Peanut Butter Cookies are a classic cookie that you can’t go wrong with! Creamy peanut butter is swirled into a brown sugar cookie dough and baked until perfectly light and fluffy. Each bite has a slight crunch from the sugar coating and melts in your mouth from the velvety peanut butter. These cookies will be gone before you know it!
What is a Peanut Butter Cookie?
When you are making a batch of peanut butter cookies, you are essentially making the same dough that you would use for chocolate chip cookie! But, you make a couple adjustments. Peanut butter subs out one of the sticks of butter and you use a little less flour.
A classic peanut butter cookie is known by it’s peanut butter flavor, sugar coating and criss-cross imprints on top of the cookie.
What You Need to Make Peanut Butter Cookies
Making these peanut butter cookies requires pantry ingredients that you most likely already have on hand! If you are anything like me, you realize after you get home from the grocery store that you may have already had a container or two of peanut butter on hand… These cookies are the perfect way to use up some of that peanut butter!
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Butter
- Sugar
- Brown Sugar
- Egg
- Peanut Butter
- Vanilla
- Salt
- Baking Soda
- Flour
Tips for Making Peanut Butter Cookies
Whipping up a batch of cookies is pretty straigh-forward, but here are a couple tips to help you when making these peanut butter cookies!
- Use creamy peanut butter – if you’re dead-set on using crunchy peanut butter, give it a try! Otherwise, I would stick to creamy for an extra-velvety texture.
- Use a cookie scoop – since peanut butter and butter are both items that melt easily, I recommend using a cookie scoop to help you get these cookies scooped quicky. That way, the heat from your hands doesn’t start to melt the cookie dough.
- Use a fork to help you get the criss-cross pattern on top. My Grandma sometimes also uses the bottom of a decorative glass to make an imprint on top of the cookies – the possibilities are endless!
Finally, after waiting patiently for these peanut butter cookies to finish baking, you get to eat them! They literally start to dissolve in your mouth with each bite – John and I couldn’t stop eating them!
One of the greatest things about these Peanut Butter Cookies is how versatile they are – you could literally serve them for any occasion! Holidays, birthdays, bbq’s, date nights or for a weeknight treat. Whatever the occasion, peanut butter cookies stand their ground as a family-favorite!
Looking for other cookie recipes? Look here!
Peanut Butter Cookies
(5 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 22 cookies 1x
Description
Peanut Butter Cookies are a classic cookie that you can’t go wrong with! Creamy peanut butter is swirled into a brown sugar cookie dough and baked until perfectly light and fluffy. Each bite has a slight crunch from the sugar coating and melts in your mouth from the velvety peanut butter. These cookies will be gone before you know it!
Ingredients
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, softened
- 1/2 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup for coating
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups flour
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter, 1/2 cup of sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about a couple minutes. Wipe down the sides of the bowl and mix in the egg.
- Add in the peanut butter and vanilla extract and mix until smooth and combined. Mix in the salt, baking soda and flour just until a cookie dough forms. Pour the additional 1/4 cup of sugar into a separate small bowl.
- Use a medium-sized cookie scoop to scoop the dough into cookie balls. Gently roll each cookie dough ball into the sugar to coat completely. Place on an un-greased baking sheet, about a few inches apart from each other. Use a fork to gently press the criss-cross pattern into the tops of the cookies.
- Bake for 12-13 minutes, or until the centers of the cookies have set and are slightly golden brown. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a couple minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat until all the cookie dough has been used.
Notes
- Creamy peanut butter is recommended for this recipe.
- Using a cookie scoop helps you not to have to handle the cookie dough as much which prevents the dough from melting or softening.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
Share the love!
If you make this recipe and love it as much as I do, I’d love to hear from you! Comment below, rate the recipe, or share a picture tagging @kjandcompany or using #kjandcompany so that I can see your fun pictures 🙂
Thanks for following and cooking along with me!
Hi, I’m KJ!
Here you’ll find simple, delicious recipes for the home cook. I strive to make wholesome meals with easy-to-find ingredients that you feel comfortable making in your own kitchen—but I won’t shy away from a few indulgences! (I see you: butter, bacon, cookies!)
Have you ever used natural peanut butter in this recipe?
Hey, Mackenzie! I have not, but I don’t see why you couldn’t give it a try! 🙂