Peanut Butter Cookies {gluten-free and vegan}

I found this random recipe for gluten-free vegan cookies which was a huge hit at my office. I also brought vegan snicker doodles and bittersweet chocolate chip cookies with sea salt but my coworkers went absolutely mad over these cookies. The best part is the recipe was so simple to follow. You’re going to want to double this recipe–I promise!

ingredients.

• 1 ½ c. gluten-free flour blend (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. xanthan gum (this is already in the flour mixture but I guess you need more of it)
• 1 c. packed dark brown sugar
• ¾ c. peanut butter
• ½ c. Earth Balance vegan butter (or Spectrum shortening)
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla
• ¼ c. unsweetened applesauce (don’t laugh–I used baby food here)
• Turbinado sugar for rolling

directions.

1. In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and xanthan gum. Set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, combine vegan butter and peanut butter and mix until creamy. Add brown sugar and mix until fully incorporated. Add vanilla and applesauce, mix to combine. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients.
3. Roll the dough into balls. Flatten the cookies using a fork to make the traditional cross marks Then dip into the sugar (cross marks down). Bake at 375F for 6 to 8 minutes. I doubled the recipe and got about 40 cookies–they were pretty small!