Irresistibly Chewy Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

For peanut butter lovers everywhere: these soft, chewy peanut butter cookies are irresistibly delicious. They bake up with crisp golden edges, crackled tops, and tender, chewy centers.

Why you’ll love it

These peanut butter cookies deliver the perfect balance of texture and flavor: slightly crisp edges, soft chewy middles, and a pronounced peanut butter taste. They are not dry, crumbly, or overly crunchy.

Good cookies should spread a bit, have a soft center, and invite you to reach for another. These do all that—and then some—so plan to hide a few if you don’t want to eat the whole batch.

Key Ingredients

Unsalted butter – Use room-temperature butter so it creams easily with the peanut butter and sugars.

Peanut butter – Regular creamy peanut butter works best here. Natural peanut butter can separate and change the dough’s consistency, so it hasn’t been tested in this recipe.

Sugar & brown sugar – A combination of granulated and light brown sugar gives the cookies a great flavor and the right amount of chew and spread.

Egg – One egg binds the dough and contributes to the cookies’ tender texture.

All-purpose flour – Measure using the spoon-and-level method to avoid packing too much flour into the cup.

Baking soda – Gives the cookies lift and helps create the attractive crackled tops.

Kosher salt – A small pinch enhances the sweetness and rounds out the flavors.

How to Make Peanut Butter Cookies

These cookies are quick and straightforward. Before you begin:

• Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
• Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Baking at 375 gives slightly crisper edges and controlled spread.

Then follow these steps to make the dough:

Cream butter and sugars: In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the room-temperature butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy—about 3 minutes. The mixture should lighten in color and increase in volume.

Add the egg: Beat in the egg until fully incorporated.

Add the dry ingredients: Add the all-purpose flour (spoon-and-level), baking soda, and kosher salt. Mix on low just until a cohesive dough forms; avoid overmixing.

Scoop onto the sheet pan: Use a small cookie scoop to place six 1.5-inch portions onto the prepared pan, spacing them so they can spread.

Bake: Bake for 11 minutes, until the edges are golden but the centers still look slightly underdone. Avoid overbaking to keep the cookies soft.

Cool: Let the cookies cool on the sheet pan for at least 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling. They will firm up as they cool.

Expert Tips

• Avoid overmixing: Mix only until ingredients are combined. Overmixed dough can become tough and spread too much.
• Measure flour correctly: Use the spoon-and-level method to prevent adding excess flour, which can make cookies dry.
• Don’t overbake: Cookies should look a bit underdone when removed from the oven so they remain chewy after cooling.
• Cool on the pan: Allow cookies to set on the sheet for several minutes; moving them too soon can cause them to break.
• Bake multiple pans: You can bake more than one sheet pan at a time to save time.

Storage & Freezing

How to store:

• Cool cookies completely before storing.
• Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

How to freeze:

You can freeze baked cookies or unbaked dough:

• Baked: Cool completely, then freeze in a freezer-safe container or bag for up to 4 months.
• Unbaked dough: Scoop dough onto a parchment-lined sheet and freeze until firm. Transfer frozen dough balls to a freezer bag and bake from frozen—add a minute or two to the baking time if needed.

Variations

• Gluten-free: Substitute a trusted 1:1 gluten-free flour blend in place of all-purpose flour.
• Dairy-free: Use a dairy-free butter substitute or vegan buttery sticks instead of unsalted butter.
• Mix-ins: Fold in chocolate chips, white chocolate, or M&M’s for added flavor and texture.

FAQs

More Peanut Butter Cookie Recipes

• Oat Flour Peanut Butter Cookies
• Almond Flour Peanut Butter Cookies
• Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
• Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
• Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies