Since autumn is very much the time for baking, I decided to fire off my oven to make these delightful eggless peanut butter cookies and they were a huge success. They have crispy edges and a chewy inside studded with pools of melted chocolate, roasted peanuts and little peanut butter pools too just because.
These eggless peanut butter cookies are easy to make too. The hardest part of making these scrumptious golden discs is patience as they benefit from being chilled in the fridge overnight before baking. I have, in a moment of cookie desperation, tried to freeze them for an hour instead and then bake and that results in decent result but chilling them in the fridge overnight results in a better tasting cookie. Well, that’s really it from me this week, some solid baking inspo for you for these distinctively chillier and darker evenings ahead of us.
MORE ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS
GROUND FLAX: Ground flax mixed in with plant milk is what is used to replace eggs in this recipe. Instead of just activating the flax and adding it to the batter, I whip it with an electric whisk until thick and gooey, a bit like an egg white. It works a treat!
SOY MILK: I tend to use protein rich soy milk (in combination with ground flax) to mimic an egg. You can use a different plan milk if you are allergic or if that’s your preference – I am pretty sure all of them will work.
VEGAN BUTTER: I used melted vegan butter as the main source of fat in this recipe. I used the vegan butter block by Naturli, but any unsalted vegan butter (that comes in a block, not the one in a tub) will work well.
SUGAR: I used a couple of sugars in this recipe. Caster sugar, which is simply superfine white sugar as it melts quickly and doesn’t leave that grittiness behind and the same amount of muscovado sugar. Muscovado sugar contributes a lot of flavour and also helps with the chewy interior of these cookies. I used dark muscovado, but light muscovado will work well too.
PEANUT BUTTER: I added a big dollop of peanut butte directly to the cookie batter itself, but I also made little pools of peanut butter on top of these cookies for extra oomph of peanut butter flavour. I used deep roasted chunky kind of peanut butter as that’s what I always have in my pantry, but any type will work.
BAKING AGENTS: A touch of both baking soda and baking powder give these cookies a gentle lift without making them cakey.
FLOUR: Plain wheat flour is what I used to make these eggless peanut butter cookies. If you wanted to make these gluten-free, use this GF flour mix or a similar one that contains a good portion of binding starches.
DARK CHOCOLATE: Chocolate and peanut butter is such a natural fit so I used chunks of dark chocolate in these eggless peanut cookies. While they bake the chunks transform into finger licking chocolate fudginess. You can, of course, use good quality chocolate chips instead but I personally love big irregularly shaped chunks in my cookies so that’s what I stick to in my own baking.
PEANUTS: As these are eggless peanut butter cookies, I added some lightly roasted peanuts to the mix for texture and crunch. I would not recommend adding raw peanuts because these cookies do not spend enough time in the oven for both the cookies to bake and for the peanuts to roast at the same time, but equally peanuts that are already quite dark might burn. I roasted my peanuts in a 160° C / 320° oven until lightly golden and they were perfect.
HOW TO MAKE IT?
1) WHISK FLAX EGG AND SUGARS
Combine ground flax and plant milk in a large mixing bowl and let it get all thick and gooey (about 20 minutes). Once ready, add both sugars and whisk for about 3 minutes until thick and bubbly.
2) ADD MELTED BUTTER & PEANUT BUTTER
Add melted (but cooled) butter, peanut butter and vanilla. Mix well, until the mixture is completely homogenous.
3) FOLD IN FLOUR
Next fold in (or whisk on a low speed) flour, salt and both baking agents.
4) SCOOP AND CHILL
Finally fold most of the chocolate chunks and peanuts (leave some for decoration), then scoop the mixture out onto a baking tray. I used a large (¼ cup) ice-cream scoop to make 10 cookies. You can also use scales and roll the mixture between the palms of your hands to make 10 large or 12 smaller cookies. Pop leftover cookies and peanuts on top of each cookie. Refrigerate overnight or freeze for an hour before baking. Just before baking make a hole in each cookie, using the thick end of a chopstick or a finger, and pool some peanut butter into that hole.
Bake for 14 minutes in total, taking the tray out at half time and banging it forcefully against the kitchen counter so that the cookies spread nicely and develop delicious cracks.
- 8 g / 4 tsp ground flax (I use golden flax)
- 60 ml / ¼ cup soy milk (or other plant milk)
- 140 g / 5 oz vegan butter block (I use Violife)
- 100 g / packed ½ cup dark muscovado sugar
- 100g / ½ cup caster (superfine) sugar
- 80 g / 1/3 cup peanut butter, more to garnish
- 10 ml / 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 190 g / 1½ cups plain flour (or a good GF flour mix)
- ½ tsp fine salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 60 g / 2 oz lightly roasted peanuts
- 100 g / 3.5 oz vegan chocolate
METHOD
- Mix ground flax with soy milk in a large mixing bowl, let it stand until thickened (about 20 minutes).
- Gently melt vegan butter, once melted let it cool down completely.
- Once your butter is cool, add both sugars to the thickened flax mixture.
- Using electric whisk, whip thickened flax and both sugars for about 3 minutes – until thickened and bubbly.
- Pour in cooled melted butter, peanut butter and vanilla. Stir gently or whisk on low speed to combine.
- Fold in flour, salt and both baking agents. Stir well to combine.
- Chop peanuts roughly and chocolate into smallish cubes and add most of it to the cookie batter – keep a handful of chunks and a bit of peanuts for decoration. Stir until well distributed.
- Using an ice-cream scoop (or a spoon and scales), shape cookie batter into balls. I used a large cookie scoop (4 tbsp / ¼ cup scoop) to make 10 cookies. Pop a chunk of chocolate and chopped peanuts on top.
- Arrange shaped cookies on paper lined baking trays leaving a lot of room around each cookie – you don’t want more than 6 cookies per tray.
- Place prepped cookies in the fridge overnight or in the freezer for 1 hour. Once set, make a small hole in each cookie with the end of your chopstick or your finger and fill that hole with peanut butter for extra yumminess.
- Preheat the oven to 180° C / 355° and once ready, bake each tray for 7 minutes. After 7 minutes, bang the tray against the countertop a few times, rotate the tray and return to the oven for another 7 minutes. Bang a few times again.
- Allow the cookies to set for 10 minutes, then transfer to a drying rack to cool completely.
- Store in an air-tight container away from moisture, they should keep for at least a week. You can also freeze them in an air-tight container, before or after baking.
