What’s better than a peanut butter cookie?
How about a whole stack of peanut butter cookies?
Mmm yes, that’s better.
Much better.
(If you’d really rather just have one: Single-Serving PB Cookie.)
Over ten years.
That’s how long I’ve been a vegan.
And that’s how long I’ve been making these peanut butter cookies—my foray into the world of vegan baking. When I first became a vegan, I was clueless about how to replace eggs in a cookie. Many of the recipes I found online contained a product called Energ Egg Replacer… but I was living in China and therefore couldn’t buy such a thing. So—out of necessity—I experimented to make up my own recipe.
I’ll never forget how proud I was the first time I brought these healthy cookies to a pool party. Everyone raved about them, and I loved seeing their surprised faces upon hearing the secret: these cookies were vegan! (Ten years ago, veganism was much less mainstream.)
The recipe has another secret: applesauce. It makes these cookies so soft.
Melt-in-your-mouth soft.
Peanut Butter Secrets
Delicious peanut butter cookies!
- 1/2 cup peanut butter (Mine has salt), or another nut butter
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 3 T whole-wheat pastry flour (or white or a gf mix)
- 1/4 cup sugar (for sugar-free cookies, see below link)
- 2 T brown sugar
- 2 T applesauce
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Mix dry ingredients very well. Then add wet and form cookie balls. If you want soft cookies, fridge the dough for at least an hour. Then bake in a preheated oven (350F) for 8 minutes. They’ll look underdone when you take them out, but that’s ok. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before removing from tray.
Click if you’d rather have Sugar-Free PB Cookies.
To keep them soft, store leftover cookies in a plastic container. This recipe will make about 15-22 cookies, depending on how big you roll them. (For 22 cookies, they’ll have 50 calories per cookie.)
Question of the Day:
Have you ever made vegan cookies?
Or have you ever made any vegan dessert? The best part about vegan cookies is the lack of raw egg in the batter. So no one can stop you from eating as much cookie dough as you want!
I created a new tag: My Peanut Butter Recipes.
{ 145 comments… read them below or add one }
Omgg those cookies look amazing! will be making them today for sure (:
Sounds so good! Quick question: Do you think it would be possible to scale back on the applesauce and use a date paste to make these sugar free?
Either way, I am totally making these!!!!
No clue, but if you try it I’d love to know!
Ironically, I just posted a recipe for cookies sweetened with dates! We’re on the same wavelength!
Mmmmm nothing beats a super peanut buttery cookie. These look like the bomb! And I’ve been very much into making vegan cookies lately just so I can eat the cookie dough!
Yes! Vegan cookies and other desserts…inspired by you.
I love that you make these without egg replacer, without specialty flours..just PB and applesauce for the wet and add to the (mainstream) dry. Easy, everyone can find it, everyone can do it.
Have you ever made vegan cookies? = yes, once or twice
And good thinking with the PB tag..I have a post where I have all my PB stuff compiled. I do it more for myself so I can keep my own stuff straight. lol
I’ve been Vegan since New years…started out baking … theppk site made it so easy
love it
..muffins first, cookies, brownies you name it. Best part you can safely eat the dough.. but I have to admit im Loving you almost daily recipes….what will Katie think of next
Oh this recipe came one day late for me (made some peanut butter cookies last night), but I can’t wait to try it! I made some last night using maple syrup instead of sugar and applesauce, but this sounds even better! Thanks for the recipe!
I have never made vegan cookies, but I might have to now that I see how amazing these look!
I feel dumb for asking, but is it really 3 T of flour? I can’t wait to try these!
Yes! I use less flour so they’ll be less doughy and the pb flavor/texture will show through more
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Yum, Katie! These look delicious. I want to try them right away. I’m so looking forward to all the recipes you plan to post before Christmas… can you say baking party?
mmm peanut butter cookies. I’m assuming these are more cake like while your other PB cookies are more fudgy?
