Vegan Peanut Butter Blondies

Out of no where, I had a serious craving for peanut butter.  My first thought was to go grab a couple spoonfuls of peanut butter from the jar (yes, I am one of those), but then instead I thought I would work on narrowing down my list of "to-make" recipes.  I love sweets, but normally I don't find myself eating dessert all too often.  Not the case this week!  In the summer when it's too hot, I have a hard time staying in the kitchen for too long, but the winter does the opposite to me.  I am always in the kitchen.  Baking, cooking, eating, photographing...all in the kitchen.  So after I finished making dinner I felt like spending more quality time in my favorite room with my favorite flavors; chocolate and peanut butter.  The chocolate was more of an afterthought once they were done cooling, but it adds a very nice touch to the abundant peanut butter flavor these bad boys deliver.  These my friends, are like the Cadillac of peanut butter cookies...all the delicious flavor of the cookie with the rich and fudgy consistency of a brownie.  Yes, please!  Definitely have a glass of (almond/soy) milk on hand when devouring them!  Or, you can do as I did and pair it up with some (coconut milk) ice cream.  Be sure to savor the flavor of every delicious bite!  And I also couldn't resist using my new heart shaped cookie cutters for them...cutie pies!  Well, not pie, but cutie blondey?  That doesn't sound right...but you get the idea.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (a natural no stir variety)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 non-dairy milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1  cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/3  cup peanuts

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a metal 8x8  baking dish.
• In a mixing bowl, use a fork to vigorously mix  together peanut butter, oil and sugar. 
• Stir in milk and vanilla. 
• Stir in  flour, salt and baking powder. Once you get the flour somewhat mixed  in, it's easier to just use your hands to knead the dough until soft. It  will be very very thick and won't spread on its own. 
• Transfer to baking  pan and press it into place. Sprinkle on the peanuts and lightly press  them into the top.
• Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, the edges should  be just barely coloring. The top will appear soft, that's okay. Remove  from oven and cool completely before slicing.

After they cooled, I cute them out with a heart cookie cutter (yielded 6, plus yummy scrap pieces) and I melted some chocolate chips (vegan) and piped it on top!

Source: Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar