As we head into the cookie season, I want to make sure everyone can indulge, even kids in nut-free school zones. So I looked to Libby, the blogger behind The Allergic Kid, who is an expert allergy-friendly cookie baker. She created the award-winning recipe for a big FARE / Divvies cookie contest several years ago, and her Choco-lot Brownie Cookie actually made it to market! She also whipped up this fabulous peanut-free recipe for Vegan SunButter Cookies (aka Sunblossom Cookies) to share with us!
These Vegan SunButter Cookies are School Safe and Ready for Sharing
Libby originally passed this recipe on to us over a decade ago. We’ve recently updated the post, but have stayed true to her unique formula for vegan sunbutter cookies.
This is an egg-, dairy-, tree nut-, and peanut-free version of a classic peanut butter criss-cross cookie that I developed for my son with multiple food allergies. For that peanutty taste, I used Sunbutter to substitute for the peanut butter. Bananas turned out to be a fantastic substitute for the egg, and let me take down the fat a notch. The chocolate chip version doesn’t look like the original since the cookies aren’t flattened with the criss-cross style, but they are just to die for.
Special Diet Notes: SunButter Cookies
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan, and vegetarian.
For gluten-free vegan sunbutter cookies, you can try substituting your favorite gluten-free flour blend for the flour, but we haven’t tested it yet.
- ½ cup sunflower seed butter
- ½ cup sugar, plus additional for rolling
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup dairy-free buttery spread or sticks
- 1 perfectly ripe banana
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup allergen-free chocolate chips (optional)
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, cream the sunflower seed butter, sugars, and dairy-free butter with a mixer until smooth. Add the banana, vanilla, and lemon juice and beat until completely incorporated and no chunks of banana remain.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- With your mixer on low, gradually add the wet ingredients. Mix until incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips (if using).
- Place some sugar on a plate. Drop balls of dough (about 2 tablespoons each) into the sugar and gently roll until covered.
- Place the sugar-coated dough balls onto your prepared baking sheets. If you did not add chocolate chips, press the dough balls down twice with a fork to create a criss-cross pattern on top.
- Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheets for about 10 minutes to firm up, and then transfer them to a cooling rack.