Peanut Butter Cookies
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This easy peanut butter cookie recipe is packed with peanutty flavor and has just the right balance of salty and sweet.
When I set out to find the best peanut butter cookie recipe, I tested dozens—from favorite cookbooks to popular online versions. The standout was Gwyneth Paltrow’s recipe from My Father’s Daughter. With a few small tweaks, it’s become my go-to.
What sets these cookies apart are the salted peanuts and peanut butter chips scattered throughout. The peanuts add a satisfying crunch and a salty edge, while the chips melt into little pockets of peanut butter goodness. I’m not usually a fan of peanut butter chips, but they really work here. If you love a classic peanut butter cookie, this one is hard to beat.
“Wow Wow wow!!! My 7-year-old said it best after trying one: It’s like I’m having a party in my mouth eating this cookie.”
What You’ll Need To Make Peanut Butter Cookies
- All-purpose flour: Provides the structure for the cookies. For the best texture, measure it using the spoon-and-level method rather than scooping directly from the bag; too much flour can make the cookies dry.
- Baking powder and baking soda: Give the cookies just enough lift and help them brown. Make sure they’re fresh for the best results.
- Unsalted butter: I prefer unsalted butter so I can control the salt. If you only have salted butter, reduce the added salt by ¼ teaspoon.
- Creamy peanut butter: For the best texture, use a creamy, shelf-stable peanut butter rather than natural peanut butter, which can separate. Skippy No Need to Stir is my favorite here.
- Light brown sugar: Adds sweetness and moisture and complements the peanut butter’s rich flavor.
- Egg and vanilla: The egg binds the dough together, while vanilla rounds out the flavor.
- Peanut butter chips and salted peanuts: Double down on the peanut flavor while adding little pockets of sweetness and crunch. I love Virginia peanuts here—they’re extra big, crunchy, and flavorful.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How to Make peanut butter cookies
Make the dough: Start by whisking the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Add the dry ingredients, then mix in the peanut butter chips and salted peanuts. The dough will be thick.
Pro tip: Give the dough some time to chill before shaping; it makes it easier to handle and helps the cookies hold their shape in the oven.
Shape the cookies: Roll the dough into balls and arrange them on the baking sheets. Use a fork to make the classic crisscross pattern on top, which also helps flatten the cookies so they bake evenly.
Bake and cool: Bake until the cookies are lightly golden around the edges. They’ll still be tender when they first come out of the oven, so let them cool on the baking sheet before transferring them to a rack.
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Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter, at room temperature (I like Skippy No Need To Stir)
- 1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup peanut butter chips
- ½ cup very finely chopped salted peanuts (optional)
Instructions
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar and vanilla on medium speed until well combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the egg and beat until incorporated, about 20 seconds more. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Mix in the peanut butter chips and chopped peanuts (if using).
- Chill the dough for 1 hour (see note below). Set racks in the middle and upper thirds of the oven and preheat to 350°F (175°C). Using a 1½-in scooper with a wire scraper (if you don’t have one, use a spoon and your hands), form the dough into 1½-in (4-cm) balls on the prepared baking sheets. Using the tines of a fork, mark a crisscross pattern on the cookies, pressing them down slightly. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back midway through, until puffed and golden on the bottom. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a rack to cool completely. (Note: the cookies are very fragile when hot, so take care not to break them. They’ll firm up nicely as they cool.)
Notes
- It’s not absolutely necessary to chill the dough, but it is quite sticky and difficult to handle if you don’t have a cookie scooper. Chilling the dough makes it much easier to handle, but feel free to skip this step if you like.
- Freezing Instructions: The cookie dough can be frozen for up to 3 months. Roll the dough into balls, let set on a baking sheet in the freezer, then place in a sealable bag and press out as much air as possible. Bake as needed directly from the freezer. (Allow 1 to 2 minutes longer in the oven.) To freeze after baking: Let the cookies cool completely and store in an airtight container, separating layers with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Before serving, remove the cookies from the container and let them come to room temperature.
