Perfectly, soft chewy old fashioned peanut butter cookies – lots of peanut butter flavor and the classic criss cross pattern on top! I have two secrets for achieving the perfect peanut butter cookie recipe…and there’s no chilling required so they are ready in 30 minutes or less.
When it comes to making time for dessert, I always find the time. But finding the time to make a fancy layer cake to enjoy. Not so much. But the time to whip up a batch of homemade peanut butter cookies.
Now that’s time I always have.
So when I was craving a peanut butter cookie. Hmm, either way. You know the mixer came out in no time. But here’s the thing I wanted a thick, chewy, soft peanut butter cookie. And let’s be honest, I’ve had so crummy (or maybe it was crumbly?) and dry peanut butter cookies in my day that no glass of milk could save.
I also wanted this to be an EASY peanut butter cookie – aka no chilling required. So I took a peanut butter cookie recipe I’ve made before, and got to tweaking the recipe a bit. With a only a few minor changes, I took an OK cookie to EPIC. Yes epic status in just two changes. Who knew it was that easy?
I bet you want to know my secret 😉 Of course you do. Why the heck else are you still reading?
Bake For LESS Time.
So simple right? For this old fashioned peanut butter cookie recipe, I found that baking them for only about 10 minutes was the trick. Maybe 12 minutes max. And you will have a soft peanut butter cookie on your hands. In fact, these stayed soft for a few days. What about a week you ask? I couldn’t tell you. They were gone by then.
But by baking them for a little less time, kept them from getting too crispy in the oven.
Use More Brown Sugar Than White Sugar
Brown sugar is bringing moisture to the party. And some chewiness as well. Well, welcome to the party brown sugar. Come on in. And put your shoes over there.
By using more brown sugar than white, you end up with a soft and chewy peanut butter cookie. I used this same mentality to create my Peanut Butter Chocolate Kiss Cookies!Yes I truly believe these are the best peanut butter cookies you’ll ever eat.
Ingredients Needed
- Flour
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Unsalted butter – I use unsalted butter vs. salted butter because it’s fresher and I can control the amount of salt. If you only have salt on hand then you can reduce or omit the salt.
- Sugar
- Brown Sugar
- Vanilla
- Eggs
- Peanut Butter – I like using a peanut butter that doesn’t need to be stirred so it doesn’t make for an oily cookie dough that separates.
How To Make Peanut Butter Cookies
Make peanut butter cookie dough:
- Mix dry ingredients together. In a small mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar. In the bowl of your stand mixer or a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, cream together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add in the egg to the butter mixture and stir to combine. Mix in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth and creamy.
- Add dry ingredients. Stir in salt, baking soda and flour until well combined.
Shape and bake cookies
- Shape cookies. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and then roll in sugar.
- Make fork marks. Place on baking sheet and flatten with fork in a crisscross fashion. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
Recipe Tips
- Be sure to measure your flour correctly. Over-measuring your flour is going to result in a dry, crumbly cookie. Read my full post on how to measure your flour correctly here.
- Use room temperature butter. By softening your butter properly (and here are 3 ways you can do that in a hurry!) will allow the sugar to punch tiny holes into the butter incorporating air into the dough. Cold butter won’t allow this to happen. So room temperature, unsalted, and you’re good to go.
- Don’t forget to take those eggs out early too. You also need a room temperature egg as well. Remember you want your ingredients all playing along well together. So a cold egg and room temperature butter just don’t play nice on the playground together. You’ll end up with butter that starts to seize up in your bowl. My trick? Put your eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 to 10 minutes and you’re good to go.
- Flatten those cookies a bit. These cookies won’t spread much, so you want to help them out a bit and flatten them a bit. I prefer the fork criss cross method, but even a quick flatten with the palm of your hand will do the trick. Have you read my post on why your cookies are flat? Check it out here!
Recipe FAQ’s
Baked cookies will keep at room temperature for up to 2 days (they may keep longer but I think they are best enjoyed within a few days. You can make the dough and scoop them then cover and refrigerate (up to 24 hours). These will also keep for 2-3 days at room temperature. I just store mine in a ziploc bag.
You can freeze the dough and/or cookies. Freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months, just thaw at room temperature. If you freeze the dough, when ready to bake just bake froze and then add a few minutes of baking time. Read here on How To Freeze Cookie Dough.