These are more like the texture of pb cookies you’d buy in a store, if that makes sense
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Hooray for peanut butter cookies! These look so chewy, gooey, soft and delicious. I bet the raw dough is quite good too
I have made so many vegan desserts since becoming a blogger and stumbling into the food blogging community. Mostly the vegan blogs. It’s funny how people think they will taste horrible but they are, in my opinion, WAY better than non-vegan desserts.
Congrats on 10 years of veganism! I’m slowly making the transition into veganism myself.
And I know what I’m baking today. Peanut butter cookies are the best.
Those sound delicious. While I’m partial to flourless peanut butter cookies, I’m down for all kinds!!
I’ve been baking vegan for a few years now,but I avoid recipes using applesauce because I’m afraid it will tast apple-y. (I like apples,but not in cookies!) Do these taste like applesauce?
No not at all! I usually don’t like using applesauce in a recipe either, because it can sometimes make things taste gummy. But these aren’t gummy, and they only taste like peanut butter
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Thanks! I gotta try these and throw in some chocolate chips
These look absolutely delicious! But I have a rather large problem…I live in Spain and I’ve looked everywhere and I can’t find applesauce!!! Is there something else I could use?
Thanks!
Hmmm… I’ve only ever tried them with applesauce. Maybe cook apple and then puree it to make your own? Or maybe pumpkin or oil, but I haven’t tried either of these.
I actually tried substituting soy yogurt and they turned out great!
I was vegan for a while and tried making peanut butter cookies once. I was SO excited to try them-until I took them out of the oven. All you had to do was barely poke them and they would crumble… Oops
I’m definitely going to try these though!
I used to make peanut butter cookies all the time with my mom and brother! We’d always make some oatmeal raisin too for my dad… he’s allergic to peanuts. poor guy.
HI
My favortie vegan baking book is Babycakes. Babycakes is a NYC bakery that is vegan and mostly GF. These baking books are fabulous (she has 2 out). They contain great pictures with every recipe and a little story behind each recipe. And best of all they are easy to follow and even my husband will eat these healthier versions of great treats. Oh and they are refined sugar free too!
Ooh I love soft cookies, the softer the better! I really like peanut butter but haven’t made peanut butter cookies before, crazy!!
Soft peanut butter cookies are the best! I am so glad you posted these! Congrats on 10 years as a vegan too! I recently began to experiment with vegan baking. I have only made your blondies and a vegan pie thus far. Hopefully, I will make some more items soon because both were a success!
totally agree about vegan cookie dough! I always have to restrain myself when baking now otherwise only half the batch actually gets made into cookies
I love PB cookies. Oh my! Yum!
these look so good!! and I love doughy cookies
do you think oat flour would work? I’m gluten-free
made your 5 minute chocolate oatmeal for breakfast with the microwaved banana trick (which I am now completely addicted to!) that is DEFINITELY going to be one of my go-to breakfasts now
I bte it would! Let me know if you try them with oat flour. I’d love to know how they taste with it.
I always sub applesauce for oil in baking and no one ever knows! It makes it so much healthier!
Woah!! This is a great recipe! Love it
Haha! I never ate cookie dough as a kid; I pretty much thought raw eggs equaled death. But now I eat mostly vegan by default, because of my other dietary restrictions. This Thanksgiving I happened to mention to my mom (as I licked batter off the spoon from one of your recipes) that when I do make the decision to officially go vegan, it will probably be 10% for the animals, 10% for the environment, and 80% because I want to eat raw batter.
LOL!!
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I definitely like eating raw batter more than baked cookies
That is absolutely the best part of vegan cookies, all of the raw cookie dough!
I’ve been trying to be vegan for 10 years (I say ‘trying’ because I have BED and thus sometimes mess up and consume animal products. I hate myself for doing so though) and I agree that finding vegan products a decade ago was near impossible (aside from naturally vegan things, of course), particularly in the UK.
