Soft Peanut Butter Cookies
Anyone who knows me knows that I love peanut butter. Peanut butter candy, peanut butter sweets, and just plain peanut butter and jelly. It's just such a distinctly wonderful flavor. Now put peanut butter in a cookie and you've sold me. Let me tell you, these soft peanut butter cookies will surely fill your peanut butter needs. They're full of peanut butter flavor, dense, soft, and chewy. The only downside is you're going to need a big glass of milk to wash them down with because they're that rich. They're so good, but you most likely won't be able to eat more than three at a time. But don't mind me, try it if you dare!
REASONS YOU SHOULD TRY THIS RECIPE:
- these cookies come together in under half an hour
- you don't need a stand mixer
- full of peanut butter goodness
HOW TO MAKE MY SOFT PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES:
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the butter well for a few minutes. Gradually add in the brown sugar and granulated sugar and mix until the mixture is lighter in color and fluffier. It should only take a couple of minutes.
- Next, add in your eggs one at a time while mixing at the lowest speed. Stop the mixer and scrape the bowl and paddle well before starting the mixer again and adding the peanut butter, vanilla, and almond extract. (The almond extract is optional but highly recommended. As for the peanut butter, I recommend using the creamy variety, but you can most likely sub for the chunky if you want to. What's not negotiable is the type of peanut butter. That means you should be using JIF, Skippy, etc. Don't use organic, supernatural peanut butter. It will mess with the recipe if you do.) Mix everything for a couple of minutes until the mixture is uniform in color and texture.
- Stop the mixer and dump in the dried ingredients all at once carefully. You would add in any add-ins you have at this point as well. Mix on low speed for another couple minutes until the mixture is just combined and most of the flour is absorbed. You can finish the job off with a rubber spatula, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl well, along with the paddle attachment.
- The dough should look like this when you're finished mixing.
- Use a medium-sized ice cream or cookie scoop to scoop out two balls of dough and place them in your bowl of sugar. Combine the balls of dough into one and roll it in the palm of your hands until a dough ball forms then toss the dough in the sugar well.
- Use a fork to form a crisis cross pattern on top of the cookie and then place the cookie on your greased parchment-lined cookie sheet or baking tray. It should fit six cookies on a medium-sized tray. Leave some space in between as these cookies do expand. Place the tray of cookies in the fridge for ten minutes.
- After ten minutes in the fridge, bake the cookies in your preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Mine are typically perfect at ten minutes. Pull them out of the oven and allow them to cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before using a spatula to move to a wire rack to cool. Continue this process until you use up all the dough you want to use. You can freeze any leftover dough in an airtight container or a storage bag that's well-sealed.
- Tip: I made both the OG cookie as well as one with Reese's Pieces. You can add in chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or anything else you'd like. To get a bakery-style look, make sure you put the add-ins in the dough as well as on top of the dough prior to baking.
More Great Cookie Recipes
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Soft Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups All-purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 ½ cups light brown sugar you can also use dark brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups creamy peanut butter you can also use crunchy
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract optional, but recommended
- ¼ cup granulated sugar for rolling cookies
- ½ cup Reese's Pieces, peanut butter chips or chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the butter well for a few minutes. Gradually add in the brown sugar and granulated sugar and mix until the mixture is lighter in color and fluffier. It should only take a couple of minutes.
- Next, add in your eggs one at a time while mixing at the lowest speed. Stop the mixer and scrape the bowl and paddle well before starting the mixer again and adding the peanut butter, vanilla, and almond extract. Mix everything for a couple of minutes until the mixture is uniform in color and texture.
- Stop the mixer and dump in the dried ingredients all at once carefully. You would add in any add-ins you have at this point as well. Mix on low speed for another couple minutes until the mixture is just combined and most of the flour is absorbed. You can finish the job off with a rubber spatula, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl well, along with the paddle attachment.
- Use a medium-sized ice cream or cookie scoop to scoop out two balls of dough and place them in your bowl of sugar. Combine the balls of dough into one and roll it in the palm of your hands until a dough ball forms then toss the dough in the sugar well.
- Use a fork to form a crisis cross pattern on top of the cookie and then place the cookie on your greased parchment-lined cookie sheet or baking tray. It should fit six cookies on a medium-sized tray. Leave some space in between as these cookies do expand. Place the tray of cookies in the fridge for ten minutes.
- After ten minutes in the fridge, bake the cookies in your preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Mine are typically perfect at ten minutes. Pull them out of the oven and allow them to cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before using a spatula to move to a wire rack to cool. Continue this process until you use up all the dough you want to use. You can freeze any leftover dough in an airtight container or a storage bag that's well-sealed.
Video
Notes
- I made both the OG cookie as well as one with Reese's Pieces. You can add in chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or anything else you'd like. To get a bakery-style look, make sure you put the add-ins in the dough as well as on top of the dough prior to baking.
- You can freeze leftover dough in an airtight container or a storage bag or store it in the fridge for up to a week. Freezing the dough will last up to six months.
- Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to five days.
- Almond extract is optional, but highly recommended.