This could be because your butter was too warm when you creamed it, or you overmixed the dough as well. Try chilling your cookie dough next time. Making cookie dough ahead of time does magical things for it. It actually makes the dough better I think. It also helps the cookies from spreading too much.
This is probably because you added too much flour. When measuring the flour, it’s best to use a kitchen scale. But if you’re using a measuring cup, make sure to SPOON IN THE FLOUR, and LEVEL IT OFF. Do NOT pack it down into the cup, or scoop directly from the bag. Remember you also need to flatten your peanut butter cookies a bit as they don’t spread as much as regular cookies do.
Peanut butter cookie dough is a dense dough and won’t spread like other cookies, so by pressing them down slightly with the criss cross fork marks we are helping the cookies attain the perfect shape. You can skip the fork marks, and simply press down with the palm of your hand. But for that old fashioned peanut butter cookie look, fork marks are required!
More Recipes To Try
Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups (210 g) all purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar plus additional sugar to roll cookies in
- 3/4 cup (160 g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (1 stick, 113) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 cup (135 g) smooth peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C) degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, (I use my stand mixer with my paddle attachment, but a hand mixer also works) cream together the sugars and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy about 2-3 minutes. Scrap down the bowl as needed.
- Add in the egg to the butter mixture and beat to combine. Mix in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth and creamy.
- Stir in the dry ingredients until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Using a small cookie scoop, scoop about 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into balls with your hands and then roll in sugar. Place on baking sheet and flatten with fork. I flatten with a criss cross.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are set and middles are still slightly soft. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.
Video
Notes
- Make ahead/storage: Baked cookies will keep at room temperature for up to 2 days (they may keep longer but I think they are best enjoyed within a few days. You can make the dough and scoop them then cover and refrigerate (up to 24 hours). These will also keep for 2-3 days at room temperature. I just store mine in a ziploc bag.
- Freezing: You can freeze the dough and/or cookies. Freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months, just thaw at room temperature. If you freeze the dough, when ready to bake just bake froze and then add a few minutes of baking time. Read here on How To Freeze Cookie Dough.
- Be sure to measure your flour correctly. Over-measuring your flour is going to result in a dry, crumbly cookie. Read my full post on how to measure your flour correctly here.
- Use room temperature butter. By softening your butter properly (and here are 3 ways you can do that in a hurry!) will allow the sugar to punch tiny holes into the butter incorporating air into the dough. Cold butter won’t allow this to happen. So room temperature, unsalted, and you’re good to go.
- Room temperature eggs: Don’t forget to take those eggs out early too. You also need a room temperature egg as well. Remember you want your ingredients all playing along well together. So a cold egg and room temperature butter just don’t play nice on the playground together. You’ll end up with butter that starts to seize up in your bowl. My trick? Put your eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 to 10 minutes and you’re good to go.
- Flatten those cookies a bit. These cookies won’t spread much, so you want to help them out a bit and flatten them a bit. I prefer the fork criss cross method, but even a quick flatten with the palm of your hand will do the trick. Have you read my post on why your cookies spread too much? Check it out here!
- Cookies NOT spreading (cakey/dry): This is probably because you added too much flour. When measuring the flour, it’s best to use a kitchen scale. But if you’re using a measuring cup, make sure to SPOON IN THE FLOUR, and LEVEL IT OFF. Do NOT pack it down into the cup, or scoop directly from the bag.
Abby S. says
I just tried this recipe this evening, I was out of all purpose flour, so I used bread flour instead. They came out wonderful, maybe a bit more chewy! I accidentally dropped one cookie in the floor and my dog ate it. He gave it his stamp of approval! Will definitely continue to use your peanut butter cookie recipe!
Heather says
It’s doggie approved haha…that’s awesome 🙂 thank you so much!!
DeAngela says
These cookies came out very delicious. I used 1 for 1 King Arthur GF flour. Yummyliciousness 🥰 Thank you for a great recipe ❤️
Heather says
that’s awesome! So glad you loved the cookes!! ANd glad the GF flour worked for you as well 🙂
Barbara nightengale says
Hi Heather, thank you for your GREAT recipes. Was wondering why you use 2 different flours in chocolate chip but not in peanut butter. Thank you for your time.
Heather says
Hi Barbara, I used just one flour here for easy and simplicity. But yes you can experiment with using two flours if you want – like my chocolate chip cookies!
Richard L. Van Dine says
Heather
I have been baking from your Old Fashioned Peanut butter Cookie Recipe and I have one question. How do I keep the cookies from crumbling so easily?
