These Vegan Chocolate and Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies are the perfect mix of bittersweet and nutty. Get the recipe below.
Sandwich cookies
I love sandwich cookies - the idea that you get to enjoy two cookies sandwiched together with a soft filling is the best! You get two cookies for the price of one!
This Vegan Chocolate and Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookie recipe takes the universally loved combination of peanut butter and chocolate for a tasty treat! The rich, nutty creaminess of peanut butter perfectly complements the deep, sweet bitterness of chocolate.
The creamy texture of the peanut butter filling provides a smooth contrast to the bite of the chocolate cookie, while the slight saltiness of peanut butter enhances the sweetness of the chocolate. Of course, if you wanted some extra crunch you could use crunchy peanut butter but I prefer it smooth and creamy.
How to build a Vegan Chocolate and Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookie
There are 3 key components to these sandwich cookies.
First we have the cookie - the tender cookie gives just enough bite but ultimately melts in your mouth. I always make sure to use a high-quality cocoa powder to ensure a deep, rich flavour.
Next we have the filling - the peanut butter filling should be smooth, creamy, and just the right amount of sweet. You might be surprised to hear me say it but you might want to avoid the expensive peanut butter brands for this recipe. You don’t want to use a peanut butter that is too oily, which I find the fancy ones often are, as this will not mix well with the vegan butter and so you won’t get as creamy a buttercream. It may even split which we really don't want! The peanut butter gets combined with icing sugar and vegan butter to make a soft, nutty buttercream which is easily piped between the two cookies.
Lastly we have what I'm calling "the balance" - getting the ratio of filling to cookie right is essential. If you have too much chocolate cookie then the peanut butter flavour gets lost. If you have too much filling then the cookie is likely to fall apart! And we don't want that. Ideally each bite will give you an equal taste of chocolate and peanut.
Vegan chocolate cookies
The chocolate cookie used in this recipe is short and tender, much like a shortbread biscuit.
The dough is made up of just caster sugar, vegan butter, plain flour and cocoa powder. These ingredients come together to form a dough that can easily be cut into 5 cm circles that fit perfectly in your hand.
Once you've got your circles of cookie dough it is important that you chill them. This wil stop the biscuits spreading in the oven. They don't need to chill for long - just 30 minutes in the fridge or 15 minutes in the freezer is long enough to avoid this from happening.
Once chilled you can then bake! More details about cooking temperatures and times are set out in the recipe card below.
Peanut butter buttercream
Just like the cookie dough, the filling only has 4 ingredients. They are peanut butter, vegan butter, icing sugar and plant milk. You do need to take a bit of a leap of faith with this one as it can take some time to move past grainy to smooth and silky but do keep beating! An electric whisk will help.
Once done it will be easy to pipe between the two cookies.
The recipe
Vegan Chocolate and Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
Equipment
- 1 Rolling Pin
- 1 5 cm cookie cutter
- 1 large baking tray
Ingredients
For the vanilla shortbread biscuits
- 125 g caster sugar
- 200 g vegan butter this should be block butter not spreadable butter
- 300 g plain flour
- 50 g cocoa powder
For the filling
- 200 g icing sugar
- 75 g vegan butter
- 75 g peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon plant milk add 1 more tablespoon max if needed to make it smooth and creamy
Instructions
To make the chocolate biscuits
- In a large bowl beat together the vegan butter and caster sugar until pale and creamy.
- Next add in the plain flour and cocoa powder and mix until it comes together into a dough. This can take some time. Persevere, it will come together!
- Turn the dough out on to a floured surface. Knead just once or twice if necessary to bring it together – no more or this could make a tough biscuit.
- Roll out the dough until its 5-6 mm thick.
- Cut out 24 round biscuits. You may need to bring the dough back together and re-roll to get enough cookies.
- Place the biscuits on to a baking try lined with baking paper and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
- In the meantime, pre-heat the oven to 180 C / 350 F / gas mark 4.
- Once the biscuits have been chilled, bake for 10 – 12 minutes until golden brown. Don't worry if they still feel a bit soft. They will firm up once they cool down.
- Allow to cool completely before filling.
To fill
- Place the icing sugar, peanut butter, vegan butter and plant milk into a large bowl.
- Beat until smooth and creamy.
- Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag.
- Pipe a swirl of buttercream around the edge of the base of 12 of the cookies.
- Take the remaining biscuits and sandwich these on top of the biscuits with the buttercream and jam.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
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