These cookies are serving as my “re-introduction” into vegan baking. Of course, I love me some rich creamy buttercream and tiramisu cupcakes (do I ever!), but vegan baking is a nice change because it challenges me in the kitchen! Sometimes I get stuck in a rut of same ol’ cupcakes and cookies…so a little change is always fun.
Plus, you could give these chunky chocolate peanut butter cookies to anyone and I guarantee they’d never know the difference.
Because these are “healthy”, they clearly serve as a nutritious afternoon snack…
Right?
They’re definitely more chocolately than anything else and you could totally sub out the peanut butter for almond butter if that’s what you have on hand. As for me though, I’ll be a chocolate peanut butter girl until death. It’s just who I am.
After chowing down on a few of these bad boys yesterday afternoon, I got the genius idea that they would even be BETTER as ice cream sandwiches! So, I’m scooping some vanilla ice cream and freezing them for dessert this weekend. As much as I love cookies, I reaaaaaaally love ice cream sandwiches.
Oh, by the way! Check out this retro mixer I got at the thrift store last week for four dollars!
I literally squealed with joy when I found it!!! Not only is it my absolute favorite shade of blue, but it still works perfectly.
I can’t wait to make buttercream with it while wearing my sparkle heels, which are actually more comfortable than expected. Yesterday when they arrived, I immediately put them on with my yoga clothes, finished baking these cookies then sat down to blog. Love.
Happy Friday to you!
Vegan Chunky Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
adapted from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan
makes about 16 cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup spelt flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup canola oil
2 T peanut butter
1/4 cup roasted peanuts
1/4 cup chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift together your spelt flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add sugar and stir to combine. It’s important you sift when you use spelt flour because it’s a bit denser than other flours and you don’t want rock-cookies.
In another bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, canola oil and peanut butter. Pour into dry ingredients and add the peanuts and chocolate chips.
Scoop into small balls and place on a lined cookie sheet, pressing down gently. Bake for 10-12 minutes then cool on the baking sheet for 10 more minutes.
Time:
30 minutes
I’m not taking my heels off and you can’t make me.
{ 103 comments… read them below or add one }
I love that color blue, too! Does a mixer from 1987 get to be considered retro? Because that’s what I’ve always had! Good call on labeling Dexter’s mouse tail!
I’ve passed these cookies by several times in Eat, Drink and Be Vegan, but after seeing how lovely yours turned out I can wait no longer! I’m an almond butter girl though
Love the chalkboard, by the way!
Love that mixer – love all things vintage really
These cookies look amazing and ice cream sandwhiches….oh my! Yummmm
These cookies look so good! Dense but soft, just the way I like them
I bet they’d be amazing as ice cream sandwiches, or even crumbled on top.
That mixer is so cool. It’s amazing how many, very specific, settings it has!
Almond butter is good and all, but there’s really nothing that can replicate that pb + chocolate combo! Example one: my breakfast – PB/chocolate chip oats. Ain’t nothin’ better!
These cookies look great – and I love the ingeredients board with the chalked words on, and the mixer! Wow! Better than those shoes…..almost!
That mixer is awesome! I remember my parents having a similar one, although theirs was an ugly tan color, not that pretty blue.
I’m liking your chalkboard pictures with all the ingredients. And I’m liking these cookies!!
i like the chalkboard idea! usually i hate when people write what the ingredients are in text over a photo, but this is super cute and not intrusive at all! not to mention the cookies sound like heaven
The chalkboard is super cute! And the cookies look super yummy – I know what you mean about vegan baking being a fun challenge; it gets you to think creatively about the ingredients you’re going to bring together. And even if something is ever ‘off’ in a vegan baked good, it could easily be covered up by the heavenly combo of chocolate and pb
The cookies look amazing. I have never tried vegan cooking/baking before. I was wondering could you substitute whole wheat flour for spelt flour?
Try all purpose flour instead!
What’s the diff w/ all-purpose flour? I thought that was just white flour? …I don’t know…
That mixer is so sweet! And that chalkboard. And those cookies. Goodness, this is a fabulous post!
I was just thinking the exact same thing
haha
these look awesome and I’m dying over your retro mixer!!! I can’t believe you found something soooooo cool at the thrift store!!
awesome.
I love so many things about this post:
1) the cookies
2) your mixer
3) your chalkboard
4) your handwriting!
