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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I made these cookies and they were so soft and delish! I did omit the peanuts and chips based on a request, the base cookie was really good….I am so happy I discovered all your recipes, they are easy to follow and always turn out perfect. Thank you!
I wondered how these could be different from other recipes but I highly recommend! It’s a little more complicated than other recipes (two sugars, pb chips, etc) but the result is WORTH IT. The salted peanuts – love! You’ll want to make again and again. On that note, think I’ll make more tonight! 🙂
Side note to Jenn: I’ve been so impressed with the recipes. It’s evident to me that you have tested and refined these recipes because I haven’t missed yet and I’ve tried a lot. My entire family loves what I make from here. So I just say to say thank you for testing all these with your family. We appreciate it!
❤️
You can make these vegan! I used Earth Balance to replace the butter, and both Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer and the standard flax egg. I slightly prefer the flax egg as it seems just a touch richer than the BRM egg replacer, comparable to the version I made with Earth Balance vegan butter and eggs from my hens.
I was skeptical about this recipe considering who the original author is, as celebrity cookbooks don’t tend to be very… good. This recipe is very similar to my Mom’s! And I have the pleasure of telling my mother I did not “mess with” -her- recipe to make my vegan and modified vegetarian versions.
I did go ahead and use unsalted raw peanuts I roasted myself and threw some salt in with that, as that’s what I had on hand. Would be lovely with dark chocolate (my next batch!) For a Reeses-like cookie.
Dough can be a little fussy if baking with kids. A good teachable dough for older kitchen helpers, probably not the best recipe for having the little ones help!
These needed a minimum of 16 minutes in my oven, and even then they were oddly pale and soft to the touch. But I took them out and let them cool as instructed, and once they were completely cool—SO GOOD!
Greetings, hope all is well.
Curious, can you use dark brown sugar or half of each? I was trying to get a more soft chewy cookie?
Thanks in advance.
Sure, Amelia, that’s fine. Hope you enjoy!
I want to make this recipe but many comments are saying 325 degrees was too low? Is 325 degrees the correct temperature? Btw every recipe on your site that I have tried has been great! If I serve something new & my husband likes it, he always asks “ Is this one of Jenn’s recipes!” 😊
Hi Dana, So glad you like the recipes! Yes, 325° is the correct temperature for these. Hope you enjoy if you make them. 🙂
These really are the best peanut butter cookies I ever tasted. They have so much substance I think you can eat them for breakfast! Don’t leave out the chopped peanuts!
Hi there. Followed directions to a T and yet after 12 minutes cookies are not golden. The sure taste good though. I was curious about the temperature of 325. Is that Conventional or Convection? Most cookies I have baked usually are at 350 conventional. Input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Hi Lori, sorry to hear you had a bit of a problem with the timing on the cookies. I use the standard/conventional oven setting for all of my recipes. Did you make any adjustments to the recipe?
Anyone ever subbed Nestle’s Chocolate Chips for the peanut butter chips?
I found that the baking time was almost double that which is in the recipe. Anyone else have this issue?
Yes, same for me. But they were excellent!