Classic peanut butter blossoms go vegan! Each of these tender little cookies is topped with a dollop of rich coconut ganache, for a burst of chocolaty goodness in every bite.
I love peanut butter blossoms. They were always one of my favorite holiday cookies. Maybe my absolute favorite, but every time I say that about something I find myself writing a post for something else a week later and then declaring that as my all-time favorite.
So let's just say I'm a big fan of peanut butter blossoms and leave it at that. So this year, I decided it was time to make a vegan version. I thought it would be easy. But nope!
I almost didn't even name these "peanut butter blossoms." Chocolate peanut butter thumbprint cookies might be more accurate. Classic peanut butter blossoms are topped with Hershey Kisses, and as you can see from the photos, only one cookie is topped with anything resembling a kiss. I ended up with a single perfect cookie, and yeah, you got me — I totally used it for my photos. Because how could I let that beauty go to waste?
My thinking was this: I'd veganize the cookies by swapping out butter for vegan butter and eggs for flax eggs. Easy! And that worked. The cookie making part is easy — whip up some peanut butter, vegan butter, sugar, and flax egg with an electric mixer. Stir in your dry ingredients, shape into balls, roll in sugar, and bake away.
But instead of pressing a Kiss into each cookie, I'd make a little thumbprint dent, and then pipe some ganache in the dent, in the shape of a Kiss.
Brilliant, right? The problem is this: the temperature of the ganache is super critical! Too warm and it'll just settle into a chocolate puddle. Too cool, and it'll be too solid to pipe. I got it to that happy semi-solid temperature, but then it cooled in the pastry bag.
First it clogged up the tip, then it burst the whole bag (which was, admittedly, a piece of junk I got at the dollar store). It made a huge mess and seeing all that chocolate go to waste was rather painful.
So, if you've got mad piping skills, feel free to squirt some perfect Kisses on your blossoms. The rest of us will just spoon ours on top, and it'll taste just as good.
My husband pointed out why these suckers are better that regular old kiss cookies. With classic peanut butter blossoms, you take a bite and the whole Kiss comes out at once. With these, you the ganache stays put, so you get chocolate and cookie in every bite.
FAQ & Tips for Making Awesome Vegan Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Why does the recipe call for organic sugar? Do I have to use organic? In the United States at least, most granulated sugar is processed with animal bone char. Not so with organic sugar, so using it will keep the cookies vegan.
- What's vegan butter? Is it just margarine? Basically, yes. But lots of margarine is actually processed with dairy. Look for products specifically labeled as "vegan butter," like Earth Balance, Melt and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter (It's Vegan!).
- Where can I find vegan chocolate chips? My regular grocery store carries them, but if you's doesn't, try places like Whole Foods or Amazon. Enjoy Life is the brand I usually use.
- Can I make these gluten-free? I think an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend such as those made by Bob's Red Mill or King Arthur would work, but I haven't tested the recipe with anything but wheat flour.
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Vegan Peanut Butter Blossoms
Classic peanut butter blossoms go vegan! Each of these tender little peanut butter cookies is topped with a dollop of rich coconut ganache, for a burst of chocolaty goodness in every bite.
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 3 tablespoons water
- ¾ cup organic granulated sugar, divided
- ½ cup organic brown sugar
- ½ cup creamy natural peanut butter
- ½ cup vegan butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Ganache
- 1 cup vegan chocolate chips
- 1 cup coconut cream*
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 375° and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Whisk the water and flaxseed together in a small bowl. Allow the mixture to sit for a few minutes to gel while you gather the rest of your ingredients.
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Place ½ cup of sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, butter, and vanilla into a large mixing bowl. Add the flax mixture, and beat everything together with an electric mixer on high-speed for about 1 minute, until creamy.
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Add the flour to the bowl, and sprinkle the baking powder, baking soda, and salt on top of the flour. Stir everything together until uniformly blended.
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Place the remaining ¼ cup of sugar into a small bowl.
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Roll the dough into 1-inch balls, then roll the balls in the sugar. Place them on the baking sheets, separated by about 2-inches.
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Bake for 10 minutes, remove the baking sheets from the oven, and transfer them to a cooling rack.
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Wait about 1 to 2 minutes, just until the cookies are cool enough to handle, then use your thumb for form an indentation in the top of each one.
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Allow the cookies to cool completely.
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When the cookies have cooled, melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler or by placing them into a bowl and microwaving in 30 second increments, stirring in between.
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Stir the coconut cream into the melted chips. Allow the mixture to cool down a bit, to thicken.
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Spoon a dollop of ganache on top of each cookie. Allow the ganache to set at room temperature (about 1 hour), or chill to speed up the process.
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Serve.
