Soft & Thick Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe - Sally's Baking Addiction (2024)

295 Comments

Jump To Recipe

Author: Sally

Published: 04/28/2022Updated: 11/27/2022

These soft, thick, melt-in-your-mouth peanut butter cookies may be the only peanut butter cookie recipe you ever use again. You need just 9 ingredients and the dough can be adapted in many ways to make different variations like peanut butter blossoms and peanut butter jam thumbprints.

This recipe has lived on my site for years and some readers say the cookies taste like the inside of a peanut butter cup. YUM!

Soft & Thick Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe - Sally's Baking Addiction (1)

Why hello there, peanut butter cookie lovers. You’ve come to the right place! This may look familiar, as I have shared a number of peanut butter cookie recipes over the years. But believe me when I say this one is the one to keep in the front of your recipe folder.

This go-to, flagship peanut butter cookies recipe has lived on my website since 2012 and is the same dough used to make these popular peanut butter blossoms among the other 6+ variations listed below. The recipe stands the test of time and even after publishing dozens of other peanut butter recipes online and in my cookbooks… THIS IS THE BEST ONE.

Why You’ll Love These Soft Peanut Butter Cookies

  • Pillow-soft centers with slightly crisp exterior and crumbly edge
  • No-fuss recipe with 9 ingredients
  • Super simple to make
  • Marked with a traditional criss-cross on top
  • Major peanut butter flavor
  • Versatile cookie dough— add mix-ins or turn the dough into
Soft & Thick Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe - Sally's Baking Addiction (2)

Grab These 9 Ingredients:

You can find the full printable recipe below, but first let me tell you some of the keys to recipe success, starting with the ingredients.

Ingredient Success Tips

  • A shockingly small amount of flour. You may look at the recipe below and wonder why there’s so little flour… has Sally completely lost her mind?! Ha! Well, peanut butter and other nut butters act as a binder and can actually replace some or all flour in recipes including these flourless almond butter cookies. Using more flour will dry out the cookies, so stick with the recipe below.
  • More peanut butter than other recipes. Most recipes I’ve tried call for around 1/2 cup of peanut butter with similar amounts of other ingredients. We’re using more.
  • Use creamy peanut butter instead of crunchy. Just like when making peanut butter snickerdoodles, creamy peanut butter is ideal because crunchy peanut butter creates an overly crumbly cookie. Crunchy peanut butter is typically thicker and, well, less creamy! For a soft cookie that stays mostly intact, use creamy peanut butter.
  • A combination of brown sugar + white granulated sugar. Like when you make chocolate chip cookies, it’s ideal to use more brown sugar than white granulated sugar in this dough. Brown sugar lends a softer, moister, and thicker cookie, while white granulated sugar helps the cookies spread. Use both, but use more brown.

Can I Use Natural Peanut Butter in Peanut Butter Cookies?

Yes, you can use natural peanut butter in this dough! Over the past decade, I’ve made these exact cookies with processed peanut butter such as Jif or Skippy as well as natural-style where the ingredients are only peanuts and salt. Here are my notes:

  1. Processed: The cookies truly taste perfect with great texture. They spread less and aren’t as crumbly.
  2. Natural-Style: The cookies spread a bit more and are somewhat sandier/crumblier.

But, most importantly, both cookies have fantastic peanut butter flavor. Keeping the above notes in mind, you can use either kind, just like you can in flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies.

Soft & Thick Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe - Sally's Baking Addiction (4)

Another Success Tip: Chill the Cookie Dough

Chilling the cookie dough in the refrigerator before baking the cookies is crucial to this recipe’s success. The dough is incredibly creamy, almost like peanut butter frosting, and you’ll have a heck of a time trying to roll and bake such a soft dough. Set aside 1–2 hours for chilling, or do yourself a favor and make the dough the night before.

Expect a VERY creamy cookie dough:

Soft & Thick Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe - Sally's Baking Addiction (5)

After chilling, the cookie dough solidifies and it’s easier to roll into balls:

Soft & Thick Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe - Sally's Baking Addiction (6)

After chilling, roll the dough into balls and then generously roll in granulated sugar. Sugar gives these cookies a sparkly sweet exterior with a touch of crunch before giving way to soft, melt-in-your-mouth bliss. Don’t forget the classic criss-cross on top of each cookie, just press with a fork!

