raw, vegan, salted peanut butter cookies

when i get on a sugar kick i’m like buddy the elf!  and during the holidays i always loosen up a bit and eat more of the stuff i generally try to avoid- refined sugar, white flour, processed goodies!  its yummy fun but i also find that after a few weeks of treating myself my regular food doesn’t taste nearly as good as it used to.  which means it’s time for a cleanse!  so i return to really clean eating- lots of juicing, fruits and vegetables.  but i inevitably miss the sweets.  that’s why i knew the second i spotted this that i had my answer.  a raw cookie with no sugar, no flour, no processing at all?  genius i tell you, genius!  they aren’t the same as a true dry, flaky peanut butter cookie but they’re close enough for me!  and the best part: after eating one i feel satisfied instead of feeling like i probably need to eat three more.  that sugar addiction, it’s a crazy thing!  i hope you love them as much as i do!

recipe after the jump:

the what:

1 cup of raw almonds (you can use roasted as well if you’d prefer)

1/2 cup of peanut butter (i used creamy, unsalted)

1 cup pitted medjool dates

1 1/4 teaspoons of vanilla extract

maldon sea salt to garnish

the how:

– combine almonds, peanut butter, dates and vanilla in a food processor and blend until a dough-like texture is achieved (a couple of minutes).  add more peanut butter if necessary to make the dough stickier *

– form into small balls and use a fork to press down and create a crisscross pattern

– sprinkle liberally with maldon sea salt

– store in refrigerator (in my opinion they were better the next day!)

*i was concerned about the motor in our food processor being overworked so i used the dry container in our vitamix to break down the almonds into a pasty flour before i added everything to the food processor.  almond flour could also be substituted if you don’t have access to a vitamix!

this recipe was modified just a little from this recipe

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Reader Comments

  1. Anni|

    Mmm, these look delicious! I eat vegan at home, but I've never been one for raw baked goods… these look good enough to break that rule, though.

    Reply
  2. liza|

    We are currently doing a juice fast to combat this exact thing. Sugar is my nemesis. I can't even begin to tell you how bad it got after my holiday home madness. Okay, candy bars for breakfast & dinner! oof. Anyway, when we're off the juicing this looks like the perfect treat to satisfy and keep me from slipping back into the wild, wild world of sugar highs and lows.
    Thanks!
    PS glad to hear you got that mojo back lady! here, here!

    Reply
    • Suz|

      a juice fast = sugar from the fruit or veggie plus some fiber if your juicer doesn’t take the fiber out

      Reply
  3. sarah yates|

    @anni, i hope you like them! i am always skeptical about raw foods but i have been happily surprised a bunch lately!

    @liza mmmm, candy bars for breakfast. ha! that was my sugar addiction speaking. happy to be packing it up for a bit, i feel so much better already! good luck with your cleanse! xo

    Reply
  4. Erin @ The Speckled Palate|

    Not only do these cookies LOOK gorgeous, but I bet they also taste incredible! And with no added sugar or white flour? Count me in! … The runner in my is rejoicing, as I think this recipe might be the perfect kind of pick-me-up I need this winter to get moving again and satisfying that sweet tooth of mine without completely undoing all the good done from my runs. And peanut butter after a run? The absolute BEST.

    Thanks for sharing! Gorgeous blog!

    Reply
  5. Sarah|

    I don't have a food processor, can you do all of the work in the vitamix?
    Have you tried? I was thinking of trying, but wanted to know what you thought!
    ps. found you via Pinterest! I can't wait to try these, Right there with you on the clean eating, detoxing sugar…

    Reply
  6. sarah yates|

    hi sarah! i think i'd give it a try…do you have the dry container for the vitamix? if so, start with the almonds in that. then add the vanilla and dates to see if you can get a good mixture going. peanut butter last, that way if it's not working you can hand mix it the rest of the way! 🙂 good luck!

    Reply
  7. sarah yates|

    @sarah- wait! i forgot to mention… go slow and give your vitamix breaks in between. you don't want to burn out the motor!

    Reply
  8. Clare|

    Can I just use almond flour or do I need to make my own? If I use almond flour, how much would I need…1 cup of flour or 1/2 cup?

    Reply
  9. sarah yates|

    hi clare! i think you can use almond flour. i'd use one cup and add peanut butter if it's not sticky enough.

    Reply
  10. Caitlin|

    these look perfect! i want to nosh on a few right now. there is an extra warm place in my heart for peanut butter…and peanut butter cookies 😉

    Reply
  11. sarah yates|

    @anna, i'm not sure what you could use that would act as a sweetner but also have the consistency needed. you don't taste the dates at all if that's what you're worried about!

