Peanut Butter Cookies (2024)

Delicious, easy peanut butter cookies that everyone will think you bought from a bakery. The recipe has a roasted peanut flavor from chopped pieces and a creamy spread that strike the right balance of texture and consistency.

Trust me. You’re going to want to keep this peanut butter cookies recipe handy. The amped-up peanut taste and irresistible texture are easy to achieve when you have the right ingredients and some scientific knowledge on your side. Without the proper levels of peanut butter flavor, it’s just a sugar cookie in disguise.

That’s why chunky peanut butter plus a generous amount of chopped peanuts are added to the formula. Creating a pleasing contrast of crisp and chewy textures involves the combination of brown and granulated sugar, plus two leavening agents. Make sure to whip up a big batch because, at my house, these melt-in-your-mouth treats tend to disappear quickly right off the cooling racks.

Peanut selection for cookies

To build up the nutty flavor of these cookies, it’s important to use spreadable peanut butter and whole dry-roasted peanuts. I prefer chunky for extra texture, but creamy peanut butter works too. The peanut butter is going to infuse throughout the cookie dough. I’m a big fan of making homemade peanut butter, which is very easy to do and can be substituted for store-bought jars. Natural peanut butter can also be used.

Choose peanuts that have already been dry-roasted for a stronger taste. If you have raw peanuts, place them in the oven on a sheet tray for about 6 to 8 minutes at 325 degrees until golden in color, making sure to cool.

Pulse the whole peanuts in a food processor or use a chef’s knife so they become finely chopped but still have some structure. The chunky nuts in the butter, plus the pulsed legumes, will add a rustic dimension to the cookie without feeling dense.

Cream the butter

What’s the secret to making peanut butter cookies soft and chewy with lightly crisp edges? This recipe uses two types of sugar; granulated white sugar and light brown sugar, which adds a hint of molasses flavor.

White sugar adds crispness, while brown sugar is a humectant, attracting moisture to keep the cookie soft in the center. Creaming the softened butter and sugars together in a stand mixer traps air in the butter pockets created by the sugar.

Add flour and leavening agents

Use all-purpose flour; it has a moderate amount of protein, 10 to 13%. This adds structure and some chew yet stays tender. It’s easy to swap in gluten-free flour. Two leavening agents are used, baking soda and baking powder.

They both provide rise, so the cookies puff up and stay light in density. However, adding a little extra baking soda will widen the spread without becoming too thin and make the edges crispy.

Make the cookie dough

Mixing the peanut butter, eggs, and vanilla extract into the butter mixture helps to aerate the dough while adding richness and flavor. The flour mixture is gradually added to prevent too much gluten from forming.

The ground peanuts are stirred in last to distribute the pieces evenly. You can shape and bake immediately, refrigerate for up to 1 week, or freeze for 1 month.

Shape the cookies

To make big bakery-style peanut butter cookies, a decent-sized portion of the dough makes a noticeable difference between a chewy interior and a crunchy exterior. Measure out 3 tablespoons of the dough and roll it into a ball. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, about 2 inches apart. It starts on the pan at about 2 inches in size, then expands to nearly 4 inches.

A criss-cross pattern on top of the dough balls adds the finishing touch and characteristic mark. I simply use the back of the tines of a fork to press down on the surface lightly. Sprinkle sparkling sugar over the fork marks if you want an even fancier topping.

Bake the cookies

After about 10 minutes of baking at 350 degrees, you’ve got the perfect golden brown, old-fashioned peanut butter cookie. It’s a game of surface area as the oven heat travels from the outer edges inward.

Larger cookies tend to stay softer in the center as it takes further for the heat to travel, while smaller cookies have the tendency to crisp more. Let the cookies sit on the warm sheet pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

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