Cookies are cookies – vegan or not!
Love your chalkboard Jenna… very creative!
Funny story – I follow both you and Cely (at http://www.runningoffthereeses.com) and she blogged about ordering these same shoes a few days after you did – they must be just that amazing!
Love the mixerrr and these cookies sound great!!
was wondering if I can use whole wheat our all purpose flour?
can I also sub apple sauce for oil?
what differences in outcome will I see with these changes?
thanks jenna
Try all purpose and I wouldn’t try applesauce, personally. They would probably turn into little stones (not so good).
I’m in love with that mixer! and for $4? I need to get to a thrift store!
That mixer is SO cool!
These cookies sound wonderful! Can you sub whole wheat flour for spelt?
I would try regular, not whole wheat. Whole wheat would be too dense!
i love thrifting! never found something that cool for cheap
The mixer is adorable.
So is the chalk idea.
Those cookies look yum yum yum.
Have a beautiful weekend, Jenna.
I love the chalkboard, what a great idea! I have never baked like a vegan (walked like an Egyptian
but your recipes are intriguing me. Thanks for bringing new challenges into the kitchen. Have a great Friday!
I love the chalkboard layout. How do you do that? Is there a random big chalkboard in your place?
That mixer is awesome, love the blue!
Super tasty looking! I’ve never tried baking vegan.. but it is something I am totally interested in! I am doing a blogger bake sale/auction next week with proceeds going to the Susan G. Komen foundation. I am walking 60 miles in Boston this summer in the 3 day for a cure. Perhaps you would be interested in donating a batch of these yummy cookies?
Ok right I am making these stat but tell me if I can replace Spelt flour w anything else? None available in Mumbai! Don’t leave me hanging !
you can try replacing it with regular flour!
just the dough alone looks heavenly!
That mixer is awesome!
Just a side note, make sure to check that baking powder for aluminum…I stopped buying it because of that. Other brands make sure to say aluminum free but maybe they finally changed it.
These snapshots (the blackboard concept – super cool) are especially awesome…you are have such an artistic eye for food photography, Jenna. Seriously, these are professional quality. (The bonus is a yummy-healthish recipe and an always amusing narrative!)
And…a Happy Friday to you as well!
I’m not a vegan but sometimes I think vegan treats can be SO delicious. Mostly because they tend to involve chocolate and peanut butter
.
Loving the chalkboard, and the shoes of course!
Great idea! So easy too. Mmm.
That ingredients shot is so fun; I love the chalkboard background.
Jenna I LOVE that you’re getting back to your veggie/vegan friendly ways! I’ve always loved reading your posts but all that meat and butter was starting to scare me a bit hehe. Keep the yummy recipes coming!
Oh my do these cookies look soooo good. Chocolate and peanut butter makes me drool.
Hellooooo cookies! I’m definitely a chocolate-peanut-butter girl. And that vintage mixer is so gorgeous!
I am LOVING the new ingredients-on-the-chalkboard feature! So cool!
Yum! They look amazing! And I love your mixer.
Love the ’50s mixer. Makes me want to dress in high heels and a full skirt w/a cinched belt. Having a retro moment.–Nancy Drew is trending on Twitter, too. LOVE the chalkboard!
Love the cookies and LOVE your photos. So fun!
I don’t know how you come up with this stuff! These sound amazing! Absolutely splendid Jenna!
I am loving that retro mixer – what a fabulous find!
The chalkboard backdrop is wonderful.
I’ve never baked anything vegan style before, but these cookies make it so tempting. Especially with a combo like peanut butter and chocolate (I am thoroughly addicted to both!) BTW, your post is incredibly beautiful, that blue is also my favorite color.
Looks delicious!!
The cookies look awesome, Jenna…and yes, vegan baking IS a challenge compared to regular baking b/c those darn pesky eggs, sticks of butter, and cream can be hard to replace sometimes but nothing is missing in your cookies today! YUM!
I love PB wayyyy more than AB, too. Sunflower Seed Butter is the best yet.
I love your $4 find. Jealz!!! And I love that color blue, too!
I’m totally with you on the peanut butter and chocolate bandwagon. Almond butter will never overpower pb!
