These classic, soft peanut butter cookies are easy to make, loaded with peanut butter, and will definitely become your new favorite peanut butter cookie recipe! Learn how to make peanut butter cookies by following our step-by-step instructions and watching the video!
If you've been searching for the best peanut butter cookie recipe, then look no further. With twice the amount of peanut butter as butter, these soft peanut butter cookies have a rich peanut butter taste and irresistibly soft texture!
If you know me at all then you know I take both my cookie and peanut butter consumption very seriously. I created this recipe for the absolute best peanut butter cookies 15 years ago and have been baking it ever since.
Truth be told, due to the popularity of our famous Chocolate Chip Cookies, and the fact that peanut butter is my favorite food, I have had many requests for a classic peanut butter cookie recipe.
These will not disappoint, they are soft, buttery sweet and salty cookie perfection. They're easy to make and even easier to eat! Plus they have a secret ingredient that sets them apart from the rest.
Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe: Ingredients
Make sure all ingredients are room temperature for best results.
- Salted Butter. Unsalted butter also works well, you may just need to increase the amount of sea salt.
- Peanut Butter. I recommend using a variety of peanut butter that is solid at room temperature (Jif, Skippy, Skippy Natural, etc.). You can use natural peanut butter, but the cookies may spread more and be more on the crispy side than the soft side. Also, many natural peanut butters are unsalted, so you may need to increase the amount of salt int he recipe by ¼ tsp.
- Whole Milk. you can use 2%, heavy cream, and half-and-half in place of whole milk..
- Light Brown Sugar. If you like a little bolder, molasses taste use dark brown sugar.
- Granulated Sugar. White sugar or organic cane sugar are both great options.
- Cinnamon (the secret ingredient)! I truly believe the touch of cinnamon sets these peanut butter cookies apart from the rest. I do not recommend leaving it out, as it greatly enhances the flavor.
- Sea salt. I only ever bake with pure, fine sea salt. If you are using iodized salt I recommend decreasing the amount of salt by half.
How to make peanut butter cookies
Now that we've chatted about the ingredients, let's dive into how to make peanut butter cookies!
Make the dough
Then, beat the softened butter and peanut butter together until the mixture is smooth and there are no lumps.
Next, beat in the brown and granulated sugars until they dissolve and the mixture is light and fluffy. You may need to scrape down the sides
Then, add milk, egg and vanilla and beat again until the mixture is light and fluffy and homogenous (uniform throughout).
Next, add the dry ingredients. You can either mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl before you begin the rest of the recipe - which I recommend to ensure even distribution.
Or you can put them into the mixer on top of the beaten wet ingredients. Either way, beat them in until they are just combined and the dough is uniform throughout.
If you want to add some mix-ins, now is the time to do it! Stir about 1 cup of mix-ins into the dough until combined. Here are some suggestions:
- chocolate chips
- peanut butter chips
- cinnamon chips
- chopped peanuts
- mini peanut butter cups
- Reese's pieces
Chill the dough
I tried making a peanut butter cookie recipe that didn't require chilling. However I found that in order to achieve the best peanut butter flavor and texture, chilling is necessary.
Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap or transfer the dough to an airtight container and put it in the refrigerator for at least 60 minutes (or overnight).
Bake the Cookies
Once the dough is chilled, Use a 1.5 to 2 tablespoon cookie scoop and measure out the dough.
I recommend using a cookie scoop because it ensures all the peanut butter cookies are the same size and bake evenly!
Roll each portion of dough into a smooth ball and place them evenly spaced on a large cookie sheet.
Use a fork to make a criss cross pattern on the top of each peanut butter cookie, gently pressing it down!
Place the cookie sheet into the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Note: All Ovens Bake Differently
Invest in an inexpensive oven thermometer to check the temperature and ensure it's heating properly.
If using a convection oven, decrease the baking temperature by 25 degrees F.
Cool & Enjoy
For the best texture, let these soft peanut butter cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
I find these are even better the second day, because they have had a chance to firm up. However, I am weak, and can never resist a warm peanut butter cookie fresh from the oven!
Store
Store these peanut butter cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days.
You can also put them on a plate wrapped with plastic wrap or in a gift box to give to friends as a gift for the holidays.
To freeze
Freeze baked peanut butter cookies for up to 1 month in an airtight container in the freezer.
Freeze the cookie dough by rolling it into balls and placing it in an airtight, freezer-friendly container for up to 2 months.
To bake, thaw cookie dough to room temperature and follow recipe instructions on pressing the tops with a fork and baking.
Recipe FAQs
Here are my answers to a few frequently ask questions about how to make peanut butter cookies!
