Homemade Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe
Add Preferred Source
Most peanut butter cookies go dry and hard a day after baking, which is why I make these homemade peanut butter cookies that stay soft in the middle with a crisp edge. I pull them while the centers still look a little underbaked, so they stay tender once they cool. The crunchy peanut butter and brown sugar carry the flavor, and nothing here is fussy.
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Affiliate, if you purchase through those links, I earn a small commission. Thank you!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- They stay soft in the center with a crisp edge instead of turning dry and hard by the next day.
- The dough comes together with simple pantry staples, and you don’t need to chill it unless your kitchen is warm.
- Crunchy peanut butter leaves little pockets of texture in a soft cookie, so each bite has something to it.
- The crisscross fork marks give you the look of the peanut butter cookies you grew up with.
Ingredients You’ll Need
You’ll need all the ingredients shown in the photograph below.
- Crunchy peanut butter. This is what leaves little bits of texture running through a soft cookie. Smooth works too and gives a more even cookie, so go with what you have on hand.
- Both white and brown sugar. The white sugar keeps the edges crisp, and the brown sugar keeps the middle soft, so they pull in different directions on purpose. Using one or the other changes the texture, so keep both.
- All-purpose flour. Spoon the 1 1/2 cups into the measuring cup and level it off rather than scooping. Scooping packs in too much flour and leaves the cookies dry and crumbly.
- Room-temperature butter. Softened but not melted. Melted butter spreads the cookies thin and greasy, while properly softened butter creams with the sugars and gives them structure.
How to Make Homemade Peanut Butter Cookies
A complete printable recipe and the measurements in both US customary and metric are available in the recipe card below.
Cream the Butter and Sugars
Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Cream the room-temperature butter with both sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, then stir in the egg and vanilla until just combined. Mix in the peanut butter last, until it fully blends into the dough.
Mix In the Dry Ingredients
Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl, then add the dry ingredients to the peanut butter mixture a little at a time. Stop mixing the moment the dough comes together, since working it longer than that is what toughens the cookies.
Shape and Fork the Cookies
Scoop the dough with an ice cream or cookie scoop onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Flatten each ball with a floured fork, pressing once one way and once across it for the crisscross marks.
Bake Until the Edges Set
Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, until the edges are set and lightly browned while the centers still look soft. Let the cookies sit on the sheet for a few minutes to firm up, then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe Notes and Expert Tips
- Dip the fork in flour before each press. A floured fork presses clean crisscross marks instead of tearing at a soft dough.
- Give the butter and sugars a real creaming. Beat them until pale and light before anything else goes in, since that bit of trapped air is what keeps the cookies from baking up dense.
- Leave room between the cookies. The dough spreads a little as it bakes, so space the balls out the way you would for my chocolate chip cookies, and they won’t run into each other.
- Chill the dough if your kitchen is warm. A warm dough spreads thin in the oven, so fifteen to twenty minutes in the fridge keeps the cookies from going flat.
Recipe Variations
- Go smooth instead of crunchy. Smooth peanut butter gives a more even cookie with the same flavor, so it comes down to whether you want the pockets of texture.
- Roll each dough ball in granulated sugar before you fork it for a sparkly, lightly crisp sugared surface. It does not change the bake.
- Add chocolate chips. Fold in a cup of chocolate chips to turn these into peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, with the ratios worked out in my peanut butter chocolate chip cookies recipe.
How to Store Leftovers
Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They don’t need the fridge, which dries them out faster.
To freeze baked cookies, layer them between parchment in an airtight container for up to 3 months, and let them come back to room temperature before serving.
What to Serve With Homemade Peanut Butter Cookies
A cold glass of milk is the honest answer here, with strong coffee a close second. When I’m putting out a plate of cookies, I’ll set these next to something that isn’t peanut, like my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for another soft, familiar option, or my soft spiced gingerbread cookies when I want a little warmth alongside them.
They’re also good crumbled or lightly crushed over vanilla ice cream while they’re still slightly warm for contrast.
FAQs
Usually there’s too much flour, or they baked a minute too long. Measure the flour by spooning it into the cup and leveling it, and take the cookies out while the centers still look soft.
Go by the edges. Once they’re set and barely golden, the cookies are ready even if the middles still look soft, since the centers finish setting off the oven’s heat once the tray comes out.
It works, but the oil separation makes the dough looser and the cookies sandier. Stir it well first, and add a spoonful more flour if the dough feels too soft to shape.
Better not to. The dough has raw egg and raw flour, and both can make you sick, so this one is for baking rather than snacking.
The dough is dense and doesn’t spread much on its own, so pressing it with a fork flattens it to bake evenly. The crisscross became the look people recognize along the way.
More Cookie Recipes to Bake Next
If this batch disappears faster than you planned, here are a few more cookies I come back to.
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies. When I want something that looks like a bakery made it, these fudgy, powdered-sugar-cracked cookies are the ones to make.
- Easy Glazed Lemon Cookies. This is what I make when the table needs something bright instead of rich.
- Butter Pecan Cookies. If you liked the nutty side of peanut butter, browned butter and toasted pecans take that in a different direction.
- Sugar Cookies Without Butter. A plain, soft sugar cookie for a simpler afternoon, and a handy one for the days you’ve run out of butter.
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup crunchy peanut butter
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Video
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350°F).
- In a mixing bowl, cream together the unsalted butter, sugar, and brown sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract, stirring until just combined. Then, blend in the peanut butter until fully incorporated.½ cup unsalted butter, ½ cup sugar, ½ cup brown sugar, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ cup crunchy peanut butter
- In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the peanut butter mixture, mixing until the dough comes together.1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Scoop the dough using an ice cream scoop and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten each ball of dough slightly with a floured fork, making a crisscross pattern.
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the cookies start to brown around the edges. Allow them to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Serve and enjoy your cookies!
Notes
Nutrition
