Vegan Date Sweetened Peanut Butter Cookies [GF, Oil-Free]
Soft, chewy and tender vegan date sweetened peanut butter cookies that are oil-free, gluten-free and require only 6 ingredients!
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 1 cup runny peanut butter see notes
- 1 cup packed pitted medjool dates (about 13-14 dates) see notes
- 1/4 cup blanched almond flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp pink salt depending on if your peanut butter is salted or not (mine is), you may want to salt to taste
- about 1 tbsp water see notes
- 1 flax egg 1 tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 3 tbsp water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper then make your flax egg. Let this sit for about 10 minutes.
- If your dates are dry, soak them in a bowl with warm water for about 10 minutes. Drain the water and lightly pat the dates dry to remove some of the moisture. You want them wet, just not soaking. If your dates are already moist and slightly sticky, do not worry about soaking them.
- Add all of the ingredients to a food processor and pulse for about 2 minutes, until the dates are in very tiny pieces and well mixed with the peanut butter. The dough may look crumbly but it should be moist, soft and doughy when you squeeze it in your hands. The consistency of the dough should be soft and moist but not wet or sticky. If it seems dry at all, add a little more water (about a tbsp).
- Use about 2 + 1/2 tbsps of dough per cookie. Squeeze the dough in your hands to help it stick together and then roll into balls. You should have 12 balls. Flatten about halfway and make the classic peanut butter cookie pattern with a fork.
- Bake for about 7-9 minutes. Mine are perfect at 8 minutes. They are done when the bottoms of the cookies are slightly browned. Watch these closely as you don't want them to overbake or they wont be as soft and moist.
- Cool for about 5-10 minutes before handling so they don't crumble.
- Store leftover covered on the counter. I noticed when I put these in the refrigerator, they dried out a bit.
Notes
- peanut butter: the peanut butter needs to be runny/drippy. I recommend using a new jar (well mixed) or take a jar out of the fridge and let it sit for a bit so the peanut butter softens to a runny texture.
- medjool dates: make sure to read the directions about if you should soak your dates or not.
- water: add about a tbsp of water to the dough if it doesn’t feel wet enough or if the dough doesn’t stick together.