Recipe Notes
You can buy cans of coconut cream at most grocery stores. Thai Kitchen is a popular brand. You can also extract the cream from a couple cans of coconut milk. Chill the can for at least 12 hours. The coconut milk should separate into cream (the solid portion) and coconut water (the cloudy liquid). Just use the cream. You'll probably need 2 cans of coconut milk to get 1 cup of cream.
Adapted from Betty Crocker.
Can I substitute coconut oil for the vegan butter?
I think so! That substitution usually works for me, but I can't be 100% certain as I haven't tried it in this recipe.
Who got to eat the one perfect cookie? You, your husband, or did you send her to a cookie sanctuary? These look perfectly scrumptious! I can't wait to make a batch.Thank you!
I still have it actually! I hung on to five or six of the prettiest cookies so I could give them to my brother and sister in law (both are vegan) over Christmas! :) Thanks so much Hanne!
With the coconut cream, is there a coconut flavor? I ask because I cannot stand coconut.
Thanks!
I couldn't taste it at all. :)
Finally! The peanut butter blossoms I used to make before I was vegan! These are delicious! I subbed coconut sugar for the brown sugar as that’s all I had. I also used Justin’s dark chocolate peanut butter cups instead of the ganache in the interest of time. I can’t wait to serve these tonight at Christmas Eve. Thank you!
I'm so glad you like them! And what an awesome idea to use peanut butter cups! Thanks so much Shari!
These were a HUGE hit with the non-vegans and kids! I’m making them again for New Year’s Eve! Thank you!
Woo hoo!! I'm glad they were a hit! Thank you and have a wonderful New Year's celebration!
I was wondering the chocolate ganache looks more like milk chocolate than semi sweet. Does the coconut milk make it more like milk chocolate kisses flavor? I’m not a big semi sweet fan in combo with peanut butter, so was wondering what the flavor was like.
I'd say it's pretty close to milk chocolate, but not quite as heavy. You could try just melting some chocolate chips, and then letting the mixture sit for a bit to cool, giving it a stir every so often. Then when it starts to thicken up a bit you can spoon it on the cookies. The chocolate will turn out quite a bit firmer than with ganache, but you'll get that dark chocolate flavor you prefer. I hope that helps! Enjoy!!
Made these for my fiancé for his birthday and I used GF cup for cup flour and they came out amazing! He thought they were so tasty and even better than the original thumbprint cookies that’s were his favorite! Thank you!
Yay! I'm glad to hear gluten-free flour works, and so glad you enjoyed them!!
I made these cookies, but I didn’t roll them in sugar and topped with jelly instead of chocolate. Delicious PB&J variation!
Sounds delicious!
These are heavenly! These were my sons favorite during Christmas, when we went vegan he was bummed, but these are ( like so many vegan recipes) so much better than the non-vegan ones. Wow! Thank you!
One question, how should they be stored?
Yay! I'm so glad you and your son like them! Store them in an airtight container and they should be goo for at least a week, maybe two.
Hello! I bought Follow Your Heart vegan egg and was curious how many eggs I need? One or two? Or even three?
I can't guarantee it'll work as I've only tested the recipe using flax eggs. But if you want to give it a try you can use one egg and omit the the tablespoon of flaxseed and three tablespoons of water. I'd love to hear how it it works out if you try it!
They worked out great! One vegan egg is enough and they taste just how I remember them as a kid! Thanks!
Yay! Glad it worked out and you enjoyed them!
Found these on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/LARGE-Chocolate-Chip-Mold-Silicone/dp/B07FSY6PXN
Oh nice! I'm definitely getting some for next year. Thank you!!
Very forgiving recipe! I didn't have baking powder or baking soda and didn't realize it until I had mixed everything else! I substituted 1/2 a banana and threw some chocolate chips inside (as well as melted chocolate on top) and they turned out great! My roommate said they're the best cookies she's ever had and she's not even vegan! The 10 minute mark is PERFECT. Time estimations are highly accurate.
A favorite vegan cookie recipe around here, however, I'm wanting to make these gluten free with oat flour this year. I wonder if these will still be impressive with this swap. Testing a batch soon! If anyone has tried, let me know! 😊
Just want to say you can buy kiss molds. I used chocolate chips, melt and fill the molds. Perfect kisses! I even wrap some in lightweight foil and use a thin ribbon as the pull for my son!
I made these with my daughter. We went vegan in Early 2020 and were not sure we would be able to enjoy our favorite pb blossoms again. We followed this recipe exactly on Christmas Eve except for the chocolate part we used melted chips and a little coconut oil to make it smooth. So good. Thank you. We don’t have any left and plan to make again this week. Also your husband’s observations about getting chocolate in every bite is spot on. Much better than traditional Kisses.
Forgot to give it 5 stars in my review!