Delicious, easy peanut butter cookies recipe that everyone will think you bought from a bakery. The recipe has a roasted peanut flavor from chopped pieces and a creamy spread that strikes the right balance of texture and consistency.
Jessica’s Recipe Science
- Using extra-crunchy peanut butter with roasted peanuts layers in nutty flavor and plenty of interesting texture.
- Brown sugar acts as a humectant, pulling in moisture to keep cookies tender, while granulated sugar creates a crisp bite.
- The peanut butter cookie dough uses baking soda and baking powder for lift, a light texture, slight spread, and crisp edges.
Featured Comment 9
“These were really good! I didn’t have peanuts on hand so I just used a bit more peanut butter. It made 53 cookies!”—Finola
Why It Works
Trust me, these are the best peanut butter cookies, so keep this recipe handy! The amped-up peanut taste and irresistible texture are easily achieved when you have the right ingredients and some scientific knowledge on your side. Without the proper levels of peanut butter flavor, it’s just a sugar cookie in disguise.
That’s why chunky peanut butter plus a generous amount of chopped peanuts are added to the formula. Creating a pleasing contrast of crisp and chewy textures involves combining brown and granulated sugar, along with two leavening agents. Be sure to whip up a big batch, because at my house, these melt-in-your-mouth treats tend to disappear quickly right off the cooling racks.
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Ingredients You’ll Need
- Flour: Use all-purpose flour, which has a moderate amount of protein, ranging from 10 to 13%. This adds structure and some chew yet stays tender.
- Leavening Agents: Two leavening agents are used, baking soda and baking powder. They provide rise, so the cookies puff up and stay light in density. However, adding a little extra baking soda will widen the spread without becoming too thin and make the edges crispy.
- Peanuts: For the best nutty flavor, use spreadable peanut butter and whole dry-roasted peanuts. I like extra-crunchy for added texture, but creamy peanut butter works too. Choose dry-roasted peanuts for a stronger, more intense taste.
- Butter: Room temperature butter softened to 65 to 67ºF (18 to 20ºC), is pliable enough to trap air when creamed with sugar, helping the cookies rise while also ensuring a smooth, evenly mixed dough.
- Sweetener: Using just granulated sugar makes crispy cookies throughout. Adding brown sugar helps to attract and keep some extra moisture in the cookie due to its humectant properties. This keeps the cookie tender but not crumbly and falling apart, even after storing it for a few days. The molasses notes in the light brown sugar enhance the roasted peanut flavor.
- Flavoring: Vanilla extract adds a sweet baked aroma and dimension to the cookies. Salt enhances the flavor of the nuts.
- Eggs: Eggs provide structure from their proteins, richness from the yolks, and moisture to bind the ingredients, ensuring the cookies stay tender and cohesive.
See the recipe card below for all ingredients and measurements (US and metric).
Ingredient Substitutions
Add your own twist to classic peanut butter cookies with these tasty options!
- Peanut Butter Substitutes: Use smooth peanut butter if you prefer less crunch. I’m a big fan of making homemade peanut butter, or store-bought natural peanut butter can be used. Use almond butter for a different flavor variation. Sunflower butter is a great nut-free substitute.
- Flour Swaps: Use gluten-free flour for dietary concerns. Whole-wheat flour adds nuttiness, while bread flour will yield a thicker, soft peanut butter cookie.
- Mix-ins: Make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies with semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips.
- Flavoring: Add almond extract for a sweeter aroma. Add spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, or pumpkin pie spice. Add mashed bananas for soft, cakey peanut butter banana cookies. Use dark brown sugar for a richer, more pronounced molasses flavor.
How to Make Peanut Butter Cookies
Step 1: Preheat the Oven
Baking at 350°F (177°C) activates the leavening agent for lift while allowing sugars to caramelize slowly, resulting in chewy centers and crisp edges in cookies. Lining the cookie sheet with parchment paper creates a nonstick surface that promotes even spreading and easy release.
Step 2: Mix Dry Ingredients
Whisking the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda evenly distributes the leavening and seasoning, ensuring the cookies rise uniformly and taste balanced.
Step 3: Chop the Peanuts
Pulse the whole peanuts in a food processor or use a chef’s knife to finely chop them, retaining some structure. The chunky nuts in the butter, plus the pulsed legumes, will add a rustic dimension to the cookie without feeling dense.
Quick Substitution: If you have raw peanuts, place them in the oven on a sheet tray for about 6 to 8 minutes at 325 degrees until golden in color, making sure to cool.
Step 4: Cream the Butter
Creaming the softened butter and sugars together in an electric stand mixer traps air in the butter pockets created by the sugar.
Ingredient Chemistry: What’s the secret to making peanut butter cookies soft and chewy with lightly crisp edges? This recipe uses two types of sugar. Granulated white sugar adds crispness. Light brown sugar adds a hint of molasses flavor and is a humectant, attracting moisture to keep the cookie soft in the center.
Step 5: Incorporate the Peanut Butter and Eggs
Mixing the peanut butter, eggs, and vanilla extract into the butter mixture helps to aerate the dough while adding richness and flavor. The peanut butter is going to infuse throughout the cookie dough.
Step 6: Add Dry Ingredients
The flour mixture is gradually added to prevent excessive gluten formation in the batter. The ground peanuts are stirred in last to distribute the pieces evenly.
Step 7: Shape the Cookies
To make big bakery-style peanut butter cookies, a decent-sized portion of the dough makes a noticeable difference between a chewy interior and a crunchy exterior. Measure out 3 tablespoons of the dough and roll it into a ball. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, about 2 inches apart. It starts at about 2 inches in diameter on the pan, then expands to nearly 4 inches.
