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vegan cookies

Inside Out Peanut Butter Blossoms (dairy-free)

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Dark chocolate thumbprint cookies filled with sweet peanut butter frosting “kisses”. These Inside Out Peanut Butter Blossoms are the “inside out” version of the popular Christmas cookie!

Inside Out Peanut Butter Blossoms

Peanut butter and chocolate. A classic combo that’s known to get people really excited. I’m one of those people. And these cookies are an absolute dream. Soft dark chocolate cookies coated in crunchy sugar and “filled” with the easiest peanut butter frosting. Pipe the frosting to resemble the chocolate kisses of the original peanut butter blossoms, and I promise that these cookies will excite any chocolate + peanut butter lover.

These cookies come together quickly and easily (no chilling!!) and then the frosting is made up of runny peanut butter and powdered sugar. Get out your piping bag and a Wilton 2A tip and start practicing those peanut butter “kisses”! And if you’re not the best piper (hello, it’s me), don’t worry. The frosting is thick and pliable (not sticky) so you can re-pipe the kisses as many times as you need to – you can literally peel them out of the thumbprints and add the frosting back to your piping bag without a mess! The result is a stunning little cookie, perfect for any movie night or small gathering.

Ingredients You’ll Need + Substitutes

  • Dutch-process cocoa powder is richer in flavor and darker in color than regular cocoa powder. It really elevates the chocolate flavor of these cookies! Hershey’s Special Dark is what I use as it’s affordable and easily available!
  • All-purpose flour
  • Baking soda
  • Salt
  • Sugar sweetens the cookies AND decorates them. For the cookie dough, you can mix in white granulated sugar, coconut sugar, or unrefined cane sugar. For rolling the dough balls, you want to use white granulated sugar.
  • Egg binds the cookies together. For a vegan option, you can use a flax egg – mix 1 Tbsp of flaxseed meal with 3 Tbsp of warm water; allow to thicken for 5 minutes.
  • Olive oil is my go-to baking oil (you won’t taste it in these cookies). Avocado oil or light olive oil would work as well.
  • Peanut butter makes up the frosting kisses. You’ll want to use runny “natural” peanut butter made with only peanuts and salt. In order to get the perfect frosting, the peanut butter must be room temperature (in its runny state).
  • Powdered sugar thickens and sweetens the peanut butter. If you’re looking for something less sweet, you can replace 1 Tbsp of the sugar with a starch such as arrowroot.
Yield: 13 Cookies

Inside Out Peanut Butter Blossoms

Inside Out Peanut Butter Blossoms

Dark chocolate thumbprint cookies filled with sweet peanut butter frosting "kisses". These festive cookies are the inside out version of your favorite peanut butter blossoms!

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Additional Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes

Ingredients

Chocolate Cookies

  • 1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar (coconut, unrefined cane, or white cane)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/3 cup white granulated sugar (for rolling)

Peanut Butter Filling

  • 1/2 cup natural runny peanut butter (made with just peanuts and salt), room temp (see Note 1)
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line your baking sheet(s) with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg, and olive oil. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and mix until totally combined.
  4. Add 1/3 cup of white granulated sugar to a small bowl/dish. Begin scooping dough balls (6 at a time) 1.5 Tbsp in size. Roll the dough balls smooth and then roll each one in the granulated sugar until well coated.
  5. Bake the sugared dough balls at 350°F for 5 minutes. Immediately press light "thumbprints" into the center of each hot cookie (I used the cap of my vanilla extract bottle). Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Then, re-press each thumbprint to make a deeper well. Repeat until all cookies are baked.
  6. Once the cookies are cool, make the frosting by combining the peanut butter and powdered sugar in a small, microwave-safe bowl. Heat the frosting for 10-15 seconds in the microwave.
  7. Add the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 2A tip. Pipe peanut butter "kisses" into each of the cookie thumbprints. If you mess up, don't fret; the frosting is thick enough that you can pull it off, add it back to the piping bag, and pipe it again without making a mess - yes, I did this multiple times!
  8. After you've piped all of the kisses, you can use your fingers to gently twist the tips of each kiss for a cleaner, pointier look.
  9. Store cookies in a single layer in an airtight container.

Notes

  1. Your peanut butter must be in its runny, room temperature state in order to get the perfect frosting consistency. If you use cold, thick PB, then your kisses won't hold their shape after being piped.
  2. The cookies won't spread much in the oven, so you will flatten them out when making the thumbprints.

