Sink your teeth into the rich, chocolatey layers of our Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies, where the classic peanut butter cookie meets a chocolate lover’s dream. Double chocolate magic comes alive with both cocoa powder and vegan chocolate chips, while smooth peanut butter adds a comforting, familiar twist. True to tradition, they’re rolled in sugar for a subtle crunch and marked with the iconic cross-hatch pattern, offering a perfect balance of peanut butter and chocolate in every bite.
It’s fun to play around with different flavor combinations when making cookies! Who knew that bananas and oatmeal would go together and make the perfect soft and moist vegan banana oatmeal cookie? Might you have guessed that powdered sugar and lemon juice were just the right combination to make a perfectly sweet tart and soft vegan lemon cookie?
But it was no surprise that chocolate and peanut butter would marry so well to make this chocolatey rich and peanut buttery chewy cookie! Anyone shocked? Not me!
Ingredients you’ll need to make vegan chocolate peanut butter cookies
- ground flax and water – This is to make a flax egg. A flax egg provides a little moisture and texture and helps to hold the baked vegan cookie together.
- all purpose flour – Please make sure to measure the flour accurately. See the blog post below.
- unsweetened cocoa powder – Cocoa powder is part of the “dry ingredients” and should also be measured correctly.
- cornstarch, baking soda and salt – Make sure your baking soda is fresh. It’s the only leavening in these vegan cookies.
- vegetable shortening – I use vegetable shortening instead of vegan butter in this recipe because it produces more consistent results. For an added under-layer of flavor use butter-flavored Crisco.
- creamy peanut butter – This recipe was tested using regular peanut butter, not “natural” peanut butter and will produce the most consistent results.
- light brown sugar – Make sure to pack it in!
- agave nectar – Wait what? Agave nectar is an unusual vegan cookie ingredient! Agave nectar provides a little sweetness and adds to the moisture. I first discovered the usefulness of using agave nectar in my cut out vegan sugar cookies.
- vanilla extract
- vegan chocolate chips
- granulated sugar for rolling the cookies in before baking
- You’ll also need an electric mixer, (preferably) two sturdy cookie sheets, and parchment paper. A medium-sized cookie scoop it also super helpful to portion and shape the dough into small balls.
Tips for making flavorful chewy vegan chocolate peanut butter cookies
The exact ingredients with measurements can be found in the recipe card below along with more concise abbreviated instructions. Read on for more details, tips, and tricks so that you will feel confident making this recipe.
Important prep before starting
It’s not necessary to preheat the oven before beginning the mixing. The mixed cookie dough needs to chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before shaping into cookie dough balls. When you do preheat, the oven will be at 375°F. Place the oven rack in the center position and line the baking sheets with parchment paper.
How to make a flax egg for cookies
The first step is to make a flax egg and set it aside while you are measuring and mixing the other ingredients. This will give the ground flax a change to soften in the liquid and a slight watery gel to form.
Add the ground flaxseed to the water and whisk together. Let it sit for at least five minutes before using it in the recipe. The ratio for this flax egg is the standard one tablespoon of ground flaxseed and three tablespoons of water. Some vegan baking recipes have a different ratio and even different liquids so you need to pay attention to that in your recipes that use a flax egg. For example, these vegan almond butter cookies use less water than the standard ratio and vegan red velvet cookies don’t use water at all, but rather plant milk with vinegar to mix with the ground flax!
Accurately measure the flour before adding the other dry ingredients
Accurately measure the flour
For precision in baking, weighing flour is the gold standard as it ensures consistent results. The weight of flour can vary significantly based on factors like humidity and measuring techniques.
However, if you don’t have a scale, the “spoon and swipe” method—lightly spooning flour into a measuring cup and then leveling it off with a flat edge—can offer a more accurate measurement than scooping directly. While weighing remains ideal, the spoon and swipe method is a reliable alternative for achieving better accuracy in your baked goods.
- First “lighten” the flour by stirring it about with a spoon to get some air into it.
- Next, take a spoon or smaller measuring cup and scoop out the lightened flour.
- Then shake the lightened flour into the measuring cup. You’ll be shaking the flour in the measuring cup until the level of the lightened flour is a little bit above the level of the measuring cup.
- Next, take a knife or other flat implement and cut the top of the flour all the way across the measuring cup.
- Finally, with one swift movement, use the same knife to swipe away the excess.
Mix the other dry ingredients well
It’s important that the dry ingredients and the wet be thoroughly mixed separately before combining. Over-mixing cookie dough can lead to overdeveloped gluten, which might result in cookies that are tough and less tender. Instead of a desirable chewy or soft texture, the cookies may become dense and hard, losing the delicate crumb and lightness that makes a great cookie.
This overworking of the dough can also cause the cookies to rise too much and then fall flat, leading to a less appealing appearance and a drier mouthfeel. Mixing the dry ingredients before adding them to the wet ingredients will help to avoid this common cookie-making error.
After accurately measuring the flour, measure and mix ing the cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Mix well until everything is incorporated. Make sure that all of the little cocoa powder balls are mixed in. Set aside while mixing together the fat, sugar, and other wet ingredients.