I LOVE your blog! And now that you are doing more vegan stuff, I’m in heaven! My daughter is allergic to milk, eggs and peanuts so I cook without dairy/eggs daily. Always looking for more yummy, vegan recipes! (I love all of the other ones, too, but vegan ones really interest me!) Thanks!!!
I love the variety in your posts lately. The mixer is awesome. It’s so fun to discover a find like that. I say add an Anthropologie apron to the mixer and heels, then you have a perfect outfit.
These look so cute. I giggled when I saw Dexter’s tail
Have a great weekend sparkle shoe princess!
LOVE the chalkboard idea!!! Hope to see it again!!!!!!!!!!
yep. these will sure hit the spot for me, that I know.
Awesome recipe. I like the original too.
Love the new look with the chalk board. Creative and Appealing!
Making these over the weekend – no butter and no eggs?! HECK YES!
p.s. Totally jealous of your retro mixer – it’s awesomesauce!
As a recently turned vegan, I love everything about these!! Please keep up the delicious vegan recipes, my omni family is loving them all.
Wow! Those cookies look sooo delicious! I became a vegan a few months ago thanks to a helpful plan I found on a site called Fitango. Here’s the link: http://www.fitango.com/ I highly recommend it!
I still have a lot to learn about cooking vegan meals. I’m definitely going to bake a batch of these cookies this weekend! Thanks for the recipe!
That mixer is gorgeous! I love vintage-y things. And chocolate and peanut butter is a match made in heaven!
You’ve just changed my day. Chocolate peanut butter cookies here I come…
I am in LOVE with your photography in this post! The chalkboard is such a beautiful and classic piece and just WORKED when you put the ingredients on and labeled them, sooo cute I LOVE IT!
I am also dying inside because I don’t have that mixer in my posession! Not only is it my favorite color but it is vintage and I love how it has all those functions! Way cool.
I absolutely love vegan cookie recipes! They are usually pretty simple, and like this recipe, only call for oil and some leavening to give them great texture! Love it! Whenever I’m out of eggs or butter but want to bake, I immediately look for vegan recipes!
Hey Jenna! I just made vegan choc chip muffins for the first time. I had a hard time finding the began chocolate chips tho. Everything had milk fat or chocolate in them. I wound up spending $5 for a dairy free bag. Any recommendations for a good brand.
favorite combo ever. totally making these!
Awesome hand mixer! You can never go wrong with anything vintage. I still use my grandmother’s 1978 avocado green Osterizer blender she gave me when she thought I needed to make margaritas for my aparment warming party back in college:) Definately trying the cookies only with gluten free flour. Wish me luck!
You know what else vegan cookie dough is good for? When you buy ice cream at the store (shame on me for being too lazy to make my own last week!) that’s supposed to have cookie dough in it but has far, far too little. Make cookie dough into tiny sized balls and mix it in with the rest of the ice cream, then stuff a waffle cone with it. Yum.
Ohmygosh…I love yoga clothes and heels! On days that I leave work and go directly to the studio, I always rock the platform peeptoes with my luon, LOVE!
Thank you for posting this vegan recipe! I am definitely going to try it next week, can’t wait!
And that mixer is awesome. I love all the specific settings it has. Good find!
Really beautiful post
What a great find! I love thrift finds. Do you find things like this often?!
I’m loving your vegan dessert binge and I’m anything but vegan. These look great! I want to test out some spelt flour baking now.
ok, Don’t know if you read these but I never comment and I am only choosing today because I recently went through a huge file folder full of printed recipes. I couldn’t believe how many of your recipes I have saved. And tried. You are creative and spot on. Gonna try these fo sho! Thanks Jenna…Cindy
Love it, Jenna! I will definitely make these. I am ridiculously jealous of your mixer. Ridiculously so. I have too many vintage cookwares than I know what to do with, but that does not stop me from lusting after the perfect mixer. You’re right, that shade of blue…*sigh*
Heidi xo
I need that mixer – my favorite color and all!
I love this post because the cookies are vegan(!), we have two shared passions: thrifting and aqua blue. I actually just bought the Le Creuset dutch oven in that color and made this bread:
http://www.sweetamandine.com/2009/06/bandwagon.html
and it was AMAZING. You should try it. : )
Ps. You might also like these:
http://pyrexcollective.blogspot.com/2011/04/more-turquoise.html
I have a small collection of the aqua and blue colors (and a couple brown) and I LOVE them. You might like them because they are made out of glass and photograph really beautifully.