Another success tip: After flattening the balls with a fork, use your fingers to reshape the edges into thicker/taller discs, because the thicker the disc, the thicker the baked cookie.

Soft & Thick Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe - Sally's Baking Addiction (8)
Soft & Thick Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe - Sally's Baking Addiction (9)
Soft & Thick Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe - Sally's Baking Addiction (10)

Welcome to the Peanut Butter Cookie Headquarters

Today’s cookies have been my go-to for a decade. If you want to compare, here are 2 other peanut butter cookie doughs and how they differ:

  1. Crisp/Old-Fashioned Version: Crispier with less peanut butter punch.
  2. Very Peanut Butter Cookies: Bigger and crumblier with EXTRA peanut butter flavor. It’s practically today’s recipe, only doubled. This is the same dough we use for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.

The following recipes use today’s dough. (Note that the plain cookies have an extra Tablespoon of flour to retain shape because we’re flattening with a fork.)

  1. Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Cookies (pictured)
  2. Peanut Butter Blossoms (pictured)
  3. PB Cookie Cups on page 138 in Sally’s Cookie Addiction
  4. Peanut Butter Jam Thumbprint Cookies
  5. Reese’s Cup Stuffed Cookies
Soft & Thick Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe - Sally's Baking Addiction (11)
Soft & Thick Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe - Sally's Baking Addiction (12)

So whether you’re looking for a classic criss-cross cookie or want to add some flair, this soft-baked peanut butter cookie is the ideal base recipe for many variations.

Print

Soft & Thick Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe - Sally's Baking Addiction (13)

Soft & Thick Peanut Butter Cookies

5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star4.7 from 112 reviews

  • Author: Sally
  • Prep Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes (includes chilling)
  • Cook Time: 12 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
  • Yield: 32 cookies
  • Category: Cookies
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
Print Recipe

Save Recipe

Description

These are the softest, thickest peanut butter cookies! You need just 9 ingredients for the base recipe, and it can be adapted in so many ways to make different variations (see post above). Do not skip chilling the dough.

Ingredients

  • 1 and 1/3 cups (170g)all-purpose flour()
  • 1/2 teaspoonbaking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoonsalt
  • 1/2 cup(1 stick;115g)unsalted butter,softened to room temperature
  • 1/2 cup(100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup(50g)granulated sugar, plus 1/2 cup (100g) for rolling
  • 1largeegg, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup (about 185g) creamypeanut butter (see note)
  • 1 teaspoonpure vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  2. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute on high speed until creamy. Switch to medium-high speed and beat in the brown sugar and 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar until completely creamed and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and beat until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the peanut butter and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
  3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat on low speed until combined. The dough will be very creamy and soft. Cover and chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for at least 1–2 hours, and up to 3 days.
  4. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
  5. Roll & coat the dough: Place remaining 1/2 cup (100g) of sugar into a bowl. Roll chilled cookie dough into balls, about 1 scant Tablespoon (5/8 ounce or 18g) of dough each. Roll each ball in the sugar and arrange on baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Use a fork to make a criss-cross indent on top of each. To prevent the cookies from over-spreading, after indenting the cookies, use your fingers to reshape into a thicker disc (since indenting the balls flattened them out).
  6. Bake for 11–12 minutes or until the edges appear set and are very lightly browned. The centers will still look very soft.
  7. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  8. Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Notes

  1. Make-ahead instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls, without sugar coating, freeze well for up to 3 months. Let frozen cookie dough balls sit on the counter for 30 minutes, roll in sugar, indent a crisscross pattern with a fork, then bake for an extra minute. No need to completely thaw. See How to Freeze Cookie Dough for more success tips.
  2. Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Stand MixerorHandheld) |Baking Sheets |Silicone Baking Mats | Cooling Rack
  3. Peanut butter: Creamy peanut butter is ideal for this recipe because crunchy peanut butter creates an overly crumbly cookie. You can use processed peanut butter such as Jif or Skippy, or natural-style peanut butter. If using natural peanut butter, make sure it’s at room temperature, stirred well, and expect a slightly crumblier cookie. 3/4 cup of peanut butter weighs anywhere between 185–195g.
  4. Can I use almond butter? Yes, you can use almond butter in this cookie recipe; however, expect a crumblier cookie. You may enjoy these flourless almond butter cookies more, though!
  5. Can I add chocolate chips or other add-ins? Yes, in step 3 after the dry and wet ingredients come together, you can fold in 1 cup add-ins like chocolate chips (180g), peanut butter chips (180g), or chopped salted or unsalted peanuts (150g). Skip indenting the cookies with a fork.
Soft & Thick Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe - Sally's Baking Addiction (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to making cookies soft and chewy? ›

