Vegetarian Recipes

Best Peanut Butter Cookies

https://www.loveandlemons.com/peanut-butter-cookies/

Say hello to the best peanut butter cookies out there. These guys have chewy middles, crumbly edges, and a fantastic nutty flavor. P.S. They’re vegan too!

As soon as I tried these peanut butter cookies, I exclaimed, “They taste like Nutter Butters!” I meant it in the best way. They have a delicious crumbly texture with slightly chewy middles, and they’re bursting with sweet, peanut-y flavor. For me, they’re the perfect peanut butter cookies. If you need a second opinion, talk to Jack. I’ve made over six batches of different variations of this peanut butter cookie recipe in the last two weeks, and they’ve all disappeared. Suffice it to say, we’re hooked.

Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe Ingredients

For years, I’ve been making peanut butter cookies without flour, but this fall, I wanted to develop a vegan peanut butter cookie recipe to share with you all. Instead of trying to make flourless cookies without eggs, I made this recipe more traditional, adding flour, baking powder, and baking soda. The crumbly, melt-in-your mouth texture these ingredients added totally delighted me, and I think you’ll love it too. Here’s what else is in them:

Peanut butter, of course! I haven’t tested this recipe with crunchy peanut butter, so be sure to use creamy peanut butter for the best results. You can use natural peanut butter or no-stir peanut butter in this recipe.
Ground flaxseed – I used flax as a binder instead of an egg.
Brown sugar and cane sugar – This combination creates the perfect complex, sweet flavor.
Coconut oil – Make sure your coconut oil is softened, but not melted. It should still have a white, creamy appearance, but it should mix seamlessly into the wet ingredients. You don’t want any chunks!
Vanilla extract – Just a splash adds essential depth of flavor.
And sea salt – Don’t leave it out! A pinch of salt really makes the peanut butter flavor pop.

Wet ingredients in a bowls

How to Make Peanut Butter Cookies

Ready to make these easy peanut butter cookies? Here’s what you need to do:

First, make your flax egg. Combine the flax and water and set it aside for 5 minutes to thicken.

Mixing wet and dry ingredients

Then, whisk together the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients in separate bowls. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until everything is well combined. The dough will be very thick!

How to make peanut butter cookies

Peanut butter cookie dough

Next, it’s time to chill. Pop the cookie dough in the fridge for 30 minutes, and preheat the oven to 350.

When the dough is chilled, you can bake! Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to portion out the dough and roll it into balls. Press the dough balls down gently with your hands before using a fork to give them the signature peanut butter cookie criss cross pattern. Bake the cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 12 minutes. They will still be fragile at this point, so allow them to rest for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Finally, eat! ????

Easy peanut butter cookies

My Best Peanut Butter Cookies Tips

Use runny peanut butter. Look for creamy peanut butter with a smooth consistency to make this recipe, not the dry, stiff stuff that you might find at the bottom of a jar of natural peanut butter. Even when your nut butter is runny, this recipe makes a stiff cookie dough. If your peanut butter is too dry, the dough may crack, and it will be difficult to form cohesive cookies. Tip: If you store your peanut butter in the fridge, allow it to sit at room temperature for an hour before making this recipe.
Chill the dough! It may be tempting to skip this step, but as I tested this recipe, I found that chilled dough really made the best peanut butter cookies. Chilling prevents them from spreading as they bake, and they come out with a clearer criss cross pattern.
Leave them on the baking sheet for a few minutes to cool. Like many vegan cookie recipes, these peanut butter cookies require a few minutes to set up once they’re out of the oven. Before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely (or devouring them right away!), leave them on the baking sheet for 10 minutes to firm up. It’s a win-win: their flavor also improves as they cool!

Best Peanut butter cookies

More Favorite Cookie Recipes

If you love this peanut butter cookie recipe, try any of these favorite cookie recipes next:

Peanut butter cookies

Best Peanut Butter Cookies

Author: Jeanine Donofrio

Recipe type: Dessert

1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
3 tablespoons water
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ cup coconut oil, soft but not melted
½ cup cane sugar
½ cup brown sugar
¾ cup creamy peanut butter* (see note)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, combine the flaxseed and water and set aside to thicken for 5 minutes.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In a large bowl, combine the coconut oil, cane sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla. Stir in the flaxseed mixture and mix well.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Chill dough for 30 minutes.
Scoop dough using a 2-inch cookie scoop and roll into balls with your hands. Flatten slightly and place on the baking sheet. Use a fork to make cross-hatch marks. Bake for 12 to 13 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

*Look for creamy peanut butter with a smooth consistency to make this recipe, not the dry, stiff stuff that you might find at the bottom of a jar of natural peanut butter. Even when your nut butter is runny, this recipe makes a stiff cookie dough. If your peanut butter is too dry, the dough may crack, and it will be difficult to form cohesive cookies. This recipe was tested with 365 organic no-stir creamy peanut butter and 365 natural creamy peanut butter.

