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Peanut Butter Cookies

Posted by Elise on Dec 18, 2005

Filed under All Seasons, Bakery, Cookie

Peanut Butter Cookies

I learned something new today: peanut butter cookies are my mother's favorite cookie. I had no idea. Dad, however, won't eat them. Go figure. Peanut butter cookies are one of my favorite cookies; they remind me of school. They were always available in the cafeteria. With all the stress on nut allergies in schools these days, I doubt they are being served as often as when I was a kid. Easy to make for yourself though, with this simple recipe.

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Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/4 cup flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Method

1 Cream the butter for 2 minutes. Add the sugars, cream for 2 more minutes. Mix in the peanut butter and egg. Mix together the dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir into the sugar butter mixture.

2 Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate at least 3 hours.

peanut-butter-cookie-2.jpg peanut-butter-cookie-3.jpg

3 Preheat oven to 375°F. Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Place about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten in crisscross pattern with a fork. Bake until light brown, 9 to 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for a minute; transfer to rack to cool completely.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

For chewier cookies, bake at 300°F for 15 minutes.

Indexed: Cookie, Peanut Butter

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82 Comments

Interestingly, my parents are the same way about peanut butter cookies: mom loves them, dad doesn't want to eat them.
Weird.

Posted by: Nic on December 18, 2005 6:11 AM

I don't blame your mom - my favorite cookies are the ones my husband hates too, so I know I'll get to eat them all. Unfortunately for me, he absolutely loves peanut butter cookies, so when I make them I'm lucky to steal a few for myself.

Posted by: Cecelia on December 18, 2005 7:55 AM

Mouth watering.... and me a diabetic....

Anything with peanuts will make grandpas eyes shine and our little "Sis" is the same..... :)

Posted by: Dottie on December 18, 2005 11:48 AM

Elise, I love your recipes! I have been using them for a month now since finding your blog thru Google. My family just groans with pleasure when I serve up one of them.
Oh! And the giant ginger cookies are marvelous. I made some for a Christmas party and they were snapped up. There were cookies on other plates, but none on mine. They are heavenly.
Where and how did you learn to cook?

Posted by: Liz on December 19, 2005 8:29 AM

Recently I made cashew butter cookies - from a peanut butter cookie recipe, but with fresh cashew butter instead. They were very interesting, and not at all bad. More like a sugar cookie in flavor, the cashew flavor didn't come through as well as peanut does. I had to add a little extra sugar because the cashew butter had no added sugar like most peanut butters do.

Posted by: feistykitty on December 19, 2005 4:40 PM

When I saw this recipe and the mouth-watering picture, I just had to make them today. They are awesome!!! The tip about the longer cooking time in the slower oven created just the chew I was looking for.
Thank you for sharing this and all the other fabulous recipes.

Posted by: garlicscapes on December 19, 2005 7:34 PM

Thanks a lot for the cookie recipe. They were a hit at my cocktail party. Thanks a lot.

Posted by: devin on June 19, 2006 7:40 PM

These cookies are GREAT!

Posted by: Christina on September 24, 2006 7:39 PM

Couple of ?'s about p.butter cookies...
1. I've noticed some recipes differ in amnts of sugar v. brown sugar. What are the taste differences using 1c sugar vs. 1/2c sugar & 1/2c b.sugar?
2. How can I make cookies have a stronger p.butter flavor?

Honestly, I've never been a p.b. cookie fan because always too bland and/or hard.

Any suggestions?

Posted by: Jennifer on October 18, 2006 7:24 AM

This is an awesome recipe...I've been looking for a recipe w/o shortening (trans fats are horrible!! especially if you're pregnant or nursing). I also tried this recipe with soy butter and they taste GREAT, they taste a bit more like a sugar cookie with a peanut butter flavor. Thanks!!!

Posted by: laura on November 5, 2006 8:26 PM

Thanks for the recipe! They tasted wonderful, except next time i would reduce the sugar because they were too sweet for my family. Thank you again!