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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How long do you think the dough could be left in the refrigerator? Could I bake half of the cookies and wait a few days to bake the rest? Thank you in advance; I’m excited to make these!
Hi Ally, I think the refrigerated dough would be okay for 2 to 3 days. You can also freeze it. Hope you enjoy!
I made one batch of cookies without refrigerating, one batch after refrigerating one hour, and one batch after refrigerating two days. All three batches were amazing and called “the best peanut butter cookies I’ve ever had” by the recipients. I didn’t change a single thing. Thank you so much!
I see you have already answered my question earlier posts. Thanks.
THE ABSOLUTE BEST PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE!
I was a little worried that Jenn threw chips and nuts into the cookie because it wasn’t good enough by itself, but that’s not the case at all.
The most peanut buttery tasting cookie I’ve ever eaten and I didn’t put in PB chips as I didn’t have any (used choc. chips instead) nor peanuts, again, didn’t have any (but used sunflower seeds)!
Thanks for all the details in you provide in your recipes and being able to see the ingredients in metric and imperial!
Delicious! This recipe was my first attempt at peanut butter cookies, and it was highly satisfying. Normally I follow Jenn’s recipes exactly, but I was short on a few ingredients (light brown sugar, peanuts and PB chips) this time around so I made a few adjustments. I used Trader Joe’s crunchy salted PB and all dark brown sugar. I baked half of the batch plain and half with Ghiradelli semisweet chocolate chips. Cooking time was closer to 14 minutes, plus 10-15 minutes to cool on the pan. The cookies were delightful warm, and surprisingly even better once they’d completely cooled about an hour later. I would agree that for a more intense PB flavor, PB chips would be the way to go! If you just want something indulgently rich, chocolate chips will hit the spot.
Fabulous recipe!! Made a double batch last night and my family all gave this a big yummy thumbs up!!! ( Great for breakfast with a cup of coffee the next morning too !! 😉
I’m not a fan of peanut butter cookies in general but for whatever reason I wanted to make this recipe for a long time. Amazingly delicious! My oven sucks and the first batch had brown bottoms but even slightly burnt they were so very tasty. I modified the temp to 300 because my oven runs hot, & took them out after 12 minutes.
These are the best cookies! I’m sure they are really great the way the recipe calls, but I didn’t have peanut butter chips or peanuts, so I added chocolate chips and no peanuts. They were excellent! My family loved them!
I made these one Sunday, I had to hide cookies in order to pack them into empty PB jars to send them to my daughter’s boyfriend at Prescott College in Arizona. they were a huge hit- at home and in AZ! Great mouth feel and taste! It’s a keeper!!
I’ve made these a few times and they came out great each time. Since I’m a vegetarian I substituted a flax egg for the real egg. I also used chocolate chips instead of peanut butter chips because that was what I had on hand. This has become a new favorite staple in my household. They are substantial yet crisp, and deliciously flavored. Oh yeah, I added extra vanilla just because I like the taste of that.
Hi Jen,
I’ve just made them today and they cooled down totally but they are still very crumbly…:((
I’m wondering why, since I respected the recipe exactly, even chilled the dough.
I’ve made many of your recipes and never had a problem. I’m disappointed…
What can I do?!
Hi Ildi, So sorry you had trouble with this one. They shouldn’t be crumbly. What type of peanut butter did you use?
I just made the dough and it is very crumbly as well. Definitely not wet. I used the Costco natural – no sugar, not salt peanut butter.
Hi Joanne, Sorry to hear you found the dough to be dry — how did the cookies come out? If you weren’t happy with the results, I suggest using a peanut butter like the one I used (I like Skippy No Need To Stir).
Absolute perfection!! I doubled the recipe and everything turned out great. My colleagues have requested more. 🙂
Thank you for an awesome recipe!