It's not the egg, all-purpose flour, or even the vanilla extract. The simple, yet oh-so-necessary component is cornstarch. That's right, the flavorless thickening agent used for soups, stews, and curries is also the secret weapon for baked goods that boast a silky-smooth mouthfeel.

What happens if you add too much peanut butter to peanut butter cookies? ›

This may not sound like a lot, but it is enough that it can affect the quality of your cookies – adding too much peanut butter can make them dry, hard, and crumbly.

What peanut butter makes the best cookies? ›

Peanut Butter: It's best to use a processed peanut butter like Jif creamy or Skippy creamy. I do not suggest using natural style, oily peanut butter. Crunchy peanut butter adds peanut chunks as well as a more crumbly texture. I prefer to use creamy in this recipe.

What are the ingredients to peanut butter cookies? ›

How do you keep cookies thick and chewy? ›

Chill the cookie dough.

Chilling cookie dough helps prevent spreading. The colder the dough, the less the cookies will over-spread into greasy puddles. You'll have thicker, sturdier, and more solid cookies. Whenever I make cookies, I plan ahead and chill the cookie dough overnight.

What makes cookies chewy and not hard? ›

Different types of sugars affect the texture because they absorb different amounts of water. Remember moisture is the key! White sugar creates crispier cookies and brown sugar creates chewier cookies.

How do you thicken peanut butter cookie dough? ›

Soft – Dough that's “soft” or “runny” can be thickened by adding one or two tablespoons of flour to your mix. This will help keep your batch from “Spreading” and coming out of the oven looking like flat, not-so-cookie-like puddles.

Why are my peanut butter cookies always hard? ›

If your peanut butter cookies are hard, you likely cooked them for too long. They should not be baked for more than 8 or 9 minutes.

Why is my homemade peanut butter thick? ›

Check the consistency — if it seems too thick or dry, add oil, a teaspoon at a time, until you are happy with it. 1Roast the peanuts as directed in the basic recipe above, then add them to the bowl of a food processor.

Is it better to use butter or shortening in peanut butter cookies? ›

Butter will make your cookies taste buttery; shortening will make them taste suspiciously vacant, like Katy Perry's voice post-autotune. Yes, shortening yields chewier cookies than butter does, because butter contains water and shortening doesn't.

Why do you smash peanut butter cookies? ›

It's been the “mark” of this classic treat for more than eighty years, and for good reason: by flattening this dense cookie dough, it ensures that each cookie bakes evenly. Our kitchen-tested recipe is a classic. In fact, home cooks from all over have said these are the best peanut butter cookies they've ever made!

Why do you put fork marks on peanut butter cookies? ›

So it looks like that there are utilitarian reasons for the cross-hatching—to allow for even cooking—but it might have been passed along for nearly a hundred years for primarily aesthetic reasons, where the cross-hatching is more to identify the cookies as peanut butter ones, rather than to cook them well.

Why are my peanut butter cookies too soft? ›

If the dough seems too soft, chill it for 10 to 15 minutes before baking. Use shortening instead of butter or a combination of the two if you don't want to sacrifice that buttery flavor. The dough was too wet. Using the wrong size egg could also add extra liquid, resulting in too much spreading.

Why are my peanut butter cookies dry and crumbly? ›

If you're wanting to use natural (no sugar added) peanut butter, the cookies will be less sweet and they will likely spread out more. Using natural peanut butter will change the structure and texture of the cookies. Why are my cookies dry and crumbly? This is most likely a classic case of using too much flour.