Posted by: Jen on November 7, 2006 5:14 PM

Does it matter if you use creamy or crunchy peanut butter? I have both (I like creamy, husband likes super crunchy) in the cupboard...
Thanks!

Posted by: Liz on January 10, 2007 7:58 AM

I love this recipe! The first time that I made the Peanut Butter Cookies using your recipe, they were too sweet. So, experimenting, I used 1/4 cup of white sugar and 1/2 cup of brown sugar. I also replaced regular peanut butter with chunky peanut butter and they are absolutely wonderful! (I also sprayed the cookie sheet with Pam cooking spray-added a wonderful undertone to the whole cookie) Please bare in mind that I have never (successfully) ever made a homemade cookie that was tasteful enough to ever serve until now!)

Much praise,

J. Alex Ray

Posted by: Alex Ray on January 24, 2007 6:18 PM

Hi Elise; I made these cookies today but i must admit i couldn't help myself and i added about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. When i took them from the refridgerator they were quite hard. When i made the balls they would break apart so using a fork in a criss cross pattern was not going to work. They would break apart on me then, so i flattened them with my hands. What did i do wrong? Maybe too much sugar? They still taste very good. Chocolate and peanut butter....YUMMY. Thanks so much for the great recipes.

Posted by: MaryLou on February 20, 2007 6:21 PM

I made these cookies all my life since I was a teenager. I found using a potato masher instead of the fork to make the markings on the cookies is much faster and looks prettier.

Posted by: Karen Payette on February 27, 2007 4:56 AM

Does it matter if you use crunchy peanut butter or creamy?

Posted by: Hannah on March 4, 2007 4:48 PM

I've been making this cookie recipe for a couple years now and love it. I've been offered to make these cookies for a family and they would pay me for it. Everyone who tries these cookies say that these are the best peanut butter cookies the've ever had. I try many types of p-b with it and put a chocolate chip on top for exta pizazz.

Posted by: Erika on April 16, 2007 2:08 PM

Adding a tablespoon or two of good quality dark maple syrup is a good addition.

Posted by: anonymous on April 29, 2007 5:44 PM

Peanut butter cookies are my all time favorite and these are absolutely DELICIOUS!!!!! What I would call the "perfect" recipe.
Thank you :-)

Posted by: Carol on June 8, 2007 6:54 PM

Thank you so much for your wonderful recipes and posting them to share with so many others. I have been baking since I was 6 and I have learned a lot. Your recipes are a big hit especially during the holidays. Its also great to have such a good recipe that I can sit and make cookies with the children many times a year and know they enjoy it and the cookies wont go to waste :)

Posted by: C.Clem on June 13, 2007 6:08 PM

Thank you for this recipe. I made 1 batch of the more crispy and one of the chewy and my family adored them.

Posted by: kelly erickson on October 16, 2007 9:14 AM

My brother ha his birthday and loves ( I mean really LOVES) peanutbuter cookies and so I want to make him some and I wanted to ask if you can put more peanutbuter in to the recpie by other peanut butter cookies they say the same amount 1/2 cup but people always add that they put in more peanut butter?

Note from Elise: Why don't you try it and see?

Posted by: Timothy on October 19, 2007 11:46 AM

These cookies are fantastic! I make them all the time for different occasions and they are always a huge hit. Thanks for another great recipe.

Posted by: Madeline on December 1, 2007 6:26 PM

These were delicious just like everything else on this site! One way my mom jazzes up the cookies is by adding chocolate hershey kisses to the cookies right after they come out of the oven. Instead of pressing them with the fork, she rolls them in balls and bakes them as normal. While in the oven, open up all of the kisses so when the cookies come out, you can just stick them into the cookies. MMMmmm yummy

Posted by: KelBel on December 6, 2007 9:44 PM

I search alot of cookie books &etc, I finaly found the good old regular recipe to make peanut butter cookies, thank you

Posted by: violet on December 17, 2007 9:48 AM

Oh these are great! I normally don't like pb cookies, but my husband loves them so I wanted to make some for him. I am so glad I tried these. The recipe is easy, I doubled it and it worked beautifully.

THANKS!!

