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!
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 pb&j thumbprints
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:
- Processed: The cookies truly taste perfect with great texture. They spread less and aren’t as crumbly.
- 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.
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:
After chilling, the cookie dough solidifies and it’s easier to roll into balls:
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.
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:
- Crisp/Old-Fashioned Version: Crispier with less peanut butter punch.
- 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.)
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Cookies (pictured)
- Peanut Butter Blossoms (pictured)
- PB Cookie Cups on page 138 in Sally’s Cookie Addiction
- Peanut Butter M&M Cookies
- Peanut Butter Jam Thumbprint Cookies
- Reese’s Cup Stuffed Cookies
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
- 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
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 (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 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
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (about 185g) creamy peanut butter (see note)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- 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.
- 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.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- 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).
- Bake for 11–12 minutes or until the edges appear set and are very lightly browned. The centers will still look very soft.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- 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.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Stand Mixer or Handheld) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats | Cooling Rack
- 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.
- 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!
- 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.
Can’t wait to try this recipe
I am planning on making these this week, can I make peanut butter blossoms with them without making any changes?
Hi Ella, these cookies use the same base dough as our peanut butter blossoms, but these have an extra Tablespoon of dough to help the cookies keep shape when they’re pressed down with the fork.
Never ever have I left cookies on a cookie sheet for five minutes until today. Worked perfect. Very good.
Best peanut butter cookies I ever made. Thank you
First time using this recipe. Made the cookies for church they loved them and my family at home also. Glad I finally found a recipe to go to
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One of my favorites… I added some chopped, roasted, lightly salted peanuts to the top. I’ll be giving some to my neighbor who helps me with projects around the house.
I’ve made this twice and they are so good. They actually stay soft in my airtight tin box. I am not a great baker but if I just follow your recipes things turn out great. I’m losing my reputation as a horrible cook. Now people are asking me to bake for parties, fundraisers and dinners. Thanks Sally!
This recipe is a must make! My cookies turned out soft in the middle with that perfect crunch on the edges. Great flavor!!
Love this recipe, substituted unsweetened apple sauce for butter due to dairy intolerance and they delicious…
Kind of disappointed that they don’t have a very peanut buttery flavor. Almost kind of bland. It only made 26 cookies using a TBSP for measuring. The instructions were clear though and the consistency was good. Just wish it had more flavor.
I have made these exactly as the recipe calls for, so many times!! My picky kids love them! They are the perfect taste, texture and softness! They do not turn into brick cookies like other peanut butter cookie recipes. Peanut butter cookies tend to look slightly wet or not fully cooked when they are actually done. You can use a spatula to peak underneath the cookie and if it’s barely brown take them out and cool them on a wire rack! Pretty sure we only get 24 normal size cookies-not sure how anyone gets 32 ♀️
Do you have nutrition info? I’m counting calories!
Hi Margo, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Love this recipe and many others from Sally! The instructions and flavors are always on point! The only issue I ran into with this one as well as the sugar cookie recipe, is the amount yielded. Each time I make those two recipes I have to double or triple the amount to yield more than 18-2 cookies.
For this peanut butter recipe it says it yields 32 cookies at I believe 18g. I feel like that would be a very small cookie. I made mine at 34-36g and yielded about 18-20 cookies. Just something for other bakers to keep in mind if you plan on bringing these for a cookie exchange, etc.
I accidentally used 1/2 tsp of salt instead of 1/4 tsp, but that didn’t seem to affect the taste. Also used crunchy peanut butter (that’s all I had) and gluten-free flour and they weren’t too crumbly. Sure they fall apart more easily, but I can pick one up without it falling apart so that’s good. Will definitely keep this recipe.
Best peanut butter cookie recipe ever! Get compliments everytime I make them
I must try this recipe. I do love the old-fashioned recipe that i use but it’s fun to try a new one. I always frost the cookies with thick creamy chocolate frosting to give a Reeses effect. I do leave some cookies just plain. TY
I love mixing chocolate in mine.
Best OB cookies I Ever made not crumbly dodgy in center put 3 chocolate chips on each. THE BEST!!!!!
Really good recipe. They are a delicate cookie. I took out a minute earlier at 9 minutes. I did this for PB blossoms, and just put the chocolates in the freezer. worked perfectly.
Has no other cookie ingredients except peanut butter, then found your recipe! This is so so amazing thank you! I was craving something sweet.
I followed the recipe exactly. The cookies are picture perfect and delicious.
This was just OK for me. I followed the recipe exactly and for me it does not have enough peanut butter flavor. I did like the consistency but overall disappointed and will not make again.
This is by far the best cookie I have ever made
AWSOME,GOOEY,LOVE IT!
Loved this recipe lots. Will make again❤️
I have tried other recipes but this one is surely a keeper for me. Thank you!
Love your recipes. Making this recipe again for Christmas along with your lemon thumb prints. Thank you so much.
This is the PB recipe I always make as they are everyone’s favorite.
I’m wondering if I could make this with the addition of chocolate chips and bake in a square pan instead (bars)? Have a request and need to get them to the UPS Store. I’ve looked at the bars on here, but can’t find what I’m looking for.
Thanks as always.
I loved the flavor of the soft and chewy peanut butter cookies , I followed the recipe exactly yet the entire cookie was dry & crumbly, what could I adjust or add to make the cookie more moist?
Hi Cindy, if the cookies were dry and crumbly, it was probably the result of either over-baking or too much flour. Try reducing the bake time by a minute, and be sure to weigh or spoon & level your flour when measuring it. Hope the next batch turns out better!
I had the same problem with my batch. I realized what I did wrong. Beth was right, too much flour. I misread the instructions on the flour. I packed my measuring cups and leveled them. My Mom told me I was supposed to spoon and level NOT pack and level (like the brown sugar). So I added more creamed butter to the batch. I hope that works! I am baking them in the morning. Wish me luck. Thank you for a very well written recipe! I loved it! Will use again.
Great cookie! Can to dough be made and froze to back at a later time?
Absolutely! See Freezing instructions.