These peanut butter cookies are soft and chewy and packed with peanut butter flavor. This will soon be your go-to peanut butter cookie recipe!
These peanut butter cookies are so good. They’re wonderfully soft and chewy but if you prefer them a bit crunchier you can easily have them that way too with a couple of extra minutes of baking time.
The peanut butter flavor comes through beautifully and these cookies are also a good (large) size making them a wonderful snack or dessert.
How To Make Peanut Butter Cookies
Full instructions and measurements can always be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- These are seriously easy to make! Add softened butter and a mix of white and brown sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer and cream them together with your electric mixer.
- Next add peanut butter, an egg and vanilla extract and mix that in your mixer until smooth.
- Then add in the dry ingredients: all purpose flour, baking soda and salt and stir this in by hand (don’t use your electric mixer for this part) into a thick cookie dough.
- Roll into balls and roll the balls in sugar before placing them evenly onto a parchment lined baking tray. Aim for around 20 large cookies.
- Flatten them with a fork.
- Place into the oven and bake for 10 minutes at 350°F until lightly browned on top.
- They will be very soft when you take them out the oven but will firm up as they cool. Let them firm up on the tray before you attempt to move them.
Recipe Tips For the Best Peanut Butter Cookies
A mix of white and brown sugars creates the perfect flavor balance for these cookies without weighing them down too much.
We used lightly salted butter, but you could use unsalted butter as well. Let it soften a bit first at room temperature before creaming it up with the sugar.
Commercial brands of smooth salted peanut butters tend to work slightly better in creating a soft cookie than natural peanut butters (the ones that tend to separate) though you can also use any peanut butter.
If you prefer your cookies a little more crunchy then bake them for an extra 2 minutes. So let them bake for 12 minutes in total. For ultra crunchy cookies, bake for 14-15 minutes. Keep a close eye on them though, as they can suddenly brown too much on top.
Storing and Freezing
Store your cookies in a sealed container at room temperature where they will stay good for up to a week. They can also be stored in the fridge.
Baked cookies also freeze well for up to 3 months. You can also freeze the rolled cookie balls and then let them thaw in the fridge overnight, bring to room temperature, roll in sugar, flatten with a fork and bake as normal.
Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar Light Brown
- 1/2 cup Granulated White Sugar
- 1/2 cup Butter Lightly Salted, Softened
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Peanut Butter Smooth, Salted
- 1 and 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/4 cup White Granulated Sugar For Rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Add the brown and white sugar along with the softened butter to the bowl of your stand mixer and cream them together with the electric mixer.
- Add in the egg, vanilla and peanut butter and mix them together with the electric mixer until smooth.
- Add the all purpose flour, baking soda and salt and mix them in by hand (don't use the electric mixer for this part). You will have a thick cookie dough.
- Roll the cookie dough into balls and then dip the balls in white sugar and place them onto the parchment lined baking tray. Aim for around 20 cookies. Use a fork to flatten the cookies.
- Place into the oven and bake for 10 minutes until the tops are lightly browned. They will still be very soft in the center. Let them cool directly on the baking tray. They will firm up as they cool.
Video
Notes
- A mix of two sugars for these cookies keeps them soft and moist, without weighing them down. However, if you use all white sugar you can get a more crunchy cookie, and if you use all brown sugar you can get an even softer cookie. No matter how you do it though, they are all really delicious.
- You can also use unsalted butter for these cookies, but we used lightly salted.
- Creamy commercial brands of peanut butter tend to work slightly better for these cookies than natural style peanut butter (the type that tends to separate).
- Bake them for 10 minutes for a soft cookie and 12 minutes for a crunchier cookie. For an ultra crunchy cookie extend the baking time to 14-15 minutes, but keep a close eye on them in the last couple of minutes so they don’t burn.
These are the best PB cookies. Have been making double batches every week since 8 grand kids home. The empty can comes back every week for more PB cookies. Love these.
That’s wonderful to hear Carol! Thanks so much for sharing!
Good cookie! Make sure to smash them down enough. They don’t grow as they cook.
We made these for Christmas and loved them and we’re gonna make them today again. Thank you so much for the PERFECT recipe Alison you rock😊👌🏾
So happy to hear that Anika! Thanks so much for the wonderful review!
Hi Alison, I accidentally mixed the batter with an electric mixer after adding the dry ingredients and now it’s mixed if different than yours. Is there anything I can do to fix it? Or should I start over?
Hi Amy, it should still be fine! I would just go ahead and bake as usual. All the best! 🙂
Love this recipe! Easy and turns out great!
Thanks so much Charlotte!
Hi Alison,
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe, so easy and so tasty. I will definitely be filing it as one of my favorites.
Made mine with the crunchy peanut butter they are truly yummy.
Thank you
Mienky
South Africa
Thank you so much for the awesome review! So happy you enjoyed them!
I used this recipe because it calls for more peanut butter than the other recipes I looked at. I did use chunky peanut butter. Instructions are easy. My husband loves it. It’s a keeper.
Awesome! Thanks Glenda!
The BEST peanut butter cookies EVER!! I’ve been searching for years for my husband who loves peanut butter anything. He agrees best he has ever tasted.
Thanks so much Amanda! This made my day! xoxo
Delicious!!!!!
Thanks Dana!
They are fantastic. I will definitely be making these again .
So awesome to hear that Kim! Thanks so much for posting!
Hi Alison, these peanut butter cookies were so yummy. I put some Hershey kisses on half of them. They tasted better than the peanut blossoms I make at Christmas. I think what made a difference was using butter, not margarine. Thanks for the recipe. Will definitely make these again.
Awesome Susan! So glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for posting.
This recipe is perfect.. oh I so loved the buttery nutty taste in the cookies.. I use chunky peanut butter instead and it gave that lovely crunchiness to it… My kids loved it…
Awesome! So happy to hear that! Thanks Kesha. xo
These are in my oven right now! However, I noticed in the video you added a little melted butter
And it’s not listed in the ingredients or instructions?
Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
Hi JoAnn, there’s no melted butter added anywhere. Just the softened butter added to the mixer with the sugar. Awesome that they’re in the oven now! Hope they come out perfectly! 😁
I really found this recipe to be simple. Cookies were so amazing. I’m going to bake some for my lovely grandmother. I had tried other peanut butter cookies recipes but by far I truly love this one.
Thanks so much Theresa! I am so happy you loved the cookies and I hope your grandmother will love them as well. Thanks so much for your wonderful review. xo
My house smelled amazing when these were baking. This recipe is super easy and very inexpensive to make. The flavour and texture was phenomenal.
That is one of my favorite things baking these cookies! The house smells amazing! So glad you enjoyed the cookies. Thanks so much for posting Jean. 🙂
Super easy and delicious! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Monika! Thanks so much for posting! 🙂
The best recipe ever! These cookies just melt in your mouth.
Aw thanks Meg! xo