Posted by: Jeanie Stenson on December 18, 2007 9:12 AM

Just made your peanut butter cookie recipe and it was a hit! Not only was it simple (I'm baking-challenged), it was so tasty! My son's comment was :buttery goodness that tastes like peanut butter.

I used the old dried peanut butter that was left over at the bottom of the jar. We use organic pure peanut butter and no matter how well you stir it, you always have the leftover hard stuff at the bottom. I was concerned that the cookies would be too dry and crumbly. Not so...they were perfect!

thanks!

...off to try your eggnog recipe now.

:)

Posted by: Lavender on December 31, 2007 3:22 PM

omg I did this recipe, it was sooo god but I changed the flour to bread flour and didn't add baking powder and brown sugar, it was delicious.

Posted by: nadia ovalles on January 12, 2008 2:14 PM

I found this recipe and I am going to try it out Bake the boy friend some cookies for Valentines day, he LOVES peanut butter cookies.I have tried many PB cookie recipes in the past. Going to add few choco chips in it to see how it comes out! Thanks for sharing your recipe!

Posted by: Prebs on February 12, 2008 4:03 PM

Do we really have to put it in the fridge for 3 hours?
If so, why?

Posted by: Jess on February 19, 2008 2:05 PM

Oh, SO good! Elise, your website is amazing. Every recipe I make is incredibly delicious. Last night I made Irish Beef Stew for the 2nd time, and I just took some of these PB cookies out of the oven.

I did the bake 15 min. at 300 option, and added 75g of finely chopped milk chocolate...delicious!

Posted by: Rachel on February 25, 2008 9:04 AM

Have you ever tried the flourless peanut butter cookies? I highly recommend them.

No butter, no flour, just plain goodness.

Posted by: Nick on February 28, 2008 7:58 PM

I have done this recipe many times and I really love to make this cookie. My husband and daughter are really picky with food, but they really looooove these cookies. I like to add some jelly in the middle after pressing them and they come out delicious. To be honest I don`t like peanut butter, but when I make these cookies I eat them right of the oven. We don`t buy any cookies at the store anymore. GREAT COOKIES..LOVE IT! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Posted by: mara on March 8, 2008 1:21 PM

Wow these turned out so good! Our whole family loves them!

Posted by: naomi&erika on April 11, 2008 1:38 PM

Great recipe. I found if I added 1 cup chocolate chips, then dipped the top in a cinnamon sugar before scoring with a fork kicked it up a notch. Wish there were some for me occasionally.

Posted by: Bluer on April 22, 2008 8:12 PM

Being in Switzerland, peanutbutter is not very popular. Quite frankly- i only know one supermarket that sells it. As much as the butter is practically unheard of, i neednt even mention how "bizarre" it would be to mention BAKING with peanutbutter. However, things changed in no time. This recipe has made every non-peanutbutter-knower here a true fan. Thank you so much for the great taste!

Posted by: Nora-Rosy on April 23, 2008 12:33 PM

Made this recipe, I was short on time so didnt refridgerate. I used salba instead of egg and added a little soy flour, I also used whole wheat flour. They turned out great, although I would have liked a little stronger peanut butter flavour. I will definetly make them again

Posted by: cindy on June 5, 2008 11:12 AM

soooooooooooooooo good!

Posted by: Olivia on June 24, 2008 7:52 PM

I love the recipe!
So good!

Posted by: Lucy on July 6, 2008 1:52 AM

Wow, I love peanut butter cookies. I would like to know, though, if baking soda can be replaced with more baking powder? Would it make much of a difference?

Typically you cannot just do a replacement like that, as baking soda and baking powder work differently. Baking soda is a pure base, while baking powder is a combination of base and dry acid. It's the way that base and acid react (think adding vinegar to baking soda) that creates the leavening in baked goods that use them. But why don't you try it and see it it works for you? ~Elise

Posted by: Telly on July 25, 2008 6:15 PM

My husband loves peanut butter therefore I have made these cookies and just let me tell you that they are TOO GOOD and we can not stop eating them (I don't even like peanut butter). I followed the exact recipe and they came out perfect!Thank you

Posted by: patrizia on August 14, 2008 4:18 PM

Wonderful recipe. I was so eager to make them I didn't refrigerate for three hours and they came out delicious! Super Easy, Super Fast (minus the three hours) and defiantly a cook recipe going into my Book of FAVORITES. Thanks!!

