First off, I caved and joined twitter. So if you want to know what spices I am running low on, today is your lucky day. OK, now I’ll make with the cookies.
It seems that Peanut Butter Pillows won this battle, but the war still rages and I’ll post a few more of your recipe requests in the next few weeks. Right now, though, let’s get down to business. This recipe come straight from the ska checkered oven mitted hands of Terry Hope Romero.
Chocolate and peanut butter fans will totally stalk you once they get a bite of these classic chocolately cookies with a heart of sweet and salty peanut butter. We can’t deny impatience is rewarded here: these cookies when eaten warm just a few minutes out of the oven are dynamite. We use black cocoa powder because we happen to have it, but dutch processed or even regular cocoa powder would be A-OK.
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.
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.
These were amazing. My bf craves Reese’s PB cups and misses them so much– these are a perfect way to satisfy that craving! We couldn’t find smooth natural PB at the store today, so they were made with smooth conventional PB, and they turned out just fine. Also, for everyone having problems with the amount of dough and the dough being too oily to shape, I recommend using a Tbsp measure and by “generous” Tbsp. think like– giving socks to your family for Christmas generous– just barely round the Tbsp and you’ll have plenty. To help handle the chocolate dough, I washed my hands in cold water every 6 cookies or so, and that helped a ton. I also found that, even if it seemed like the dough was breaking and wasn’t enough, the dough evened out perfectly as I started rolling my hands quickly to form the ball. These handle a lot like the Rumnog Pecan Cookies in Veganomicon (which are awesome, as well)– the dough feels really loose, but you if you have faith and roll them and go with it, they cook great.
@Katie: If you have almonds, make your own almond milk. So easy.
Google for instructions. If you don’t sometimes water will work too, but I dont know in this recipe.
Thank you so much Isa, cant wait to try these.
Do you have any tips on making these gluten free? I make them all the time and I have a gluten-intolerant friend who really wants to try them.
these are incredible! getting the chocolate dough around the peanut butter balls was definitely a bit challenging as the dough is pretty much at its plasticity limit… eventually worked it out but it was very time consuming. any tips on how to speed this step up?
I think that the temp of the dough probably matters. If it’s very cold it will be harder to roll. Perhaps put it in your warmest room for a few minutes before forming the pillows.
Great web site. Many valuable data right here. I sure am mailing it to some close friends ans also revealing in delicious. Of course, thanks for your sweat!
These are AMAZING! I made them at Xmas and they were the most popular thing for puddings! My mums bday is tomorrow (yes, on valentine’s day!) and she wants them instead of cake. Im going to try and shape them into hearts. Thanks Isa xx
I made these as a valentine’s day present for my decidedly omnivorous boyfriend-he practically made himself sick devouring them! Baketivism at its finest, as far as I’m concerned. I’m a vegetarian, not a vegan, but your recipes are convincing me that I can do deliciously without eggs and milk. Keep them coming!
Actually, I was disappointed with them… They were waaaayyy too sweet :s Almost half of the recipe is sugar…
I substituted agave for the maple as well & added mini Enjoy Life chocolate chips to the filling….AMAZING!
I was excited when I saw these and realized that I had everything in my pantry. I found them easy to make (had the extra cookie sheet on top of the stove so the dough was soft to roll) and myself and both my sons loved them! I did cut the sugar back by 1/4 cup and added 1/4 cup more of cocoa and 1/4 cup more of flour to compensate. It amazed me how well my boys liked because they are usually pretty cautious about my vegan baked goods. When my 15 year old’s friends came, they liked them as well! Thanks!!!
So incredibly rich and delicious I could only eat two, washed down with a big glass of milk. I’m an omnivore, but was searching for an eggless recipe to serve a guest with food sensitivities. They were a gooey and delicious hit, and easy to make at that. This will be a new regular for me. Thank you for the terrific recipe!
These were ok. Way too much sugar, not enough cocoa.
Made these t’other day but missed out the baking powder by mistake and ended up with these amazing cookies with a peanut filling, like a chocolate peanut butter cookie sandwich. So i’d totally recommend trying it this way too.
