Vegan Peanut Butter and Jam Sandwich Cookies that just happen to be good for you! Oil-free, gluten-free, but big on flavour, these cookies are made with oat flour and coconut sugar.
I attended elementary school in the early 2000s, when you could still take peanut butter and jam sandwiches for lunch. Some kids at my school had peanut allergies, but they were not as widespread as they are now, and I always seemed to be in the class without any allergy sufferers. And at that time, we could still bring peanut butter as long as nobody in our class had an allergy. So I would typically find a PB and J packed neatly in a Tupperware container at lunch a couple days a week, along with a Tupperware drink container of milk.
I quite enjoyed my peanut butter and jam sandwiches, though back then I would have happily traded my organic peanut butter and homemade bread lunches for my classmates’ Kraft peanut butter and Wonder Bread numbers.
Oh, how my taste buds have changed.
Now, I only eat organic, unsweetened peanut butter, and I turn my nose up at any bread that isn’t made with sprouted grains or sourdough. (I am the first to admit that I am a bit of a stickler when it comes to food quality.) And it was one morning, when I was chowing down on some sourdough toast with peanut butter and jam, that an idea popped into my head. What if I turned this into a dessert?
As is often the case with me, inspiration strikes at the most unpredictable of times. But I’ll take inspiration in any way that it comes. That’s how these peanut butter and jam sandwich cookies were born.
I went back to my favourite cookie recipe so far, my Vegan Chocolate, Pecan, and Cranberry Cookies, for a recipe to work from. I completely replaced the white spelt flour used in that recipe with oat flour, and, of course, omitted the chocolate, pecan, and cranberries. I also omitted the coconut oil, opting instead for all of the fat and richness to come from peanut butter. The resulting vegan peanut butter and jam sandwich cookie is chewy, hearty, and toothsome: perfect for layering with raspberry jam.
These cookies are extremely easy to make. They would be a perfect little afternoon baking project with kids! And, of course, if you or anyone you are baking for is allergic to peanuts, by all means use sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter. 🙂
Some Final Thoughts:
-Swap out the raspeberry jam for strawberry, blueberry, or blackberry jam.
-Not in the mood for PB and J? Forego turning them into sandwiches, and instead add 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips to the cookie dough. Bake as directed and enjoy as they are. Now you have oil-free vegan chocolate peanut butter cookies!
-Looking for more baking inspiration? Check out my Vegan Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal Cookies and Double Chocolate Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches as well.
I hope you love these cookies. If you make them, let me know! Leave a comment and review below the recipe, and tag a photo @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen on Instagram!
Vegan Peanut Butter and Jam Cookies
Peanut Butter and Jam Sandwich Cookies are an upgrade on the classic grade school lunch. Best with a cool glass of non-dairy milk for the ultimate snacking experience!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 sandwich cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert, Cookies
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax mixed with 2.5 tbsp water)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened organic peanut butter
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 3 tbsp unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 8 tsp good quality raspberry jam (I used Crofters juice-sweetened organic raspberry jam)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk together the flax and water in a large mixing bowl. Set aside for 3 minutes to gel.
- To the flax egg, add the peanut butter, coconut sugar, maple syrup, non-dairy milk, and vanilla. Whisk to combine.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the oat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and rolled oats.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until a dough forms. The dough should be stiff enough to roll into balls. If it is too runny, add a couple more tablespoons of oat flour; if it is too stiff, add a couple more tablespoons of milk.
- Roll the dough into 16 even balls and divide evenly between the two baking sheets. With slightly wet fingers, lightly flatten each dough ball into a circle, keeping in mind that they spread out while baking.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once cookies have cooled, spoon 1 tsp of jam onto 8 cookies. Lightly press the remaining 8 cookies on top to form sandwiches.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days, or in the refrigerator for longer. The longer the cookies sit, the softer they become, becoming somewhat reminiscent of a Nutri Grain bar in texture! You can also freeze these cookies in an airtight container for later enjoyment.
Keywords: vegan peanut butter and jam cookies, vegan peanut butter and jam sandwich cookies, oil-free peanut butter cookies, egg-free peanut butter cookies, peanut butter and jam cookies
Gretta
This cookie totally rocks! I had to hide one for myself before my boys gobbled them up after school. Very energizing and you can’t go wrong with peanut butter and jam in a cookie. Love it.
★★★★★
Allison
I like how you think, Gretta. I’m glad that you and everyone in your fam enjoyed.