Soft Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
The best chewy peanut butter cookies which have everything -- a chewy texture, crisp edges, and crunchy peanuts.The perfect peanut butter cookie!
I have been on the hunt for the best peanut butter cookie recipe. Since peanut butter cookies are one of my husband's favorite cookies, I searched in order to figure out how to make the ultimate peanut butter cookie. After many batches, we have declared a winner!
I tried all sorts of different methods and ingredients. I found that butter produced the best flavor (it truly does make everything better) so it was the perfect base. Slightly softened butter (a small indention forms when pressed but it is not melted) mixed well with the sugars.
Both brown sugar and sugar play an important role in the cookie. The brown sugar creates the chewy texture, thanks to the molasses, and the sugar creates the slightly crispy edges. I tried using all brown sugar, mostly brown sugar and a little sugar, and half and half, and the 50/50 brown sugar to sugar ratio won out.
The peanut butter is always important since it is the star ingredient. If you want the cookies to be extra crunchy, reach for crunchy peanut butter. If you want them to be mostly smooth, reach for creamy peanut butter. One of my favorite parts of this peanut butter cookie is the finely chopped peanuts added to the cookies so you get a crunch in every bite. It adds so much texture!
One note on salt...if you use salted butter, just omit the salt. There will be plenty of salt between the peanut butter, peanuts, and butter. It is best to use unsalted butter in these cookies but either will work just fine.
After rolling the dough into a ball, roll into a bowl of sugar, and then take a fork and make a crisscross pattern. Place on a baking sheet and bake just until edges start to become a light golden color. They will look slightly underbaked but will set up. They are supposed to be soft and chewy so let them continue to set up on the cookie sheet after removing from the oven.
These chewy peanut butter cookies freeze so well so keep them in the freezer for a late night craving or an after school snack for your kids. They go perfectly well with a big glass of cold milk. Just ask my husband...he's an expert on that combo.
If you LOVE Peanut Butter, check out these recipes:
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies (Levain Bakery Copycat)
- Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Pie
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Soft Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 cup Sugar (plus 2 Tablespoons for top of cookies)
- 1 cup Peanut Butter (creamy or crunchy)
- 2 large Eggs
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla
- 2 ½ cups Flour
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¾ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt (optional if using salted butter)
- 1 cup Roasted Salted Peanuts (ground or finely chopped to resemble breadcrumbs)
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and sugar for 4 minutes, until light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl often.
- Add eggs and vanilla and beat for 1 minute longer. Fold in peanut butter.
- Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Fold in finely ground or chopped roasted salted peanuts.
- Chill dough for at least 1 hour or overnight is ideal. After chilling, preheat oven to 350 degrees.Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Roll dough into 2-inch balls. Place remaining sugar into a small bowl. Roll cookie dough balls into sugar to coat. Place on cookie sheet and press each ball twice with a dinner form to form a crisscross design.
- Bake for 10-13 minutes or until the edges become a light golden color. Do not overbake as these are supposed to be soft and chewy. Let the cookies rest for at least 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.
Video
Notes
Happy Baking, my friends!
Tee
Best peanut butter cookie recipe I have ever found. My family and friends loved them.
Olivia Flores
Hello,everyone yes this recipe is Yummiest! I love the peanut butter they are very moist and chewy!! I have 4 Grandsons and this cookie is going to them !🤗
Elena
can you not add Peanuts on peanut butter cookies?
Olivia Flores
Hello,I've made these twice and I didn't put peanuts and they came out Yummie Yummie!!😋
Melissa Stadler
You definitely don’t have to add peanuts on top. They still taste great without!
Elena
no fork mark on cookie?
Melissa Stadler
You can definitely add the fork marks on the cookies, Elena!
Scrilla
Super easy recipe. Have my dough chilling, just thought it's a little silly to preheat the oven if you have to chill the dough for an hour to overnight...
Madison
Can these be made without butter or with a butter substitute? Have a friend who can't eat dairy, that I would love to make these for!
Emily S.
100% best peanut butter cookies I have ever made. I used natural freshly ground PB as well as a lot of salt to offset the sweetness from all that sugar. PERFECTION! I also refrigerated the dough overnight which avoided overspread cookies and seriously DO NOT OVERBAKE. They will set up I swear! After trying out this recipe I will never use another. These are so so good.
Modern Honey
Thank you so much, Emily, for trying my recipe. I love the tips and completely agree. Chilling cookie dough always makes the cookies better and definitely not overbaking. Thank you for sharing your awesome tips!
Anoah
I made this for my partner who loves peanut butter cookies. I dont like peanut butter cookies usually but these were really good. Awesome
Modern Honey
Thank you so much for your kind words! I am so glad your partner loved them. I appreciate you taking the time to comment.
Elena
no fork mark?
Sandy
U don’t have to put the fork mark there if u choose not to
Elena
can you not add Peanuts on peanut butter cookies and how long cookies stay fresh?
Elena
can not add peanut on cookies and how long stay fresh?
Elena
Not put peanuts on cookie?
Elena
no fork mark on cookies and how many cookie makes?
Elena
How mush flour and no fork mark?
Cathy hart
These are the best peanut butter cookies I have ever made my friends and family were raving about these when I took them to a party so easy to make also thx for the recipe
Modern Honey
Thank you so much, Cathy! I am so happy to hear the soft peanut butter cookies were such a hit. Thank you for taking the time to comment.
elena
how long cookies stay fresh?
Elena
can you not add Peanuts and how long cookies stay fresh?
Kerrin
Lovely and chewy. I didn’t have any peanuts so I used toasted cashews instead, they worked out Just fine.
Kristen
Made these to have with coffee this afternoon. They smelled so delightful baking. And they taste EXACTLY like what I wanted. I honestly didn't let the dough get cold for an hour after mixing. They did great anyway. They're so yuuum.....
Melissa Stadler
Yay Kristen! Sometimes I crave the smell of cookies, which pushes me to bake! Luckily these taste good too, right? Thanks for trying them out!
Jenny
This is the best Peanut Butter recipe I have ever used! 3 days after baking and these cookies are still super soft!! 10/10 recommend. I followed it to the T! I used high quality peanut butter that only uses peanuts and salt!
Debbie
Do I have to use parchment paper, can I just put them on an ungreased cookie sheet?