Mixing together the fat, sugar, and wet ingredients
Combine the vegetable shortening, peanut butter and brown sugar in a larger bowl. Beat until mixed and creamy. Make sure that the brown sugar has been well packed. Unlike the flour which needs to be light and airy before measuring, to get the proper measurement of brown sugar it should be packed tightly enough that you can still see the shape of the measuring cup when the brown sugar is dumped into the mixing bowl.
After beating together the fats and brown sugar, add the flax egg, plant milk, and vanilla. Continue beating until all is mixed.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients – but not too much!
Sprinkle the flour/cocoa mixture on top of the fat/sugar mixture. Beat at low to medium speed until all is combined. Remember -don’t over mix! Stir in the chocolate chips with a large sturdy spoon. Form a cookie dough ball and cover with plastic wrap. Place the cookie dough ball in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to chill the dough.
Getting ready to bake the cookies
Sometime during the next 30 minutes while the cookie dough is chilling, preheat your oven to 375℉ and make sure the oven rack is in the center position. Prepare at least two large cookie sheets by lining them with parchment paper. If you have only one cookie sheet to work with then make sure to thoroughly cool (and even chill) the cookie sheet between batches.
Shaping and sugaring the cookies
Use a cookie scoop or large spoon to portion out small round dough balls. The cookie dough balls should be about the size of a golf ball so use a medium-sized two tablespoon cookie scoop.
Use a shallow bowl or plate with edges for rolling the cookie dough balls in the granulated sugar. I scoop, shape and roll a few cookies at a time and place them onto the preprepared cookie sheet.
Place the sugared dough balls onto the cookie sheet about two inches apart. They will spread some when baking so you need to give them a little space. My large cookie sheet (which is a half-sheet sized cake pan) holds twelve cookies.
Flatten the dough balls slightly and like you would with a peanut butter cookie, make a criss cross pattern with your fork. Return the rest of the dough to the fridge while the first batch is baking.
Baking the cookies and how to know when they are done
Bake at 375℉ for eight to nine minutes until the cookies have “set”. The edges of the baked cookies should be just starting to brown, but that will be impossible to tell because of their dark color! It helps to jiggle to cookie sheet around to see how they’ve set. Do not over-bake these cookies.
Allow the baked cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for about ten minutes before removing the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling. While the first batch is cooking you can prepare the second batch…and then the third batch.
Serving and saving the vegan chocolate peanut butter cookies
These cookies are perfectly tasty eaten warm but might will hold up better once cooled. Save them in an airtight container or zip bag to preserve the freshness. They should ideally be eaten within a few days. And yes, you can freeze any extra cookies if you aren’t as greedy as we are!
The printable recipe card
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Rich and Chewy Vegan Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
Equipment
- mixer
Ingredients
Flax Egg
- 1 Tablespoons Ground Flax
- 3 Tablespoons water
Dry Ingredients
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour measured correctly
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder measured correctly
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Fat, Sugar, Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- ¾ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1¼ cups brown sugar packed
- 3 Tablespoons agave nectar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Other
- ½ cup granulated sugar for rolling
- ½ cup vegan chocolate chips
Instructions
Prepare and Flax Egg
- (The oven will be preheated in a later step at 375℉) Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Make the flax egg by whisking together to ground flax and water. Let sit for at least five minutes while you are preparing the other ingredients.1 Tablespoons Ground Flax, 3 Tablespoons water
Dry Ingredients
- Measure our the flour by sifting first and then measuring or by lightly stirring the flour and gently spooning it in the measuring cup. (See blog post for details.) Measure the cocoa powder the same way. Add both to a medium-sized bowl. Add the cornstarch, baking soda, and salt on top and mix well until everything is incorporated. Make sure that all of the little cocoa powder balls are mixed in. Set aside.1¼ cups all purpose flour, ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon salt
Fat, Sugar, and Wet Ingredients
- Combine the vegetable shortening, peanut butter and brown sugar in a larger bowl. Beat until mixed and creamy. Add the flax egg, milk, and vanilla. Continue beating until all is mixed.1 Tablespoons Ground Flax, ½ cup vegetable shortening, ¾ cup creamy peanut butter, 1¼ cups brown sugar, 3 Tablespoons agave nectar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 3 Tablespoons water
Combine All
- Sprinkle the flour mixture on top of the fat/sugar mixture. Beat at low/med speed until all is combined. Don't over mix. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill the dough.½ cup vegan chocolate chips
- Sometime during the next 30 minutes preheat your oven to 375℉ and make sure the oven rack is in the center position.
Bake and Finish
- Use a cookie scoop or large spoon to portion out small round dough balls. Roll the balls in the granulated sugar before placing the sugared balls onto the prepared cookie sheet about two inches apart. Flatten the dough balls slightly and like you would with a peanut butter cookie, make a criss cross pattern with your fork (see blog post). (You can return the rest of the dough to the fridge while the first batch is baking.)½ cup granulated sugar
- Bake at 375℉ for 8-9 minutes until the cookies have "set". They should be just starting to brown but that will be impossible to tell because of their dark color. Jiggle to cookie sheet around to see how they've set. Do not over-bake! Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for about ten minutes before removing the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- While the first batch is cooking, you can prepare the next batch. Repeat.