© Rachael | Sugared & Stirred
Cuisine: American / Category: Cookies

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Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

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Soft-baked Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies made totally vegan without any dairy or eggs! These easy and quick cookies are delicious, and they taste just like the “real deal”!

Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Okay, so if you know me then you know I don’t actually follow a vegan diet (many of my recipes include eggs), but I do love to provide vegan recipes for all my vegan and egg-avoiding friends out there!

I decided to bake these cookies on a whim last week, and when I saw that we were out of eggs and flaxseed meal – my go-to vegan egg replacer – I figured it was time I gave the Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer in my pantry a go. And you guys. These cookies came out soft, tender, and just like how I would expect a regular oatmeal chocolate chunk cookie to taste! This post isn’t even sponsored. I’m just a big fan of how the BRM Egg Replacer made my cookies taste, and I want to share the goodness with you!

My favorite way to eat these cookies is right out of the oven, with a sprinkle of sea salt on top. They’re warm, gooey, and tender when warm, but these cookies were still soft the next day. And the next. Feel free to play around with the chocolate. I added dark chocolate chunks (from a sea salt caramel chocolate bar!) and semi-sweet chocolate chips for an ultimate chocolate experience. Yum!

How to Make Vegan Cookies

In order to make these cookies vegan (without any animal products), you’ll need a stick of plant-based butter and a good egg replacer. Now, for the cookies pictured here, I used a Country Crock Plant Butter stick with avocado oil and Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer (the gluten-free one). Since oatmeal cookies are a bit more forgiving, I believe that flax egg will also work in this recipe. Whichever egg replacer you choose will affect how much water you’ll need to add to the dough. If you decide to use flax egg, you’ll only need to add 1 additional Tbsp of water to the dough. Take a look at the recipe and recipe notes for a breakdown.

Some of the ingredients for these cookies + substitutions:

Plant-based butter is the perfect vegan replacement for real butter. It’s tasty and adds that buttery flavor we all love. I like to use the Country Crock Plant Butter sticks with avocado oil.

Coconut sugar is one of my favorite better-for-you sugars. It’s low GI, unrefined, and tastes nothing like coconut! If you don’t have any on hand, I recommend using your favorite granulated cane sugar (raw, white, or brown).

Brown sugar adds moisture and sweetness to these cookies! For a healthier cookie, you can use coconut sugar in its place.

Egg replacer is what makes these cookies vegan! Since oatmeal cookies are more forgiving than a traditional chocolate chip cookie, you can use flax egg (see recipe notes) or the Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer.

Quick oats keep these cookies soft and help create that perfect cookie shape. I haven’t tried this recipe with old-fashioned oats.

Water is added in at the last step to bring moisture to the cookie dough. How much water you’ll need will depend on which egg replacer you use (see recipe notes).

Yield: 12 Cookies

Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Soft-baked oatmeal cookies made without any dairy or eggs! These delicious cookies are full of warm cinnamon and dark chocolate chunks, and they taste just like the cookies we all know and love!

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Additional Time 10 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup plant-based butter stick, softened
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar
  • 1 egg alternative (see note)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup quick oats
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
  • 1 Tbsp water
  • 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup chopped dairy-free chocolate
  • Flakey sea salt to sprinkle (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Prepare your egg replacer with 3 Tbsp of water (see note).
  2. In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to cream together the plant butter and sugars until combined and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and then the egg replacer; set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix with a large spoon or spatula. Stir in the water and then the chocolate, saving a little of the chocolate to top your dough balls (you can also use any extra chocolate on hand to top the dough balls).
  4. Scoop dough balls 3 Tbsp in size, placing six on one of your prepared baking sheets. Roll each dough ball smooth and press extra chocolate pieces into the tops of each one. Flatten the dough balls until they resemble thick discs.
  5. Bake cookies at 350°F for 7 minutes, then lower the temperature to 300°F and bake for an additional 2 minutes (you want these cookies to be sightly under-baked). Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before gently moving to a cooling rack. Sprinkle the baked cookies with flakey sea salt.
  6. Bake the remaining cookie dough. Once your cookies have cooled, you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature.

Notes

  • Be sure to use a full 3 Tbsp of water for your egg alternative. If using the Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Egg Replacer, the package will direct you to use only 2 Tbsp of water; go ahead and use 3. For a flax egg, mix 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal with 3 Tbsp of warm water; mix and allow to thicken for 5 minutes.

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© Rachael | Sugared & Stirred
Cuisine: American / Category: Cookies

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Orange Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

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Orange Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

These luscious Orange Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies are thin, chewy, and totally delicious. If you’re looking for a cookie to satisfy that chocolate orange craving, these are the cookies for you!