Your deep dish cookie pie is the best vegan dessert I’ve ever made. I don’t think anything else will ever match it.
xxx
Yum! I’m surprised you didn’t throw any chocolate chips in these
And, although I’m not vegan, I actually prefer vegan baked goods and always opt to make them over traditional cookies, cakes, etc!
I’m currently looking at these cookies while in the library studying for finals. I think a break is in order VERY SOON so I can go home and make these as a reason to procrastinate from re-teaching myself about the sociological perspective. Yes, peanut butter trumps all things.
ALL of my cookies are sugar free. Pure magic.
Oh yum! I love peanut butter, it is honestly my favorite food
Do you happen to have a vegan gingerbread men recipe?
I only have my raw one: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2010/12/17/vegan-raw-gingerbread-men
Yes, I’ll take a nice big stack please.
*nom, nom, nom*
Perfect to bring to the teacher cookie swap!
Katie!
I just wanted to say thank you, thank you, for all your wonderful baking recipes!
Last year I got really into Christmas baking, but after changing into a vegan and health food junkie, I was worried this year I couldn’t bring myself to bake all the milk, egg and sugar filled treats like last year. I’m so happy I’ve found your blog! A vegan baker’s heaven
Lena
Awww thank YOU for such a sweet comment!
Hey Katie! Thanks for posting this recipe. I just made them today, and they are delicious. I also added some chocolate chips to the batter too.
My family can’t tell that they’re vegan either!
Thanks again!
Helen
Oh wow, I am so excited you already made them!
These look so good! I love PB cookies
I make vegan cookies often and my favorite part is definitely that I can eat the dough without the fear of raw egg!
Your single serve pb cookie is the only vegan cookie recipe I have ever made and it is SO good!
Just made these, with GF brown bread flour and without chilling the dough and they’re so good, chewy/crunchy and delicious, thank you
Oh wow, I’m excited to know they work with that gf flour. People are always asking for gf options; I’ll definitely pass along your idea!
They worked perfectly – I might have to test them again though, just to check…
LOL! You are too cute, Eleanor. You always make me smile
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These cookies sound delicious! Great recipe
Oh yes! Vegan cookies are the norm!
I almost always make vegan cookies because it is easier and I can eat as much batter as I want
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Peanut butter cookies are my favorite! Well, peanut butter anything actually. I need cookies for a swap, maybe these will be the winners!
I made them with almond butter, because it’s all I had in the house. They are off the hook good, and I’d bet be even better when I get a hold of some PB!!!!! As always, your recipes rock!!
I’ve been wanting to try them with other nut butters. I’m so excited to know they work with almond butter! I want to try them with Justin’s maple almond butter next… or maybe chocolate.
Great recipe- we are trying to be an all vegan household– I’ve used applesauce in cakes and brownies before but never cookies-now I must try it! Thanks!
I use applesauce in all my baked goods!! It adds such a great level of moistness and texture!
I’m so glad you made a whole tag for your peanut butter recipes. It definitely deserves the attention, considering it’s probably the best food out there.. These cookies look great!
conventional PB or natural PB?
I usually use natural (Whole Foods brand, salted), but conventional will work too!
haha, that is exactly what I always tell myself! Raw vegan cookie dough is “safe”. Since I am a vegan, I have made tons of vegan cookies before and I will definitely try this recipe, as I love pb!
Mmmmm peanut butter cookays!! I love the ones made by Sweets From The Earth
so good!
those pb cookies look great! I think I’ll make them for my birthday next weekend! I love the story about your early vegan days. Yes, I baked vegan cookies in the past and the last ones I made were oat cookies and my flatmates loved them although they are not vegans
I LUV pb cookies and what a super simple recipe!
YUM! I made these, and I wish I’d doubled the batch. They’re the best pb cookies I’ve ever had, and my bf thinks so too!