Tip: If you store your peanut butter in the fridge, allow it to sit at room temperature for an hour before making this recipe.

3.4.3177

Vegetarian Recipes

Sourdough Chocolate Chip Scones

I recently posted my recipe for sourdough starter here on the blog, so I couldn’t leave y’all hanging! Once you get the hang of maintaining your starter, you can start getting into super easy sourdough discard recipes—like this one! I find it hard to let any of my discard go to waste, considering how much time and effort I put into caring for it and feeding it. It’s a needy ingredient, but it’s worth the extra effort, as you’ll see when you taste these fluffy, subtly sweet Sourdough Chocolate Chip Scones! Don’t have any discard? I’ve also shared how to make these delicious scones without it.

Overhead view of homemade chocolate chip sourdough scones on a parchment lined wire rack.

Easy Recipe for Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Scones

Even if you don’t really think of yourself as a baker, I promise you might surprise yourself with these sourdough chocolate chunk scones. They’re honestly so simple and so, so good. The discard from your sourdough starter gives them a super tender texture and just a little tang that plays really well with those melty chocolate chunks. My trick for tall, bakery-style fluffy scones is using cold butter (don’t let it soften!) and giving the dough time to rise before baking. This recipe is seriously an easy win and such a satisfying way to use up that discard you’ve been saving.

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Chocolate Chip Sourdough Scones

These tender Sourdough Chocolate Chip Scones are the perfect way to use up your leftover sourdough discard. Includes a no-discard option, too!

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine $0.04, American

Total Cost $5.91 recipe / $0.98 serving

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Proof Time 1

Total Time 1 30

Servings scones

Calories 537kcal

Author Jess Rice

Equipment

Mixing Bowls
Parchment Paper
Baking Sheet

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour + extra if needed $0.23
2 tsp baking powder $0.08
3 Tbsp granulated sugar $0.06
½ tsp salt $0.01
6 Tbsp cold butter* $0.66
1 cup chocolate chunks** $2.97
¼ cup sourdough discard*** $0.00
¼ cup milk + 1 Tbsp, divided (1 Tbsp reserved for icing) $0.06
2 eggs $0.82
1 tsp vanilla extract $0.47
1 cup powdered sugar $0.55

Instructions

Gather ingredients and preheat the oven to 425ºF.
Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt, in a large bowl. Stir until they are very well combined.
Grate the butter into the flour mixture and stir until the butter is well incorporated and no large lumps remain.
Add the chocolate chunks to the flour mixture and stir to combine.
Whisk together the sourdough discard, milk, eggs, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl.
Pour the wet discard mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture and chocolate chunks. Stir everything together until it forms a cohesive ball of dough, with no dry flour remaining on the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too dry to come together into a single ball of dough, add a splash more milk (1 Tbsp or so) until it comes together.
Form a dough ball at the bottom of your mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow your scone dough to proof for 1-3 hours, until your dough ball noticeably grows in size, at least by a quarter the volume, ideally the volume will double. (Yes, this step takes a little extra patience, but the fluffy texture from the sourdough makes these scones a little extra special! You could also bake this right away, they just won’t be as fluffy and will be more like a classic scone.)
Press the dough out into an 8-inch diameter circle on a piece of parchment paper. Cut the circle into 6 wedges. (To stretch this recipe further, you could cut into 8 wedges.) Place the cut scones on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake the scones in the preheated 425ºF oven for 15-17 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Transfer the baked scones to a wire rack to cool.
While the scones are cooling, combine powdered sugar with 1 Tbsp milk until it forms a thick glaze. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled scones, then enjoy!

See how we calculate recipe costs here.

Notes

*I put a stick of butter into the freezer 5-10 minutes before I start baking to make it easier to grate. You want it to be cold and stiff, not frozen solid; otherwise, it’ll be too hard to grate.

**You could use chocolate chips, but I find scones to be too bready without the larger pockets of chocolate created by using chunks.

