There’s something about the holidays that makes me want to throw sprinkles on everything. I’m usually pretty reserved with dessert decorations, but all the colorful, shiny little bits and bobs of sprinkles found at the store during this time just make me so happy! In recent years, I’ve become more conscious of consuming artificial dyes, and I’ve been super disappointed in the lack of affordable, readily available naturally dyed sprinkle options (anyone else?). The sprinkles I used for these cookies are regular ‘ole sprinkles that have been sitting in my cabinet for the last three years, and I figured it was time to put them to use! Ya know, just being resourceful.

So I decided to take a chocolate chip cookie, add a ton of sprinkles and a bit of almond extract. These cookies are sweet, chocolatey, and just the right amount of festive! Of course, you can make them at any time of the year with any kind of sprinkles! I don’t recommend baking sugar sprinkles into the dough since the color may seep off into the dough (I sprinkled mine on post-bake).

Since I used melted coconut oil in these cookies, refrigerating the dough is key and cannot be skipped. To ensure maximum cookie thickness, you’ll want to roll your dough balls a little tall, a trick I learned from Sally’s Baking Addiction before I went dairy-free! Once your cookies come out of the oven, you can immediately press a few extra chocolate chips into the tops for prettier cookies. Happy baking!

Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Sprinkle Cookies
Makes 17 cookies

1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted/liquid (if measured as a solid it will be 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar (can be replaced with coconut sugar)
1 large egg, room temp
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract (optional)
1 + 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp corn starch
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 cup sprinkles
1/2 cup + 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (1/4 cup is for topping the dough balls)

1.) Bring your egg to room temperature by placing it in a glass of warm water for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together the melted coconut oil, coconut sugar, and granulated sugar. Add the vanilla and almond extract. Then add the egg and mix until totally combined; set aside.

2.) In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add this to the liquid ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until nearly combined. Add the sprinkles and chocolate chips and mix until well incorporated. Cover and chill the dough for 45 minutes.

3.) Remove dough from the refrigerator and begin shaping dough balls 2 Tbsp in size. You want them to be more tall then they are wide – think the shape of a tater tot. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and refrigerate again for 30 minutes.

4.) Preheat your oven to 325°F and line a second baking sheet with parchment paper. Let the dough balls sit at room temperature for 5 minutes before baking at 325°F for 10 minutes, turning your pan around at the halfway point for even baking. Immediately press extra chocolate chips into the tops of your baked cookies, let sit on the baking sheet for one minute, and then move cookies to a cooling rack. Sprinkle with extra sprinkles if desired. Enjoy! Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.

Traditional Peanut Butter Blossoms are those little peanut butter cookies topped with milk chocolate Hershey’s Kisses that people seem to just love around the holiday season. They’re familiar, they’re topped with chocolate, and they’re a favorite at cookie exchange parties. I set out to create a dairy-free version, and after a bit of back and forth as to wether I should buy a kiss candy mold, temper chocolate, and make my own kisses, I decided to do what I felt my followers are more likely to realistically do: make a simple, two-ingredient chocolate ganache to pipe into the little “thumbprints” in the cookies.

These cookies are a bit crispy on the outside with a chewy, peanut butter-y middle. You get to control how much chocolate ganache you add, so go wild! Or not. It’s really up to you. You want to create little “thumbprints” for the melted chocolate by using something around your kitchen – small spoon, end of a marker, etc – to gently press into the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven. Once the cookies cool, you’ll have a nice little spot, as shallow or deep as you like, for your chocolate.

The peanut butter dough comes together so easily – all in one bowl! You can use a hand mixer to beat everything together, roll your dough balls in granulated sugar for a little extra sparkle, and then bake them for less than 5 minutes! This no-chill dough is one of my favorite because it’s just so easy and quick. And then once your cookies are cool, you can whip up a simple chocolate ganache – only two ingredients! Let that cool for 15 minutes and then pipe or spoon (I recommend piping, even with just a plastic baggie) the thickened ganache into your cookie “thumbprints”.

Some of the ingredients I like for this recipe:

Coconut sugar is my favorite, go-to sweetener. It’s low GI, unrefined, and doesn’t taste like coconut. It makes for a great alternative to regular, granulated sugar.

Natural peanut butter is the kind made with just peanuts (and maybe a little salt). It has no added oils or sugars and works wonderfully in this recipe!

Semisweet chocolate makes up the bulk of the sweet chocolate ganache. I prefer semisweet to dark chocolate for this recipe, because it best mimics a traditional candy Kiss (while remaining dairy-free). I used a 54% chocolate bar (Trader Joe’s Pound Plus bar).

Coconut cream thickens the chocolate ganache. You won’t taste the coconut in the end product, and it makes for a great alternative to traditional milk cream.

Yield: 20 Cookies

Peanut Butter Blossoms with Chocolate Ganache

Name: Peanut Butter Blossoms with Chocolate Ganache
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 1 h 35 min
Yield: 20
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 6 Tbsp vegan butter (stick form), softened; 1/2 cup coconut sugar; 1/3 cup natural peanut butter; 1 large egg; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1/2 tsp salt; 3/4 tsp baking soda; 1 cup + 6 Tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour; 3 Tbsp white granulated sugar for rolling (optional); 4oz dairy-free semisweet chocolate, finely chopped; 1/4 cup coconut cream

A soft peanut butter thumbprint cookie topped with an easy semisweet chocolate ganache. A favorite holiday cookie made dairy-free (and even better)!

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Additional Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes

Ingredients

Cookies

6 Tbsp vegan butter (stick form), softened
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/3 cup natural peanut butter
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup + 6 Tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp white granulated sugar for rolling (optional)

Chocolate Ganache

4oz dairy-free semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup coconut cream

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, beat together the vegan butter and coconut sugar. Beat in the peanut butter. Then the egg + vanilla. Beat in the salt and baking soda. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time and beat until totally combined.
Scoop dough balls, eight at a time, 1.5 Tbsp in size. Roll each dough ball in granulated sugar, place on baking sheet, and slightly flatten with your fingers. Bake at 375°F for 4-5 minutes.
Immediately press small wells ("thumbprints") into each cookie. You can use the back of a small measuring spoon, the tip of a marker, or whatever else you have. Feel free to make the wells as small or big as you'd like - the more you press, the more the cookies will crack at the edges. And the bigger the wells, the more ganache each cookie will have.
Move cookies to a cooling rack and bake the rest of the dough, making sure your baking sheet is cooled to room temperature before adding new dough balls. Allow all cookies to cool completely.
Once your cookies are cool, you can make your ganache. Add the chopped chocolate and coconut cream to a medium, heat-proof bowl. Place your bowl over a pot of about 1" of simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn't touch the water. Stir chocolate frequently until totally melted. Remove from heat and transfer to a small bowl. Allow ganache to cool for 15 minutes, stirring it here and there.
After 15 minutes, your ganache should be cool to the touch and thick enough to stick to a spoon without dripping (since the ganache will continue to thicken and set the longer it cools, you don't want to leave it be for too long before piping into your cookie thumbprints). Add your ganache to a piping bag or small plastic bag (fitted with a piping tip if you have one) and pipe ganache into each cookie well. Top with sprinkles, nuts, etc, or leave as-is.
Store leftovers in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature.

Notes

In place of coconut cream, you can use canned coconut milk. Place your can in the refrigerator (if it's warm in your home) and scoop the thick cream off of the top.

Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Sprinkle Cookies