The Best Peanut Butter Cookies
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Thick and soft with a rich peanut butter flavor and slightly sandy texture, these are the best peanut butter cookies.
In search of the ultimate peanut butter cookies, I gathered up the best-looking recipes from the internet and my cookbook collection, and I baked them all. Gwyneth Paltrow’s recipe, published in her cookbook My Father’s Daughter, was the winner hands down. The cookies are thick and soft with a rich peanut butter flavor and slightly sandy texture, and they are chockfull of Reese’s peanut butter chips and chopped peanuts. Normally, I’m not a big fan of peanut butter chips, but they add really nice texture and flavor here.
If you happen to be on a gluten-free diet (or are baking for someone who is), I’ve also got a fabulous flourless peanut butter cookie recipe that offers a delightful twist on this classic favorite.
“Wow Wow wow!!! My 7-year-old said it best after trying one: “It’s like I’m having a party in my mouth eating this cookie””
What You’ll Need To Make The Best Peanut Butter Cookies
- Flour: Provides the base for the cookies. To ensure you’re using the correct amount of flour, spoon it into the measuring cup and level it off.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda: Act as leavening agents, helping the cookies rise and become fluffy and soft.
- Butter: Adds richness and flavor to the cookies.
- Creamy Peanut Butter: Not only adds deep peanut butter flavor, but also contributes to the moist and chewy texture. For best results, do not use natural peanut butter; it doesn’t contain stabilizers and is prone to separating.
- Light Brown Sugar: Adds sweetness and moisture to the cookies, while also contributing to their chewiness.
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances the overall flavor of the cookies with its aromatic richness.
- Egg: Provides structure and helps bind the ingredients together.
- Peanut Butter Chips: Intensify the peanut butter flavor and add bursts of sweetness throughout the cookies.
- Salted Peanuts: Provide extra crunch and a hint of saltiness, complementing the sweetness of the cookies. These are optional, but I highly encourage them.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Begin by whisking together the dry ingredients.
Next, combine the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Beat until smooth and creamy, about a minute.
Add the egg.
Mix to combine, then add the dry ingredients.
Add the peanut butter chips and chopped peanuts (if using).
Mix until just combined.
Form the dough into 1-1/2-inch balls on parchment-lined baking sheets, and then use a fork to make a crisscross pattern and push the cookies down.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden.
Let the cookies cool on the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Note: This recipe is modestly adapted from Grandad Danner’s Favorite Peanut Butter Cookies in My Father’s Daughter by Gwyneth Paltrow. I replaced the dark brown sugar with light brown sugar, omitted the additional sugar for rolling, and add chopped peanuts for texture and more peanut flavor. I also made a few tweaks to the method. To see the original recipe and read the rave reviews, click here.
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The Best Peanut Butter Cookies
Thick and soft with a rich peanut butter flavor and slightly sandy texture, these are the best peanut butter cookies.
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off with knife
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter, at room temperature (I like Skippy No Need To Stir)
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup peanut butter chips
- ½ cup very finely chopped salted peanuts (optional)
Instructions
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar and vanilla on medium speed until well combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the egg and beat until incorporated, about 20 seconds more. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Mix in the peanut butter chips and chopped peanuts (if using).
- Chill the dough for 1 hour (see note below). Set racks in the middle and upper thirds of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Using a 1½-inch scooper with a wire scraper (if you don’t have one, use a spoon and your hands), form the dough into 1½-inch balls on the prepared baking sheets. Using the tines of a fork, mark a crisscross pattern on the cookies, pressing them down slightly. Bake for 11-13 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back midway through, until puffed and golden on the bottom. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a rack to cool completely. (Note: the cookies are very fragile when hot, so take care not to break them. They’ll firm up nicely as they cool.)
- Note: It's not absolutely necessary to chill the dough, however, it is quite sticky and difficult to handle if you don't have a "cookie scooper." Chilling the dough makes it much easier to handle, but feel free to skip this step if you like.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions:The cookie dough can be frozen for up to 3 months. Roll the dough into balls, let set on a baking sheet in the freezer, then place in a sealable bag and press out as much air as possible. Bake as needed directly from the freezer. (Allow 1 to 2 minutes longer in the oven.) To freeze after baking: Let the cookies cool completely and store in an airtight container separating layers with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Before serving, remove the cookies from the container and let them come to room temperature.
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 173
- Fat: 12g
- Saturated fat: 4g
- Carbohydrates: 12g
- Sugar: 6g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 5g
- Sodium: 13mg
- Cholesterol: 78mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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OMG! I’m eating these right now! These are absolutely THE BEST peanut butter cookies ever. (Sorry Grams!) They are soft with a superlight texture and all that peanut butter flavor you’re looking for. I’m going to eat more now before my teenaged sons discover them. After that, it’s game over!
Could you sprinkle these with turbinado sugar
Sure, Lynda – I love that idea!
We loved these cookies! Easy recipe. No need for me to chill recipe since dough wasn’t too sticky to deal with. Baked up perfect. Only change is that I didn’t add 1/2 cup salted peanuts.
Jenn, would unsalted peanuts work in this recipe? Do you think I would need to increase the amount of salt called for in the recipe if I use the unsalted? (That’s what I have on hand.). Thank you!
Yes, I think that if you up the salt just a little, that you could get away with using unsalted peanuts here. I’d love to hear how they turn out!
Jenn, I ended up having just enough salted peanuts on hand so I went with that. I did substitute butterscotch chips because I had some that I needed to use. The cookies are delicious, although I think the butterscotch chips overtook the peanut butter flavor. ☹️I can’t wait to make these again and use peanut butter chips. The dough was soft and easy to handle after refrigerating for an hour. The cookies are very fragile as you state until completely cooled. Very sweet & nice texture. Thank you for sharing your great recipes!
Can I use chunky peanut butter? I inherited a large jar of it. Ha. Thanks!
Sure, Jen – enjoy!
I made these for staff birthday treats but it turned out to be a snow day so I froze them after posting a pic on FB. Well some people guilted me into giving them the cookies. The cookies (all 30) were consumed by 2 people in a day or so. The addition of peanuts along with the peanut butter chips made this recipe indulgent. I think putting real butter into the mix instead of Crisco have it added richness. You can’t go wrong with these.
Love these with the peanuts and chips! But thought mine were a little powdery/sandy? is that the correct texture or would this have been because of how I made them?
Yes, Louise, they do have a bit of a sandy (but till moist) texture, so it sounds like you did everything right!
ok these are yummo..I used chocolate chips because I didn’t have peanut butter ones and honestly..so good!
I made these cookies with my niece. She loved following the pictures (as I read the steps to her). And when the cookies were a huge hit with the whole family. The flavors were so rich and the cookies were so soft and creamy.
Hi Jenn, if I omit the PB chips, and use smokey salted peanuts, would it taste just as good?
Serena, I honestly don’t think they will be as good without the chips– they add some necessary sweetness and creaminess to the cookies– sorry!
What about the peanut butter itself? Can I use the no sugar added PB?
Yes, I think that should be fine.
I finally got to make this today, and I double the ingredients. But for some reasons, the batter was pretty crumbly to work with, is this normal? The only thing different I did was for about 100g of the peanut butter, I used the crunchy instead of cream cus I ran out.
Hi Serena, I don’t think a crunchy PB would make that much of a difference. This is quite a wet dough – is it possible you measured something incorrectly?