Can you use baking soda instead of baking powder? ›

Baking soda can be substituted for baking powder by dividing the amount of baking powder needed by 4 and adding twice that amount of cream of tartar. Baking soda or baking powder are essential for your baked goods to come out light, airy, and with the right texture.

Should I use baking soda or baking powder in cookies? ›

Baking soda is typically used for chewy cookies, while baking powder is generally used for light and airy cookies. Since baking powder is comprised of a number of ingredients (baking soda, cream of tartar, cornstarch, etc.), using it instead of pure baking soda will affect the taste of your cookies.

What determines the moistness of a cookie? ›

Water in the butter will aid in leavening the cookie during baking and any remaining water after baking will contribute to moistness in the cookie's texture. The higher butter cookie has slightly more spread than the low butter and control. The biggest difference is in the flavor and mouthfeel of the cookie.

How to make cookie dough more moist? ›

There are a few things you can do to add liquid to your cookie dough if it is too dry and crumbly. One option is to add milk, water, or another liquid until the dough is the right consistency. You can also try adding melted butter or shortening. If your dough is still too dry, you may need to add more flour.

Does melting butter make cookies chewy? ›

For chewier cookies and bars, we melt our butter instead of following the usual procedure of creaming softened butter with sugar. This simple switch frees up the water content of the butter so that it can freely interact with the flour in the dough or batter.

Top Articles
The Best Time To Post On Instagram In 2022 | Statusbrew
Airbnb Lockbox: How to Provide Self-Check-In to Your Guests | iGMS
Nehemiah 4:1–23
Phcs Medishare Provider Portal
Meer klaarheid bij toewijzing rechter
Otis Department Of Corrections
Ou Class Nav
Full Range 10 Bar Selection Box
R/Altfeet
Seafood Bucket Cajun Style Seafood Restaurant in South Salt Lake - Restaurant menu and reviews
Facebook Marketplace Charlottesville
All Buttons In Blox Fruits
DoorDash, Inc. (DASH) Stock Price, Quote & News - Stock Analysis
Wal-Mart 140 Supercenter Products
Ess.compass Associate Login
Jellyfin Ps5
Zoe Mintz Adam Duritz
Satisfactory: How to Make Efficient Factories (Tips, Tricks, & Strategies)
Food Universe Near Me Circular
Tripadvisor Napa Restaurants
Mj Nails Derby Ct
C&T Wok Menu - Morrisville, NC Restaurant
Shadbase Get Out Of Jail
Jeff Nippard Push Pull Program Pdf
Znamy dalsze plany Magdaleny Fręch. Nie będzie nawet chwili przerwy
Kimoriiii Fansly
Jurassic World Exhibition Discount Code
Jesus Calling Feb 13
HP PARTSURFER - spare part search portal
Persona 4 Golden Taotie Fusion Calculator
3 Bedroom 1 Bath House For Sale
Kltv Com Big Red Box
Att U Verse Outage Map
Joplin Pets Craigslist
Weekly Math Review Q4 3
Http://N14.Ultipro.com
Devin Mansen Obituary
Austin Automotive Buda
Prior Authorization Requirements for Health Insurance Marketplace
Valls family wants to build a hotel near Versailles Restaurant
2017 Ford F550 Rear Axle Nut Torque Spec
Ssc South Carolina
Gli italiani buttano sempre più cibo, quasi 7 etti a settimana (a testa)
The Great Brian Last
Kate Spade Outlet Altoona
Bonecrusher Upgrade Rs3
Espn Top 300 Non Ppr
Quest Diagnostics Mt Morris Appointment
15:30 Est
View From My Seat Madison Square Garden
Fetllife Com
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Aracelis Kilback

Last Updated:

Views: 5762

Rating: 4.3 / 5 (64 voted)

Reviews: 95% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Aracelis Kilback

Birthday: 1994-11-22

Address: Apt. 895 30151 Green Plain, Lake Mariela, RI 98141

Phone: +5992291857476

Job: Legal Officer

Hobby: LARPing, role-playing games, Slacklining, Reading, Inline skating, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Dance

Introduction: My name is Aracelis Kilback, I am a nice, gentle, agreeable, joyous, attractive, combative, gifted person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.