Orange Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Who else loved those orange flavored chocolate oranges as a kid?! You know, the ones that are – for whatever reason – popular at Christmas time. I’m going to go ahead and say those little, smack-able oranges are the sole reason I’m such a fan of chocolate orange flavored desserts as an adult. Orange chocolate bars, orange brownies, orange chocolate cupcakes (coming soon!) – I’ll take them all!

These cookies are the perfect mash up of orange and chocolate. Dark chocolate cookies (thanks to the wonderfully rich Dutched cocoa) with pools of melted dark chocolate chunks and tons of fresh orange zest. For me, the orange zest adds just enough flavor without being overwhelming. And then I added more on top of each cookie because just look how pretty it is!

This cookie dough comes together like any other standard dough – mix wet, then dry, and stir it all together with a big spoon. There’s no refrigeration required (woo hoo!), so you’re only minutes away from delicious and rich orange chocolate cookies!

Some of the ingredients I like for this recipe:

Vegan butter keeps these cookies tasting like regular, butter-filled cookies! If you’d like, you can replace it with solid coconut oil (either refined, which is flavorless, or unrefined). Tip: if using coconut oil and it’s liquid, you can place it in the refrigerator until it solidifies.

Coconut sugar is my go-to sugar for baked goods. It’s low GI, unrefined, and tastes nothing like coconut! It’s a bit better for us than regular white sugar, so I like to use it whenever I can.

Brown sugar lends moisture and sweetness to these cookies. With the added molasses in brown sugar, these cookies come out wonderfully chewy.

Dutch process cocoa powder is richer in flavor and darker in color than regular cocoa powder. The chocolate flavor is heightened with this kind of cocoa powder, but if you’re having a hard time finding it at your local store, you can use natural (regular) cocoa powder. Tip: Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa has been reformulated to contain 100% Dutched cocoa.

Dark chocolate chunks (chopped from a chocolate bar) create those wonderful melty pools of chocolate! Chocolate chips or chunks from a bag are made to keep their shape, so if you want the melty pools then go for the chopped chocolate! Tip: Trader Joe’s sells 1 pound bars of dairy-free dark and semi-sweet chocolate for $5 – perfect for baking!

More orange recipes:

Orange Loaf with Almond Buttercream (dairy-free + vegan option)
Grain-Free Orange Brownies (dairy-free)
Soft & Chewy Orange Sugar Cookies (dairy-free)
Glazed Orange Almond Muffins (dairy-free + vegan option)
Yield: 20 Cookies

Orange Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Orange Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

The perfect dark chocolate cookies, loaded with dark chocolate chunks and lots of fresh orange zest! Crispy at the edges and chewy in the middle, these rich, citrus-y cookies make for a delicious chocolate treat!

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup vegan butter, softened (or solid coconut oil)
  • 1/2 cup coconut sugar
  • 6 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 large egg, room temp
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 6 Tbsp Dutch process cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/4 cup chopped dairy-free dark chocolate or chocolate chips
  • Zest of 2 large oranges (+ extra for topping, if desired)

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bring your eggs to room temperature by placing them in a glass of warm water for around 10 minutes.
  2. In a large bowl, beat together the vegan butter and sugars. Beat in the egg and then the vanilla; set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together until uniform in color. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and use a large wooden spoon or spatula to mix until nearly combined. Stir in 1 cup of the chopped chocolate and the orange zest.
  4. Scoop dough balls 1.5 Tbsp in size. Top each dough ball with extra chopped chocolate (you should have 1/4 cup remaining for this purpose). Bake 6-8 cookies at a time at 350°F for 5-7 minutes.
  5. Top the baked cookies with more orange zest (optional) and enjoy warm OR allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet (since these cookies are thin + have pools of chocolate, they do not transfer well to a cooling rack). If you need to use the baking sheet again, I recommend waiting 5 minutes and then carefully lifting the entire piece of parchment paper (with the cookies still on it) to another surface to cool. Be sure your baking sheet is cool before re-using for more dough balls.
  6. Store leftovers (once completely cool - when the chocolate pools are set) in an airtight container at room temperature.

Notes

For vegan cookies: replace the egg with 1 flax egg (1 Tbsp flaxseed meal + 3 Tbsp water, mix and allow to thicken for 5 minutes)

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

20

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 180Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 22mgSodium: 134mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 2gSugar: 16gProtein: 2g

calculated nutrition information may not always be accurate

© Rachael
Cuisine: American / Category: Cookies

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Double Chocolate Banana Cookies

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Double Chocolate Banana Cookies

This recipe for Double Chocolate Banana Cookies has been modified and updated as of February 2023.

