Happy Snow Day, North Carolina! If you live in Central NC you likely found yourself stuck at home today with a very open schedule. I decided to take advantage of the day and do what I do best, bake! I set out to find/create a cookie recipe that only used ingredients I already had on hand and I found this recipe for peanut butter filled chocolate cookies. I adapted the recipe to be gluten free and vegan, and to say they were amazing would be an understatement.
Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
For the Filling:
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 3/4 cup natural peanut butter
For the Chocolate Cookies:
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, softened (I used Earth Balance)
- 1/4 cup natural peanut butter* (Or a nut butter of your choosing)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 flax egg* (See notes)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Flour
- 1 tbsp unsweetened almond milk, if needed
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
For the Filling:
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In a medium sized bowl combine the peanut butter and powdered sugar and thoroughly mix. Place filling in the refrigerator until ready to use.
For the Chocolate Cookies:
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In a large bowl combine the vegan butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and peanut butter and whip until fluffy.
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Add the flax egg (or egg replacer) and vanilla and mix to combine.
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Next add the baking soda, cocoa powder, and gluten free flour to the wet ingredients in small sections until all ingredients are well incorporated. Add the unsweetened almond milk if the dough comes together dry or crumbly.
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Using a teaspoon divide the peanut butter filling mixture into about 24 balls. Try not to handle the filling too much. Place filling balls on a plate and put back in the fridge.
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Using a tablespoon, divide the chocolate cookie dough into about 24 balls. To assemble the cookies, flatten a ball of the chocolate cookie dough and place one of the peanut butter filling balls in the center. Wrap the chocolate dough around the filling and form into a ball with your hands. Flatten the ball slightly and dip the top of the cookie in granulated sugar.
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Place the cookies on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake for about 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are slightly cracked but still soft.
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Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Recipe Notes
*For the flax egg: combine 1 tbsp ground flax meal and 3 tbsp water in a small bowl, mix, and let sit for 5 minutes before adding to the mixture. For this recipe I used Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacer (It's gluten free and vegan).
*Any nut butter would work fine in this recipe, I recommend a natural nut butter that is a little thinner at room temperature. Mine was refrigerated prior to using, which helped the filling balls hold together a bit better.
Not a fan of peanut butter and chocolate? Try my Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies or Matcha Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Did you try this recipe? Make any substitutions? Let us know how they turned out in the comments below!
Want to share this recipe? Please link back to the original post here, tag @lizhurley_rd on Instagram and #lizhurleyrdeats! Happy Baking!