Posted by: Joleen Romo on August 25, 2008 8:30 PM

Question

Can I freeze the dough to store it for a while?

If so, when can I freeze it. After it's been in the fridge for three hours?

You should be able to freeze the dough. I suggest rolling it out into a log, wrapping it with plastic wrap, and then freezing. That way you can easily make cookie sized slices when you want to make the cookies. ~Elise

Posted by: Nathan on September 6, 2008 6:30 PM

I didn't find it necessary to refrigerate the dough at all. The cookies were delicious, thank you.

Posted by: nancy on September 23, 2008 8:58 AM

I found your site 2 weeks ago, and I fell in love with it. Easy, delicious recipes!!

Made these delicious cookies for the 2nd time already (I'm a peanut butter junkie), and my apartment is also filled with the sweet sweet smell of your amazing banana nut muffins!

Didn't have cookie sheets, so I improvised and made these cookies into "peanut butter brownies" with chocolate chips added... yum!

Posted by: Anna on October 10, 2008 8:36 PM

Thank you so much for this fun recipe. I changed it up a bit and made peanut butter spice cookies by adding a little ginger, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. The tip for chewier cookies really did the trick and my family is going crazy over these sensational cookies. keep up the good work.

Posted by: crystal on October 23, 2008 7:53 PM

Can you add anything else to the cookies?

Don't see why not. ~Elise

Posted by: Amber on November 24, 2008 9:25 AM

Oh how lovely, these weres so scrumptious. I make these for my boyfriend all the time.

Posted by: Kyle Cooke on November 29, 2008 6:06 PM

Do you have to leave them in the whole 3 hours?

You are welcome to try refrigerating them less and see how well they work for you. Please let us know what you find. ~Elise

Posted by: Anonymous on December 2, 2008 5:08 PM

Great recipe, I find that if I am in a hurry I can take the following steps:

Note: I always do a double batch

1) I place the dough into a gallon zip-loc bag
2) Place into freezer for about 20 minutes
3) Pull out and place into refrigerator for another 20 minutes.

Same result, about 1/8th the waiting time.

A few variations you can try are to add:

some dried currants (wonderful fruity flavor and won't over power the PB flavor)
1/2 tsp Vanilla per batch adds a nice smooth flavor
For a nice flavor some graham cracker meal or oat flower to replace some of the flower.

Posted by: Dan Wade on December 23, 2008 1:33 AM

OMG! This has got to be the tastiest, softest Peanut Butter Cookie that I've ever had. It stores well and still keeps that soft chewy cookie feel.

For those that don't quite have the time for the dough to chill in the fridge or freezer you can make them right from the mixing bowl. Just don't squish them as much or they will spread too thin and check them a minute or two sooner.

Spectacular cookies! Keep 'em coming.

Posted by: Lori on December 28, 2008 6:18 PM

Perfect. They were easy enough to make and it was quick.

And no, you don't have to leave the dough in the fridge for 3 hours, I only left it in for about 30 minutes, and it was firm enough.

Posted by: S. Carter on January 12, 2009 7:30 PM

I love pb cookies and this recipe is wonderful. I always use crunchy pb and then add a handful of blanched peanuts to the recipe.

Posted by: Derek Bushey on January 24, 2009 1:12 AM

This recipe was super good! Peanut-Butter cookies are (one of my many) weaknesses. Since I like a cookie with a little bit more chew, I baked them using the chewier version (300 degrees for 15 mins.) and they were redonculas! Thanks a ton for the killer recipe :)

Posted by: Grace on January 25, 2009 10:31 AM

I loved this recipe. The cookies turned out great. Next time I would probably use about another 1/2 cup of peanut butter for more taste. Other than that, Great Recipe!.

