Vegan Peanut Butter & Dark Chocolate Cookies
These cookies are everything you want from a proper cookie. Crisp around the edges and chewy and sweet in the middle. But add the salty crunch of peanuts and the hum of peanut butter and the distinct richness of the dark chocolate they go next level! I’d challenge anyone to even question if these were vegan. You won’t believe it! And you certainly won’t care! Put the kettle on and enjoy.
Makes 12 (easily scaled)
INGREDIENTS
40g Caster Sugar
110g Light Brown Sugar
220g Plain Flour
½ tsp Bicarbonate Of Soda
110g Dark Chocolate Chips
40g Salted Peanuts – roughly chopped
60g Vegetable Oil
60g Smooth Peanut Butter
100g Golden Syrup
40g Water
Sea Salt for sprinkling (optional)
METHOD
1. In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients – add chopped peanuts and chocolate chips and sieve over the flour, bicarb and both the sugars and stir to combine everything.
2. In a second bowl or jug, whisk together the wet ingredients - oil, golden syrup, peanut butter and water until combined.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and using a wooden spoon stir to mix until no flour is visible, and a dough starts to form. When it becomes too hard to stir, use your hands to coax the mix into a glossy and thick cookie dough.
4. The mixture should weigh 770g. To get 12 even sized cookies, weight approximately 64g measurements of dough and form into golf sized balls. Place on a plate as you go.
5. Once all 12 are weighed and rolled, place in the fridge to chill for an hour and firm up. This will allow them to spread slowly in the oven as they cook giving that thick and chewy centre!
6. Pre-heat your oven to 200°C / 180°C Fan once the hour is almost up
7. Line two baking trays with parchment paper and add 6 cookie dough balls to each tray. Space them out as much as you can to avoid them touching as they spread in the oven.
8. Bake for 10-14 minutes. Each oven is different, and I found swapping and turning the baking sheets half way through cooking gave the best even bake. But one tray was ready in 12 minutes, the second needed a touch longer so keep watch until all the cookies are going golden around the edges and still soft in the centre. Remember they will firm up as they cool.
9. If you like, sprinkling a touch more sea salt on top of each cookie (but remember the peanuts inside are salty so don’t be too heavy handed!).
If like me, the food stylist in you likes perfectly round cookies, as soon as they come out of the oven, use a large cookie cutter and swirl the still soft cookie gently around the inside of the cutter and it will perfectly curve the edges of your cookies giving you a professional finish!
10. Leave to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely (if you can wait!).
Best enjoyed on the day you make them but will be still delicious for a couple of days after if kept in an airtight container.
This recipe is based on Pret’s vegan chocolate cookie, but with several of my own adjustments.