A little back on what I have changed. My wife has dementia and has diabetes in her families genetics and we switched to a gluten free diet which ahs help slow her deterioration a lot.
I made the first batch using your recipe as written with only two changes. One change is switching 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar with 1/4 cup of Splenda Brown sugar blend (a mix of Splenda sweetener and Brown Sugar. The second change was using Pamela’s All Purpose Flour Artisan Blend measured at 1 1/2 cup, hoping that might help hold them together. Even after they cooled all the way the cookies if you aren’t gentle will crumble in your grasp, and as you eat them.
I have gotten rave reviews on how much people like the cookies as I make them and am requested to bring them to our church functions.
I have made peanut butter cookies using Crisco shortening and they hold together great and taste almost as good as the above recipe. The taste difference is probably from the use of unsalted butter.
Any ideas?
Thank you
Richard
Heather says
Hi Richard, first I think it’s so sweet you are trying to make these perfect for your wife so she can enjoy them! I don’t bake with Splenda so I can’t say for sure. The brown sugar definitely lends extra moisture which is probably why the cookies are crumbly on you. You could try reducing the flour a bit so it’s not as dry, adding an extra egg yolk for moisture and fat. Or add in a little molasses (the ingredient in brown sugar giving it the moisture). Let me know if any of these work for you!
Richard L. Van Dine says
Thank you. I have reduced the flour to 1 1/2 and will try and reduce the amount of brown sugar or eliminate it and use the Monk fruit sweetener instead. Using an extra yoke did not cross my mind. I will try it. Will let you know how it turns out.
Richard
Heather says
Wonderful let me know how it turns out!
Danielle McGee says
Amazing just like my grandmother cookies
Heather says
aw that’s wonderful Danielle!
Elaine says
Love how buttery these cookies are – they are absolutely amazing! And easy to make, too…
Amanda says
We loved these cookies! They were full of peanut butter flavor with that perfect soft and chewy texture. Highly recommend!
MJ says
Can’t go wrong with the classics, and this is one of the tastiest peanut butter cookie recipes around! So good!
Carrie Robinson says
You can never go wrong with a classic cookie like this! These look perfect. 🙂
Andrea says
A classic and my favorite peanut butter cookie.
Patti Waldrup says
No complaints about this recipe! Mmm mmmm good.
Heather says
yummy
Loreto and Nicoletta says
I am the family cookue mo ster! If these werr in our cookie jar. I would be in there in the middle of the night. Oh need a glass of milk. These look wonderful. The texture and color is dpot on. The thing I love most about peanut butter cookies is the aroma!❤ thanks for sharing!
Heather says
lol 😂 🍪
Katie Crenshaw says
These peanut butter cookies turn out perfect! I made a batch this morning and I cannot stop eating them! I will be making more to give out for Christmas.
Heather says
that sounds lovely
Heidy says
These old-fashioned peanut butter cookies were so chewy and moist. I have tried a few others and did not like the texture. Your cookies were outstanding! A keeper recipe for any time of the year! Happy Holidays! Have a great weekend.
Heather says
and to you as well, thank you
Annie says
These are the best peanut butter cookies I have ever made! Everyone loved it and asked for the recipe, so I shared it with them. They are so soft and have the right amount of peanut butter flavor. Thank you for this fantastic recipe!
Heather says
so sweet
Jamie says
My family loves these cookies! They have the perfect texture of soft and chewy! Great for my sweet tooth.
Heather says
nice combination
Sharon says
It really doesn’t get better than these classic old-fashioned peanut butter cookies. Just like mom made!
Heather says
awwwww
Ann Crawford says
This recipe was Perfect. I measured the last two batches out in 1 Tbsp instead of 2 because I prefer a smaller cookie. Cooked for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. The cookie is a perfect balance of peanut butter and sugar. I have been struggling with baking cakes and cookies since moving to a high elevation (8000 ft) but this recipe turned out perfect. My husband loves these and I will keep this recipe in my book of favorites.
Heather says
elevation baking, interesting
Kayla DiMaggio says
These peanut butter cookies are so delicious! I love how soft and chewy they were!
Heather says
great to hear!
Allyssa says
This tasted so amazing! Thanks a lot for sharing this super easy to make peanut butter cookies recipe! Fam really loves it! Will surely have this again! Highly recommended!
Heather says
Excellent