The perfect cross between a chocolate chip cookie and a peanut butter cup, these cookies are meant for everyone.
I would recommend not telling people they're vegan (but do tell them they have peanuts in them!), because they won't believe such a delicious cookie could be made without eggs or dairy!
Truly a crowd-pleaser and easy to make; don't say I didn't warn you when people beg you to bake another batch the moment they run out.
No joke, I made three batches in the span of two weeks!
Enjoy 🙂
Chilling the dough: What makes the peanut butter filling so perfect is the fact that it is chilled before being wrapped in the chocolate dough, as well as chilling the dough balls before baking. This ensures the PB filling doesn't spread or ooze out of the chocolate dough. Make sure you chill the dough before baking. Tip: For more flavor development, chill the filling and dough for 24 hours. You don't have to, but I always recommend letting your cookie dough marinate a little bit 😉
Special Ingredients: Notes and Tips
Peanut Butter: I like natural peanut butter, since we're already adding sugar and fat to the filling. I also find this recipe to be a great way to use up the bottom of a natural peanut butter jar, where the peanut butter is thick and hard to spread. It makes for the perfect PB filling!
Brown Sugar: Adds moisture and a deeper molasses flavor.
Vanilla Extract: Use your favorite extract; we're enhancing the chocolate and PB flavors.
Sea Salt: Balances the sweet with the salty, and good-quality salt really shines in the Peanut butter.
Cocoa Powder: I always use 100% pure cocoa powder, but if you want to use Dutch-processed cocoa powder instead of plain cocoa powder, feel free to! Just note that the cookie dough will be darker, so watch for signs that the cookies are done baking carefully.
Vegan Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Make the chocolate dough:In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the room temperature vegan butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. This should be on medium speed, about 3-5 minutes.1/2 cup Vegan Butter, 196 grams Brown Sugar
- While you're whipping the butter and sugar, combine the flax meal and brewed coffee in a small bowl. Allow to sit for 3-5 minutes, as the flax needs to congeal with the coffee.38 grams Brewed Coffee, 1 tbsp Ground Flax Seed/ Flax Meal
- Add the vanilla extract, flax egg, cocoa powder, and salt to the stand mixer. Mix again until combined.1 tsp Vanilla Extract, 1/2 tsp Salt, 35 grams Cocoa Powder
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Add the dry mix to the stand mixer. Mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, to reduce the amount of dry that will fly out the sides, then go up to medium speed until just mixed. You don't want to overmix the dough.1 tsp Baking Soda, 1/4 tsp Baking Powder, 162 grams All Purpose Flour
- Place your dough in a container, and refrigerate at least overnight, but preferably 24 hours.
- Make the peanut butter filling. In a bowl, combine the room-temperature plant butter, vanilla extract, and peanut butter. Using a whisk, whip until it's smooth, with no clumps of butter or peanut butter. All the ingredients are pretty smooth, so they don't require electric mixing. Just a whisk and a bowl work great!2 tbsps. Vegan Butter, 1/4 cup Peanut Butter, 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- Add the Brown Sugar and salt, and whip again until all is combined.1/4 cup Brown Sugar, 1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
- On a parchment-lined plate, separate the peanut butter filling into 11 even scoops. Each will be the size of about 2 tsps. Place in the freezer until ready to bake.
- Take the chocolate dough out of the fridge about 1 hour before you're ready to bake. You want the dough to be room temperature when portioning. Portion the dough into 11 equal balls. Mine weighed 50 grams each, roughly the size of a scoop of ice cream.
- Flatten the portioned balls of dough, add the frozen peanut butter filling to the middle, and wrap the dough around the peanut butter filling. You shouldn't be able to see any filling through the dough.
- Place your filled doughs into the freezer. You do not want the cookies to spread too quickly in the oven, or else the filling will seep out. Freezing the dough will help it spread more slowly and bake more evenly. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Bake the cookies. Place them about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Place in the oven for 8 minutes, rotate the pan, and bake for another 7-8 minutes. They will have spread, be a little crinkly on the top, and still be soft/ gooey feeling in the middle. Allow to completely cool on the cookie sheets.
