Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies, done 2 ways

Continuing my quest for better than non-vegan vegan goodies, I rejigged the recipe for  Peanut Butter Cookies from one of my mostly vegan sites, MyCaliforniaRoots to suit the 2 different tastes of Older & Younger Daughters.  Although our last attempt was pronounced a success, Older Daughter loves her peanut butter cookies with cranberries.   So, we decided to mix up a batch, make them half plain, half with cranberries.

The Cranberry Version

Here’s what we did:

• 1 Tbsp ground flax seed
• 3 Tbsp water
• 110g vegan butter
• 80g sugar
• 50g brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 200g peanut butter
• 210g all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• coarse brown sugar for rolling

• 60g cranberries for Cranberry Version of the cookie (for half the dough; if making all cranberry cookies, double to 120g)

1. Combine the flax seed & water in a bowl.  Set aside.
2. Cream the butter & sugars in a bowl until well-mixed & fluffy.
3. Add the flax seed mixture & vanilla extract and mix well.
4. Add peanut butter & mix until well combined.
5. Fold in the flour, baking powder & salt, and mix only till just combined.
6. Split the dough in half and place 1/2 into another bowl.
7. For the cranberries into one bowl.
8. Cover both bowls & refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour.
9. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade.
10. Place the coarse sugar in a small bowl.
11. Roll a tablespoon of dough between your palms to form a ball, roll in the sugar.Place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, then use a fork to flatten.
12. Place the flattened cookies about 3 cm apart.
13. Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes until they are just starting to turn golden brown.  Let them sit on the sheet for about 5 min, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Just peanut butter

Feature Photo: Plain peanut butter cookie (Left); Peanut Butter cookie with cranberries (Right)