Posted by: Sarah on January 28, 2009 2:37 PM

Growing up from my nursery to elementary years, PB is a daily fix in my lunchbox. I consider it as one of my comfort foods. tried a number of PB cookies but your version is by far the delicious one.

Posted by: salma on February 2, 2009 8:26 AM

I made almond butter cookies by substituting crunchy almond butter for peanut butter, and they turned out wonderfully. I think the rich buttery flavor is more pronounced with almond butter than peanut butter. Thank you for the great recipes! Can't wait to try others.

Posted by: hsk on February 22, 2009 7:51 PM

OMG YOUR COOKIES ROCK MY WORLD!!! YAY!!! GO YOU!!!! WOO!!!!!!!

Posted by: DEBBIE COOKER on March 27, 2009 1:33 PM

I would like to know why the dough has to be refrigerated for at least 3 hours... Thank you!

The dough should be well chilled. This will help prevent them from spreading too much as they cook. ~Elise

Posted by: Paulinha on April 2, 2009 12:20 AM

Something I have tried before making peanut butter cookies is to roll the cookie dough ball in sugar before you press it down with the fork. Seemed odd, til I tried it, and WHOA! I actually managed to convert a couple people who didn't normally like peanut butter cookies. Turned it into a sugar cookie/peanut butter cookie hybrid...

If you like extra sweet peanut butter cookies, give that a whirl. :)

Posted by: Scott on April 3, 2009 9:55 AM

Amazing recipe; a lot of butter just how I like cookies :)
I made them for my dad as a thanks for helping me with my project; he doesn't know yet so he'll get a peanutty surprise in the morning

Definitely will use this recipe again.

Posted by: Shannon on April 8, 2009 9:25 PM

Thank you soooooo much for this fabulously delicious cookie recipe. I have never attempted to make peanut butter cookies before, as I always thought that they were more complicated than my go to chocolate chip. But man was I wrong. I loved this super simple recipe, and couldn't even wait for them to cool before I dove into them. I baked them at 300, and needed to take 20 minutes, but apparently I don't know how to make small cookies, because I only got 16 out of the batch, but they were probably about 3 inchs wide after baking. I loved them, and know that they will be a huge hit with my husband, son and the kids that come to my day home. I can't wait to try out other recipes here.

Thank you so much for sharing.

Posted by: Natasha on May 16, 2009 11:06 AM

My sister Taylor just absolutely ADORES these pieces of heaven!! she is allergic but its worth the hospital run! My daddy also loves them and took them to work the next day and ate them all gone!

Posted by: Haley on May 31, 2009 9:23 PM

These cookies R so super duper good and I love them.

Posted by: Sylvia on June 1, 2009 7:27 AM

Omg! My grandma makes her cookies just like them and I love them so much that I searched it up! Thanks for posting this recipe, my cookies came out really good.

Posted by: Briana on June 8, 2009 2:17 PM

I refrigerated the dough and found it much easier to work with, like the recipe said. The cookies were delicious, I'm actually eating some right now :P Enjoy!

Posted by: Aaron on June 15, 2009 7:57 PM

So glad you had this recipe online. I was craving them and couldn't find my copy of this old favorite. You can also form them into balls, press your finger in to make an indent, fill the indent with a small teaspoon of jelly, then bake them. That makes PB&J cookies. :-)

Posted by: Cyndi on July 8, 2009 11:36 AM

Thanks so much for this fantastic cookie recipe - will recommend to all my peeps!!

Posted by: Michelle on July 9, 2009 6:43 PM

I tried this recipe with almond butter and a quarter tsp of almond extract. A nice change from the usual peanut butter.

Posted by: Joyce on July 20, 2009 8:42 AM

I've made these cookies several times and I LOVE them! Thank you so much for the recipe! I always come here first when I'm recipe hunting! I added some fresh ginger to the recipe and it adds a nice little bite! Delicious!

Posted by: Lauren on July 22, 2009 2:30 PM

This is a great recipe and very delicous cookies

thank you :-)

Posted by: Alice on July 24, 2009 5:53 PM

I love this recipe. The cookies come out chewy and wonderful, but have enough structure to them that they don't just melt. I have gotten so many great reviews on these cookies! I add 1/4 cup of peanut butter also.