OMG these look absolutely AMAZING! I have never made vegan cookies before, but i will definitely be trying these ASAP. I mean they’re peanut butter cookies, how can they not be good if they have peanut butter in them! I bet they’d be even more delicious with chocolate tips!! Yummmm!
I absolutely love your blog cause I am a huge sweets addict! I just started my own blog, so I hope you’ll stop by and check it out at : http://chocolatecoveredsneakers.wordpress.com/
Aww thanks! I’ll be sure to check it out
I’ve never made a vegan cookies. Those pb cookies look amazing – I can’t wait to try out the recipe. I love anything with peanut butter!
I can’t even remember the last time I used an egg in a recipe. I LOVE vegan baking! I’m on a chia seed egg kick right now, and the texture is pretty much spot-on. My favorite part is definitely eating the cookie dough. Sometimes I get the urge to bake just so I can eat the dough.
SO good!! I made 22 out of the batch and they were tiny before baking. They spread a lot & turned into perfect sized cookies! I can’t believe they have no eggs or oil!
I made these today and find them almost too gummy/peanut buttery. Would there be a way to thin out the flavour and consistency little bit?
Also, mine stayed pretty soft even though I did not refrigerate the dough… not sure if that’s normal.
Add more flour?
Also, what pb did you use?
OMG! These just came out of the oven and they are ridiculously ridiculously amazing! Thank you so very much
Words I overheard from the husband through his mouthful, “these are muffing amazing!” hehe
I doubled the recipe and left out 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and didn’t have applesauce but added a chopped 1/2 of an apple to the food processor. They turned out just like the ‘regular’ cookies I made when I was little. I liked being able to make the fork pattern too.
thanks! now there is drool on my keyboard!
Every time I made vegan PB cookies, I get at least one, “These are the best PB cookies I’ve ever had!” It doesn’t matter what recipe I use. Can’t wait to try these out on some people. But first, I’ll try them out one me
Katie, have I told you how much I LOVE YOU?!?!
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
I always make vegan cookies for my older sister, who has been vegan for a few years now-and hates cooking-. Cookies, cakes, pies, including your cookie pie<3!-Its amazing.- Also things that arent sweet. It doesn't really to me if it's vegan or not, as long as its good and healthy. I assume its difficult to be vegan in a non-vegan household, so I help her out. I noticed it keeps me on a mostly vegetarian diet without trying.
I made these cookies tonight. They are amazing. I used brown sugar/stevia blend and sugar/stevia blend. It was so hard to not eat the whole batch!!!!
Just made these and added some chocolate chips because I had a small amount lying around… oh wow, these are amazing!!
Thanks so much for sharing the recipe Katie. Honestly, I now check your blog about as much as I check anything online.
Awww thank you!
These look great! I love a simple recipe!
I just made these and I can’t believe how wonderful they are. My husband just tried to make me some last weekend the traditional way and they weren’t even half as good as these. They do spread a lot, and I would probably second the recipe if I were bringing them somewhere. I mean, if I could share that is…
Hi, I subbed gf oat flour for the flour and 1/4 cup agave instead of the sugars. These were yummy
Thanks for letting me know they work with oat flour! I was curious about that
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OMG! These cookies are amazing! I made these for Christmas presents to give to my dog walking human clients. I added mini chocolate chips to them and put the dough into mini muffin cups before I baked them. I am making more tomorrow because I have all ready eaten 10. Opps. I was able to make 30 cookies. Thanks for the wonderful recipes Katie! Merry Christmas!!
Wow, mini muffin cookies?? That has got to be the best idea since… ever?
I put a picture on your Facebook page.
Hey Katie! I’ve been reading your blog for awhile now but this is my first time commenting. I made these cookies last night and my little brother (well he’s 17 so not so little!) ate EVERY LAST ONE! I didn’t tell him they’re healthy let alone vegan because he’s one of those people who won’t touch anything vegan and he loved them!! His only complaint was that they weren’t big enough!! Haha! Thanks so much for this awesome recipe, it’s definitely a keeper!
