Healthy Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
The only Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe you'll ever need! Naturally sweetened with dates, this grain-free, sugar-free, dairy-free cookie is so delicious you'll be making it over and over again.
Servings: 24 cookies
Calories: 122kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup medjool dates*
- 1 cup organic creamy peanut butter*
- ¼ cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1 cup almond flour
- ½ cup cassava flour*
- 2 Tablespoons ground flax
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Remove pits from dates and soak in warm water for 10 minutes. SAVE soaking water.
- Place soaked dates, peanut butter, applesauce, vanilla and ¼ cup soaking water into bowl of food processor and mix until smooth.
- Add dry ingredients: almond flour, cassava, flax, baking soda and sea salt and process until just incorporated. It should pull away from the edges of the processor. If it's too dry, add an additional Tablespoon date water, if it's too sticky, add additional Tablespoon almond flour.
- If desired, stir in ⅓ cup chocolate chips by hand.
- Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes*
- Preheat oven to 350. Line rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper.
- Scoop out golf ball sized balls of dough onto prepared pan.
- Use the back of a fork to make a crosshatch pattern on each cookie. To prevent the fork from sticking to the dough, dip it in cassava flour in between pressing down.
- Dust with a pinch of flakey sea salt if desired.
- Bake 15 minutes until golden.
- Let cool on a wire rack and enjoy.
- Baked cookies can be stored in airtight container once they have cooled at room temperature for 4 days, in the fridge for a week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Notes
DATES: 1 cup is approximately 8-9 dates, depending on size. Buy dates with the pits still in and remove them yourself. They will be softer and more moist.
CASSAVA FLOUR: Substitute with arrowroot powder, tapioca starch, potato starch, chickpea flour, almond flour or even all purpose flour.
PEANUT BUTTER: Look for peanut butter with only 1 ingredient: peanuts. Natural peanut butter doesn't have any added oil or sugar. When you open a new jar, be sure to mix it well. Separation is natural, but to ensure recipes come out well, the oil and solid needs to be well mixed....otherwise your cookies may be too dry or too oily.
FLAKEY SEA SALT: Optional, but I think totally worth sprinkling on top of cookies before baking.
CHOCOLATE CHIPS: Optional to mix ⅓ cup chocolate chips into batter before spooning onto baking sheet. AND/OR melt chocolate chips: to dip one corner of baked cookies into or drizzle onto baked cookies.
DOUGH: Chilled dough is easier to work with and the cookies will hold their shape better. Refrigerate dough for a minimum of 30 minutes. You can also keep the dough in the fridge for up to 5 days. To freeze dough, roll into cookie size balls and freeze on flat surface until solid, then transfer to freezer container for up to 3 months. Bake as directed, adding additional 3-4 minutes.
How to freeze peanut butter cookies
- Freeze dough before baking: scoop golf-ball sized portions onto a sheet of unbleached parchment paper and roll them into balls. Pop them into the freezer until solid and then transfer into freezer safe bags. Pull out just the amount you want to cook and bake.
- OR, bake the cookies and then: Cool baked cookies completely and then transfer to freezer safe containers for up to 6 months.
Nutrition
Serving: 2cookies | Calories: 122kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 93mg | Potassium: 110mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 10IU | Vitamin C: 0.03mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 0.5mg