I LOVE the chalkboard labels. So cute!! And, wow, do those cookies look amazing.
Hi! Just visiting from 5ohwifey’s blog. I am thrilled to see this recipe because we often get together with some vegan friends and now I can impress them with some great cookies! I look forward to learning more from your blog!
These look so rich and chocolatey and positively dreamy!
Do you think these could easily be made gluten free? I have a friend who’s vegan AND has celiac, and I would love to share such a recipe with her.
these look delish! i’m definitely in a pb cookie rut, so these will have to be made.
what kind of chalkboard are you using for your background?
I HAD to test these out last night and what a keeper! I subbed cashews for the peanuts (we have plenty of pb, never the actual nut!) and they turned out beautifully. I’m making them for my graduation party tomorrow!
PS, your shoes are the definition of fab.
I just made these yesterday and now they’re gone. P.S. Love both the mixer and your shoes!
Oh my gosh. SHUT UP. That mixer is freaking AWESOME! Girl, you are just living the life- delicious, healthy cookies and a kick ass mixer. Im super jealous
Ohh, these sound good. I love ED&BV’s version so much. I’ll have to go back and make both!
Awesome post! I love how you did the photography! Peanut butter and chocolate are probably the most delicious combo ever!
I like the challenge behind vegan baking as well, and I love that these use maple syrup. I imagine it would add an entirely new level of flavor and the thought of it sounds fantastic. I have to say, it cracks me up that you made vegan cookies and turned them into ice cream sandwiches. This is totally something I would do!
These look scrumptious! I want one of these warm and gooey, right out with oven with a tall, cold glass of chocolate almond milk
made these today!!
thanks for sharing! i am one happy baker/eater. they are delish. perfect amount of sweetness and chocolatey-ness. i also like the crunch from the peanuts!! theyre great as a little snack or energy bites since they are pretty ‘health-ified’.
mine were a teeeny bit dry, however? not sure what i could of messed up. any idea how to get them a little bit more moist next time?
oh! i also made your spicy jambalaya for my family this week. it was a hit! we added a bunch of shrimp to it in addition to the andouille. it was awesome. thanks! love your blog.
Love your chalkboard addition Jenna!!
I love the chalkboard. It’s so creative.
I have to make these cookies today.
Have you ever tried ‘Dark Chocolate Dreams’ peanut butter by the Peanut Butter Company? Its heaven….
http://ilovepeanutbutter.com/index.php/peanut-butter-1/darkchocolatedreams.html
I tried these and my cookies completely fell apart.. they were a mess! Why do you think this happened?
no earthly idea. did you follow the recipe exactly? My dough really wasn’t crumbly at all…I’m so sorry!
What kind of chocolate chips did you use?
My dough was crumbly too, though I admit I subbed white whole wheat flour for the spelt flour. To deal with the dough, I smooshed the crumbs together, using an ice cream scoop to help pack the dough. I also skipped the step where you flatten the dough balls because the dough wasn’t sturdy enough.
The result was great! A cookie with a lightly crisped exterior with a sandy-velvety interior. The flavor is delicious; the chocolate and sweetness are well-balanced.
So my advice? Work the dough together with your hands and persevere. I might also try adding another 2 tbsp. of peanut butter and/or a little more maple syrup to help the dry ingredients come together into a dough.
(Whew, I’m long-winded!
)
Mmmm, finally a healthy cookie… that looks moist! I’ve seen so many healthy cookie recipes but they look all dry and crumbly. I’ll definitely be making these!
Hey Jenna the cookies look so good. What brand is the vintage mixer…….. to die for!
Awesome recipe. These are on my weekend agenda!
These look fantastic & I am in LOVE with that handmixer
)) too bad my oven broke yesterday… though I may just have to make these anyways and use my toaster oven 
<3
n
Made these today- not sure how to rate them! The dough tasted wonderful, but was way too crumbly to form into balls. I added another 3 tablespoons of peanut butter, which helped a little. The cookies tasted great but still fell apart :-/ I followed the recipe exactly. Anyway, the crumbs were delicious in yogurt!
Are these supposed to be super dry? My batter was hard to keep together and made for a very dry cookie. Oh, they were delicious, just didn’t hold together too well. Any tips?
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