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These easy peanut butter cookies have an amazing brownie-like texture: both chewy and soft. The peanut butter flavor is perfectly balanced without being overpowering.
These are truly the best peanut butter cookies I've ever tried! It's not only my opinion - everybody around me loves them too and asks for a recipe! I've posted about these cookies last year, and here I am writing about them again!
There is just the right amount of peanut butter in these easy peanut butter cookies: not too much and not too little. You can use a regular peanut butter, such as JiF, and you can use natural one too. You can use regular crunchy one and natural crunchy peanut butter. I've tried them all, and the recipe works well! If you use natural peanut butter, the cookie will come out just a little bit dryer but the difference is really hardly noticable, if you make sure to sift or aerate your flour (see the note below, under recipe instructions) - it's very important not to overpack the flour in a measuring cup so that the cookie does not come out dry!
You can definitely taste a peanut butter in this cookie, and yet it's not like you're eating overly rich peanut butter cookies. That's how I like peanut butter cookies, which is why this is the best peanut butter cookie recipe for me!
The seemingly unimportant step of rolling these cookies in granulated sugar right before putting them in the oven is the reason why these cookies look so pretty (almost like sugar cookies), why they are light in color and have beautiful cracks on top. Coating these peanut butter cookies in sugar before baking serves two purposes: 1) The cookies acquire lighter, much more attractive color when sugar coated. If you don't roll these cookies in sugar, they will come out much darker, almost looking like dark peanut butter. Rolled in sugar, the peanut butte cookies come out looking like sugar cookies! 2) Rolling cookies in sugar gives them a nice soft crunch on the outside of the cookie.
For cookies to have that nicely rounded, puffed up shape, roll them in balls between the palms of your hands and then roll each cookie ball in sugar. If the peanut butter cookie dough is too soft for you to work with, let it chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before rolling.
The result are some of the best peanut butter cookies you'll ever make! Amazingly yummy cookies that are popular with kids and adults alike! They have a moist, almost brownie-like texture and only get better as the days pass by. Keep them in air-tight container and they will last you for up to 2 weeks - that is, if you're disciplined enough not to eat them all the first day!
Easy Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter (can use natural one too)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature (not melted - just let the butter from refrigerator sit on the counter for about an hour or so)
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour sifted or aerated (see important note below!)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar for coating
Instructions
Important note about properly measuring flour using measuring cups:
- The proper way to measure flour using measuring cups is to aerate it first. This is done either by sifting flour or aerating it by fluffing it up and whisking it well, then spooning it into the measuring cup, then carefully removing any excess flour with a knife. If you just stick that measuring cup in the bag of flour and scoop some out, you will get a lot more flour than what the recipe calls for. Do aerate the flour, or you will end up with dry dough!
How to make peanut butter cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Using an electric mixer, cream peanut butter and butter in a mixing bowl until smooth. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add an egg and vanilla, and continue beating until creamy.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder. Gradually add dry ingredients from step 2 to wet ingredients in step 1, beating on low speed.
- Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper or lightly greased aluminum foil. Place granulated sugar on a plate. Roll spoonfuls of cookie dough into balls, rolling each ball between your hands. Roll balls in sugar to coat them completely.
- Place cookie balls 2 inches apart on a prepared baking sheet. Bake until cookies begin to puff up slightly, about 12 minutes, until cookies just brown around the edges and crackle on top. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool at least 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring cookies to rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Just baked a batch! They came out crackly and look amazing. As for the taste, they are EXACTLY like you said! I might have to make another batch! Thank you so much this is my new favorite!
Lacey, thank you so much for your kind comment! So happy you're enjoying the cookies!
They r lovely, so yummy! They're not going to last till tonight.
Irma, thank you! 🙂
While these cookies tasted great, they looked NOTHING like the above photo. Did you roll your cookies in sugar after they baked as well? After mine baked the sugar must have dissolved or something, because there was no trace of having rolled it in sugar. I even doubled rolled the second batch to make sure... and still... they look pretty plain after pulling them out of the oven. Taste good. But not pretty like yours.
Andrea, did your cookies flatten out more than mine? When I rolled raw cookie balls in white sugar, my cookies actually held their ball shape through the rolling - because I specifically used room temperature (not melted) butter and room temperature peanut butter. That ensured that my cookies actually held their ball shape very well. I am thinking could you have used melted butter instead? By the way, I've made these cookies on a regular basis for about 4 years now. One of the most fool-proof recipes I ever made .... 🙂 I even stuck Rolos in the center of these cookies (see recipe and photos here) and sprinkled the tops of cookies with colorful sprinkles (recipe and photos here) - the cookies still came out quite good-looking, with crackles and everything. 🙂
So sorry just checked the recipe again and got my flour question answered! They look delicious!
I do sift flour before measuring, or just aerate it by fluffing it up. I found that if I use natural peanut butter (which is not as oily as, say, regular creamy peanut butter brand), then I better sift flour really well. If I use a regular creamy peanut butter (not natural), sifting actually is not even that important. Cookies might come out a little bit tougher but if you make sure to not overbake them (bake maximum for 12 minutes at 350 Fahrenheit) - they will be excellent even if they are a bit tougher. This is a very forgiving recipe. 🙂
Do you sift the flour before you put it in the measuring cup or measure first then sift?
Just made them. I was very careful about sifting the flour, but they turned out very pale and kind of flat-ish. Didn't crackle at all either, and they were so soft it was near impossible to roll them, but we sort of managed LOL!! Don't know what I did wrong - at least they were delicious!