Aww lol!!
We just made these this morning! The baked cookies are as good as the dough (and I sampled quite a bit so I can say that with some authority). This is the best recipe we’ve tried in our search for the perfect peanut butter cookie without breaking an egg.
Katie, these cookies are amazing! I just made them today and they are fantastic!
I tried these out today and they were delicious! Thanks for the yummy recipe!
Applesauce, could be quite interesting.
Just made these and the applesauce was good, needs more peanut butter. I like my Peanut Butter cookies to taste like peanut butter.
Love the recipe! Do you think I could add a hershey kiss to the top and make PB Blossoms out of them? Or do they spread too much?
I was actually wanting to try it, too! I’ve been on the lookout for hershey kiss-shaped molds so I can make vegan hershey kisses to try it. If you try it first with real hershey kisses, definitely let me know how it goes!
I def will! I will be using the real hershey kisses since I’m not vegan but I’m thinking you could also use regular vegan chocolate chips and make tiny peanut butter blossoms!
I made the PB blossoms using your recipe – delish!!
It worked?! Oh awesome! I am so so glad you tried it, Ashley!
LOVE LOVE LOVE these! I used GF flour and they turned out perfectly! Now I have to try and not eat all of them in one sitting.
I made these after dinner and Ohhhh Mmmmm Geeeeeee! I LOVE these!!!!!!!
YOU are genius, Ms. CCK. I am so glad I found your blog!!!!!!!
Aww Ro, I’m so glad you found me, too!
I made these cookies for my Dad (he is absolutely obsessed with the non-vegan kind) and he TOTALLY LOVED them! I am so happy to find a healthy version of his favorite cookie! Thank you so much, Katie!
I just made these for Santa and my family is currently devouring them. None of us are vegan, but no one can tell the difference! I love your recipes, these are INCREDIBLE and I am already addicted.
I made these for a party yesterday. They are sooooo good! Thanks!
I LOVE YOUR BLOG! I became vegan about 6 months ago and I’m so glad I found CCK
your recipes are always delicious and healthy, and I’m glad your spreading around the awesomeness that is veganism and eating healthy! Go you!
Ps- I’ve made your red velvet pancakes for myself for breakfast 3 times in a row… Yummyy
Aww Lindsey, that makes me SO happy!!
Hi!
Just made this recipe and stuck it in the oven. the batter was delicious, but this is probably one of the smallest batches I’ve ever made. I had to make the cookies super small to make the dough last longer too. I’m sure they’ll turn out delicious, they just probably won’t last long in this house.
Made a little change due to my lack of applesauce too. 1/2 T ground flax and 1 1/2 T water since your recipe only called for substitution of half an egg. the flax seems to be working just as well.
Thanks!
Jessica
Just made them with a coconut blend GF flour and they are AMAZING. I made them extra tiny, so they are perfect to share
Let the kids pick out a recipe to try this afternoon. The weather here in Turkey is freezing cold and miserable and they were about to kill one another. They turned out great and they’re already scarfed down. Best part was eating the cookie dough!!
omg!! These were soo good. Me and my sister made these a couple of days ago and they were so yummy and peanut buttery
thanks for the recipe!
Hey I’m curious what does ‘T’ mean in the ingredient list. I’ve honestly never come across it before. It might be because I’m from a different country, and can’t make these cookies until I know what that means.
tablespoon
YUM katie, YUM! I used GF flour and almond butter instead of PB… Mine spread out a ton, probably because it was a fresh jar of almond butter and (even though I stirred it) I got more of the oils from the top of the jar than I should have. I was worried they would get crispy because they are so thin, but they are SOFT and AMAZING just as you promised! These are the first vegan cookie I have made… and I’m in love! THANK YOU!
I have a blog, and I don’t post much, but these and your chocolate-pb no-bake cookies are going to be my first blog post in a whiiile. I’ll credit it back to you, of course! Check it out later today!
