Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe (2024)

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Posted by Aimee 81 comments
Published: Feb 08, 2011 Last Updated: Sep 26, 2023

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Perfect homemade Peanut Butter Cookies. Soft and chewy, easy to make, and topped with a sweet sugar coating. You’re going to love this delicious recipe!

Love easy cookie recipes? Try our 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter cookies for an easy twist. Or give these Oreo Cheesecake cookies a try soon.

Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe (1)

Homemade Peanut Butter Cookies

When I think back to childhood or a time when I’m truly happy, it usually results in a memory around food.

And often times, COOKIES.

From learning how to make no bake cookies in grade school, to enjoying a chocolate chip cookie after my first day of high school, to being surprised with a batch Oatmeal Raisin cookies in college.

My dad LOVES chewy peanut butter cookies, so whenever we have a family get together, someone will bake a batch for him. That someone is usually ME.

  • These Easy Peanut Butter Cookies have been the recipe that I’ve used for years and years.
  • I’m sure it came from my mom or one of my grandma’s church cookbooks, it is definitely not something I created.
  • You know why? Because they are perfect. As written. As eaten. They are soft and chewy with a sweet crumble thanks to the extra sugar coating!

Take your peanut butter love to the next level and try our peanut butter chocolate chip cookies next! Or keep a batch of our peanut butter balls in the freezer for when a craving hits!

Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe (2)

Important Ingredients Needed

Unlike other cookie recipes, there’s a good chance you have everything you’ll need for these peanut butter cookies right in your pantry. Today.

  • Peanut Butter. The type of peanut butter for perfect peanut butter cookies is important. This is not the time to be healthy and opt for a natural brand. Go ahead and be choosy, pick Jif or Skippy.The sugars in the peanut butter and the lack of oils (like you find in a natural brand) help create and perfect texture to these cookies!
  • Sugar. Today’s easy peanut butter cookies will have a combination of white sugar (granulated sugar) and light brown sugar. This helps create that chewy texture you’re craving in peanut butter cookies! These cookies are also rolled in extra granulated sugar, creating a sweet crunch as you bite your cookie. Don’t skip this step. It’s a mouthwatering surprise!
Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe (3)

How to Make Peanut Butter Cookies

  1. Mix Dry Ingredients.In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. Set aside.
  2. Mix Butter and Sugar. In a mixing bowl, beat softened butter with granulated sugar and brown sugar. Mix until well blended, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
  3. Finish Cookie dough. Add in eggs, peanut butter, and vanilla extract. Beat until combined. Slowly add in flour mixture until combined.
  4. Chill. Chill the dough. You only need to chill the dough for about an hour (leaving you time to clean up the kitchen and get dinner ready, haha)!
  5. Roll & Bake. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place remaining granulated sugar in a small bowl. Using a 2 Tablespoon cookie scoop, spoon dough into hand and roll in a ball. Then roll dough ball into sugar and place on cookie sheet. Using the tines of a fork, press criss-cross marks on top of cookie. Bake for 10-12 minutes and cool completely in wire rack.

Aimee’s Pro Tip

Today’s cookie dough recipe can be made 48 hours in advance. If chilling dough longer than one hour, let it warm up at room temperature until you can handle it without it sticking or crumbling!

How to Freeze Peanut Butter Cookies

Yes. You can freeze cookie dough or baked cookies. This is great for today’s recipe because it makes nearly 4 dozen cookies. I usually freeze half the cookie dough for later.

Freezing Cookie Dough. Once you have rolled all the peanut butter cookie dough balls into the granulated sugar, slide them into a ziploc freezer bag. Seal and freeze cookie dough for up to 3 months.

When ready to bake, place on baking sheet and bake halfway. Remove from oven, press dough with tines of a fork, and finish baking. You may need to add a few extra minutes to the baking time.

Freezing Peanut Butter Cookies. If you find yourself needing to freeze the baked cookies, slide into an airtight container or freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw on counter overnight and enjoy.

Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe (5)

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Homemade Peanut Butter Cookies

4.67 from 190 votes

By: Aimee

Perfect homemade Peanut Butter Cookies. Soft and chewy, easy to make, and topped with a sweet sugar coating. You're going to love this delicious recipe!

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Bake Time: 12 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 27 minutes minutes

Servings: 48 cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter softened
  • 1 ½ cup granulated sugar divided
  • ¾ cup light brown sugar packed
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 cups creamy peanut butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  • In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

  • In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with 1 cup granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Beat until creamy.

  • Add in eggs, vanilla, and peanut butter. Mix until combined. Slowly add in flour mixture, blending until combined (do not over beat). The crumbs will come together to form a dough, that's when you stop mixing!

  • Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate cookie dough for one hour.

  • When ready, add remaining 1/2 cup sugar to a small bowl. Using a 2 Tbsp cookie scoop, spoon dough and roll into a ball. Roll in sugar and place on parchment covered baking sheet.

  • Use the tines of a fork to press criss-cross marks.

  • Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove and cool on wire rack. ENJOY.

