Caramel Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

The perfect combination of sweet + salty, these chewy caramel peanut butter blossom cookies are a delicious twist on the classic peanut blossom cookie with a medjool date “caramel” middle. Vegan, gluten-free, and easy to make!

SPONSORED BY NATURAL DELIGHTS

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Say hello to the yummiest salty and sweet, chewy and crackly, healthy and wholesome cookies you need to make ASAP. These peanut butter cookies are a spin on the peanut butter blossom (a.k.a. peanut butter kiss) cookie, but with a chewy gooey caramel center instead of the classic chocolate. If you are concerned about missing the chocolate flavor, you could certainly add a melted drizzle on top. But one bite into the cozy cookie combination of peanut butter + caramel, I have a feeling you will have forgotten about chocolate entirely.

Healthy Peanut Butter Blossom Cookie Ingredients

This easy peanut butter cookie recipe is gluten-free and vegan, without any dairy or eggs required. It comes together quickly in just one bowl with the following ingredients:

• Peanut butter. Obviously a key player. Creamy is best, and if you use a natural option make sure to stir it up well before you scoop it out.
• Coconut sugar. The perfect sweetener for any caramel-inspired recipe.
• Vanilla extract. For flavor and extra sweetness.
• Flax egg. One tablespoon of finely ground flax stirred together with three tablespoons of warm water. I recommend preparing this before you do anything else so it has plenty of time to gel. If you are not vegan, a regular egg will work as well I did test both ways.
• Almond milk. Or whatever kind of milk you have/love.
• Gluten-free flour. Or all purpose flour if not gluten-free, you could even try the with cassava for a grain-free option but I haven’t tested personally. If you are more of an oat flour fan, try using this cookie dough instead (still with the caramel center!)
• Baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. The cinnamon is optional (but recommended!), the other two are musts.

The Gooey Chewy Sweet “Caramel” Center

At this point you’re probably wondering what exactly we are swapping the chocolate kiss for that creates this peanut butter CARAMEL cookie flavor profile. That’s where my friends at Natural Delights come in with their delicious Mini Medjools, the perfect non-traditional blossom cookie center.

If you’ve never tried Mini Medjools before, their deliciousness extends far beyond this cookie recipe – little bite sized rolls of blended Medjool date coated in chopped nuts or coconut or they even have a chocolate version with cacao mixed in. The texture and sweet pop-ability reminds me of cookie dough pieces, but they are naturally sweet with just Medjool Dates and no added sugar.

Any of their fun flavors would be delicious in this recipe, but I kept it simple with their new Organic Coconut variety (the first organic flavor to be added to the lineup!) for these cookies. I used one half Mini Medjool per cookie, but for maximum “caramel” flavor you could even use a whole roll for each (laid down would work best I think).

Optional Ingredient Swaps and Substitutions

I always recommend following the recipe as written, and using weight measurements for the most optimal and reliable results. But here are a few swap you could make:

• Peanut butter → another nut/seed butter if you want a nut-free cookie (almond butter, tahini, or sunbutter would be my top recs).
• Instead of coconut sugar, brown sugar would work just as well.
• Flax egg → real egg if you are not concerned about keeping the cookies vegan.
• You could use regular all-purpose flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you are not gluten-free, or go with this recipe if you want an oat flour option.
• Feel free to omit the cinnamon if you are not a fan.
• Swap 1/4 cup of the flour for 1/4 cup cocoa powder if you want a chocolatey cookie dough (tested and delicious!)

Tips for Perfect Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

1. Don’t overcrowd your cookies. These cookies need some room to spread, so I recommend 6-8 maximum per pan with at least a couple inches in-between.
2. Work quickly once they come out of the oven. You want to get the Mini Medjools in there while the cookies are still nice and hot.
3. Use a cookie scoop. Always the easiest way to get consistent sized and shaped cookies, and it saves you some rolling time too.
4. Coarse raw sugar for that crackle. It won’t make or break the recipe, but rolling each cookie dough ball and coarse raw turbinado sugar before placing them on the pan creates a crackly sweet coating on the cookies that’s just delicious after they cool. And gives them a pretty little sparkle!

More Peanut Butter Recipes You’ll Love

• Easy No Bake Peanut Butter Cereal Bars Recipe
• Peanut Butter Banana Bundt Cake
• Creamy Peanut Butter Cup Chia Pudding
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Candy Bites

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