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Peanut Butter Cookies

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The easiest recipe for soft and chewy, Classic Peanut Butter Cookies topped with a sprinkle of sea salt! These kid-friendly cookies come together in about 30 minutes. They’re full of peanut butter flavor and downright irresistible!

A stack of homemade peanut butter cookies.

Classic Homemade Peanut Butter Cookies

This is the best recipe for classic peanut butter cookies! Easy to make and even better to snack on, this is a great cookie recipe to get the kids involved. The cookie dough comes together in minutes (zero chilling required!) and the end result is the most tender, soft and chewy cookies full of peanut-y goodness. 

These homemade cookies are even topped with a sprinkle of sea salt to really make the flavor pop. A fresh batch of sweet and salted peanut butter cookies is hard to resist – I dare you to eat just one!

If you are running low on some of the ingredients, give our 3-ingredient peanut butter cookies a try.

The ingredients for homemade peanut butter cookies.

What You’ll Need

  • Peanut Butter – Creamy that’s shelf-stable will give the best outcome. See below for more advice on the best peanut butter to use!
  • Sugar – A combination of brown sugar and regular white sugar, for the perfect chewy cookie texture!
  • Butter – One stick of unsalted butter, softened.
  • Vanilla – Pure vanilla extract will always have the most authentic flavor!
  • Flour – I use unbleached flour for the slightly denser texture it brings to these cookies.
  • Egg – only one egg is needed.
  • Baking Soda and Powder – using both gives the perfect texture.
  • Sea Salt – Optional, but highly recommended for the crunch factor (and boost of flavor)!
A whole peanut butter cookie is held up.

What Kind of Peanut Butter is Best?

As mentioned, regular creamy peanut butter (think Jif or Skippy) works best. 

Chunky peanut butter will also work if you’re after the extra texture and crunch. Just make sure you add in about a ¼ cup extra to compensate for the dry chunks of peanuts.

However, natural butters tend to separate and can lead to mixed results, particularly cookies that are dry and crumbly. For this reason, stick to the shelf-stable options!

How to Make Soft & Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

In three quick steps you can have this easy, no-chill cookie dough ready to bake!

Combine the ingredients. Soften the butter in the microwave. Add in the peanut butter and sugar, followed by the egg and vanilla, and finally the flour, baking powder and soda to form the dough.

Scoop out the dough. Drop even-sized scoops of cookie dough onto a lined cookie sheet. Using a fork, gently press vertical lines into the tops of the cookies, to give them that classic look. Give the dough a sprinkle of sea salt.

Baked peanut butter cookies on a cooling rack.

Bake. Bake the cookies in a preheated oven, and then allow them to cool.

Can I Make the Dough in Advance?

You can make this peanut butter cookie dough up to 3 days in advance. The dough will need to return to room temperature before you plan to scoop it onto the baking trays, so remember to take it out of the fridge approximately half an hour before you plan on baking it!

A stack of peanut cookie halves.

Tips for Success

  • Use real butter where possible. These cookies turn out the best when they’re made with real butter, and not shortening or imitation butters.
  • Don’t forget the fork marks! Since the cookie dough won’t spread as naturally when baking, gently pressing down the cookie tops with a fork helps the cookies bake more evenly. 
  • Use a kitchen scale to measure. For the most accurate results, a kitchen scale is always the first choice! If you don’t have one, a handy trick is to measure ingredients like flour by spooning it into the measuring cup, and then levelling it off.
  • Add chocolate. Get creative with dipping your cookies in chocolate, giving them a chocolate drizzle, or even adding in a handful of chocolate chips! Chocolate and peanut butter = winning combo!
A plate of peanut butter cookies next to a measuring cup full of peanut butter.

Storage Instructions

Store these cookies airtight at room temperature, in a cool and dry location.

Do These Freeze Well?

The baked cookies can be stored frozen for up to 3 months! Place the cookies in a freezer-safe container or bag, with parchment paper between layers to keep them from sticking. Thaw the cookies at room temperature and enjoy!

A stack of two cookies, one with a bite taken out of it.

