Peanut Butter Protein Cookies

Peanut butter protein cookies are soft, chewy and the perfect dessert or afternoon snack!

Just like the peanut butter cookies you grew up with, these protein peanut butter cookies are so easy to make, all you need is 1 bowl and a spoon! These vegan protein cookies are also gluten free, dairy free and egg free!

Ingredients

• Peanut butter – you want to use natural peanut butter (just peanuts or peanuts and salt) for the best consistency.
• Apple sauce – unsweetened apple sauce helps to add moisture to the cookies.
• Maple syrup – maple syrup is used to sweeten the cookies naturally. You could also use brown rice syrup, honey (not vegan) or date syrup in place of the maple syrup.
• Protein powder (vegan) – plant based protein powder replaces the flour in traditional peanut butter cookie recipes.
• Gluten free flour – gluten free flour helps to add structure to the cookies. Use your favorite gluten free flour (all purpose flour, cassava flour, tigernut flour all work great).
• Baking powder – this helps the cookies rise.

How to make vegan peanut butter protein cookies

Step 1: Combine peanut butter and unsweetened applesauce in a large mixing bowl. Mix together

Step 2: Add the maple syrup and protein powder. Mix until fully combined

Step 3: Add the gluten free flour and baking powder. Mix well to incorporate the baking powder throughout, dough will be thick.

Step 4:  Using a tablespoon (or regular spoon), spoon out about 1 tbsp of batter onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Roll into a ball and flatten with your fingers or palm of your hand

Step 5: Use a fork and create the hatch like markings by pressing it into the cookies and then turning it 90 degrees and pressing again. 

Step 5: Bake at 350F for 12-15 minutes (12 minute for thinner cookies, 15 minutes for thicker cookies).

Step 6: Let the cookies cool completely, they need to harden a bit on the baking sheet before serving.

Top tips

This dough will be thick but should still be pretty easy to stir. If you find it is getting too dry (due to the kind of protein powder or peanut butter), you can add 1-2 more tbsp. apple sauce.

You may notice as you are rolling the dough into balls that the dough seems oily. This is because you used a drippy peanut butter (that is not stabilized by hydrogenated oils). It’s fine that they seem oily at this stage, the oil from the peanuts will re-absorb during baking.

You want to press down the dough with your fingers or a fork to ensure that the cookies are all relatively even in thickness. This will help them all cook evenly and ensure you don’t get over or undercooked peanut butter cookies.

Peanut butter protein cookies mix-ins

Instead of pressing the cookies down with your fingers, you can add a Hershey’s kiss to the center to make these peanut butter chocolate protein cookies.

Other great mix-in’s include:

• Dairy-free chocolate chips or chopped up peanut butter cups
• Crumbled up freeze dried raspberries, strawberries or bananas
• Raisins or dried cranberries
• Coconut flakes

Favorite toppings

• Melted chocolate to drizzle on top or coat the bottom of the cookies.
• Raspberry or Strawberry Jam (make these thumbprint cookies by using your thumb to flatten and leaving an indentation to be filled with jam after baking).

FAQs

What kind of peanut butter to use for baking

Not all peanut butter is made the same way. There are typically two kinds of on the shelves:

• Natural: Natural peanut butter is made with only peanuts and maybe salt in the ingredient list. This is often referred to as “drippy”, which you have to stir the oil on top into before using the first time.
• No-stir: Has hydrogenated oils and sugar to stabilize the peanut butter, thus making it no-stir.

Most baking recipes will actually use the no-stir because it’s more stable, however I always use the natural, drippy. I don’t love the use of the hydrogenated oil and added sugar so I will take a slightly more crumbly cookie as a trade off.

Note: If you do use a sweetened peanut butter (check the label), you may not need as much maple syrup to sweetened the cookies.

What kind of protein powder to use

All protein powders are not created equally.

This recipe is written to replace most of the flour with vegan protein powder. Vegan protein powder typically absorbs liquid just like traditional flour would in a recipe. It does not provide quite the same stability as flour, which is why I always add a few tablespoons of flour as well any time I’m baking or making pancakes with vegan protein powder.

I do not recommend using a whey protein powder to make these cookies. I highly suggest you find a recipe written specifically for whey, as whey tends to dry out baked goods and can result in a crumbly, dry cookie when substituted 1:1 with vegan powder.

My go to protein these days is Nuzest. It’s got a clean ingredient list and is grown in an area where heavy metals are not in the soil (note: heavy metal contamination can be an issue with other brands of vegan protein powder).

Can you make the dough ahead

Yes! You can make the dough ahead and store the batter in the fridge until ready to use, up to 2 days before baking.

Can you freeze the dough before baking 

Yes, put a piece of wax paper on a baking sheet that will fit in your freezer. Roll out the dough into cookies and press them down, creating the hatch design you will want after baking on the wax paper. Once frozen, take the cookies off the wax paper and store them in a freezer-safe bag. 

When you want to bake the cookies, you can place directly into oven from frozen at 350F and bake for 17 minutes.

Can you eat this cookie dough raw

Yes! Since these vegan protein cookies don’t have eggs, the cookie dough is safe to eat raw.

How to store peanut butter protein cookies

Fridge: These can be stored on the counter for 2-3 days but are best stored in the fridge, in an airtight container. Store these protein peanut butter cookies in the fridge in for up to 7 days.

Freezer: After baking, you can also freeze the cookies for up to 3 months. To ensure they don’t stick together when freezing, let the cookies cool completely first. Once cool, place them on a a sheet of wax paper and freeze them for 2-3 hours until solid. Once frozen solid you can place them in a freezer safe bag for up to 3 months.