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Soft Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
The best chewy peanut butter cookies which have everything — a chewy texture, crisp edges, and crunchy peanuts.The perfect peanut butter cookie!
I have been on the hunt for the best peanut butter cookie recipe. Since peanut butter cookies are one of my husband’s favorite cookies, I searched in order to figure out how to make the ultimate peanut butter cookie. After many batches, we have declared a winner!
I tried all sorts of different methods and ingredients. I found that butter produced the best flavor (it truly does make everything better) so it was the perfect base. Slightly softened butter (a small indention forms when pressed but it is not melted) mixed well with the sugars.
Both brown sugar and sugar play an important role in the cookie. The brown sugar creates the chewy texture, thanks to the molasses, and the sugar creates the slightly crispy edges. I tried using all brown sugar, mostly brown sugar and a little sugar, and half and half, and the 50/50 brown sugar to sugar ratio won out.
The peanut butter is always important since it is the star ingredient. If you want the cookies to be extra crunchy, reach for crunchy peanut butter. If you want them to be mostly smooth, reach for creamy peanut butter. One of my favorite parts of this peanut butter cookie is the finely chopped peanuts added to the cookies so you get a crunch in every bite. It adds so much texture!
One note on salt…if you use salted butter, just omit the salt. There will be plenty of salt between the peanut butter, peanuts, and butter. It is best to use unsalted butter in these cookies but either will work just fine.
After rolling the dough into a ball, roll into a bowl of sugar, and then take a fork and make a crisscross pattern. Place on a baking sheet and bake just until edges start to become a light golden color. They will look slightly underbaked but will set up. They are supposed to be soft and chewy so let them continue to set up on the cookie sheet after removing from the oven.
These chewy peanut butter cookies freeze so well so keep them in the freezer for a late night craving or an after school snack for your kids. They go perfectly well with a big glass of cold milk. Just ask my husband…he’s an expert on that combo.
If you LOVE Peanut Butter, check out these recipes:
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies (Levain Bakery Copycat)
- Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Pie
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Soft Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 cup Sugar (plus 2 Tablespoons for top of cookies)
- 1 cup Peanut Butter (creamy or crunchy)
- 2 large Eggs
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla
- 2 1/2 cups Flour
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt (optional if using salted butter)
- 1 cup Roasted Salted Peanuts (ground or finely chopped to resemble breadcrumbs)
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and sugar for 4 minutes, until light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl often.
- Add eggs and vanilla and beat for 1 minute longer. Fold in peanut butter.
- Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Fold in finely ground or chopped roasted salted peanuts.
- Chill dough for at least 1 hour or overnight is ideal. After chilling, preheat oven to 350 degrees.Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Roll dough into 2-inch balls. Place remaining sugar into a small bowl. Roll cookie dough balls into sugar to coat. Place on cookie sheet and press each ball twice with a dinner form to form a crisscross design.
- Bake for 10-13 minutes or until the edges become a light golden color. Do not overbake as these are supposed to be soft and chewy. Let the cookies rest for at least 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.
Video
Notes
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Happy Baking, my friends!
Theses were fabulous I added one small thing two teaspoons of powdered milk to the flour. I love PB and these were great. I gave them away with others for Christmas and felt good about the gifts to our neighbors.
These are so good! Soft and chewy… the tiny pieces of pieces add such a nice contrast!
These are the best peanut butter cookies I’ve ever tasted! The added peanuts make them perfect. I’ve made them a few times now and everyone loves them.
My daughter and I made these cookies. We used Jiff’s extra crunchy peanut butter. We didn’t add any additional peanuts to the recipe. I let the dough refrigerate for 2 hours. So delicious! Easy! Highly recommend during the holidays and kiddos homeschooling. Thank you!
I searched Google for a soft and chewy peanut butter cookie – the reviews were great, so I decided to dive in.
Sadly, I’m relatively disappointed. Despite only cooking for 10 minutes, they are dry and not remotely chewy.
So, I’m wondering – what type of PB do you use? I buy the ‘natural’ pb, so I’m thinking the lack of additives in my pb is what contributed to the failure to achieve the chewy texture I was hoping for.
Thoughts?
Hi Ashley! Yes, that’s the exact season. You want to use “regular” peanut butter that is either creamy or crunchy and not the natural variety. Since it doesn’t have any sugar in it, the cookies won’t be as soft and chewy.
You are a LIFESAVER!! These cookies came out wonderfully. Thank you for publishing this recipe. I have always struggled with my peanut butter cookies coming out so dry, but there were perfectly moist and just the right amount of chewy!
Great recipe! I made smaller balls of dough and was able to make five dozen cookies. Although that made the cookies thin, they were still delicious and didn’t fall apart! I will definitely try this recipe again, but with bigger balls of dough for more chewy-ness. Thank you so much!
Wow this recipe is amazing just took first batch out of oven . They are big and good . I did 1 tablespoon of dough for each cookie and I did not chill . My 8 yr old loves them . He is not a pb eater . This is a keeper . Thank you
My husband will only eat soft cookies, so this recipe caught my eye. Excellent recipe! I got 4 1/2 dozen out of this. I did not chill the dough and they came out great.
I followed the recipe but they really flattened – what do you think went wrong? They still taste great and are soft and chewy just way too flat!
Adding a little more flour would probably solve it. You may live in a locale that is more humid than where the recipe was developed, or your butter may have been softer. I made these last night and added a bit of extra flour because the dough consistency was too soft and I knew they would spread despite refrigeration or freezing.
Did you refrigerate the dough?
Mine flattened too, but they are still delicious.