BRYANNA'S CHEWY VEGAN LOWER-FAT PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES (WITH CHOCOLATE PEANUT BLOSSOM COOKIE VARIATION)

Yield: 30 cookies

            A lower-fat, vegan version peanut butter cookies, AND a variation with the "Hershey Kisses" in the middle that I used to love so much! Except that instead of the "kisses" I use organic vegan dark chocolate chunks or chips. 

 

DRY MIX:  

1 3/4 cups    wholewheat PASTRY flour  

1 teaspoon    baking soda  

1/2 teaspoon    salt  

   OPTIONAL: 1/2 cup chopped roasted peanuts  

WET MIX:  

1/2 cup    light organic granulated sugar  

1/2 cup    brown sugar  

1/4 cup    smooth unsweetened applesauce  

1/4 cup    organic corn syrup or brown rice syrup (agave syrup is too sweet for this recipe)  

1/2 cup    organic, natural peanut butter  

1/2 tablespoon    Ener-G or Orgran egg replacer powder  

2 tablespoons    water  

2 tablespoons    non-dairy milk  

1 teaspoon    vanilla  

ADDITIONAL:  

   Coarse organic unbleached sugar for rolling  

 

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Whisk the Dry Mix ingredients together well in a medium bowl. (If using the peanuts, stir them in.)

 

In a food processor, beat the Wet Mix ingredients together til smooth. Add to the Wet Mix to the Dry Mix ingredients in the bowl and mix well. Refrigerate the dough in the covered bowl for several hours (or place in the freezer until the dough is firm, if you are in a hurry!)

 

Divide the dough into 30 even pieces and quickly roll each into a ball (or as close to a ball shape as you can!), then roll in the coarse unbleached sugar. Place on nonstick or parchment-lined cookie sheets. Use the tines of a fork to press down the dough a little in one direction, and then the other, to make a grid design.

 

Bake at 375°F for 10-12 minutes, or until they are starting to brown on the bottom. Remove pans from the oven and let cool for about 3 minutes, then carefully place the cookies on racks with a spatula to cool thoroughly.

 

Cool on racks.

 

 

VARIATION:

BRYANNA'S CHEWY VEGAN LOWER-FAT PEANUT BLOSSOM COOKIES:

 

You will need:

30/ 1/2-inch chunks of organic vegan chocolate (OR you could use 3 or 4 organic, dairy-free chocolate chips on each cookie instead)

 

Follow the directions for making the dough and chilling it.  Do not press down the cookie balls with a fork as directed above. Instead, leave them in the ball shape. Immediately after removing from the oven, top each cookie with a chunk of chocolate while still hot. Place in the turned-off oven for a few minutes to soften the chocolate. Then cool as directed above.

  

Yield: 30 cookies

 

 Nutrition Facts for the plain cookie, without extra peanuts or chocolate:

Nutrition (per cookie): 92.3 calories; 20% calories from fat; 2.3g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 79.7mg sodium; 72.1mg potassium; 17.1g carbohydrates; 1.1g fiber; 11.2g sugar; 15.9g net carbs; 2.1g protein; 1.8 points.

 

(The standard recipe for peanut butter cookies, of the same size, using 1 3/4 c. flour, results in each cookie containing over 6 grams total fat [a lot of it saturated], and about 133.5 calories [46% calories from fat], and about .6 g dietary fiber.)

 

Here are the Nutrition Facts when made with the optional chopped peanuts:

Nutrition (per cookie): 106.5 calories; 27% calories from fat; 3.5g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 79.8mg sodium; 88.1mg potassium; 17.6g carbohydrates; 1.3g fiber; 11.3g sugar; 16.3g net carbs; 2.6g protein; 2.2 points.

 

Here are the Nutrition Facts if you use the chocolate:

Nutrition (per cookie): 159.8 calories; 31% calories from fat; 6.5g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 81.2mg sodium; 123.8mg potassium; 26.1g carbohydrates; 1.1g fiber; 11.2g sugar; 24.9g net carbs; 2.7g protein; 3.5 points.

 

(The standard recipe for Peanut Blossom Cookies, of the same size, using 1 3/4 c. flour, results in each cookie containing about 8 g total fat [a lot of it saturated] and 173 calories [45% calories from fat], and about .88 g dietary fiber.)