These soft peanut butter cookies are done with the edges look set, the cookies are slightly browned, the cookies have puffed up a little bit and begun to crack slightly.
Yes, but the cookies may spread more and be more crispy/thin than soft. Also, many natural peanut butters are unsalted, so you may need to increase the amount of salt in the recipe by ¼ tsp.
This peanut butter cookie dough is denser than other cookie dough because there is 2 times the amount of peanut butter as there is butter. This makes the peanut butter cookie dough a little harder to bake all the way through.
Pressing the cookie dough down with a fork while making a criss cross pattern flattens the cookie dough and makes them bake more evenly.
Since there is double the amount of peanut butter as there is butter in this peanut butter cookie recipe, chilling helps solidify the fat (peanut butter and butter) and keeps the cookies from spreading too much when baking. It also makes for a chewier cookie that holds up better after it has cooled.
Store these peanut butter cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days.
You can freeze the baked peanut butter cookies for up to 1 month in an airtight container in the freezer!
However, I prefer to freeze the peanut butter cookie dough, rather than baked cookies. To do this follow these instructions:
Freeze the cookie dough by rolling it into balls and placing it in an airtight, freezer-friendly container for up to 1 month.
To bake, thaw cookie dough to room temperature and follow recipe instructions on pressing the tops with a fork and baking.
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Best Soft Peanut Butter Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup salted butter softened
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 TBS whole milk
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- ¼ tsp cinnamon optional, but recommended!
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder cinnamon. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, or in a large bowl with a hand-held mixer, cream together butter and peanut butter until smooth.
- Add sugars and beat for 1 minute.
- Add eggs, vanilla and milk and beat for 30-60 seconds on medium-high speed until the mixture is light in color and sugar is dissolved.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until combined.
- If desired, add chocolate chips or other mix-ins and stir until combined.
- Transfer the dough to an airtight container and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, and up to overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Use a cookie scoop to measure 1 ½ to 2 Tablespoons of dough and roll it into a ball. Repeat until all the dough has been used.
- Place 12 cookies on each large baking sheet.
- Use a fork to gently press a crisscross pattern into the top of each cookie.
- Bake in preheated oven for approximately 9-10 minutes. Take them out when they are just barely starting to turn brown, puffed and just begin to crackle.
- Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to cooling rack.
- Cool completely on a wire rack before serving or storing.
Video
Notes
- Salted butter. unsalted butter and coconut oil can be used in place of salted butter.
- Peanut Butter. I recommend using a variety of peanut butter that is solid at room temperature (Jif, Skippy, Skippy Natural, etc.). You can use natural peanut butter, but be aware that the cookies may spread more and be more on the crispy side than the soft side. Also, many natural peanut butters are unsalted, so you may need to increase the amount of salt int he recipe by ¼ tsp.
- Whole milk. 2%, whole, and half-and-half have can be used in place of whole milk.
- Granulated Sugar. Organic cane sugar is my granulated sugar of choice, but regular granulated sugar works perfectly.
- Cinnamon. Ok, I truly believe the touch of cinnamon sets these peanut butter cookies apart from the rest. I do not recommend leaving it out, as it greatly enhances the flavor.
- Sea salt. I only ever bake with pure, fine sea salt. If you are using iodized salt I recommend decreasing the amount of salt by ½.
Nutrition
More cookie recipes
We take cookies seriously around here. Here are some of our favorite cookie recipes:
- The BEST chocolate chip cookies EVER - no chilling, no funny ingredients. Just a simple, straightforwardly delicious cookie that turns out perfectly every time.
- These peanut butter oatmeal cookies are the best or try these monster cookies.
- Our Double Chocolate Chip Cookies have three different forms of chocolate!
- These cut-out sugar cookies are our family's favorite to make at Christmas time!
- These Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies are my favorite Christmas cookies!
- Who can resist a snickerdoodle cookie?! This is my grandma's recipe and it's the BEST.
- And gingerbread cookies, another soft chewy version of a Christmas classic that is truly the best!
- You have to try our Oatmeal Cookie Recipe - it's seriously the BEST!
- These snowball cookies are a Christmas classic!
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Patricia
Morning! I came upon this site through my daughter as her cookies looked delicious! I havent made peanut butter cookies for well over 30 yrs as a son is anaphalatic, but now I can. Hubby tasted the cinnamon instantly and thankfully he dosent mind a touch of it but for me personally, I am not a fan of it in the cookies. I will def keep this in my rotation but without the cinnamon.
Pam
I mixed them up yesterday and baked today. They are sooooo good
Cheryl
Made these yesterday. They are the best peanut butter cookies ever. No one noticed that they were gluten free. This will be my go to recipe from now on.
Laura
Thank you Cheryl!