Peanut Butter Cookies, vegan or not

Yes, I know, 'cookies'. Never liked the word, but I take it to mean chewy biscuits, whereas 'biscuits' are crunchy to some degree. These are definitely cookies. Vegan recipe, with dairy alternatives in brackets.

Preparation takes about 20 minutes, baking 12 minutes or so. Oven needs to be at 180C fan, 190C otherwise, and a large baking tray ready, lined with parchment. This recipe makes 16-20.

Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
170g plain flour
75g demerara sugar
100g granulated sugar
1 tsp fine salt
1 tsp baking powder
50 Flora spread (butter-based spread)
100g peanut butter
60ml plant-based milk (dairy milk)
10 soft ready-to-eat apricots (from a pouch), snipped fairly finely - optional
16-20 peanuts, whole or halved, roasted or not

Method
1  Place all the ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well to make a dough, using
       a mixer, a wooden spoon, or just hands. Make sure all the Flora and flour
       disappear into the dough. 

2  Put individual tablespoons of the dough on the baking tray, a little apart, and
       press lightly to flatten a little. Push a peanut into the middle of each one.

3  Bake for about 12 minutes until they are turning golden. If your oven, like mine,
       can bake unevenly, quickly turn the baking tray around halfway through.

4  They will seem a little soft, but leave to cool and they become nicely chewy.

Adapt
Chocolate chips could be added, or substitute finely chopped dates or snipped raisins for the apricots. If the cookies don't need to be vegan, buttery spread could be used instead of Flora, and dairy milk.

Lemon Drizzle Squares and Easy Peanut Biscuits

Here's my definitive recipe for lemon drizzle squares soaked in a sharp lemon syrup, and one for peanut biscuits. Both are easy to make, but while the biscuits are, as it were, a piece of cake, the squares may need a little effort if you are beating the ingredients by hand.

Lemon Drizzle Squares

I make these so that each square is about two bites, and this quantity of ingredients makes 20-24. They can be frozen if (by chance) there are any left over. The recipe fits a baking tin about 4cm deep and base 24x17cm; it should be fully lined with baking parchment.

Ingredients

150g butter (room temp), chopped into small pieces

150g caster sugar

2 free-range eggs

100ml milk

150g self-raising flour

1 heaped teaspoon baking powder

juice and finely grated rind of 2 large lemons

80g granulated sugar

The oven should be at 170C if fan type, otherwise slightly higher, and shelf in the middle.

Method

1  In a large bowl, beat the butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy, without lumps. 

        (Best with an electric mixer but can be done by hand with a wooden spoon.)

2  Beat the eggs into the mixture gradually. Don't worry if it looks slightly curdled.

3  Add the milk and beat again until well mixed.

4  Stir in the flour, baking powder and grated lemon rind.

5  Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tin and smooth over.

6  Bake for about 25 minutes until golden. (It's ready if a skewer inserted into the centre

        comes out clean.)

7  Meanwhile, in a bowl mix the lemon juice and granulated sugar. 

8  When the cake is ready, leave it in the pan and prick all over the top with the skewer,

        maybe 40-50 times. Give the juice/sugar mix a stir and drizzle it over slowly so that

        it seeps into the cake.

9  When cool, cut into squares of the size you want. They may be a little gooey!

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Peanut Biscuits

These are quicker and easier to make - the recipe is for about 16 biscuits. As long as they are completely cooled, they can be stored in a tin. A large baking tray, lined with baking parchment, is needed and maybe a smaller one too, as they have to be spaced apart so they can spread during cooking. 

Ingredients

75g demerara sugar

100g granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

50g soft butter or spread such as Flora

100g peanut butter (preferably crunchy type)

50ml milk

160g plain flour

50g chopped plain chocolate (optional but nice)

The oven should be at around 180C for fan type, otherwise 200C. Shelves not too near the top.

Method

1  Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix them thoroughly (a wooden spoon 

        should be OK), making sure the butter is well distributed.

2  Mix in the chocolate pieces if used.

3  Take pieces of the dough about the size of a walnut shell and place on the baking tray,

        leaving maybe 6cm between them. Flatten slightly.

4  Bake until the biscuits are golden but don't allow them to darken or the chocolate

        pieces to burn - this may take 15 minutes but check after 13.

5  Slide the biscuits, still on the parchment, onto a wire rack to cool.

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I hope you enjoy reading about these treats and - especially - eating them!

Thanks for visiting.