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Peanut butter cookies will forever be a nostalgic favourite treat for me. Unfortunately, around the age of seven I developed a mild peanut sensitivity which, while not life-threatening, did mean that I completely cut peanut products out of my life.
Something I had been wondering for years was if I could just replace the peanut butter with some other similar substance. There is a wide assortment of replacements for peanut butter, including other nut butters, such as almond, sunflower, pea, and soy butter. I decided to use my favourite alternative: soy butter. While not quite what I remembered, this recipe yielded an adaptable smooth dough and cookies that crumble wonderfully.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup soybutter, room temperature
Method
- Combine the butter, white sugar, brown sugar, and soy butter in a large bowl until they are smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time.
- In seperate bowl, sift the dry ingredients together, then combine with the butter mixture, adding the dry ingredients to the wet.
- In bowl, refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.
- Roll into 1-inch balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Flatten each of the balls with a fork to create a decorative criss-cross pattern.
- Bake in a preheated 375 F oven for about 10 minutes, or until cookies begin to brown.
Soy butter and jam cookie variant:
- Follow all steps until flattening the dough.
- Instead of using a fork, use thumb or back of a spoon to indent the dough and fill with fruit jam.
- Bake at 375 F for 15-17 minutes.
Optional chocolate dip
- Melt chocolate in a double boiler or in a microwave at 10-second intervals until smooth.
- Dip half of a cooled cookie in chocolate.
- Place on parchment lined baking pan and let dry.
Image: Nicholas Ashenhurst-Toews
