Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut butter cookies are the ultimate comfort treat that brings back childhood memories with every single bite! These beautifully soft and chewy cookies have that classic criss-cross pattern on top and deliver the perfect balance of sweet and nutty flavors. With just simple pantry ingredients and about 15 minutes from start to finish, you’ll have a batch of golden, melt-in-your-mouth cookies that’ll disappear faster than you can say “more please!”

Love More Peanut Butter Desserts? Try My Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies or this Peanut Butter Blossoms next.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This peanut butter cookie recipe is pure magic, friends! What makes these cookies absolutely irresistible is their incredible soft and chewy texture that stays perfect for days. They’re not too sweet, not too salty, just perfectly balanced with that rich peanut butter flavor we all crave. Plus, they come together in just one bowl with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry.

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Ingredient List

What you’ll need:

• 1 ½ cups (180 g) all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup (250 g) creamy peanut butter
• ½ cup (100 g) brown sugar, lightly packed
• ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, room temperature

My swap-out notes:

• Got natural peanut butter? Stir it really well first or your cookies will be weird and oily
• Chunky works if you want little peanut bits everywhere
• Only have salted butter? Use it, just don’t add extra salt
• No brown sugar? Use all white sugar but they won’t be as chewy

Why These Ingredients Work

Here’s what I’ve learned from years of cookie disasters and triumphs. The brown sugar keeps everything moist and gives that deep, caramel-like flavor that makes people ask “what’s your secret?” The white sugar helps with spreading and creates those slightly crispy edges we all love.

Room temperature butter is crucial – I learned this the hard way when I tried to rush with cold butter and ended up with lumpy, uneven cookies. The egg binds everything together while the vanilla adds that warm backdrop flavor. That tiny bit of baking powder? It’s the difference between hockey pucks and pillowy perfection.

Essential Tools and Equipment

Grab these from your kitchen:

• Two bowls (one big, one medium)
• Hand mixer or wooden spoon (my arm got a workout before I bought my mixer!)
• Whisk
• Measuring stuff
• Cookie sheet
• Parchment paper (seriously, don’t skip this)
• Fork for making those criss-cross marks
• Cooling rack

How To Make Peanut Butter Cookies

Step 1: Preheat and Prep

Set your oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment. Don’t skip the parchment – I learned this lesson when I scraped half my cookies off a sticky pan last Christmas.

Step 2: Mix Your Dry Ingredients

Whisk flour and baking powder in a medium bowl. I actually sift mine because my grandmother always did, and her cookies were legendary.

Step 3: Cream the Butter and Sugars

Beat butter with both sugars until fluffy – about 3 minutes with my old stand mixer. This step makes or breaks your cookies, so don’t rush it.

Step 4: Add the Peanut Butter

Mix in your peanut butter until smooth. I use Jif because that’s what my kids prefer, but any creamy brand works beautifully.

Step 5: Incorporate Egg and Vanilla

Add the egg and vanilla, beating until everything looks uniform. Make sure your egg is room temperature or it won’t mix properly.

Step 6: Gently Fold in Flour

Add flour mixture on low speed until just combined. Overmixing makes tough cookies – something I definitely learned the hard way.

Step 7: Shape the Cookies

Roll into walnut-sized balls and space them 2 inches apart on your prepared sheet. They spread just enough to look perfect.

Step 8: Create the Classic Pattern

Press each ball with a fork in both directions. This isn’t just pretty – it helps them bake evenly and gives that nostalgic look we all remember.

Step 9: Bake to Perfection

Bake exactly 10 minutes. They’ll look slightly underdone, but trust me on this timing – they finish cooking on the hot pan.

Step 10: Cool Properly

Let them cool completely on the baking sheet. I know it’s torture, but moving them too early turns perfect cookies into crumbly messes.

You Must Know

Never move these cookies while they’re hot – they’re basically molten lava disguised as cookies and will fall apart instantly. I learned this during my daughter’s bake sale disaster of 2019.

Personal Secret: I press my fork just deep enough to make clear lines without completely flattening the dough. This keeps them thick and chewy while still getting that classic look everyone expects.

