Double-Chocolate Peanut Cookies

Double-Chocolate Peanut Cookies

Browneyedbaker is one of the American non-vegan blogs that I subscribe to. The blog is frequently updated and I often find something that catches my eye (or should that be tastebuds) but most of those recipes contain eggs and I confess that until this recipe, I'd not actually tried anything from the site.

I had a jar of crunchy peanut butter in my cupboard that had been standing, unopened and unloved for so long that its use-by date was fast approaching. Being such a tight-arse, I didn't want to have to end up throwing the whole jar out, so I looked for something I could bake with it. The thing here, though, is that I don't really like peanut butter! I had bought the jar to make dog biscuits, but that's a whole other story. 

Anyway, I veganised Browneyedbaker's recipe, cut it in half, made some ingredient changes and reduced the fat by half to make my own recipe. The result was, even to a someone like me who's not a big fan of peanut butter, totally delicious! Soft and very flavourful, I was very impressed and I hope you are too. 

Where I halved the recipe, some of the measurements are a bit awkward, so if you don't like 'em as they are, just double everything up and you will have an easier time, but double the cookies (which may be a good thing!).

Double-Chocolate Peanut Cookies

Ingredients

1 tbs ground flax seed

2 1/2 tbs water

1/2 + 1/8 cup plain flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder (I used fat-reduced cocoa)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

28g vegan margarine

28g applesauce (I used Tesco Value - make sure you buy a smooth sauce!)

1/4 + 1/8 cup crunchy peanut butter

1/3 cup light brown sugar (pat it down a bit to get more in so the cookies get sweet enough)
2 tbs + 2 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup dark/vegan chocolate chips

Method

1. Heat the oven to 175C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and line two baking trays with baking paper.
2. Stir the flax seed and water together and leave to get gummy (this is your egg replacer - use an alternative if you prefer).
3. Stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. In another bowl, use an electric whisk to beat the margarine, applesauce, peanut butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.
5. Add in the flax seed mixture and vanilla and whisk again to combine.
6. Stir in the dry ingredients until just combined. You can start off doing this with the electric whisk if you like, but the dough will get very stiff and your whisk might not like it.
7. Finally, fold in the chocolate chips.
8. Using a small (4cm) ice cream scoop or your hands, form balls approx 2.5cm across and place onto the baking trays, spaced well apart. You should get 12 cookie balls, 6 per tray. Flatten the balls down into circles.
9. Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until the outsides have set but the cookies still feel nice and soft.
10. Leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Makes: Approx 12