Publised on 03/03/2021. Last Updated on 03/03/2021 by Richard
Gooey, chewy peanut butter stuffed cookies, packed with dark chocolate and a touch of flaky sea salt. The most indulgent vegan cookie out there!
Alright, it's been a while since I posted some cookies up in this joint, so why not kick things back off with these VEGAN PEANUT BUTTER STUFFED COOKIES?? It might SEEM like I put that recipe title in caps as some sort of hopeful SEO hack, but actually it's because I've just eaten three cookies on my own and SUDDENLY FEEL LIKE I COULD CLIMB A MOUNTAIN!!
Do YOU want to feel like you can climb a mountain!?!? Then keep reading sis! (NB: these cookies will NOT help you climbing any mountains, please only attempt mountain climbing with the assistance of a trained professional or a responsible goat).
Talk to me about these damn fine cookies...
Look, I don't want to claim that I INVENTED the peanut butter stuffed cookie (as we all know, that was Thomas Jefferson) but I AM preeeetty damn good at making them! Here's what makes these guys better than any other recipes you might see on someone's stupid food blog:
- That sweet/salty balance baby! Gotta use that flaky sea salt with care because with great power etc etc.
- The PB filling. Some people just shove straight PB up in the cookie dough. That's illegal and will result in all the oils from the PB leaking out and making your cookies soggy. AVOID!
- I MADE the recipe. That doesn't mean anything in reality unless you think I'm a nice guy in which case you may feel a mild placebo effect after consumption.
A couple PRO tips for making VEGAN PEANUT BUTTER STUFFED COOKIES!
Yeah I'm a pro: PRO-crastinator! Still! I got mad skills in the cookie department, so read EVERY WORD below and DO NOT scroll to the recipe otherwise you'll be transported to Jumanji and hunted down by an imperialist ass hole with a shotgun who's actually a metaphor for your grumpy father.
CREAM that butter binch!
Back in the day, I read many recipes which included creaming butter and invariably I'd do a little chuckle like this "mbheh!" then never actually follow the instructions. Here's my tip.
FOLLOW (clap emoji) THE (clap emoji) INSTRUCTIONS (clap emoji)
Creaming butter isn't just a funny phrase. It's important. Long story short, it makes your cookies lighter and chewier by softening and aerating the butter WHILE simultaneously giving your sugar time to dissolve completely. Give it a good 3-5 minutes on medium speed and if you're doing it by hand, good luck with that RSI baybeh.
Freeze that PB!
Stuffing liquid peanut butter into soft cookie dough sounds so stressful I'm going to call an ambulance. DON'T DO IT!
Firstly, we're going to make a PB filling by beating together PB, icing sugar and flaky sea salt (oh hey again gurl, you flaky cow).
Secondly, you'll find the WHOLE process A LOT easier if you let your PB filling freeze before stuffing it! half an hour should do it. Ph and make sure you use a decent PB which is 100% peanuts - no added oils or sugar or what not. No shade on Skippy, it just won't work in this recipe.
Don't overwork the dough!
As with all cookie dough, the less you work it, the better it'll turn out. You don't want a tough cookie - literally!
From the point you add your flour, keep mixing to a minimum. Just beat gently until everything is fully combined AND THEN STOP! You'll thank me later.
When adding your chocolate chips, just fold em in nice and gentle like. You're gonna have perfect vegan peanut butter stuffed cookies in NO time!
Funny Story
Well, not actually funny, but interesting nonetheless. Last time I posted a recipe, I asked you all to comment JANE FONDA on my latest instagram post so that I could see how many of you ACTUALLY read this thing. I was GAGGED to see how many of you make it to this point. SOme of you came for me and suggested I just write less in my blog posts, so I thought maybe an explanation is required.
It's a really funny, totally hilarious, not overused joke that food bloggers love to write their life story before a recipe which is actually just one ingredient. As a reader, I understand how annoying this is. Believe it or not, I also sometimes use internet recipes from blogs too! BUT LET ME TELL YOU, there's a reason for the lengthy intros.
So what's it all about??
Firstly, it's about search engines. Google uses an algorithm which takes into account the content of a page when deciding which recipe makes it to the top of the search results page for any given search term. One particular thing they take into account is page length! If your page contains an amazing cookie recipe but very little text outside of the ingredients and method, then google will rank you super low on the list because it assumes your page is less relevant to actual users.