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

After making these cookies probably 500 times, here’s what I’ve figured out. Cold ingredients are your enemy – everything needs to be room temperature or your cookies will be lopsided and weird. I take my butter and egg out an hour before baking.

Don’t overbake them! They should look slightly soft in the middle when you pull them out. My husband always thinks I’m underbaking them, but then he eats half the batch, so clearly I’m doing something right.

If your dough feels too sticky, stick it in the fridge for 20 minutes. I do this sometimes when it’s humid outside – the dough cooperates much better after a little chill time.

Flavor Variations & Suggestions

Chocolate chip madness: Throw in ½ cup mini chocolate chips. My 8-year-old asks for these specifically.

Extra crunchy: Use crunchy peanut butter plus some chopped peanuts. My husband goes nuts for this version.

Sweet and salty: Sprinkle some flaky salt on top before baking. Sounds weird, tastes amazing.

Birthday cake style: Add some rainbow sprinkles to the dough. My daughter requested this for her last birthday party.

Sandwich cookies: Make them smaller and stick two together with frosting. Takes forever but worth it for special occasions.

Make-Ahead Options

I make the dough on Sunday nights and keep it in the fridge for up to three days. It actually gets better after sitting – all the flavors meld together beautifully. Just let it warm up for 20 minutes before rolling if it gets too stiff.

You can also freeze the shaped cookies on a baking sheet, then toss them in freezer bags. They keep for months, and I bake them straight from frozen – just add a minute or two to the timer. This is honestly a lifesaver during the holidays when I’m making cookies for everyone and their cousin.

Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips

The key to these cookies is not overthinking it. I used to fuss over every little detail, but honestly, this recipe is pretty forgiving. Just follow the timing and temperature, and you’ll be golden.

If you’re using natural peanut butter, make sure it’s really well mixed before you start. I learned this when half my batch turned out oily because I didn’t stir the jar properly. Also, measuring by weight makes a huge difference if you have a kitchen scale – my cookies are way more consistent now that I weigh my flour.

Serving Suggestions

These are amazing with a big glass of cold milk – my kids insist this is the only proper way to eat them. I also love crumbling them over vanilla ice cream for an easy dessert that looks fancy.

During the holidays, I dip half of each cookie in melted chocolate and let them set on parchment. They disappear so fast at cookie exchanges that I usually make a double batch just for us to keep at home.

How to Store Your Peanut Butter Cookies

Keep them in a container with a tight lid and they’ll stay soft for about a week. Mine never last that long though – my family attacks them like hungry wolves.

If you want to keep them longer, freeze them in a freezer container for up to 3 months. When you want some, just grab a few and let them thaw for a few minutes.

Got cookies that went a little hard? Pop them in the microwave for like 5 seconds. Works every time.

Allergy Information

Heads up – these have: peanuts, gluten, dairy, and eggs

Need to swap things out?

• No dairy: Use fake butter (I’ve tried it, works fine)
• No gluten: Try that 1-to-1 gluten-free flour stuff
• No eggs: Make a flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax + 3 tablespoons water, let it sit for 5 minutes until it gets gooey)
• No nuts: Sorry, this recipe won’t work for you, but maybe try sunflower seed butter for something completely different

Questions I Get Asked A Lot

Can I use crunchy peanut butter instead of creamy?

Yeah, totally! I actually prefer crunchy sometimes because you get those little peanut pieces in every bite. Just make sure you stir the jar really well first – learned that one the hard way.

My cookies turned out too crumbly – what went wrong?

You probably baked them too long or used too much flour. I used to pack my flour into the measuring cup like I was building a sandcastle, but that makes them dry. Spoon it in lightly and level it off.

Why do my cookies spread too much during baking?

Your butter was probably too warm or your kitchen is really hot. Stick the shaped cookies in the fridge for 15 minutes before baking. I do this in summer when my kitchen feels like a sauna.

💬 Made these cookies? Drop a comment and let me know how they turned out! I love seeing photos of your cookies – especially if your kids helped and made a giant mess like mine always do!