Jaffa Cake Style Peanut Butter Cookies

Jaffa cake is a famous cookie that resembles a mini cake consisting of a sponge, a fruit jelly, and a coating of dark chocolate. Originally, the jelly flavour for these mini cakes has been orange but nowadays you can find Jaffa cakes that taste like strawberry, lemon, blackcurrant, etc. I adopted this layered approach to prepare a uniquely tasting Jaffa cake that replaces the jelly with a peanut butter dough. For all the peanut butter lovers out there, this cookie is for you!

These cookies are inspired by the Jaffa cakes in the sense that they are three-layer mini-size cakes. A peanut butter dough sitting over a cake sponge and covered with chocolate. Taste-wise, these small treats are a hybrid between Jaffa cakes and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.

This recipe is:

• vegan;

• gluten-free;

• dairy-free.

The only sweetener in this recipe is maple syrup. You can replace it with honey if desired. No sugar is used. The chocolate coating is prepared from scratch. Now, let us see how to prepare the cookies - the recipe is described below.

Ingredients:

Sponge:

• 60 g oat flour

• 40 g almond flour

• 40 ml maple syrup

• 80 ml plant-based milk

• 10 ml coconut oil (melted)

• 5 g vanilla

• 1 g baking powder

• a squeeze of lemon

Peanut Butter Dough:

• 100 g peanut butter

• 80 ml maple syrup*

Chocolate Coating:**

• 50 g cacao butter

• 30 g cacao powder

• 30 ml maple syrup*

Preparation:

Sponge:

1. There is nothing easier than this plant-based sponge. Just add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix well.

2. Transfer the batter into muffin/cookie tins and bake at 180 degrees C for 20-25 minutes (or until golden brown).

3. Allow the sponges to cool down completely.

Peanut Butter Dough:

1. Combine the peanut butter and the maple syrup. Mix well - the peanut butter will eventually harden a bit and become pliable.

2. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.

3. Roll out the dough and cut round shapes roughly the size of the base of the sponge.

4. Place the round-shaped peanut butter dough over the sponge.

Chocolate Coating:

1. Melt the cacao butter.

2. Add the cacao powder and the maple syrup and stir vigorously until the three ingredients are well combined.

3. Pour the chocolate over the peanut butter layer.

4. Wait for the chocolate to set before taking a bite - crunchy thanks to the chocolate, chewy and soft because of the peanut butter dough and the sponge.

Serves around 18 cookies (depending on their size, the number can vary).

Tips:

* Or honey.

** You can use dark chocolate instead. But why not make the chocolate yourselves?