These quick and easy Double Chocolate Banana Cookies are chewy in the middle and crisp at the edges. They’re made in one bowl, need only one brown banana, and are free of egg and dairy!

Double Chocolate Banana Cookies

Does anyone else ever end up with that one lonely brown banana on their counter? And you keep thinking you should do something with it, but you don’t know what? Theses Double Chocolate Banana Cookies are chocolate chip cookies made with a single mashed overripe banana (in place of the egg) and a little Dutched cocoa powder. I like to consider this recipe “accidentally vegan” since I didn’t set out to create a vegan recipe but instead found that leaving out the egg led to a cookie with more of a “cookie” texture (the original version of this recipe included egg, which resulted in a thicker, cake-like cookie).

The dough comes together just like a standard chocolate chip cookie, but instead of needing two bowls, everything will be mixed together in just one bowl. I like to beat the sifted cocoa powder into the wet ingredients before stirring in the flour. There’s no chill time for this dough, so you can go from mashed banana to warm cookie in 30 minutes!

Why You’ll Love These Cookies

  • Only need one brown banana
  • Quick and easy to make
  • Rich chocolate flavor
  • Egg-free and dairy-free (if using vegan butter)

What You’ll Need

Plant-based butter (or regular butter) adds buttery flavor to the cookies and mixes with the sugar to create a classic cookie texture. Feel free to use your favorite vegan butter or regular butter.

White granulated sugar adds sweetness and that crisp cookie edge we all love. You can replace the regular white sugar with raw cane sugar, unrefined cane sugar, or coconut sugar – note that the gram measurements will vary.

Light brown sugar also adds sweetness and brings moisture to the cookies.

Overripe banana adds banana flavor and acts as a binder (in place of egg) to hold the ingredients together. You’ll want your banana to be very spotted or brown. I haven’t tested this recipe with yellow bananas.

Vanilla extract adds flavor.

Dutched cocoa powder adds a richer flavor and darker color to these cookies (vs regular cocoa powder). In a pinch, you can use regular cocoa powder, but your cookies will look lighter than the ones pictured.

Baking soda leavens the cookies.

Salt enhances flavor.

Chocolate chips bring even more chocolate flavor to the cookies. I like to top the dough balls with extra chocolate chips before baking, but that’s totally optional (the cookies are good both with and without the extra chocolate). 

More Chocolate Banana Recipes

Chocolate Banana Snack Cake

Mini Banana Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Frosting

Healthier Double Chocolate Banana Bread

Yield: 11 Cookies

Double Chocolate Banana Cookies

Double chocolate banana cookies

These quick and easy Double Chocolate Banana Cookies need just one brown banana, come together in one bowl, and are free of egg and dairy!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Additional Time 10 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup (113g) plant-based butter (or regular butter), softened
  • 1/2 cup (113g) white granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup (59g) light brown sugar, packed
  • 1/3 cup (88g) mashed overripe banana (about 1 spotted/brown banana)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 6 Tbsp (30g) Dutched cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup (130g) unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup (88g) chocolate chips (+ more to top dough balls)

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugars until fluffy. Beat in the mashed banana and vanilla extract.
  3. Sift in the cocoa powder (if you don't sift it, your batter may have lumps of cocoa). Add the baking soda and salt and beat until cocoa powder is well incorporated.
  4. Add the flour and use a large spoon or spatula to gently mix the dough together. Stir in the 1/2 cup of chocolate chips.
  5. Scoop dough balls 3 Tbsp in size using a cookie scoop. Add six dough balls to your parchment-lined baking sheet and top each dough ball with extra chocolate chips by gently pressing the chips into the tops/sides of the dough balls.
  6. Bake at 350°F for 12-13 minutes. Immediately after baking, if desired, you can use the back of a spoon to gently re-shape any cookies that look lop-sided. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before gently removing to a cooling rack.
  7. Repeat steps 5 & 6 to finish baking the dough, making sure your baking sheet has totally cooled before scooping the dough balls (I wave mine in the air to quickly cool it down).
  8. Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

Notes

For Smaller Cookies: scoop dough balls 1.5 Tbsp in size and place 8 per baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 8-9 minutes.

© Rachael | Sugared & Stirred
Cuisine: American / Category: Cookies

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