    Reply
  12. Nicole|

    Did you use a natural nut butter for these? I'd like to sub almond butter and would think it should work just fine if you used natural peanut butter, as opposed to a processed one (Jif, etc.). Thanks!

    Reply
  13. sarah yates|

    @nicole yes i'm sure you could use almond butter (i used organic, no sugar added natural peanut butter)

    Reply
  14. Kathryn|

    These are so delicious, I reduced the almonds and added pecans and sesame seeds to make up the amount. I like to keep an eye on my nutrition so input onto myfitnesspal and got the following info per cookie

    Calories 77
    Carbs 5g
    Fat 5g
    Protein 2g
    not to mention all those amazing micronutrients

    Delicious, thanks for posting x

    Reply
    • Susan de Gallery Beal|

      Hi, thank you for tracking the nutritional analysis. I was curious, how many cookies did you enter for the servings? Thanks!

      Reply
  15. Nicole|

    Just wanted to post back since I went ahead and made these this afternoon. First, delicious! I subbed almond butter and they turned out fantastic. I also added just a bit of cinnamon, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon. I can't wait to have one for dessert tomorrow after the flavors have had some time to meld.

    One change I would make, process the dates prior to adding the other ingredients. They broke down a lot more easily that way and blended into the other ingredients better. I also used 1 cup of almond flour instead of whole almonds, since I don't have a vitamix. The proportions were perfect!

    Reply
  16. k|

    yum, just made a batch. i added in some walnuts, pepitas & chia seeds, plus raw cacao nibs. thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply
  17. kelli|

    I just made these, my 1st vegan cookie. They were super simple and really good! I just used sea salt to sprinkle on top : )

    Reply
  18. vanvanvegan|

    They are no bake, but they aren't actually raw in the strict sense, as your peanut butter would contain roasted peanuts. but you could substitute raw cashew butter or raw almond butter in its place!

    Reply
  19. sarah yates|

    hi van van vegan! not all peanut butter is made of roasted peanuts, so raw peanut butter is fine! thanks for the suggestions for almond butter or cashew butter though.

    Reply
  20. Stephanie|

    I made these today and they are amazing! I did 1/2 almonds and 1/2 cashews. I added about a 1/2 tsp of sea salt in the actual batter instead of putting it on top. I also added a little bit of water because I was afraid they were a little too dry. I don't think I would need to do that next time; I just panicked! I'm bringing these to work tomorrow. I think they'll be a hit! They really taste like a peanut butter cookie! Will make again. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  21. Becca|

    SO delicious! They didn't last but a week in my house! I wonder if figs would work well instead of dates? They are a little cheaper than dates so I might see how that goes.

    Reply
  22. evyd|

    I just made these last night and they came out delicious! Fast and easy! Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
  23. sarah yates|

    hi ashley! i think it depends, for a long trip maybe not. a shorter trip where you can pop them back in a cold fridge at the end- definitely! let us know how it goes!

    Reply
  24. Ashley Marti|

    They worked great. I froze them right after making them, that way during my flight they stayed cold. Once I got to the hotel I put them in the fridge, but by then there wasn't many left 🙂

    Reply
  25. Andrea|

    Aww. These are like glue. At least after freezing for several hours, I could get them to press down with the fork tines. But I don't know what definition of cookies they could meet. Maybe it would be less disappointing to call them Date Nut truffles or something.

    Reply
  26. sarah yates|

    hi andrea! sorry to hear that you had such a bad experience. maybe the ingredients were different or something got mixed up somewhere along the way? they shouldn't be hard at all! if you read the other comments they've been a hit so far!

    Reply
  27. Susan|

    These were fantastic. I didn't have dates on hand, so tried raisins and they turned out great.

    Reply
  28. Narji|

    Oh my!!

    I made these last night and they were THE SHIZ!! So amazing! The first one i ate forgetting the sprinkle of salt..
    and the second one i had it with salt, and it just finished off very nicely!! So grateful for this recipe, Thank you!

    Everybody has to try these!! 🙂

    Reply
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  30. Lee|

    These are awesome! I used 1/2c. almond flour instead of the almonds. The kids fought over the last one and my 20 month old stole the last bit and shoved it in her mouth. Quite the scene. Needless to say the cookies didn’t last but 15 minutes, so we never got a chance to see what they were like after sitting in the fridge for a bit.

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    So excited to have found your site!! Before I put these in the fridge they tasted like cookie dough. I cannot wait to have one, okay probably 2 for breakfast! Thanks for sharing your skills.

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    The cookies are DELICIOUS – even though I forgot to put in the vanilla. The salt on top really makes them extra good.

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  39. Angeleah|

    I ended up needing to add about an extra 1/4 cup peanut butter to get them to hold together. These taste good but are super crumbly and break apart when you are trying to eat them. I ate a couple with a dark chocolate square. yum.

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