Vegan Mini Peanut Butter Cookies with Sea Salt

I was inspired by this blog which was based on 101Cookbook's original recipe for vegan peanut butter cookies.  Reduced the maple syrup and the oil (b/c my peanut butter is particularly oily). These were delicious! Really cute in quarter-sized mini tea cookies. These are great with tea.  I could imagine them making an adorable gift package in a little stack with a ribbon.  Or you could try making them flatter and filling with jam for pb&j sandwich cookies.

Recipe:
Combine wet ingredients in a bowl with a fork:
1/2 C peanut butter
1/3 C maple syrup
2 TB olive oil (hazelnut or peanut oil would be decadent here)
1 tea vanilla extract

 Stir in the dry ingredients, use a spatula to combine:
1 C whole wheat white flour (gluten free flour mix or more whole-grainy flours should work too)
1/2 tea baking soda 
scant 1/2 tea coarse salt

Roll into balls about the size of a quarter. Put on non-greased baking sheet. Press fork tines into top to create pattern. Sprinkle coarse or flaky sea salt on top.

Bake at 350 for 9 minutes.

Made 18 mini cookies.

PS these freeze well and taste great straight from the freezer!


Update Nov 2012: made these with almond butter and they were delicious! You could try cashew butter for a more exotic take on these cookies.   Or do as J does and use almond flour or other ground up nuts (hazelnuts anyone?).