Posted by: Carrie Brady on August 22, 2009 9:39 PM

This recipe is absolutely delicious! I substituted with whole wheat flour, and they are just amazing. Definitely the best peanut butter cookie I have ever had. I love how simple the recipe was too. Simple ingredients and very easy to follow.

Posted by: Lauren on September 1, 2009 6:25 PM

Made these for my boyfriend who is across the country rehearsing for a new job. They are wonderful! I loved how easy the recipe was, how great they taste, and I know he will love something homemade. Thanks for the great recipe!

Posted by: Jana Henly on September 20, 2009 11:03 PM

These cookies are by far the best ones I have ever made/tried. My kids were aching for cookies today and I didn't have any for them. Being a mother of three kids (5 3 and 2yrs ), its usually hard to bake. But this recipe was not only super easy to mix up, it was the BEST cookies ever ( as my kids say)! I have to admit I am guilty of eating a lot of them! My husband came home for lunch and asked to bring the rest back to work with him.. looks like I am making these more than once! Thanks for the great recipe!
By the way, the dough was good enough after being placed in the freezer for 10 minutes!

Posted by: Leah on September 23, 2009 9:07 AM

I made these the other day for my friend who is serving our country in Afghanistan, and he was the MOST popular guy on base! I made my tried and true oatmeal raisin, some yummy snickerdoodles, and these, and these were, by far, the most popular! Thanks, Elise for making our troops have a little bit of home - even if it is just by providing a recipe!

Posted by: Regina on September 28, 2009 11:25 AM

Oh Elise I'm so disappointed! I didn't have any Baking salt or Powder and decided to go ahead and make the cookies! The dough came out perfect and looked so Nice that I was estatic about making my first batch of homemade cookies! I was so excited that I forgot they were in the oven for an extra ten minutes, bringing the baking time to 25 minutes at 350F. When I remembered they were baking I took them out and they were a little dark on top but not Burnt, so I let them sit for about five or ten minutes. The thought of them being my first batch of homemade cookies led me to believe I could still salvage them. Once I went back to them after cooling, they were Hard as Bricks. I couldn't even cut or break them. :-( they made the house smell so good that I'm contemplating making another batch. This time I'll set the clock, but I want to know if them being hard was due to over cooking or not having the BPowder and BSoda? What do you think? Now my house smells like great peanut butter cookies and I have none to eat! :-(

Baking soda and baking powder are both leaveners that you would need to ensure that your cookies do not turn out hard as bricks. The baking powder needs to be less than 6 months old or it will have lost its leavening power, btw. ~Elise

Posted by: Roderick on October 4, 2009 11:11 AM

This is really easy to make. My family and friends loved it. Taking the suggestions of some here who tried the recipe, I reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup brown sugar only since there was no white sugar available at the time I made them and I needed to make them asap. It tasted really good. Will try it with choco chips next time. However, I was unable to make the criss-cross marks using a fork, the dough was sticking to the fork. Instead, I used a toothpick. Thank you for the recipe.

Posted by: Joy on October 22, 2009 12:43 AM

I loved your recipe I added chocolate chips to half the batch mmmm mmmm good.

Posted by: Diana on October 22, 2009 8:03 PM

thanks alot they were great

Posted by: Los on November 3, 2009 9:34 AM

it's bitter sweet for me - these look identical to my grandmother's peanut butter cookies. I remember showing up to her house and she would be baking these. And there would be one GIANT one that was all for me. The last time I had a peanut butter cookie was her's. I'm going to have to make these - they look amazing... and like childhood.

Posted by: Christine B. on November 7, 2009 4:02 PM

This is a great recipe! I used organic pb with no sugar and I also added about a 1/2 C dry roasted peanuts. It turned out great! Not to sweet and a nice peanuty crunch to compliment the soft crumb of the cookie! Will definitely make these again!

Posted by: Lee Anne on November 10, 2009 11:02 AM

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