The other reason is ad placement! If your blog is your main source of income (like it is for me) you gotta make room for those ads gurl! Like them or not, ads mean that my recipes (and many others) are completely free for you. You don't need to buy a recipe book, or a magazine, or even buy your way pasta a paywall. THEY'RE FREEE. Less text on your page = less room for ads = less revenue = debt collectors at my door (what can you dooo for meee??).
Anyway, long story long, THANK YOU for reading my blog posts. Most of you don't realise how important this is to me and how it LITERALLY means I can keep doing a job I love.
To show that you're a beautiful, overachieving, wonderful soul and that you've ACTUALLY READ THIS MASSIVE RANT, let's do that thing again! Head to my latest post and comment "CAROL BURNETT". Roll on the confusion!
Need some more cookie recipes?!
Then you came to the right place! Why not give these bad boys a try!?
Vegan Double Chocolate Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
Vegan Peanut Butter Stuffed Cookies
Ingredients
For the Peanut Butter Filling
- 200 g smooth peanut butter (make sure it's the 100% peanut variety, avoid any with added oils)
- 80 g icing sugar (aka confectioners sugar)
- pinch flaky sea salt
For the Cookies
- 200 g vegan butter (at room temperature)
- 220 g light brown sugar
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste)
- 2 teaspoon psyllium husk powder (sub: 2 tablespoon finely ground flax or chia seeds)
- 2 tablespoon water
- 240 g plain white flour
- 60 g cocoa powder (use the darkest you can get)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 140 g dark chocolate chips (or chunks - make sure they're over 65% cacao and be sure to use a vegan variety)
- ½ teaspoon flaky sea salt
Instructions
To Make the Peanut Butter Filling
- Line a baking tray or plate with baking parchment.
- Place all the ingredients into a medium bowl and beat together with a spatula or spoon until fully combined.
- Divide the mixture into either 12 or 14 portions using a cookie scoop or two teaspoons, placing each portion on the prepared baking tray. If you'd like smaller cookies, make 14 portions or 12 for larger ones.
- Gently roll each portion of peanut butter filling in your hands to make a rough ball and place back on the lined baking tray. Put the tray in the freezer to chill while you make the cookie dough or for a minimum of 30 minutes.
To Make the Cookie Dough
- Place the vegan butter, sugars and vanilla extract into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream the ingredients together until very light and fluffy (around 3-5 minutes).
- While the butter and sugars cream together, place the psyllium husk powder in a small bowl and add the water. Mix well and then immediately add it to the butter mixture. Beat for a further minute to make sure the psyllium is completely combined.
- In a separate medium bowl mix together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and fine sea salt. Stop the stand mixer before adding the flour mixture and reduce the speed to low. Beat until just combined and do not overwork the dough.
- Remove the bowl of the stand mixer and add 100g of the chocolate chips (reserve the remaining 40g). Mix until just combined.
- Using a large cookie scoop, portion out 12 or 14 balls of cookie dough to match the number of peanut butter balls you made. Remove the peanut butter filling from the freezer.
- Take one ball of cookie dough and make a well in the middle with your thumb. Press the frozen peanut butter filling into the centre and then tuck the sides of the ball of cookie dough down to cover the peanut butter completely (there should be no peanut butter showing!). Top the ball of dough with a few of the reserved chocolate chips and a tiny pinch of flaky sea salt before placing it onto the lined baking sheet with the remaining frozen PB filling. Repeat until every ball of dough is stuffed with PB filling and the tray is full of balled cookie dough.
- Place the tray of cookie dough into the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes and preheat your oven to 165c/340f (fan). Alternatively, place the cookie dough into an airtight container and freeze until you're ready to bake or for up to 2 months.
- When you're ready to bake, line a new baking tray with baking parchment and arrange balls of chilled cookie dough evenly spaced apart.
- Bake the cookies for 9 minutes. Working quickly, remove from the oven and carefully give the tray 5 sharp taps on the counter then immediately place it back into the oven for the remaining 4 minutes. Once baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire cooling rack for at least 20 mins or while you bake your remaining cookies.
Olivia
Another perfect recipe by Richard! I even tried swapping the PB for speculoos cookie butter and it came out like a dream.
Shane A
Me and my family agreed to do a cookie swap at our Easter dinner this year. I'm admittedly not much of a baker but I gave these bad boys a shot and WOW. They were simple enough that I nailed the recipe, but so delicious that they were the unanimous winner of the cookie swap!