This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
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.
Tried making this recipe. Right on it really is the best ever cookie.
Loved by everyone who sampled the batch I made.
Thanks for posting.
I have long searched for the perfect peanut butter cookie. These are it!! THank You so much. My kids and I can't get enough of these. I find myself wanting one with my coffee for breakfast every morning here lately. Not a good idea with swimsuit season just around the corner. LOL! I did not have any brown sugar so I used white, I really need to try them with the brown sugar as I do love me some brown sugar. Again, thanks for sharing this recipe, can't wait to try some of your other goodies.!
I just made these cookies and had the same problem with the dough being too soft to roll. So, I just dropped them onto the pan and sprinkled them with sugar. But they did come out with the same texture described. Yummy! I think the issue may be in the butter being used. I used a margarine type spread that is soft, obviously less firm then real dairy butter. This is my guess. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Julia, I tried out your recipe for these cookies and they were great! I wrote a post with some photos on my blog here: http://theredlychee.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/peanut-butter-cookies.html
Many thanks,
Abida
I made these cookies and they looked exactly like the pic! I have a secret obsession with PB cookies. The flavor was excellent and the texture was fluffy and chewy (if that makes sense). I made them in a 3 different ways (original, without the extra granulated sugar and with dark chocolate chips) and they were amazing! Thank you!
Made these tonight; followed the recipe to the "T." They looked pretty coming out of the oven, but I have to agree with Kristy above. They seem to be missing "something." Just kind of "plah" in taste. Don't think I'll be making these again.
Just made these!! Waiting to eat them! The house smells great 🙂
I just made these, and they came out perfect. I let the dough sit for a half hour, and the consistency turned out great. Just wanted to mention that, since I saw some complaints.
These were ok. Seemed to be lacking something. They were also a gooey mess and wouldn't roll into balls. They are the consistency of "sticky" icing. And, they didn't look anything like the picture (which I sort of figured they wouldn't anyway). I really wanted to like these. Sorry!
I love how these are not the usual "smashed down with a fork" peanut butter cookies. They look so soft (which is how I prefer my cookies). Can't wait to try them! 🙂
I made these tonight and had the same problem with the dough being very soft to roll (and yes, I used room temp butter and peanut butter). They flattened and resemble a normal looking cookie and taste wonderful! I only baked for 9 minutes and noticed they started cracking and took them out & they are perfection! I doubled the recipe and after baking off half of the batch I added chocolate chips to the rest. Love them both ways!
love peanut butter cookies! These were easy to make and are really good. I think the sugar makes them a tad bit too sweet for me. Good though. Thanks!!
I just want to say that I'm probably the worst baker in the world. Nothing i ever bake from scratch ever turns out right (including the no-bake chocolate and oatmeal cookies). However, I just made these and they turned out PERFECTLY. I am sooo proud of myself right now. Lol. Thank you for the awesome recipe. They were delicious!
Made these with my lil tween. Used Pamela's gluten-free baking mix (omitting the baking powder since the mix already contained it) for the husband to enjoy. Came out wonderful! Made about eight to ten cookies depending on size so needless to say they didn't last long! Making them again today but quadrupling the recipe haha!