More Easy Peanut Butter Cookies to Try

Peanut Butter Cookies Feature
5 from 145 votes

Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

Soft and chewy peanut butter cookies are easy to make in about 30 minutes! You're going to love munching on these classic cookies, full of peanut butter flavor and sprinkled with sea salt.
Servings: 20 cookies
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 8 minutes
Cooling Time: 15 minutes
Total: 33 minutes

Ingredients
  

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Soften butter in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Microwave an additional 5 seconds if needed.
  • Add peanut butter, brown sugar, and sugar and mix well until smooth.
  • Add egg and vanilla.
  • Slowly stir in the flour baking powder and baking soda.
  • Scoop dough out and shape into balls (2 Tablespoons) then place onto baking sheet spacing 2 inches apart.
  • Use a fork and create horizontal and vertical lines for the classic look of peanut butter cookies (flattening just slightly).
  • Sprinkle the cookies with sea salt (if desired) and bake for 9 minutes (cookies will look a bit pale and slightly under-baked, they'll continue to cook as they cool).
  • Let cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes before moving to the cooling rack.

Last Step:

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Nutrition

Calories: 174kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 89mg | Potassium: 89mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 154IU | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 0.4mg

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188 comments on “Peanut Butter Cookies”

  1. 5 stars
    Delicious. These cookies were a big hit. I chilled the dough for about 1/2 hour & used small scoop for consistent round cookies.

  2. 5 stars
    My son and I just used this recipe. The cookies are delicious! Now I have a wonderful recipe for peanut butter cookies.

  3. 5 stars
    I’ve been looking for years for a great peanut butter cookie and this is it! The peanut flavor, texture and taste are outstanding. Chefs kiss…

  4. I just made these and they are delicious. I added chopped honey toasted peanuts for a crunch and it was perfect. I placed the rest of the unused batter in the freezer, hoping that will not effect the flavor.

  5. 5 stars
    I made these and added chocolate chips, they were easy, quick and delicious! Thanks for a great recipe.

  6. I’ll be starting my Cookie Baking on December 10th so I’m thrilled to try out some of these cookies that I found on your page. There are so many choices listed here and they sound pretty easy to make. I’ll let you know how friends and family felt about them. Have a wonderful Christmas !!!

  7. What kind of peanut butter did you use? I’m hoping my Adams all natural will work
    Been looking for a great peanut butter cookie recipe!

    1. Hi Cherie. We did not use all natural for this recipe but you should not have any issue doing so and the recipe should deliver similar results. Let us know how they turn out!

    1. Hi Shetna. Yes, since there is only one egg, you should be fine using any egg substitute.

  8. My husband loves them. I’ll definitely be using this recipe again. Very easy. I did sprinkle sugar on the top of each cookie to keep the fork from sticking.

  9. You never mentioned adding the butter. I hope I’m right in assuming it gets stirred in with the sugar & peanut butter?

  10. 5 stars
    I just made these and forgot to add the flour but I’m commenting this, because it still tastes AMAZING! It’s not able to be picked up like a cookie. I’m having to eat it with a spoon but the best way I can describe. It is almost like a corn pudding texture without the corn.

    I am going to try this again with flour lol but if you have an intolerance to flour, you can still make this the exact same way. You’ll just have to eat it with a spoon.

    1. Thanks Rachel! I’ve done this before as well with other recipes with certain ingredients. Glad you were able to still eat them!

  11. Your recipe says 1.5 cups unsalted butter. Then you have 1 stick (softened) immediately after. Those are 2 very different measurements! 1.5 cups = THREE sticks of butter. YIKES! Had I not read the text of your post, which I usually don’t, I wouldn’t have known that 1 stick is the correct measurement. Are all of the other measurements correct? I really want to make this recipe!

  12. 5 stars
    So easy and yummy. I added an extra minute to the bake. And also made a batch with Heath Bar pieces.

  13. 5 stars
    I just made these cookies today and they were great and easy to make and they taste so yummy… These will be my go to peanut butter cookies. Thanks for your recipe.