***I use the discard from my 100% hydration starter. If you do not have any sourdough discard, you can make this scone recipe with 2 cups of flour instead, skipping the discard ingredient, and there’s no need to proof the dough for 1-3 hours.

Nutrition

how to make Sourdough Chocolate Chip Scones step-by-step photos

The ingredients for making homemade sourdough chocolate chip scones.

Gather all of your ingredients together and preheat the oven to 425ºF.

Flour, baking powder, sugar. and salt in a white mixing bowl.

Mix the dry ingredients: Add 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 3 Tbsp sugar, and ½ tsp salt to a large bowl. Mix until well combined.

Butter being grated into a mixing bowl of flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.

Cut in the butter: Remove your butter from the freezer and grate 6 Tbsp of butter into the flour mixture. Stir until the butter is fully incorporated into the flour. There shouldn’t be any large lumps.

Chocolate chunks added to a four and butter mixture in a white mixing bowl.

Add the chocolate: Stir 1 cup chocolate chunks (or chocolate chips) into the butter and flour mix.

Sourdough discard, eggs, and milk in a mixing bowl.

Combine the remaining wet ingredients: In a different bowl, mix together ¼ cup sourdough discard, ¼ cup milk, 2 eggs, and 1 tsp vanilla extract.

The wet and dry ingredients for sourdough chocolate chip scones being combined in a bowl.

Make the dough: Pour the wet sourdough mixture into the bowl with the flour and chocolate chunks. Stir everything together until it forms a cohesive ball of dough. There should be no dry flour remaining on the bottom of the bowl. If the dough seems too dry to come together into a single ball of dough, add a splash more milk (1 Tbsp or so) until it forms into a ball.

Chocolate chip sourdough scone dough in a mixing bowl, being covered with plastic wrap.

Proof the dough: Place the dough ball into your mixing bowl and cover it with a sheet of plastic wrap. Leave your bowl in a warm location and let it proof for 1-3 hours until the dough ball has grown in size (by at least a quarter of the volume, but ideally, it will have doubled). You could bake the scones right away without proofing…but I highly recommend letting it proof so the texture of your sourdough chocolate chip scones will be extra special and fluffy.

Sourdough scone dough on a piece of parchment paper.

Form the dough: Lay a piece of parchment paper on your work surface. Lay the proofed dough ball onto the parchment and press it out into an 8-inch diameter circle.

Sourdough chocolate chunk scone dough divided into 6 pieces.

Slice the dough into 6 equal wedges (or 8 wedges if you want to make smaller scones).

Six shaped sourdough chocolate chip scones on a parchment lined baking sheet ready to be baked.

Place the cutout dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. If you have any leftover chocolate chunks, feel free to press some into the top of the dough before baking (as I did here).

Freshly baked sourdough chocolate chip scones on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake: Place the baking tray into your preheated oven and bake for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer the scones to a wire rack to cool completely.

Powdered sugar and milk in a mixing bowl, being mixed with a spoon to make a glaze.

Make the glaze: As you wait for your delicious sourdough scones to cool, you can make the simple glaze. Add 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 Tbsp milk to a bowl and combine until a thick glaze forms. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled scones, then enjoy!

Hands breaking a sourdough chocolate chip scone in half.

Just look how fluffy that crumb is…and don’t even get me started on the pockets of ooey gooey chocolate!

Use cold butter. I pop a stick of butter in the freezer for 5–10 minutes before baking. It should be cold and firm but not rock-hard. Cold butter creates steam pockets as the scones bake, which makes them rise beautifully and gives you that tender, flaky texture.
Grate the butter. Grating makes it super easy to mix the butter into the flour so it’s evenly distributed throughout the dough. No pastry cutter needed!
Don’t skip the rise (unless you really want to!). Letting the dough rest and rise for 1–3 hours gives the sourdough discard time to work its magic. It helps the scones puff up and turn out extra fluffy. You can bake them without letting the dough rise, but they’ll turn out much flatter.
Don’t overmix the dough. I combine the wet and dry ingredients just until the dough comes together. Overmixing can make the scones tough instead of tender.

Storage Instructions

Keep your homemade chocolate chip sourdough scones in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months. Let them thaw at room temperature and reheat (if desired) in the microwave or in a low oven.

You can also try freezing the unbaked, shaped dough by placing the wedges on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freezing until solid. Transfer the frozen dough to a freezer-safe bag and then bake from frozen, adding a few extra minutes to the bake time.