You've never had Peanut Butter Cookies like these! Made from scratch, this fun spin on an old-fashioned recipe is the best ever. Don't believe us? Give these a try.
In my quest to create delicious peanut butter cookies made with natural peanut butter, I inadvertently created the best peanut butter cookies period. These are the softest, chewiest peanut butter cookies I've ever eaten! And since they are made with natural peanut butter, they have a stronger peanut butter flavor and aren't overly sweet.
Why do they put fork marks in peanut butter cookies? The crisscross pattern made with a fork is a classic and recognizable characteristic of peanut butter cookies. But not only does it give it a traditional look it also helps flatten the dough. Peanut Butter cookies are typically dense and the fork marks help give them a consistent texture.
If you love this recipe, you have to try our other peanut butter-inspired cookies. Try 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies, and chocolate chip peanut butter cookie pie.
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What are the ingredients for peanut butter cookies?
Other recipes usually don't hold well to natural peanut butter. This cookie not only does great with natural peanut butter but taste even better that other recipes.
- Natural Peanut Butter - I tested and tested this recipe and have tried so many peanut butter cookies. Natural peanut butter is the secret ingredient that gives these their strong peanut butter flavor.
- Butter- To get the same results, use softened butter. Don't melt the butter, it will make the wrong texture of the dough.
- Sugar- Both brown sugar and white granulated sugar are needed. The brown sugar helps with the coloring.
- Egg- When baking, use a room-temperature egg to help the cookies get the best texture.
- Vanilla- Vanilla extract adds a nice smooth taste and compliments the other ingredients.
- Flour-This recipe does best with all-purpose flour.
- Baking soda- So your cookies aren't flat, use a small amount of baking soda.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make Peanut Butter Cookies
Learn how to make Peanut Butter Cookies with these easy to follow instructions. Use the pictures to help get the right texture.
- Cream the butter, sugars, and eggs together in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the peanut butter and the dry ingredients. Mix until a smooth mixture is formed.
- Roll the dough into a ball about 2 tablespoons. You can roll the ball in granulated sugar for a fun look.
- Gently press the cookies into the pan to help flatten them while baking. Bake for 10 minutes at 350° F until the center is matte and the edges are just set.
Hint: While some peanut butter cookie recipes require it, you don't have to refrigerate the dough before baking.
Substitutions and Variations
Try some of our favorite substitutions and variations to give the cookies some extra fun flavor.
- Small batch- This recipe already makes a small batch of cookies compared to some of our other recipes but if you want it even smaller, half the recipe and use one egg yolk.
- Chocolate Chip- After mixing the dough, add 1 cup of chocolate chips and mix until just combined.
- Chocolate- Satisfy your chocolate peanut butter sweet tooth by making our chocolate peanut butter cookies,
- Stuffed- Make the ultimate cookie by wrapping the dough around an OREO before baking. You'll need to keep an eye on them and adjust the baking time as needed.
Why are Peanut Butter Cookies so dry?
If you've experienced dry cookies, this is a perfect recipe to try again! When you make them, make sure not to overbake them. Also when you measure the flour make sure to fluff the flour and then spoon it into the measuring cup. Scrape the excess flour off with the back of a knife.
Storage
Store baked cookies in an air tight container so they don't dry out. You can even freeze the baked cookies in a freezer friendly bag and enjoy the cookies frozen or microwaved for 30 seconds.
Roll the dough into balls and freeze the dough in a freezer friendly container. When ready to bake, thaw the portion you want to bake in the refrigerator and bake according to the instructions.
Top tip
Give the cookies a bakery look by rolling the dough in granulated sugar before baking.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Recipe
Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 6 Tablespoons butter softened
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg large
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ⅔ cup natural peanut butter
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Beat butter, brown sugar and white sugar on high until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in egg and vanilla and beat until lightened and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add peanut butter and beat on medium speed until well combined. Add flour, baking soda and salt and beat on medium low speed just until combined, no longer.
- Roll dough into large balls, about 2- 2 ½ Tablespoons in size. Place on cookie sheet, leaving them plenty of room to spread, only 12 per baking sheet. Flatten slightly (see photo above) using your fingers or the palm of your hand. Bake for 10 minutes. They are done as soon as the tops are matte and the edges are set. Bang pan on the oven a few times to help them crinkle. Allow to cool on the baking sheet at least 8 minutes before removing. Enjoy!
Notes
- Make sure your butter isn't overly softened or the cookies won't have the perfect texture. The butter should be soft enough you can make a dent in it when you press on it with your finger, but should not be mushy at all.
- You can use a fork to flatten these for a more stereotypical peanut butter cookie appearance, but I love the way they look all crinkled.
- Sometimes I'll roll the cookies in granulated sugar before baking. This can add a special touch.
- The most important thing you can do for the texture of these cookies is do NOT over bake!! Peanut butter cookies dry out very quickly, and even 2 minutes extra in the oven will make them crumbly and dry instead of soft and oh so chewy.
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