Soft Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

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  This soft Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe is so simple to make and comes together super fast (in a Jiffy- yes pun intended!). With peanut butter chips and Reese’s pieces folded into the peanut butter cookie dough, these cookies are a peanut butter lover’s dream!

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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 cookies.

Now that’s time I always have.

So when I was craving a peanut butter cookie. Or maybe it was the Reese’s Pieces? Hmm, either way. You know the mixer came out in no time. But here’s the thing I wanted a thick, soft, and chewy  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.

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?

Secret #1 To Making This Soft Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe: Bake these for less time. 

So simple right? For this Reese’s 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.

Secret #2 For Making This Soft Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe: 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 chewy (and soft- thank you secret #1!) peanut butter cookie.

Then of course I couldn’t stop there. I had to go a little overboard with the whole peanut butter idea. Because’s that’s how we do over here. Some peanut butter chips. Some Reese’s pieces (my #1 movie candy of all time) and you got yourself a peanut butter cookie lover’s dream. 

A Few Tips For Making This Soft Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe:

• 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 spread too much? Check it out here!

For More Peanut Butter Dessert Recipes Check These Out:

Peanut Butter Jelly Coffee Cake

Reese’s Peanut Butter Blondies

Peanut butter and fluff cupcakes

Peanut butter and jelly cupcakes

No Bake Reese’s Peanut Butter Bars

Happy Baking!

To Make This Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe You Will Need:

• Quality Cookies Sheets Like These Ones That Won’t Warp or Burn Your Cookies
• Oven Thermometer
• Kitchen-Aid Mixer (you can make them by hand, but this stand mixer makes fast work of your dough!)
• Cookie Scoop
• silicon baking mat
• spatula
• cooling rack
• cookie spatula – this is my new favorite thing, what did I use before? Ugh, those poor cookies.

Print Recipe

Reese's Peanut Butter Cookies

Perfectly soft and chewy peanut butter cookies loaded with Reese's Pieces!

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time10 mins

Total Time25 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Cookies

Keyword: cookies, peanut butter

Servings: 24 cookies

Author: Heather Perine

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup sugar plus additional sugar to roll cookies in
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 8 tbsp unsalted softened butter (1 stick, 4 ounces)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup peanut butter chips
• 1 cup Reese's pieces

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375F degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, cream together the sugars and butter until light and fluffy about 2-3 minutes. Add in the egg to the butter mixture and stir to combine. Mix in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Stir in salt, baking soda and flour until well combined. Stir in the chips and candies.
• Roll dough into 1 inch balls and then roll in sugar. Place on baking sheet and flatten with fork.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Notes

• 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 spread too much? Check it out here!