Classic Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut butter cookies are a timeless classic for many of us. I was one of those kids that grew up making these cookies (and eating a lot of them too!). They're just so comforting, especially with a tall glass of ice cold milk.

Sometimes just a simple cookie is all you're craving. Whether it's these peanut butter cookies or my easy chocolate chip cookie recipe, these cookies will always reign supreme in my cookie baking book.

For all of the peanut butter loving people in your life these cookies are perfect because they're very peanut buttery. The creaminess of the peanut butter really adds to the soft and chewy texture that's tasted with every bite too.

I absolutely love the way these peanut butter cookies melt in your mouth and I can guarantee it'll be hard to eat just one. But that's a good problem to have, right? No leftovers = a very happy family. 🙂

Why You'll Love These Cookies

• They're beyond easy to make.
• It's a basic recipe that requires only simple ingredients.
• They're very peanut buttery.
• They're soft and chewy and stay that way for days.

Althought the dough needs to chill for at least 30 minutes before baking, it's definitely worth it!

Overall, the consistency of this peanut butter cookie dough is soft because of the amount of peanut butter that's used, along with the egg, and unsalted butter. Chilling the dough for just 30 minutes will make it cold when entering the oven, so as to not over-spread and potentially make a mess inside your oven.

Chilling the dough also makes it a lot easier to create the criss cross pattern across the cookies before baking.

Ingredients Needed

All you need are a few simple ingredients to create this homemade peanut butter cookie recipe!

• All-Purpose Flour: This provides the body and structure of the cookie.
• Baking Soda & Baking Powder: Both are used to help the cookies rise and spread when baking.
• Salt: Enhances all of the other flavors.
• Unsalted Butter: Adds that delicious buttery flavor. This ingredient needs to be at room temperature.
• Brown Sugar: Used for sweetness and gives the cookies a chewier texture.
• Sugar: Adds sweetness.
• Egg: Helps to bind all of the ingredients together.
• Peanut Butter: I recommend using creamy peanut butter like Jif or Skippy (my personal favorites). Stay away from natural peanut butter because they are too oily for this recipe.
• Vanilla Extract: Adds flavor.

Instructions

This recipe requires the cookie dough to chill for 30 minutes before baking. Not only does this create a deeper flavor, but it helps the cookies to not overspread when baking.

1. Dry Ingredients: Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.

2. Wet Ingredients: Cream together the butter, brown sugar, and sugar until creamy and fully combined. Then mix in the egg. Add the peanut butter and vanilla extract and mix until combined.

3. Combine Ingredients & Chill: Gently mix in the flour mixture. Mix just until you see no more white flour. Cover the dough in the mixing bowl with saran wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

4. Bake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and use a cookie scoop to scoop out the cookie dough onto your prepared baking sheet. Scoop the dough into your hands and roll it into a ball. Use a fork to press into the cookies, creating the crisscross pattern. Bake for 9-11 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring them over to a wire rack.

Expert Baking Tips

• Room Temperature Ingredients: The unsalted butter and egg need to be at room temperature before baking. I recommend removing these ingredients from the refrigerator 1 hour before you want to bake.
• Measuring Flour: To help ensure you don’t add extra flour, follow these three simple steps: 1) Fluff up the flour using a fork. 2) Spoon the flour into your measuring cup. 3) Scrape a knife across the top of the measuring cup to level out the flour.
• Prepare Baking Sheet: I bake all of my cookies using these baking sheets. They perfectly fit 12 cookies on each pan and can be used for a lot of other recipes too.
• Criss-Cross Pattern: This is super easy to do! Simply take a fork and press it down into the cookie vertically and then horizontally. This gives the cookie that iconic look and also helps with baking.

Recipe FAQs

If you made this recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below. I love hearing from you! Also, please tag me on Instagram and check out my Pinterest for even more recipe ideas.

It brings me so much joy to see you make my recipes. 🙂

Happy Baking!

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📖 Recipe

This recipe was originally published in May of 2020, but was updated on April 20 , 2021 with newer content and fresh pictures.