Recipe: Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

I made these last night as a test run and they came out GREAT. They are chewy, rich, and substantial, looks like they'll hold up really well at PAX. I got 25 2.5" cookies out of this recipe. I was able to smoosh them with a fork, old-school style, without chilling the dough. Dipping the fork in icewater prevents sticking.

NOTE: You can't taste the olive oil at all. Really.

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; \">1 teaspoon baking soda</span>

<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; \">3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt</span>

<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; \">1 cup [url=http://www.revfoods.com/food\" style=\"color: #666666; ]organic, chunky natural peanut butter[/url]</span>

<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; \">1 cup maple syrup</span>

<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; \">1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil</span>

<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; \">1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract</span>

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Place racks in the top third.

In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. in a separate larger bowl combine the peanut butter, maple syrup, olive oil, and vanilla. Stir until combined. Pour the flour mixture over the peanut butter mixture and stir until barely combined - still a bit dusty looking. Let sit for five minutes, give one more quick stir, just a stroke or two. Now drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Press down on each one gently with the back of a fork. It's a loose batter, so if you're set on doing criss-crosses, go ahead and chill the batter for an hour or so before this step. Bake for 10, maybe 11 minutes - but don't over bake or they will be dry. Let cool five minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.

Make 2 - 3 dozen cookies.

Recipe from Heidi Swanson over at [url=http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/peanut-butter-cookies-recipe.html]http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/peanut-butter-cookies-recipe.html[/url]