A criss-cross pattern on top of the dough balls adds the finishing touch and characteristic mark. I use the back of the tines of a fork to press down on the surface lightly. Sprinkle sparkling sugar over the fork marks if you want an even fancier topping.
Make-Ahead Tip: You can shape and bake the cookies immediately, store the cookie dough in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or freeze it for up to 1 month.
Step 8: Bake
After about 10 minutes of baking at 350 degrees, you’ve got the perfect golden brown, old-fashioned peanut butter cookie. It’s a game of surface area as the oven heat travels from the outer edges inward. Let the cookies sit on the warm sheet pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool. These are my kids’ favorite cookies to keep stocked in the cookie jar!
Expert Tip: Larger cookies tend to stay softer in the center as it takes longer for the heat to travel, while smaller cookies tend to crisp more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Peanut butter naturally has less water and less fat than butter so that the dough can dry out quickly. To keep them tender, measure your flour carefully so it doesn’t become dry. Add some brown sugar to attract moisture and prevent dryness, which yields soft peanut butter cookies when stored, rather than being crumbly.
Both work to make the best peanut butter cookie recipe! Creamy gives you a smoother, more uniform cookie, while extra-crunchy adds more texture with peanut pieces. Natural peanut butters can cause separation, leading to greasy cookies. That’s why it’s essential to add an emulsifier, such as eggs, to the dough.
The dough is thick and dense, so pressing it down with a fork before baking cookies helps to flatten the dough for even baking. It also creates a larger surface area for caramelization, which gives the classic crisp edge and nutty flavor.
More Cookie Recipes
If you tried this Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup dry-roasted salted peanuts
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to 65 to 67ºF (18 to 20ºC)
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup extra-crunchy peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
- Preheat the Oven – Set oven racks to the upper-middle and lower-middle positions. Preheat to 350°F (177°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Mix Dry Ingredients – Whisk flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl.
- Chop the Peanuts – Add peanuts to a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs are formed, about 14 pulses. Peanuts can also be finely chopped on a cutting board.
- Cream the Butter – Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or hand mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Incorporate the Peanut Butter and Eggs – Add peanut butter and beat until combined, 30 seconds. Add vanilla and eggs one at a time until fully incorporated, scraping the bowl down as needed, about 30 seconds.
- Add Dry Ingredients – Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Add ground peanuts and mix until just incorporated.
- Shape the Cookies – Roll dough into 3 tablespoon-sized balls, spacing them 2" apart on the sheet pan. Use a fork to press and make crosshatch marks on the top of the cookies.
- Bake – Place the pan in the oven and bake until the edges are golden and the centers have puffed up but are beginning to deflate, 10 to 12 minutes. Switch and rotate baking sheet pans halfway through. Cool for 10 minutes on the sheet pan, then transfer them to a wire rack and cool completely before serving.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Cookie Dough Size: 3 tablespoons; 50g; 1 ¾ ounces.
- Cookie Size: 2 ¼ inches before baking, 3 ¾ inches after.
- Bake Time: The bottom tray may need 1 to 2 more minutes.
- Make it Gluten-Free: Substitute gluten-free flour for all-purpose flour. I recommend Bob’s Redmill 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour.
- Storing: Refrigerate raw dough for up to 1 week or freeze for 1 month. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week, or freeze for 3 months.
- Recipe Adapted From: America’s Test Kitchen, The Perfect Cookie.
Nutrition Facts
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000-calorie diet. All nutritional information is based on estimated third-party calculations. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
Karl says
Great cookies. What would I add to make them a little bit softer? Mine came out quite crunchy. Many thanks!
Jessica Gavin says
I’m so glad you enjoyed the peanut butter cookies, Karl! If you’d like them a little softer next time, I would transfer the cookies to the wire rack to cool after 1-2 minutes instead of 10 minutes. A touch more brown sugar (and a little less granulated) will also help keep the texture soft and chewy.
Finola says
These were really good! It made 53 cookies!
Jessica Gavin says
Whoo-hoo! It’s always nice to have extra peanut butter cookies.😀
Finola says
These were really good! I didn’t have peanuts on hand so I just used a bit more peanut butter. It made 53 cookies!
Stacey says
Hello. What do you mean by spreadable peanut butter? Doesn’t all peanut butter sparead? This recipe is confusing as I’m not sure if you are saying “make your own peanut butter” and then take even more peanuts and coarsely grind them? Confused. I only have natural pb, is this what you are saying and adding more chopped peanuts? I looked at your “substitute for butter article and again I am “assuming” you are talking about ‘Natural’ nut butters.(containing just nuts and salt)
Thank you,
Stacey
Jessica Gavin says
Hi Stacey- Some peanut butter brands are very thick but you can still use them in the recipe. You don’t have to make your own (I just mentioned that you can make it homemade if you’d like), the store-bought products will work too. You add extra chopped peanuts for more texture and bursts of peanut flavor.
Cynthia says
Thank you for giving us the gram weight (50g) on the cookie dough. I always seem to make mine different sizes which never goes right. I do the same with meatballs and end up with over cooked and under cooked balls. I have extra PB in the house that I have to get rid of before it expires so this is perfect
Judy says
Hi Jessica,
I was searching your site the other day for a regular peanut butter cookie so I was happy seeing this in my box today.
We are more for a crisp cookie rather than a chewy one. Do you have any tips on taking a cookie to a crispy type?
xo
Judy