1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together sugar and peanut butter until well combined.
2. Add baking soda and mix. Then add in applesauce and mix until combined. With mixer running, add in flour until the mixture forms a doughy, almost dry, texture. Turn off mixer and fold in chocolate chips.
3. Roll into 1" balls and flatten slightly. Place onto ungreased cookie sheet (I have a really good cookie sheet so you may want to use some parchment). I usually fit 12 on the sheet in 4 rows of 3.
4. Bake for 16 minutes. Cookies will be golden brown and appear very soft. Let cool for a few minutes before removing them from the cookie sheets.
They do harden up a bit, trust me, and they are delicious. My extremely picky 2 year old will eat these!
Source of recipe: I made this recipe up when I was having trouble finding a vegan peanut butter cookie recipe that worked. Needless to say, I ended up making these every day for over a week! No joke! They are a must try and never last long enough for a picture. I'm sure you could make these easily by hand but I used a stand mixer.