Name: Peanut Butter Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 57 min
Yield: 24
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature; 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar; 1 large egg; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 cup peanut butter; 1 cup all purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1/4 teaspoon salt

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These Peanut Butter Cookies must come close to the top of the list of America’s favorites. Try them to see that I am not wrong. If you love peanut butter, you will love these cookies too.

Peanut butter cookies on a serving tray0

Best Peanut Butter Cookies

These are probably the simplest cookies to make. They are part of the “drop cookies” category because the dough is soft enough to drop off the spoon and onto the baking sheet.

What are drop cookies?

As I told you before, drop cookies are made with a soft enough dough to drop off the spoon on the baking sheet.

The basic mixture is often made by the creaming method, where butter and sugar are beaten until light and fluffy. Eggs are then beaten in, followed by flour, raising agents, and flavorings.

What kind of ingredients go into these simple Peanut Butter Cookies?

Unsalted butter at room temperature- we need to cream the butter with sugar, and it is easier to work with when the butter is soft. Also, you can replace it with salted butter, but you will need to skip the pinch of salt required in the recipe. I would not recommend using shortening or margarine.
Light brown sugar– brings flavor and softness to the cookies
Eggs– I use large eggs in most of my baking goods, so this is what I recommend.
Vanilla extract– I know these are no times to get fussy, but if you can, please use the real vanilla extract and not the fake one.
Peanut butter– creamy is good; crunchy is acceptable too for more texture.
All-purpose flour is the most popular and used flour in the US, therefore perfect for baking.
Baking soda– essential for the cookies to rise
Salt– enhances the flavors of any baked goods

*The amount of ingredients can be found in the recipe card.

Step 1.

Place butter and sugar in a bowl and use an electric mixer to cream them until light and fluffy.

Peanut butter cookies brown sugar and butter

Step 2.

In another bowl, mix the egg and vanilla extract, then gradually beat them into the butter mixture.

Peanut butter cookies eggs added to butter and sugar0

Step 3.

Stir in the peanut butter and blend throughly. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and stir into the mixture to form a soft dough.

Step 4.

Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes until firm.

Step 5.

Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Lightly grease two baking sheets or cover them with parchment paper or silicon mats.

You will also need a fork and an ice cream scoop if you are looking for getting the cookies all the same size.

cookie dough in a bowl with fork and ice cream scoop

Step 6.

If you do not use the ice cream scoop, just grab two teaspoons. Spoon out rounded teaspoonfuls of the dough and roll into balls.

I used my ice cream scoop here in this picture.

Peanut butter cookies cookie dough ready for baking

Step 7.

Place the balls on the prepared baking sheets and press flat with a fork into rounds about 2 1/2in/6cm in diameter, making a criss-cross pattern.

marking the cookies with a fork before baking them

Step 8.

Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes or until lightly brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Peanut butter cookies on a serving tray close up

Pretty easy, right?

What kind of peanut butter is good for this recipe?

Now, most old fashioned peanut butter cookies are made with soft, creamy peanut butter, like Jif or Skippy. If you have crunchy peanut butter in the pantry, use that.

To add more texture to your cookies, throw 1/2 cup chopped peanuts with the peanut butter.

If you have organic, natural peanut butter, use that. Just make sure to stir the peanut butter really well.

The natural peanut butter doesn’t have stabilizer and the cookies will be very runny because of the oil floating on top of the peanut butter.

Oh wait, it looks like Skippy makes a natural peanut butter that doesn’t need to be stirred! Score!

Can I freeze or refrigerate this dough and for how long?

Honestly, I never tried to freeze this dough. The quick answer would be no and no. I would not freeze the dough.

Regular cookie dough that doesn’t contain leavening ingredients, like baking soda or baking powder can be stored in the refrigerator overnight or in some cases, for up to a week.

Also, regular cookie dough can also be frozen for up to 3 months but the flavors tend to lose their intensity after a month or so.

HOWEVER, this cookie dough contains baking soda, which doesn’t make it suitable for freezing or keeping it in the refrigerator for days. Make it the same day you plan to bake the cookies.

I would freeze the baked cookies though. You can place them on parchment paper and freeze them in layers in a freezer plastic bag or airtight container.

Peanut butter cookies on a serving tray pinterest

A few words about how to store the cookies:

As a rule of thumb, with a few exceptions, cookies are best eaten on the day they are made.

Some, like the American-style soft cookies, are delicious when slightly warm from the oven, but most cookies need to be cooled first to allow them to crisp and set.

If you are not planning to eat them straight away, store them as soon as they have cooled.

This will prevent crisp cookies to become soft and soft ones to dry out and get hard.

If you do not over bake them, these are soft, chewy peanut butter cookies.

It is essential to keep them in an airtight container, and, if possible, they should also be stored in the refrigerator to retain the freshly baked flavor.

Peanut butter cookies on a serving tray on brown table

Can I add some other ingredients to the dough, and what would be good? (I want to make them fun, they look boring to me):

Do you have chocolate chips? You need only a 1/4 cup of any kind of chocolate chips you have in the pantry.
You could also skip the fork and leave the ball as it is without pressing it. Bake the cookies as the recipe requires, then press a Hershey Kiss in the middle of the hot cookie. Here you have peanut butter kiss cookies.
Do you like nuts? We already talked about extra peanuts, but go ahead and add some chopped pecans or walnuts if you like them.
Are you out of peanut butter, but you have some almond butter or sunflower butter or cashew butter? Try them for a fun and different cookie flavor.
Toss the balls in granulated sugar before placing them on the baking tray and flatten them with the fork.

Want to bake some other cookies as well? Here are some ideas:

CLASSIC OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES

EASY DARK CHOCOLATE WALNUT COOKIES

CHOCOLATE COOKIES WITH EARL GREY GANACHE

SUNFLOWER SEEDS BUTTER COOKIES

LEMON CREAM CHEESE COOKIES

So, are you going to make these cookies or not? Leave a comment below, I would love to hear from you.

Yield: 24