Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Box Cookies

Soooooooooooo, school's back in session. I'm a teacher by trade, and this time of year is still filled with school supplies and new shoes. It's also when my kids and I start dreaming of goodies for our lunch boxes. For my boys, their thoughts turn to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (their fave for lunch).

In honor of the new school year and the reemergence of lunchtime treats, I thought I'd veganize my grandmother's recipe for her Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Box Cookies. Fair warning: I am not a baker. I lack skill and patience to make cookies pretty. The pictures reflect this. However, they were moist and lived up to their name. I brought them to school and left them in the teacher's lounge and they only made it to lunch. That's a good sign, considering there are some very discerning palates in the math department at my school.



Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Box Cookies

¾ cup Earth Balance
1 cup Florida Crystals Sugar
¼ cup Florida Crystals brown sugar
1 cup natural peanut butter
2 eggs' equivalent of prepared golden flax meal (3 tablespons flax meal with 6 tablespoons water. Stir to mix and let stand about 5 minutes until thickened)
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups unbleached white flour
½ cup spelt flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda (or 1½ teaspoons baking powder if, like me, you are out out out of baking soda but still want cookies!)
1 jar of jelly or preserves (your favorite kind)
Fresh nutmeg and chopped peanuts to garnish







1. Cream together shortening and sugars. Add peanut butter, flax mixture and salt. When well mixed, add flour and baking soda (or powder), blending well.
2. Form mixture into two logs (about the diameter of a paper towel roll) and wrap in wax paper. Put in “ice box” for a few hours or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 350º. Remove wax paper. Cut rolls into ¼” slices and place cookies on a non-stick cookie sheet. Make an indentation in each cookie. Top each with a teaspoon or so of the jelly. Alternately, roll each slice into a ball and bake in mini-muffin tins. Make indentations with your finger and top with jelly (as pictured). Bake for 8 to 10 minutes (if using muffin tins, bake 10-13 minutes). When they are still hot from the oven, sprinkle with crushed peanuts. Makes about 2 dozen.