Notes

  • Use parchment paper or silpat when baking. The extra sugar on the cookie can stick to the pan.
  • Wonder why fork marks are used? Peanut butter cookies are dense and don’t spread as much as most types. The fork marks help ensure even baking.
  • Want to change up the flavor? Try mixing in some chocolate chips or M&M’S candies to the dough.
  • Need something even easier? This 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookie recipe is THE BOMB. No flour needed!
  • Chilling the dough in this recipe is important! It helps the softened butter bind to the peanut butter creating the perfect texture!
  • Dry dough? Be sure you use your hands to roll the cookie dough balls, the warmth will help dough form.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie, Calories: 159kcal, Carbohydrates: 17g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 18mg, Sodium: 116mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 10g

Course: Cookies

Cuisine: American

Did you make this recipe?Mention @shugarysweets or tag #shugarysweets!

Perfect Peanut Butter Cookies. Soft and chewy, easy to make, and topped with a sweet sugar coating. You’re going to love this delicious recipe!

Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are all the ingredients for peanut butter cookies? ›

What is the best peanut butter for baking cookies? ›

Conventional creamy peanut butter works best for peanut butter cookie recipes because it has a smooth and even texture. My favorite creamy peanut butter brands are Skippy or Jif. Natural peanut butter, made up of just peanuts and salt, is typically very oily and hard to get even.

Why do homemade peanut butter cookies fall apart? ›

Why are my cookies dry and crumbly? This is most likely a classic case of using too much flour. It's crucial to properly measure the flour in this recipe, as even 1 extra tablespoon of flour can completely change the structure of the cookies. You also might have over baked them!

What happens if you don't flatten peanut butter cookies? ›

Certain cookies — Sugar Cookies, Snickerdoodles, Classic Peanut Butter Cookies — need to be flattened a bit before they bake, lest they end up emerging from the oven looking like ping-pong balls rather than typical flat, round cookies.

Why are my peanut butter cookies always hard? ›

the more the gluten develops and they become hard and dry and an unfavorable texture. reason no 3 you're over baking them. make sure you take them out when they're just slightly golden brown. and then they'll continue to cook a little bit on the counter at room temperature.

How to make peanut butter cookie mix taste better? ›

Peanut Butter Cookie Mix Hacks

Flavor Twist: After creating the dough according to the peanut butter cookie mix instructions, portion the dough into balls then roll in a tasty topping like poppy seeds, sesame seeds or sprinkles, or go for a 4:1 ratio of sugar and dry spice, like ground cinnamon or nutmeg.

Why do my peanut butter cookies not taste like peanut butter? ›

The most common mistake with peanut butter cookies is using the wrong type of peanut butter. The BEST peanut butter for today's cookies is a processed creamy peanut butter, preferably Jif or Skippy.

Should you refrigerate peanut butter cookie dough before baking? ›

Refrigerating the dough will give it more structure so the cookies spread less and hold their fork marks through baking. Cooling the dough also ensures that all of the ingredients are the same temperature: they'll bake more evenly and the flavors will meld beautifully. Heat oven to 375°F.

Why do they put fork marks in peanut butter cookies? ›

The reason is that peanut butter cookie dough is dense, and unpressed, each cookie will not cook evenly. Using a fork to press the dough is a convenience of tool; bakers can also use a cookie shovel (spatula).

How to tell when peanut butter cookies are done? ›

Unlike many other cookies, peanut butter biscuits only fully harden once they've been removed from the oven. Here's how to tell when peanut butter cookies are done: The tops of the cookies are a uniform light brown. They're soft to the touch but not moist or mushy.

Why do you put a criss-cross on peanut butter cookies? ›

So it looks like that there are utilitarian reasons for the cross-hatching—to allow for even cooking—but it might have been passed along for nearly a hundred years for primarily aesthetic reasons, where the cross-hatching is more to identify the cookies as peanut butter ones, rather than to cook them well.

How do you keep peanut butter cookies from spreading? ›

Use a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Coating your baking sheet with nonstick spray or butter creates an overly greasy foundation, causing the cookies to spread. I always recommend a silicone baking mat because they grip onto the bottom of your cookie dough, preventing the cookies from spreading too much.

What are the ingredients in most peanut butter? ›

Roasted Peanuts, Sugar, Contains 2% Or Less Of: Molasses, Fully Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (rapeseed And Soybean), Mono And Diglycerides, Salt.

What are the 4 main ingredient in baking cookies? ›

While there may be countless variations, each cookie at the core has four ingredients – butter, sugar, flour & eggs. The proportions of ingredients and the methods of mixing are what define our cookies. Dough spreads – Inside the hot oven, the butter starts to melt and the dough gradually starts to spread out.

What are the ingredients in Girl Scout peanut butter cookies? ›

INGREDIENTS: ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, VITAMIN B1 [THIAMIN MONONITRATE],VITAMIN B2 [RIBOFLAVIN], FOLIC ACID), SUGAR, WHOLE GRAIN OATS, SOYBEAN AND PALM OIL, PEANUT BUTTER (PEANUTS, HYDROGENATED PALM OIL), DEXTROSE, INVERT SUGAR, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF WHEY, SALT, LEAVENING (BAKING SODA, ...

What are the ingredients in Lance peanut butter cookies? ›

Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Sugar, Peanut Butter (Roasted Peanuts), Vegetable Oil (contains one or more of the following: Soybean Oil, Palm Oil, Canola Oil), Dextrose, Corn Syrup, Salt, Leavening (Sodium Bicarbonate, Ammonium Bicarbonate), Soy ...

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