Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows

I made Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows (a gluten-free version) for a friends going away party. Let me tell ya, they were ugly, but I loved them!!


This awesome recipe is one of the many mouth watering ones found in Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar: 100 Dairy-Free Recipes For Everyone's Favorite Treats.

Here is the recipe, but don't forget to check out Post Punk Kitchen's website and if you love cookies you will seriously want to own this book. And this is a really fun one to make with the kiddos.
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Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows

makes 2 dozen cookies

Chocolate dough:

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

3 tablespoons non-dairy milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened dutch processed cocoa powder

2 tablespoons black unsweetened cocoa or more dutch processed unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:

3/4 cup natural salted peanut butter, crunchy or creamy style

2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar

2 to 3 tablespoons soy creamer or non-dairy milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl combine oil, sugar, maple syrup, non-dairy milk and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Sift in flour, cocoa powder, black cocoa if using, baking soda and salt. Mix to form a moist dough.

Make the filling. In another mixing bowl beat together peanut butter, confectioner’s sugar, 2 tablespoons of soy creamer and vanilla extract to form a moist but firm dough. If peanut butter dough is too dry (as different natural peanut butters have different moisture content), stir in remaining tablespoon of non-dairy milk. If dough is too wet knead in a little extra powdered sugar.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line bakings sheet with parchment paper.

Shape the cookies. Create the centers of the cookies by rolling the peanut butter dough into 24 balls. Scoop a generous tablespoon of chocolate dough, flatten into a disc and place a peanut butter ball in the center. Fold the sides of the chocolate dough up and around the peanut butter center and roll the chocolate ball into an smooth ball between your palms. Place on a sheet of waxed paper and repeat with remaining doughs. If desired gently flatten cookies a little, but this is not necessary.

Making the filling with my favorite helper.
We will pretend her hair doesn't always look so messy.

Place dough balls on lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart and bake for 10 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and let cookies for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to complete cooling. Store cookies in tightly covered container. If desired warm cookies in a microwave for 10 to 12 seconds before serving.

 So for laughs I am going to show you my the picture in the book vs mine.

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NAILED IT!!!!

(But seriously they were still really good. They taste like a Peanut Butter Cup cookie.)

Cookies!! (a la Babycakes)

I had the lovely Miss Donna over today. (She isn't really a "Miss" since she is suuuuper married) to make some gluten-free (for her) and vegan (for both of us, even though I ate some Cheetos just now - I never said I was a saint, only that I am trying to be one) cookies.

We got the recipe "Chips Ahoy!" out of BabyCakes Covers the Classics: Gluten-Free Vegan Recipes from Donuts to Snickerdoodles. My advice, buy it or do as I did, and check it out from your awesome local library. Or WIN IT! What What? More on that later...


What we discovered was a seriously awesome recipe! 


What constitutes an awesome recipe for me - 
1) It has to be easy. Check (even though you will need some specialty ingredients, so once you get them, then it is easy)
2) I like to eat things right away, so I don't like things that have a long cook time. These took 7-10 minutes. Check.
3) It needs to taste good. Double check.


The only drawbacks were as follows. The dough is kinda yucky. It is really sticky and oily. The chips don't really stay in the dough well and the dough gets all over your fingers and spoon. Like way more than normal. And also since there is a lot of oil, it doesn't taste good (yes, I like my dough to taste good before I bake it. I look forward to licking the spoon) and they probably aren't all that great for your hips. We used canola oil instead of coconut oil. It was an option and I had it in my pantry, so maybe next time I should switch it up.

In the end it didn't matter, because what we ended up with were moist, chewy, and scrumptious cookies that even the most white flour loving, animal-product consuming, cookie aficionado, will groan over.

The lovely Donna

mmmmm