Simple Peanut Butter Cookies
It’s so easy to make Peanut Butter Cookies from Scratch! These classic peanut butter cookies are soft, chewy, and full of that perfect nutty flavor.
Equipment
- Handheld or stand mixer
- Baking sheets
- Measuring cups or kitchen scale
- Measuring Spoons
Ingredients
- 7 tablespoons (100 grams) salted butter room temperature (use ¼ teaspoon more kosher salt if using unsalted butter)
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons (140 grams) dark brown sugar, packed I love dark brown, you can also use light
- 3 tablespoons (40 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 and ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (190 grams) peanut butter creamy spreadable kind like Skippy or Jif
- 1 and ½ cups (187 grams) all purpose flour spooned and leveled method if not weighing, see notes
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Sugar for rolling the cookies in - ⅓ cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- *if you are going to dip these in chocolate, I don't recommend rolling in sugar before baking.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until light and fluffy, about 1–2 minutes on medium speed.
- Add the egg and vanilla, mixing just until combined. Do not over mix or the cookies can turn cakey.
- Mix in the peanut butter until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until just combined.
- Portion the dough into 38 gram scoops (a heaping medium cookie scoop works well)
- Roll each scoop into a ball, then coat in granulated sugar. Press the dough ball down slightly with your fingers to form a thick disc, ¼ of an inch thick.
- Lightly press a fork across the top to create the classic crisscross pattern. Don’t press too hard or the cookies may crack too much.
- I like to bake around 6 cookies on each sheet, place one cookie sheet at a time on the center rack of the oven, not too high and not too low, for even baking.
- Bake for 8–10 minutes, until the cookies look set around the edges but still very soft in the center and lightly golden around the edge, they will puff up, slightly crack, and look underdone, but will deflate and continue baking on the cookie sheet.
- Leave the cookies on the baking sheet to cool. They’ll continue baking from the residual heat and firm up as they cool. Remove once completeley cooled down.
Notes
*When measuring flour in cups, it’s important not to scoop straight from the bag because it packs the flour down and gives you too much. Instead, use the spoon and level method: fluff up the flour first, then spoon it into your measuring cup until it’s slightly overflowing. Use the flat edge of a knife to sweep off the excess so the cup is level. This way you get the right amount of flour without weighing down your cookies and making them dry.
Storing Peanut Butter Cookies
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3–4 days. Add a slice of bread to keep them soft.
Freeze baked cookies for up to 2 months, with parchment between layers. Thaw at room temp before serving.
Freeze cookie dough balls in a freezer bag for up to 2 months. Bake after defrosting.
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