and cakes, and we created a chocolate version just for these cookies. Here’s how it’s done:

Mix powdered sugar and cocoa powder together with almond milk until a creamy glaze forms.
If it’s still a bit dry, add more almond milk a teaspoon at a time if necessary until a thick but drizzle-able consistency is reached. Be careful not to add too much liquid or the icing will spread and not dry properly.
Use a fork to drizzle the icing onto the cookies. Yes a fork, not a spoon! While using a spoon seems natural, it results in a chunkier drizzle: a fork is perfect for making a thin line like shown in the photos.

These vegan peanut butter cookies are…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based and dairy-free.

Ultimate Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

1 Star 2 Stars 3 Stars 4 Stars 5 Stars (3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

5 from 3 reviews

Author: Sonja Overhiser
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Yield: 24

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Description

Here’s how to make the best vegan peanut butter cookies, soft and perfectly crumbly, with just the right salty sweetness (and optional chocolate drizzle).

Ingredients

For the peanut butter cookies

1/3 cup Simply Nature Organic Coconut Oil
1/3 cup Friendly Farms Organic Unsweetened Almond Milk
1 tablespoon Stonemill Pure Vanilla Extract
1 cup Simply Nature Organic Creamy Peanut Butter
2/3 cup Simply Nature Organic Cane Sugar
1 1/2 cups Baker’s Corner All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the vegan chocolate icing (optional)

1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 tablespoons almond milk, plus additional as necessary

Instructions

In a small saucepan over low heat, stir together the coconut oil, milk and vanilla extract until warm and combined. Pour into a large mixing bowl and add the peanut butter, sugar and maple syrup. Stir until well combined (small peanut butter lumps are ok). Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and kosher salt and stir with spatula until combined into a cohesive dough.
Transfer the dough to a covered container and refrigerate for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Remove the bowl with the dough from the refrigerator. Make 24 1 1/2 tablespoon-sized balls (using a size 40 cookie scoop, if you have it) and place them onto the baking sheet. Roll the balls between your hands to make them as spherical as possible. Place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.
Use a fork to flatten the balls and make a criss-cross pattern (it’s helpful to dip the fork into a small bowl of water before each one to prevent sticking). Sprinkle the tops with a little sugar.
Bake each tray separately, about 13 to 14 minutes total, (rotating halfway through at about 6 minutes) until edges are just firm. Cool for 5 minutes on the tray, then remove to a cooling rack. (Baking the tray separately gets the most even bake.) Serve once cooled to room temperature, or add the optional chocolate icing. Store in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 4 days, or freeze before icing for 3 months.
For the chocolate icing (optional): In a medium bowl, use a fork to stir together the powdered sugar, cocoa powder and almond milk until a smooth sauce forms and all lumps are dissolved. Add almond milk a teaspoon at a time if necessary until a thick but drizzle-able consistency is reached (be careful not to add too much liquid). Dip a fork into the glaze and drizzle in a zigzag pattern. Let sit at room temperature until the glaze is dry, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Category: Dessert
Method: Baked
Cuisine: Vegan