These Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are delicious and decadent. Full of peanut butter flavor, rich and and moist and easy to make. This will become your go-to cookie recipe!
If you'd love more easy vegan baked goods, make sure to check out these Vegan Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies, Vegan Rice Krispie Treats and these Peanut Butter Bliss Balls next!
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❤️ Why you'll love these cookies
- they're kid friendly
- moist and delicious
- eggless, so they're great for people with egg allergies
- can be made chewy or crunchy
- full of peanut butter flavor
- easy recipe to make
- made with simple ingredients
🧈 Ingredients
Make sure to scroll to the recipe card for full list of ingredients.
- Thick, creamy peanut butter - I used chunky peanut butter because that's what I had on hand. It added a nice extra texture to the cookies. Smooth peanut butter works as well. Use whatever you have on hand or can find at the grocery store. Natural peanut butter is a lot more runny, so I love using that as well.
- Vegan butter - Every vegan butter has a little bit different moisture and fat content. This will vary the amount of plant based milk you need to use. I used country crock's vegan butter because that's what I had on hand.
- Brown sugar and white sugar - Make sure to use organic, because it's vegan. Or use a vegan sugar. I love using brown sugar because it keeps the cookies chewy and white sugar because it helps the cookies to spread. Coconut sugar also works, but will change the flavor slightly.
- Vanilla extract, Baking powder
- All purpose flour - if you'd like to make this a little healthier, you can use whole wheat flour, but since it's more dense, you may need to add more soy milk.
- Sea salt - This just enhances all of the flavors.
- Soy milk - Or use whatever dairy free milk you have. The amount of soy milk you use depends on how much water content your peanut butter and vegan butter have.
- Flax egg - For our egg substitute, we're using a flax egg. To make a flax egg just mix one tablespoon of ground flax seeds with three tablespoons of water. Then let it sit for five minutes to thicken up. This equals one egg.
- Vegan chocolate chips - Some brands are accidentally vegan, so read the ingredients. You may be pleasantly surprised. I really love the Nestle tollhouse allergen free chocolate chips. Meijer's brand Simple Truth is also dairy free. If you can't find chocolate chips, find a dairy free chocolate bar, cut it into pieces and add the chocolate chunks to the cookie dough instead.
👩🍳 Pro tips
Let them cool - These vegan cookies are really delicate when you take them out of the oven, but they firm up once they've cooled. Try not to move them too much after getting them to a cooling rack or parchment paper.
Make sure not to over mix the dough once you add the dry ingredients. This will activate the gluten in the flour too much and make the cookies too tough.
To help the cookies to spread, push them down with the back of your spatula, or fork, right before or after baking.
When melting the vegan butter, make sure to only do it for 20-30 seconds. You don't want it to boil or become too hot. Get it hot enough so that it just barely melts.
Let the milk come to room temperature. This helps the dough to come together easier and to prevent the butter from separating from the wet ingredients.
Adjust the milk - You may need to use more non-dairy milk, depending on the water and fat content of the peanut butter and vegan butter you use. You want to be able to easily roll the cookie dough into balls without them being too wet and sticky.
🥄 Directions
Make sure to scroll to the recipe card for full step-by-step instructions.
Step one: make the flax egg as the binding agent in these eggless cookies. Mix the ground flax with water, stir and set aside to thicken.
Step two: gently melt the vegan butter, then combine it with the peanut butter and sugars in a large bowl. Next, stir in the rest of the wet ingredients, including the flax egg
Step three: Add in the dry ingredients and mix until flour is combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Let the dough chill in the fridge to prevent them from spreading too much.
Step four: Roll the dough into balls and place them on a baking sheet. Use the back of a fork or a spatula to gently flatten them. Bake for 10-12 minutes, then allow the cookies to cool.
🍪 For crunchy cookies
To get crunchy cookies, before baking, push the cookie dough balls down with a fork on the cookie sheet. This spreads them out more and makes them bake evenly.
Bake the cookies for an extra 2-3 minutes, to allow them to get crispy edges, but the inner part looks a little soft. They firm up more once they've cooled.
🍪 For chewy cookies
For chewy cookies, under bake them a little bit. Just until the cookies spread and the outer edges are slightly golden. Then let them sit on the baking tray for one minute before transferring them to a cooling rack.
To keep the cookies chewy, store them in an airtight container on the counter. This prevents them from drying out.
🔪 Specialty ingredients & tools
I love using a non-stick baking sheet. It helps these delicious cookies to bake evenly every time.
I also love using a cookie scoop to get each cookie the same size. This helps them to bake at the same rate as well. You can use an ice cream scoop for larger cookies.
An electric mixer always helps with making cookies, but it's not mandatory.
A large mixing bowl is needed to mix the cookie dough in.
❄️ Storing & freezing tips
These cookies can be stored in an air tight container in the pantry for about 5 days.
Vegan peanut butter chocolate chip cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container.
If you want to freeze the cookie dough, just roll them out into balls and freeze them in that shape. You can bake right from frozen, just add a minute or two to the baking time.
🥖 Make these cookies gluten free
I haven't recipe tested these cookies yet to make them gluten free. But, if you'd like to try, use all purpose gluten free flour.
It's important to use a flax egg as an egg replacer to help the cookies to bind. Mix 2 tablespoons of ground flax with 5 tablespoons of water. Let it sit for 5 minutes, then add to the wet ingredients.
This will help the cookies to not crumble as much.
❓ Recipe FAQs
If you'd like these cookies to be less sweet, only use ¾ cups of sugar.
If you'd like to make these oil free, use apple sauce instead. The texture will be a bit different though, and they won't spread well.
Yes! Coconut oil makes a good substitution for butter. Melt it in the microwave, and then let it cool slightly before using.
You can, but the consistency will be different.
🍰 More recipes you'll love
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Peanut butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
- 5 tablespoons water
- ½ cup vegan butter
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons soy milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup dairy free chocolate chips
Instructions
- Create the flax egg by mixing together the ground flax seeds with water in a small mug. Set it aside for 5-10 minutes to let it thicken up.2 tablespoons ground flax seeds, 5 tablespoons water
- Melt the butter in the microwave for a 10-20 seconds. Mix the vegan butter with the peanut butter, then add the sugars and mix.½ cup vegan butter, ½ cup white sugar, ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup peanut butter
- Add the vanilla, soy milk, and flax egg mixture and mix well.2 tablespoons ground flax seeds, 2 tablespoons soy milk, 1 tablespoon vanilla
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.1¼ cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- Add the dry ingredients and chocolate chips to the wet ingredients. Mix until flour is all mixed in, but don't over mix. It will make the cookies tough. If the dough seems too dry, add an extra tablespoon or two of soy milk.1 cup dairy free chocolate chips
- Let the dough chill for 30 minutes in the fridge to prevent the cookies from over spreading.
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a 1-2 tablespoon cookie scoop and roll the dough into balls. Place them on the baking sheet. Gently smash each cookie dough ball with the back of a spatula to flatten them slightly. Push in extra chocolate chips on top if preferred.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden and top is slightly golden brown. Let them sit on the baking sheet for a minute or two, then transfer to a cooling rack. These cookies are delicate when warm, so be careful when transferring them to a cooling rack. They will firm up when they cool.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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