Peanut Butter Cookies {Video}

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These classic Peanut Butter Cookies are hard to resist.  They’re wonderfully soft, buttery and packed full of peanut butter flavor.  Enjoy with a cold glass of milk for a real throwback treat.

Jump to:

• The Best Peanut Butter Cookies
• What is the Best Peanut Butter to Use for Cookies?
• Peanut Butter Cookie Ingredients
• Step-by-Step: How to Make Peanut Butter Cookies
• Peanut Butter Cookie Variations
• Why Do You Make Criss Cross Fork Marks in Peanut Butter Cookies?
• Can I Make the Dough in Advance?
• Can You Freeze Peanut Butter Cookie Dough?
• Classic Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe

The Best Peanut Butter Cookies

We’ve tried lots of Peanut Butter Cookie recipes and have to say, we stuck with this one for a reason.  The peanut butter-to-flour ratio, along with the brown sugar and real butter, makes for perfectly soft and chewy cookies every time.

Our family likes these made with creamy peanut butter, but if you like a little crunch to your Peanut Butter Cookies, you can use crunchy peanut butter, or toss some chopped dry-roasted peanuts into your dough.  

If you love these cookies as much as we do, try some of the delicious variations listed below.  These come together, from start to finish, in under 30 minutes giving you plenty of time to experiment - we’d love to hear which ones you loved most!

<h2>Peanut Butter Cookies Video Tutorial</h2>

What is the Best Peanut Butter to Use for Cookies?

This is an instance where you will want to pass on a more natural or freshly ground peanut butter.  If it separates, save it for sandwiches.  It will separate in your baked goods, too, often causing them to spread more and not bake nearly as well.

The best peanut butter to use for Peanut Butter Cookies are any of the ones you grew up with - Jif, Skippy, Peter Pan or a similar brand.  Either creamy or chunky will work fine, it just depends on whether you want small chunks of peanuts in your cookies or not.  The oils in these brands are completely emulsified already and won’t seep out of your cookies while they bake.

Peanut Butter Cookie Ingredients

• Butter - you want your butter to be at room temperature
• Peanut Butter - either creamy or chunky, as long as you stick to one of the regular “no-stir” types.
• Brown Sugar - brown sugar keeps your cookies softer than granulated sugar, and adds a great flavor.  It is also slightly acidic so it actually is the ingredient that activates the baking soda.
• Egg - it’s best if you pull this from the fridge ahead of time so it isn’t super chilled.
• Vanilla Extract - you can also use imitation vanilla if that’s all that you have.
• Salt - salt is extremely important in all baked goods.  It provides a great balance to the sweetness.
• Milk - again, it’s best if your milk isn’t straight from the fridge, and slightly more room temp.
• All-Purpose Flour - any brand is fine.
• Baking Soda - this will help your cookies stay slightly fluffy.  

Step-by-Step: How to Make Peanut Butter Cookies

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In the bowl of a standing mixer, add the room temperature butter, peanut butter, and brown sugar.  Using the paddle attachment, cream until light and fluffy, or about 3 minutes.
3. Add in the egg, then mix on low to combine.  Then add in the vanilla, salt and milk and mix on low to combine.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda, then add this to the butter mixture and mix on low, just until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure there are no lumps of butter in your dough.
5. Once mixed, scoop and roll the cookie dough into 1 ¼" balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat.  Use a fork to flatten the cookies, creating a cross pattern.
6. Bake for 7-8 minutes, or until the bottoms are very lightly browned. 
7. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a cooling rack.  Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cookie Variations

• Peanut Butter Cookies with Hershey’s Kisses or Mini Reese’s Cups: roll and flatten your cookies, bake, then stick one Hershey’s Kiss, or Reese’s Cup, in the center of each cookie as soon as they come out of the oven.

• Peanut Butter Cookies with 3 ingredients - mix together 1 cup creamy peanut butter + 1 cup granulated sugar + 1 egg, then scoop and bake just as you would for our classic Peanut Butter Cookies and voila!  Simple cookies with ingredients that you will almost always have on hand.  Plus, they are gluten-free!

• Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies - add 1 cup of dry-roasted, chopped peanuts into your dough before shaping.

• Chocolate Pretzel Peanut Butter Cookies - mix in ½ cup chocolate chips and ½ cup chopped pretzels to your dough before shaping.  Flatten the balls slightly with your hand, rather than a fork.

• Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies - part cookie, part brownie, with an incredible Reese's surprise on the inside!

Why Do You Make Criss Cross Fork Marks in Peanut Butter Cookies?

The first mention of making criss cross fork marks in Peanut Butter Cookies was in a Pillsbury cookbook from 1936.  It didn’t specifically mention why one should make the criss cross fork pattern, but it’s widely assumed that it was simply to flatten the dough down.  

The fork marks have now become a hallmark of these cookies.  With the dough being quite denser than other cookie doughs, it does also help make sure that they cookies bake evenly.

Can I Make the Dough in Advance?

Yes, you can make your dough and store in the fridge for up to 3 days, either pre-scooped or not.  Just be sure that, however you store your cookie dough, it stays covered.

Can You Freeze Peanut Butter Cookie Dough?

Absolutely.  In fact, just about any cookie dough can be frozen.  Our recommendation is that you make, scoop and even make the criss cross fork marks before freezing.  You can store cookie dough this way, in freezer bags, or any other type of airtight container, for up to 3 months.

Once you are ready to bake, remove them from the freezer and transfer to a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper or a silpat.  You can let them thaw in the fridge overnight, or else bake them straight from the freezer.  Just add on another 1-2 minutes of baking time.

Here are some other easy cookie recipes that we love!

• 3 Ingredient Cake Mix Cookies
• White Chocolate and Coconut Cookies
• Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Snickerdoodle Cookies
• Gingersnap Cookies

If you’ve tried this recipe, please rate it and leave a comment on this post. I love hearing feedback from you helps me and other readers too! If you love Pinterest,  feel free to leave a comment and photo there too.  Also, if you like to share, use the hashtag #thecarefreekitchen on Instagram and tag me @thecarefreekitchen so I can find you and give your post some love. You can also find me on Facebook at The Carefree Kitchen. Thank you!!

These classic Peanut Butter Cookies come together quickly and are so hard to resist.  They’re wonderfully soft, buttery and packed full of peanut butter flavor.  We recommend enjoying with a cold glass of milk.