I’m so glad you liked them!
P.S. Your snickerdoodle cupcakes look incredible!
Yay! Thanks for checking out my little blog!
Wow! We just tasted this recipe today and both the kids and I loved the cookies! This is the first time since we’ve had to give up dairy, eggs and gluten that we’ve liked peanut butter cookies. So this is going to be THE recipe for us.
Would you be ok if I translate it into French for my blog? (with a link and credit to your blog, of course)
Sure! I’d be honored
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I just made these using organic chocolate peanut butter! Thank you so much for the recipie!
We love you. My daughter, son and I have Gluten allergies. We try to eat healthy and decrease our sugar intake. Thank you for fueling our recipe bank and providing such yummy snacks.
Finally got around to making this today! I ended up using a 1/2 C flour because my pb is pretty thin, and I subbed some of that for oats and shredded coconut, mmm.
Even after the extra flour I only got 15 small cookies, so the yield might be a little off. I was so scared they were going to sink in the oven like my other egg-free cookie failures, but they held up great and they are delicious!
My 4 year old son has recently gotten over a peanut allergy, and these were his very first peanut butter cookies! He absolutely loved them, and was even able to help me make them. I was shocked how good they were. This recipe is definitely a keeper.
I am new to the whole eating healthy with less sugar and no eggs. What type of peanut butter do you use? Does it matter what brand of natural peanut butter? I am currently using Earth Balance natural peanut butter but not sure if I can use it to make these cookies.
I used Whole Foods brand pb for this, so Earth Balance should be fine!
As long as it’s salted… and if it’s not, I’d add a little salt.
can i add cocoa powder to them or will they taste funny?
I added cocoa powder to mine and they tasted great! I mix it in just enough so it is just dissolved in, so it’s more of a swirl!
Thanks for putting this out there. Only issue I had with this was on cooking time and resting afterwards. I had to go approx 13 minutes on cook time and rested 10, as I pulled them out at 8 and rested 5 initially and the first one I tried to remove behaved like it was severely undercooked. Maybe it had to do with my using a gas oven and not electric.
In the end though, it tasted great and I will definitely make these again.
This might seem like a dumb question but I’m new to baking…are you supposed to use a blender to mix the ingredients or can you just do it by hand? Also, what do you mean by rolling out the cookie dough? I usually just make balls about 2 in thick…
You can do it by hand, and yes you should form balls
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Made these in a vitamix, starting with a half apple (instead of applesauce) and 4 dates (instead of sugar), added the rest and zoom! Needed a bit of moisture to mix properly so I added half a banana – yum!!
I just made these! Sooooo good!
Hello, I was just wondering if it would be possible to use splenda, and splenda brown sugar in place of the regular sugar and brown sugar in this recipe?
Sorry, I don’t know.
Here is the translation into French: http://samuserensemble.canalblog.com/archives/2012/02/02/23370276.html Thanks!
i have been making my own vegan version of rum balls — grind: pecans, almonds, walnuts, coconut, hazelnuts (optional toasted is best), chocolate, chocolate, dates and raisins. mix all together with a couple bags of mini chocolate chips, 151 proof dark rum and frangelico — roll in balls and roll in either finely ground coffee or chopped nuts — they have a bit of a kick but have been a hit at weddings’ and anniversaries’ cookie tables (cookie table is a pittsburgh tradition).
My son and I just made these. We added 2 tsp of cocoa powder to the mix. OMG, SOOOO Deeeeelicious!! Love them! Thanks for the recipe! We were happy to find a recipe where we had all the ingredients on hand. Yay
Forgot to add: we also used regular Whole Wheat flour and chunky peanut butter. They turned out perfectly.
I made these just now with regular whole wheat flour, and they came out perfectly, to the “T”!! I am going to bring them to work tomorrow (if there are any left). I’m a nurse, and my co-workers and I are always trying to eat healthy. I have a feeling I will be sharing many recipes with them!!
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