Happy Birthday to my Brother in Law, Steve!
Steve just so happens to be smitten with my baked goods, so every birthday I spoil him with a new vegan treat to enjoy.
I’ve been meaning to make these Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows by Isa & Terry for a very long time now!
I think I was a bit intimidated by the process of making these cookies. Stuffing a peanut butter ball into a cookie didn’t exactly sound fool proof (and trust me, I can mess up the easiest things at times!), but these cookies have been so well reviewed on other blogs I knew it couldn’t be that difficult.
It turns out that it is fool proof! So fool proof in fact, I would go as far to say that these would be really fun to make with kids.
I’ll show you the step by step process to show you just how easy it is!
You start off by making your chocolate dough and your peanut butter dough. I mixed both by hand. When the chocolate dough got stiff, I got in there with my hands and kneaded it together. Sometimes, you gotta get dirty in the kitchen!
Umm excuse me sir, that’s not dirt in my nails, it’s chocolate dough…duh.
Break your peanut butter dough ball in half.
Break each half in half again and then break each quarter into 6 pieces (as even as possible):
This simply makes it easier to get even pieces.
Roll in hands until smooth:
Repeat for the other 3 quarters:
I ended up making 25 balls instead of 24 because that’s just how it worked out. And I obviously wanted an extra cookie!
Grab a chunk of dough (about a heaping tablespoon) and place it in your palm. With your other palm, flatten and press the dough until you have a large thin disc like so:
Place a PB ball in the middle of the disc:
Wrap it up (the dough may crack a bit but not to worry!)
And roll it in your hands until smooth:
Repeat for the rest!
See, fool proof.
You may be tempted to do this…
and you wouldn’t be alone. You may debate whether baking is even necessary. Then you remember these are not for you. Doh!
Bake at 350F for 10 minutes exactly.
Excuse me cookie, is that a PB ball or are you just happy to see me?!
sorry, lame.
Yup, they look just like the picture in the cookbook! I love when that happens. They also taste just like I imagined them to- like a peanut butter ball in cookie form. Granted, they are by no means a healthy cookie, but what would a birthday be without a mild sugar coma?
Now, I face the impossible feat of ignoring these all day long. I guess I didn’t plan that one too well now did I?
Not only is it Steve’s lucky day but it’s yours because Isa posted the recipe online for all your cookie pleasure!
I made just 1 change to Isa’s recipe:
- I used coconut oil instead of canola (I melted it first)
Click here for the cookie recipe.
May the cookie pillows be with you!
OMG, these are fantastic. I CANT stop eating them! I got this book from the library a while back and EVERY cookie I tried was wonderful and got rave reviews from the hubby (which is hard to get). I never tried these because they seemed like a lot of work. They really arent that much work, and SO good! People, stop reading and make these! Thanks for the motivation to make these, Ang.
bless you for using step by step photos
I love these!!! Peanut butter is my favourite! Love the 2 doughs and you’re right….they dont even need baking ;)
Excuse me cookie, is that a PB ball or are you just happy to see me?!
LMAO…that really had me cracking up! I’m saving this recipe. This will be good for the holidays. They look so FREAKING yummy!
I made a batch of these as a thank you gift (well a half batch, and then we kept half of that!). I was asked for the recipe. My 85-yr old mom also wants the recipe! These cookies have what I always refer to as an “adult” taste – not too sickly sweet, just more flavour with all the cocoa. Yum. The only thing I didn’t like was that they are extremely greasy to work with (though when they cook up they aren’t at all greasy). I wouldn’t mind even a bit more pb flavour, and maybe a bit creamier in the centre. I might experiment and add more next time. I also followed the advice in the original post to microwave a cookie for 10 seconds or so if you are having them a day or so later. Makes those “pillows” nice and soft again – just the way I like them! :)
One final hint – next time I’m going to roll each dough out into a log and cut equal pieces that way, rather than pinching/guessing/rolling each piece. I actually weighed each piece on my scale, but that’s labour-intensive! By rolling it out you could easily portion them into the right number. :)
Hi Angela – I made these on Friday and my whole family and boyfriend loved them. Thanks so much!
