Vegan No Bake Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why are my no bake cookies dry and crumbly? ›

Boiling too long will cause the cookies to be dry and crumbly. However, if you don't boil long enough the cookies will not set and will be runny. Some folks say bring the mixture to a rolling boil and then count to 60, while others swear by counting to 90.

The wrong ratio of ingredients, such as too little sugar or peanut butter will make them fall apart.

If your no bake cookies are sticky and gooey, then they were not boiled quite long enough. On the flip side, if your no bake cookies are dry and crumbly, they were boiled a tad too long. You should let the mixture come to a full rolling boil and then time exactly 1 minute from there.

Butter is an emulsifier and it makes cookies tender. It also adds in the crispy-around-the-edges element. Adding too much butter can cause the cookies to be flat and greasy. Adding too little butter can cause the cookies to be tough and crumbly.

Most no-bake cookies have some sticky ingredient to hold it together. If you used something sticky like butter, peanut butter, melted marshmallows or melted chocolate I would pop them in the fridge, so they firm up. If that doesn't help, I would completely dip them in melted chocolate and let them harden in the fridge.

You do not have to chill this peanut butter cookie dough for perfectly thick cookies that are full of peanut buttery flavor. You can chill the dough for up to 72 hours if you prefer. Chilling cookie dough is very similar to marinating meat – things just get so much better if you wait a day or two.

To avoid this, try using as little flour as possible while preparing to roll your dough. Dry – “Dry” or “Crumbly” dough is a product of over-mixing or using too much of any ingredient during the mixing process. This can be reversed by adding one to two tablespoons of liquid (water, milk or softened butter) to your mix.

Cookie tips & tricks:

For softer peanut butter cookies, don't flatten them with the fork. They will be puffier and softer. For crispier peanut butter cookies, use a fork to flatten the dough balls. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes before rolling into balls for a chewier peanut butter cookie.

If your no-bake cookies are too wet and thin, it's not too late to fix them! You can thicken it up by adding more peanut butter and/or oats. But do so a little at a time and stir well. The hot mixture will also thicken as it cools, so it should be a thick but pourable consistency when you start scooping.

Putting a slice of fresh white bread in the container with the cookies will help the cookies stay soft: fresh bread is moist, and that slice will give up its moisture for the greater good: keeping the cookies from drying out. We recommend white bread so that no flavor is transferred to the cookies.

What makes a cookie chewy and not cakey? ›

Melted butter creates cookies with a different texture compared to cookies made with softened or creamed butter. When butter is melted, it coats the flour more evenly, resulting in cookies that are chewier and denser.

Cookies made with melted butter often deflate and become denser when they cool, resulting in a perfectly cooked fudgy center — a similar textural result to brownies that get rapped (aka banged against an oven rack mid-bake to deflate them) or Sarah Kieffer's iconic pan-banging cookies that turn out pleasantly compact.

Brown sugar, meanwhile, is dense and compacts easily, creating fewer air pockets during creaming—that means that there's less opportunity to entrap gas, creating cookies that rise less and spread more. With less moisture escaping via steam, they also stay moist and chewy.

Due to its liquid nature, using oil in cookies typically results in a denser texture. Also, because oil is 100% fat, it doesn't react with flour the way butter does (butter contains water). Because of that, your cookies won't be as fluffy. If you're a fan of flat cookies, then using oil is an excellent option.

If your cookie dough is dry and crumbly, there are a few things you can do to fix it. First, try adding more liquid to the dough. This can be milk, water, or even just a little bit of extra oil. If that doesn't work, you can try kneading the dough for a few minutes to help it come together.

Incorrect Fat-to-Sugar Ratio: The proportion of fat (butter, oil or shortening) to sugar is important for the texture of a cookie. If there isn't enough fat, the cookies may be crumbly. Measure out the correct amounts of fat and sugar for your recipe.

Baking cookies quickly in a hot oven – at 375 degrees F as opposed to a lower temperature – will make for soft results. They'll bake fast instead of sitting and drying out in the oven's hot air. Ever so slightly underbaking your cookies will give you softer results than cooking them the full amount the recipe says.

Using too much flour will make your cookies too cakey, so try reducing the flour amount by two tablespoons. Avoid using cake flour instead; try a mix of all-purpose flour and bread flour for a more dense and chewy texture. Using too much baking powder. According to the science geeks at Serious Eats—we love you!