These are the best cookies in the world. Thank you so much for inventing them. I bring them to every pot-luck as an ambassador of vegan goodness. People go NUTS for them! I recently made a gluten free version which is quite satisfying: Use entirely brown sugar rather than white, double the vanilla, and use Bob’s Red Mill gluten free biscuit and baking mix for the flour. The cookies are moist and almost indistinguishable from those with gluten.
clarification of the above gluten free variation: I substitute the brown sugar for white in the chocolate dough, but not the pb dough – for that I still used confectioners sugar.
I just made these with a half and half mixture of “cookie butter” (amazing product from trader joes) and Almond butter. DELICIOUS. and peanut free! (for those who can’t indulge)
Just made these! Fabulous recipe, super duper easy to follow!!! They turned out really really well, just like in the picture (yay!) I substituted PB for almond butter (because a good friend I have every intention of feeding cookies too is allergic to PB!) and it turned out just fine! Can’t wait to try it with peanut butter though, I’m a sucker for the taste!
Just curious to how you feel the dough would freeze? I was going to try making a bunch and pre-rolling them and then freezing it so I can just plop ’em out and bake them?
Can Carob powder be used in lieu of the cocoa powder?
Hi, I just love this recipe but I’m having a problem with two ingredients being a foreigner. Could someone, please, clarify for me what non-dairy milk is? The recipe say 2 tbs non-dairy milk? Is it a special kind of milk or is it a powder? And then the recipe calls for soya creamer, so again, is it a powder or liquid? Thank you, I would very much love to make these pillows but I don’t want to get stuck on these two things. Thank you 🙂
@HanaS
Non-dairy milk is soy milk or almond milk or rice milk or coconut milk etc, any milk that does not come from an animal is what she means.
The soy creamer is liquid
You don’t have to use both non-dairy milk and soy creamer, just pick either the non-dairy milk or the creamer if you would rather use that.
I just made these with gluten free flour, and sunbutter. My friends little girl has gluten, dairy, and peanut allergies. The chocolate dough was too wet for cookies, so I spread half in an 8×8 pan lined with parchment, spread the sunbutter dough on top then the rest of the chocolate, and baked for 40 minutes! OH MY…tastes like chocolate sunbutter brownies! Soooooo yummy!
Well, these are dreamy. 3x’s the recipe for a bake sale!
How long would you store this for?
Thanks for the recipe! I’ve already made the pb-coco pillows at least two times and gave them to my friends, whom happen to be carnivores. All of them loved the cookies! They didn’t even suspect that it was vegan! It was awesome seeing their facial expressions when I told them that no animal bi-products were used in the making of the cookies. Thanks again for the recipe! My friends loved the cookies so much that they asked me to make them again. 😉
this recipe deserves a slow clap. i am amazed with how delicious these are. i baked a batch for my non vegan/vegetarian friends and they all absolutely loved them. thank you for helping me spread the vegan love.
these are one of my favorites! i had trouble with the chocolate dough though- it was like glue! it stuck to itself and my hands and just wouldn’t wrap around the peanut butter. i mixed with a mixer tonight so i’m guessing that’s what did it. these are crazy good though! i get requests for them at work all the time…
I made these successfully gluten free with a combination of 1/2 c. Almond Flour, 1/2 c. Sorghum Flour, 1/2 c. Tapioca Starch, & 3/8 tsp of Xanthum Gum. Thank you for the great recipe!
These are the best. I make them all the time for friends and family. My work is having a cookie exchange this weekend, and I am making these as in christmas tree shaped silicone baking molds. I am so excited to share these with the ladies at work!!
These are good, but the chocolate dough was way too wet. I think this is a result of weighing the flour to be 180g instead of using a cup and pressing the flour into it. The chocolate dough really spread out into flying saucers. They don’t look much like your picture. Don’t know if I’ll try these again. Your plain peanut butter cookies are to die for though, especially subbing maple syrup for the mollasses. Looking forward to trying more of the recipes in the book as my waistline allows.
I was lazily craving some decadence, so I mixed up a quarter batch of the peanut butter filling, mixed with chocolate chips, and am eating it with a spoon. This was a too-lazy-to-actually-bake win!
I baked my cookies for around 15 minuets, otherwise they weren’t done. My chocolate dough was also a little hard to shape around the filing, but these are really great. Good recipe to try!