They look so good!! I sat at my desk for a bit working with the recipe then it was off to the kitchen. Now my family is eating the best Gluten Free cookie of their life. Thank you for sending me in the Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillow direction.
omg, your blog is so stunning!
everytime I come here it’s so fascinating ♥
(although I’m not vegan btw)
Thank you for sharing!
Have a very fluffy third advent =)
Your Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows were such an inspiration to me. We have celiac and a dairy allergy, so I did a little tweaking to the recipe and the pillows came out delish. Thank You so much for bringing such a yummy goodie into our house. http://perfectlynaturalfamilysoaps.com/1/post/2011/12/gluten-free-peanut-butter-chocolate-pillows.html
What kind of flour did you use in this? We are gluten-free…
I made these for a Superbowl party a couple years ago and everyone loved them! They definitely fall in the category of, “THIS is vegan???”. Thanks for the reminder about these… Just might have to find an excuse to make them again soon. :)
This was the first cookie I made from that book. They were a big hit as gifts for friends! My favorite recipe in that book though is the Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles. I actually made this one first because Isa posted it to PPK. MAN those cookies are delicious. I have friends who suggest I bring them every time I visit.
I NEED those in my mouth right now!!
Hi, I just love this recipe but I’m having a problem with two ingredients used in this recipe being a foreigner. Could someone, please, clarify for me what non-dairy milk is? The recipe say 2 tbs non-dairy milk. Is it a special kind of milk or is it a powder? And then the recipe calls for soya creamer, so again, is it a powder or liquid? Thank you, I would very much love to make these pillows but I don’t want to get stuck on these two things. Thank you :)
HanaS
Hey Hana! Non-dairy milk is simply any milk not derived from an animal (eg, almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, etc). I dont use soy creamer so I subbed in more almond milk. Hope this helps & enjoy!
Thank you very much, Angela. I will use soya milk then although I have almond milk as well. With respect to the soya creamer I assume it’s a powder but it’s perfectly all right to use the (soya or almond) milk as well. Looking forward to trying it :)
SO good . My husband is going to DEVOURE it !
Angela, I am new to your blog and love everything about it. My boys thought your chocolate chip cookies were “amazing, best ever”. I am vegan, but my husband and boys are not so it is very gratifying when they love something that I can also eat. I made the Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows this morning for valentines day because one of my sons loves reese’s cups. I savd about half of the plain chocolate dough to make cookies for my other son who adores chocolate but does not like peanut butter. I have one puzzling question: The cookies seem rather greasy from the coconut oil. I will definitely cut down on the amount next time, but maybe I did not understand what you meant on the substitution. I used a 1/2 cup of already melted coconut oil. Maybe you meant that I should have scooped out a 1/2 cup of hardened oil and then melted that which I suspect would have yeilded much less. In any event, the cookies are all cooling and ready for my boys for after school snacks. I have left over peanut butter batter so I just made “peanut butter fudge balls and threw them into a ziploc. I am seriously concerned that if my family does not come home soon I will eat everything! The peanut butter fudge balls are “mocking me” (a term my youngest uses for chocolate desserts all the time).
Thank you. Gabi
Hi Gabi! Thanks for your lovely comment and I am sorry for the delay in getting to this!
About the coconut oil, yes I did mean to measure semi-firm oil and then melt it afterwards. Sorry for the confusion.
I have to say, without your pictures I would have been completely lost in how to form these cute little pb coco pillows. Thanks for taking the time and effort to show us how to roll and flattened the dough. You’re quite amazing!
thanks a lot for those great recipes you do!!!! i made these pillows and can’t stop eating :D thank god, there is not much left anymore!!
THANK YOU!
ahh I made these for a vegan friend of mine and they by no means made it to her whole (aka i ate most of them). I replaced some with almond butter and they were absolutely delicious (but did take a bit of time to make)
Made this guys on the weekend :)