This is the Perfect Soft Peanut Butter Cookies recipe! No old fashioned criss-cross necessary, these peanut butter cookies melt in your mouth!
Make sure to try my Peanut Butter Blossoms too! My recipe is perfection!
I feel like I have recreated a classic here, guys. I am so super excited to share this recipe for the BEST Peanut Butter Cookies in the game. Of course I am a peanut butter cookie fan…and while I have even made many peanut butter cookie recipes here on my site I have never LOVED a peanut butter cookie as a standalone item. Is that weird?
I think peanut butter cookies are sometimes too peanut buttery? Is that a thing? Or often times they are too crumbly which is never a cookie goal. OR you get that sticky peanut butter “feeling” in your mouth. I don’t know, I can’t describe it, but I know you know…
You will find NONE of those issues here today with this Perfect SOFT Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe.
What To Expect:
- My recipe has the EXACT right amount of peanut butter, a slightly crispy edge and a soft middle.
- The addition of peanut butter chips is optional, but makes them really great adding a creamy sweetness
- A “melt in your mouth” texture that is original to this recipe and totally different from the crumbly, dry texture of a typical peanut butter cookie!
Ingredients:
- Butter at room temperature
- Creamy peanut butter
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Large egg
- Vanilla extract
- Cornstarch
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Kosher salt
- All purpose flour
- Peanut butter chips – you could even use chocolate or white chocolate chips to mix it up!
- This recipe is spectacularly easy…just a few little tweaks to keep them from being too thick, hence no crisscross necessary.
- I add a teaspoon of cornstarch to the dough, which gives the cookies a slightly melty texture, while keeping the cookie centers soft.
- Also I recommend using a combination of baking soda and baking powder in this peanut butter cookie recipe, which gives these cookies the perfect height without being cakey. The cookies will puff up ever so slightly in the oven due to the baking powder and then settle a touch while they are cooling to create a soft crinkly texture.
- I like also like to use a butter/peanut butter combo to tone the flavor down a bit. Some peanut butter cookie recipes use only peanut butter, and while that’s great for flavor, it tends to make the cookies a little crumbly.
- Finally I use a combination of granulated sugar and brown sugar in my pb cookie recipe, which helps give the edges an itty-bitty crisp, while still having the depth of flavor that the brown sugar brings.
- Another great tip when baking these cookies, as well as any cookie recipe, is to use a cookie scoop to portion out the dough. This ensures that all the cookies are the same size and shape!
- And notice these peanut butter cookies don’t have the famous criss-cross pattern! Since there is no chilling of the dough it’s fairly sticky and will be really difficult to roll into a ball, so if you don’t have a scoop do your best using a heaping tablespoon.
- And like I said before, I like to add peanut butter chips in this recipe. You can add them before they bake or as soon as they come out of the oven. It’s a step you certainly can skip, if you wan to, or find yourself fresh out, but including the chips adds a creamy sweetness to the cookie. And like I said earlier, you can add white chips, milk chips, or even semi-sweet chips!
When they are baked up they will look like this…
I know these will now be your go-to peanut butter cookie recipe.
- Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
- Thick and Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
- Peanut Butter Stuffed Chocolate Cookies
- Homemade Nutter Butter Cookies
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 24 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Dessert
Description
The best SOFT peanut butter cookies EVER!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, room temp
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup peanut butter chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat and set aside.
- Add the butter and peanut butter into the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Turn the mixer onto medium speed and mix for 1 minute, or until smooth and combined. Add both sugars and with the mixer still on medium beat the mixture for 2 minutes until pale in color and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add in the egg and vanilla and continue mixing for 45 more seconds until combined and smooth.
- Add in the cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder and salt and mix for an additional few seconds until combined.
- Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour, mixing until the dough comes together. Stir in the peanut butter chips evenly.
- Using a medium cookie scoop (2 tablespoons) scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, placing the scoops 2 inches apart.
- Garnish with extra peanut butter chips, if desired.
- Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes until they are golden at the edges.
- Remove the pan from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 4-5 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Store airtight for up to 3 days at room temperature
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 155
- Sugar: 11.5 g
- Sodium: 104.6 mg
- Fat: 9.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 16.4 g
- Protein: 2.6 g
- Cholesterol: 19.4 mg
Keywords: peanut butter cookies, recipe, best peanut butter cookies, peanut butter
This is my FAVOURITE cookie recipe! I have lost count of how many times I’ve made it over the years. Thank you! I want to make it for some vegan friends if possible. I have a good butter substitute but I’m not sure about how to substitute the eggs. Do you have any suggestions?
★★★★★
I have a whole post written about subbing eggs in baking! Here you go! https://cookiesandcups.com/best-egg-substitutes-for-baking/
After the very 1st time I baked these, it was love at 1st bite!!! They are amazingly delicious!!! My only go to PB cookie!!
★★★★★
These are delicious! I didn’t have any cornstarch on hand and they still turned out great. I will definitely be making these again!
★★★★★
these are my favourite peanut butter cookies of all time, my neighbours, family, friends, and coworkers are always asking for more!! i always mix up a big batch and flash freeze the scooped out portions so i can have fresh baked cookies whenever! still only takes 10 or so minutes to bake and turn out just as yummy.. thanks for the recipe 🙂
★★★★★
Thank you so much for the review!!
I have to say hands down this is the best peanut butter cookie recipe I’ve ever used and I bake a lot. I did refrigerate the dough and just let come to room temp for about 1/2hr. Still took about 10 1/2 min. They do flatten out some and I didn’t have a problem with sticky dough
★★★★★
Love hearing that you enjoyed them!!
These are the best PB cookies ever!!
Thank you!! So glad you like them!!
wow these taste exactly like the peanut butter cookies from Insomnia Cookies! I’m in love. this is my new favorite recipe! (:
★★★★★
This is a fantastic recipe! Not only did I use the pb chips but I also added reese pieces and mini cups to the dough. They were a huge hit! I even started dating the guy I have been crushing on once he ate those cookies. Thank you!
★★★★★
I’m a beginner and this recipe was so easy! I used a hand mixer because that’s all I have, but it still made the dough fluffy and it scooped extremely easily. These are easily the best homemade cookies I’ve ever made!
★★★★★
Love hearing that!!
I wanted to post a picture, but there isn’t an option for it. I followed the recipe to the letter and my dough was VERY sticky. I tried putting it in the fridge to harden up so I can scoop it, but it didn’t work. I baked them anyway and they are super flat. They taste good, but they’re just really flat and not at all like the picture. I’m not sure what I did wrong
Hi Star, it sounds like by accident you might have forgotten to add the salt. The salt mixed with the baking soda and/or baking powder is what makes the cookie rise 🙂