Incredibly thick and soft cookies absolutely loaded with peanut butter flavor. Our absolute favorite go-to Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies recipe!
Craving more peanut butter treats? Try my No-Bake Peanut Butter Cup Bars or Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Treats. You might also find yourself loving my No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie!
While my love for peanut butter doesn't run very deep, I am completely obsessed with peanut butter cookies! Not just any peanut butter cookies though, I love mine soft and thick! No flat and crispy cookies here. If that's what you're into, these aren't for you. This is my go-to chewy peanut butter cookie recipe when we need a peanut butter fix and I know you'll love them just as much as we do!
These chewy peanut butter cookies would be the perfect addition to a holiday cookie exchange! Press some Hershey kisses into the tops of each cookie immediately out of the oven for peanut butter blossoms.
Need some more ideas to add to your holiday cookie tin?! Try these delicious treats:
- Hot Cocoa Cookies - kids LOVE these
- Soft Sugar Cookies - add sprinkles for a festive touch for any Holiday
- Snowball Cookies - a personal favorite family recipe!
- Gooey Dark Chocolate Truffle Cookies - unlike any cookie you've ever tried. So good and delicious!
- Oreo Truffles - everyone always DEVOURS these!
- Homemade Soft Caramels - easier than you think to make at home! And so amazingly creamy.
- Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies
Jump to:
Why you'll love this recipe
- The peanut butter flavor in these cookies is outrageous. They're like eating peanut butter in cookie form!
- These cookies use pantry staple ingredients most of us always have on hand so you can make them whenever that peanut butter craving strikes! 😉
- No chilling of the dough is required! The cookies don't spread too much while baking so there is no need to refrigerate it. Just like my favorite easy chocolate chip cookie cake.
Ingredients
Most, if not all of these ingredients can be found in your pantry or fridge!
- Peanut butter: I use creamy peanut butter in my cookies. You can use chunky if that's what you prefer but it may change the texture slightly. Natural peanut butter can also be used but be aware this will change the texture to be more crumbly and they will also spread a little more.
- Granulated sugar: For rolling cookies in before baking, optional
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and easy-to-follow instructions.
Substitutions & Variations
These cookies are so versatile, you can really make them your own by adding your favorite mix-in's! Here are some ideas:
- Roll in sugar before baking, like you see pictured here.
- Make peanut butter blossom cookies by pressing candy kisses into the tops as soon as they come out of the oven.
- Press Reese's cups into the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven.
- Add chocolate chips or chunks to the dough before baking for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.
- Add peanut butter chips to add even more peanut butter flavor.
- Stuff with soft caramels like my caramel-stuffed peanut butter cookie recipe.
- Add m&m's
How to make the best peanut butter cookies
Step 1: Cream butter and brown sugar together.
Step 2: Beat in the egg, vanilla and peanut butter.
Step 3: Pour in flour and baking soda and mix until combined.
Step 4: Scoop out 1-2 tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. Place on prepared baking sheet and flatten slightly They do not spread much.
Step 5: Optional: Before baking, use the tongs of your fork to press down in both directions making a criss-cross pattern.
Step 5: Bake for 7-8 minutes. Don't over-bake!
Jessica's Tips
Be sure not to over-bake your peanut butter cookies or they will not be soft and chewy, they will be crumbly.
If flour is measured incorrectly and too much is added, this can also result in crumbly, sad peanut butter cookies. 🙁
Storage
Store cookies at room temperature for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
Freezing
You can freeze these cookies before or after baking:
To freeze raw cookie dough, roll dough into balls and flash freeze on a parchment lined baking sheet in a single layer. Once frozen, place into a resealable freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to bake, take as many out as you need and bake straight from the freezer. You will need to add a few extra minutes of bake time, so adjust as needed.
To freeze baked cookies, allow the cookies to cool completely then place in a resealable, freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in refrigerator overnight and allow to come to room temperature before serving.
If you are looking for a go-to peanut butter cookie recipe for your recipe archives, look no further because these are it! They're the most perfect peanut butter cookies EVER. End of story.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can make these gluten-free! While I have not tested this out myself, I have had readers tell me that they have had great success with substituting the all-purpose flour with Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1:1 Flour.
This will happen when either the flour was measured incorrectly and too much as added OR you baked your cookies for too long. 🙁 I can guarantee they will still be delicious though!
Yup! Prepare this dough up to 2 days in advance covered in the refrigerator until ready to use.
More cookie recipes you'll love
Did you make this recipe?
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📋 Recipe
The BEST Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup granulated sugar for rolling cookies in, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.
- Cream butter and brown sugar together until smooth. Beat in the egg, vanilla and peanut butter until completely combined. Pour in flour and baking soda and mix until just incorporated, without over-mixing.
- Scoop out 1-2 tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. If rolling in sugar, do that now. Place about 1" apart on prepared baking sheet (they don't spread much).
- Optional: Before baking, use the tongs of your fork to press down in both directions making a criss-cross pattern.
- Bake cookies for 7-8 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
Notes
Nutrition
The provided nutritional information is an estimate per serving. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lisa says
These are the best I’ve made. I used turbinado sugar and it turned out perfect! Thank you for the recipe!
Angela says
I just made these! Ovens vary, I found that I needed to bake a bit longer. Delicious, thank you!
Rashal says
These cookies were good but they did spread a lot. They were so beautiful and plump when they came out the oven. As the cooled they became very flat. I followed the recipe to the T. So to say these don’t spread….yes they did.
Jessica says
Hi Rachel, did you happen to use natural peanut butter? That would definitely make them spread. I've never gotten that feedback before and that has never happened to me either so I'm unsure what could have gone wrong. I hope they were still enjoyed anyway!
Macey Wheeler says
I love this simple recipe made with everything a baker keeps on hand! I did find they neeed cooked a little longer - about 10 minutes - for my particular oven/firmness.
Becca Exley says
So easy and delicious!!!!! My teenager came back for seconds!
L. Cam says
I tried this recipe but cooked them 9 min. They were very good!
K says
These were bad. This may be a good recipe for gluten free but I don’t care for it. They were extremely greasy from the peanut butter without flour and I used Jiff.
Jessica says
Sounds like you misread the recipe because there is 1 1/4 cup of flour in this peanut butter cookie recipe. If you try them again let me know how they turn out for you made the correct way!
Judie says
Hi Jessica. Is it 1 1/4 cup or 1 1/2 flour? The recipe says 1 1/2 so just wanted to be sure. Thanks!
Alicia Yoder says
your recipe says 1 1/2 cups of flour
Z says
awesome simple recipe! I first baked them at 7 minutes and they weren't hard enough to stay completely
together, 9 minutes was the perfect time in my oven. I also replaced the egg with substitute of oil/baking powder/water and cookies were still soft and chewy.
Elizabeth says
Exactly what I was looking for--simple and tasty peanut butter cookies. Easy to make in one bowl. Cooked a dozen last night and have enough batter left for another dozen or so.
Cindy H says
I received rave reviews from this cookie. Thank you for sharing your recipe.