Sarah, did you melt the butter or let it soften at room temperature? I use room temperature butter that still holds its shape (let it sit out on the counter for about 1 hour out of the refrigerator). Do not melt it. The peanut butter should be room temperature too (not heated). When I rolled raw cookie balls in white sugar, my cookies actually held their ball shape through the rolling - because I specifically used room temperature (not melted) butter and room temperature peanut butter. That ensured that my cookies actually held their ball shape very well. Did your cookies hold their ball shape after you rolled them in sugar? I also found that when I use natural peanut butter - I have to sift the flour. When I use creamy peanut butter brand, such as JiF, not sifting the flour actually adds more flour to the recipe and cookies hold their shape better (because creamy peanut butter (JiF) is softer and oilier than natural one, thus by not sifting, and, therefore, having extra flour, you compensate for extra-creaminess of JiF). By the way, I always thought this recipe was quite forgiving: once, I even stuck Rolos in the center of these cookies and another time sprinkled the tops of cookies with colorful sprinkles)
Hi Julia,
wow, a reply from a blog author, not too often that happens for me LOL. Thanks!!
Yes I used room temp butter, although it had been VERY humid and hot, weather-wise, all that week which I know can affect baking sometimes. I used Planter's creamy peanut butter, not a natural one or anything but it is somewhat lower in calories than most other peanut butters - maybe that's due to having slightly less oil (just guessing but I can see how that could affect things). As far as holding their shape, getting them into balls was tricky but doable but the action of rolling them made them super soft and sticky so that they didn't "roll" in the sugar at all, I had to nudge them around the sugar plate until they were coated. But once they were coated (and all lumpy bumpy from being bumped around the plate lol), yes they did keep their shape on the cookie sheet pretty well.
Another factor that may have come into play is that I have been lately trying to bake by weights - so I sifted flour into my 3/4 cup Tupperware measure until it was full, and came out with 88 grams of sifted flour. I had checked on a conversion site, Pastry Scoop, and it had said that 3/4 cup sifted All Purpose Flour would weigh less, 70-something grams. But I am still getting used to weighing ingredients and I second guessed them and myself and probably used too much flour in the end.
Like I said they were delicious though and we liked them enough to keep experimenting till we get it right. Once that happens we'll start adding Rolos or mini PB Cups! I love a forgiving cookie recipe 🙂
Interesting - so, I wonder, when your cookie balls were raw (as you were rolling them) were they easy to shape into balls (soft and pliable) or where they too hard to shape into balls (a little coarse and sometimes pieces of dough not sticking well, separating)? If the second is true, I am guessing you did use too much flour, coupled with lower fat peanut butter. That would also explain why sugar would not stick to the cookie balls as you were rolling them. I can tell you that when I roll these cookies in sugar - it's effortless 🙂 - the cookies just coat themselves beautifully. 🙂 It did happen to me once that I used a very natural, tough and very dense peanut butter (I would say it was quite old peanut butter too 🙂 ), and the cookies came out denser and rolling them in sugar wasn't as easy (because that natural peanut butter I used hardly had any oil compared to regular one - all of the oil was concentrated on top of the peanut butter in a container, as it separated, and I didn't add any of that oil to the cookie dough). Those cookies were still delicious but not as soft and fluffy as these ones on the photo.
They were not that easy to shape into balls... not DIFFICULT, not "dough bits falling off" or anything - they were SUPER soft. Having a light enough touch to not squish them was tricky (my 10 year old couldn't manage it, he got frustrated). It's not that the sugar didn't stick to the dough balls, the trouble with sugaring them was that they were so soft that when I even gently put them in the sugar dish they flattened a bit and didn't hold their shape well enough to ROLL - they were so soft & sticky ;). I don't know how old PB has to be to count as "old peanut butter," but I made these cookies out of 2 tubs of it, with most of the PB coming from a jar I haven't used since school ended in mid-June.
Also I live in So. California and it's always warm plus lately it has been humid; maybe I ought to try chilling the dough for 30-60 minutes next time (which happens to be, I think, TODAY). I'll update you if you wish!
I had the same problem I used an all natural peanut butter with honey and room temp peanut butter and butter, fell flat and wouldn't hold shape even when I add more flour 🙁
yum.. these look seriously SO good.. dont think you can ever go wrong with peanut butter cookies. love it!
I agree - can't go wrong with peanut butter cookies. Super easy to make, too!
These def. look like THE BEST pb cookies!!! I love the texture
peanut butter is great. And I almost get all of those ingredients within my kitchen. Thanks for bring such an easy recipe. I will feed myself some.
I happened to have a several jar of peanut butter in my pantry right now and this is inspiring me to make batches of peanut butter cookies. I love the simpleness of the recipe. I must give it a try soon!
Making these cookies is a quick way to get rid of peanut butter in any house! 🙂
OMG, if they are as good as they look ( and I'm sure they taste even better)
this s a peanut cookie dream come true.
Thanks for sharing, Julia
They do taste even better than they look. I am glad the photos came out well and they show the thickness and the amazing texture of these cookies.
I love chewy cookies, more than the crispy ones...and these just look perfect, especially when "easy" is present.
Thanks for the recipe Julia...hope you are having a colorful week 😀
Thank you, Juliana! I also prefer chewy cookies to crispy ones.
These look amazing and your pictures are so beautiful! My mom has a similar recipe but puts a chocolate star on each one when they get out of the oven.
I like to put Rolos on each one of them when they get out of the oven, like in this recipe: https://juliasalbum.com/2013/05/peanut-butter-surprise-cookies-with-rolos/
What darling little cookies! My husband just swoons over Peanut Butter Cookies, so I will have to give your version a try. I bet the brown sugar adds a nice bit of moisture and a lovely depth of flavor. Thanks!
Brown sugar does make them perfectly moist, along with the peanut butter! 🙂
Those look amazing and chewy! Yum. Will have to try this recipe.
Definitely!