The Best Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe (Soft & Buttery)
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My peanut butter cookie recipe is everything a classic should be. Perfectly sweet (without being overwhelmingly so), soft with slightly crisp edges, and very peanut-forward. They’re made with all butter (no shortening!), brown sugar, and a touch of cornstarch for the perfect, tender, soft and buttery cookie. Recipe includes a how-to video!
This super soft and buttery peanut butter cookie recipe is one of my all-time classic favorites, right up there with my chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles. I have quite a few peanut butter cookie recipes on the blog (a quick search will show you there are at least 13 🫣), but these are my take on the classic.
Why This Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe Works:
- All butter, no shortening. Many classic peanut butter cookie recipes (including the one I grew up with) rely on shortening, which can lend thickness to the cookie but leaves them tasting flat. I swap this ingredient for butter, which not only adds flavor, but creates a tender, richer crumb.
- Slightly underbake for just the right texture. The cookies should come out of the oven looking just barely underdone in the center. Residual heat finishes baking the cookies as they cool, leaving you with chewy centers and cookies that are still soft the next day (and the day after that…)
- Classic look, improved method. We still press them with a fork (it’s tradition, after all 😉) but unlike many recipes these cookies don’t actually need it, the dough is already balanced for just the right spread.
- Adaptable. Add your favorite mix-ins (I include a few of my favorites below!), or head over to my recipes for flourless peanut butter cookies or sourdough peanut butter cookies for those equally tasty versions.
Ingredients
- Peanut butter. I prefer creamy peanut butter, but chunky peanut butter will also work if you want a little extra texture. Natural peanut butter (the kind where the oil separates) or homemade peanut butter can work, but will yield more crumbly, dry cookies.
- Butter. Many recipes (including my family’s recipe growing up) use shortening or a blend of butter and shortening. I developed my peanut butter cookie recipe specifically to use butter and only butter. The result is a cookie that’s soft with a buttery, tender crumb and flavor that makes your eyes roll back in your head.
- Flour. Measure this with a scale or alternatively use the technique in my post on how to measure flour. Adding too much flour to the dough will make for hard, dry, and bland peanut butter cookies.
- Sugar. Growing up, peanut butter cookies were only ever made with granulated sugar. One of the first changes I made when developing my own recipe was to swap out a majority portion of that with brown sugar. This not only adds moisture (thanks to the molasses in brown sugar, but also depth of flavor. We do still keep a bit of the granulated sugar in the dough to keep things from being overwhelming, and I also roll my cookies through granulated sugar for a pretty, sparkly exterior that helps encourage just the right amount of spread and gives them a lovely, delicate and subtle crunch (just on the outside!).
- Cornstarch. Cornstarch acts similarly to flour by absorbing moisture and preventing the cookies from spreading too much, but you need less of it than you do flour and it doesn’t toughen the dough the same way. It’s key for a soft texture and you’ll find it in many of my cookies like my peanut butter blossoms and brown butter chocolate chip cookies.
SAM’S TIP: Feel free to add chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, Reeses pieces, chopped chocolate, or even chopped up Nutter Butters to the dough.
This is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Peanut Butter Cookies
- Step 1: Make the dough. Cream the butter, sugars, and peanut butter together until well combined and smooth, then stir in the egg and vanilla. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients until you have a cohesive dough, then cover and place in the fridge to chill.
- Step 2: Roll through sugar. After chilling (the dough shouldn’t be sticky–if it is, put it back in the fridge), roll 1 ½ tablespoon scoops of dough between your palms. Roll each dough ball through granulated sugar, then place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Step 3: Press with a fork. Use a fork to gently press down into the cookies in a criss-cross pattern to give the cookies a head start on spreading.
- Step 4: Bake. Do not over-bake these cookies! The centers should actually seem just slightly under-baked when they come out of the oven. They will finish baking as they cool on the cookie sheet for perfectly soft and chewy results.
SAM’S TIP: If your first batch of peanut butter cookies comes out a bit too flat, your ingredients may have just been a tad warm, just pop the dough back in the fridge and chill it a bit longer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Since peanut butter is thick and low in moisture, it can keep the cookies from spreading more than you’d expect. Lightly pressing them with a fork gives the spread a head-start (and their signature look).
Peanut butter cookie dough is typically quite dense and needs to be pressed down to encourage spreading and even baking. Typically this is done with the tines of a fork.
With my peanut butter cookies recipe, the fork marks are less necessary (and you can skip it if you prefer unnecessary as these cookies will spread pretty well on their own. However, a peanut butter cookie without the criss-cross design on top just doesn’t seem right to me, so we keep it classic here!
Yes! My peanut butter cookies recipe freezes quite nicely. To do this, simply follow the directions for rolled cookies (if rolling in sugar) or drop cookies (if not rolling in sugar) in my how to freeze cookie dough post.
Over-baking your cookies is a surefire way to ruin their texture, so keep a close eye on them! I actually recommend you remove them from the oven when they’re still a bit soft in the middle, that way they can finish cooking on their cookie sheets outside the oven.
For softer cookies, it’s better to avoid using natural peanut butter AND make sure that you measure your flour properly (see my post on how to use a kitchen scale!).
More Peanut Butter Recipes:
Can’t get enough peanut butter? Try my peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies, peanut butter snickerdoodles, or peanut butter pie next! 🥜
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes, and find my free recipe tutorials on YouTube 💜
(The Actual Best) Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 10 Tablespoons (141 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup (140 g) creamy peanut butter¹
- ⅔ cup (135 g) light brown sugar, tightly packed
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- Additional granulated sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Combine butter, peanut butter, and brown sugar and ¼ cup granulated sugar in a large bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer) and use an electric mixer to beat until creamy and well combined.10 Tablespoons (141 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature, ½ cup (140 g) creamy peanut butter¹, ⅔ cup (135 g) light brown sugar, tightly packed, ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- Add egg and vanilla extract and stir until well-combined.1 large egg, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.1 ½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon salt
- Gradually stir the flour mixture into the peanut butter mixture. Make sure to pause periodically to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure all ingredients are well-combined.
- Cover mixing bowl with plastic wrap and place peanut butter cookie dough in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes to one hour (start with 30 minutes, if the dough is too sticky or your cookies are coming out of the oven too flat, chill for an additional half an hour. This dough may be chilled overnight if you'd like).
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Once dough has chilled, remove from refrigerator and scoop into heaping 1 ½ Tablespoon-sized balls (39g).
- Roll the cookie dough between your palms until smooth and then roll thoroughly in additional granulated sugar. Place on prepared cookie sheet, spacing cookies at least 2" apart.Additional granulated sugar for rolling
- Use the tines of a fork to gently make a criss-cross pattern on the surface of each cookie by slightly pressing down.
- Bake on 350F (175C) for 9-12 minutes. Edges should be just turning golden brown but the cookie centers should appear slightly under-baked, allow cookies to cool completely on the cookie sheets and the centers will finish baking (but remain soft and chewy) as they cool on the cookie sheet. Don't over-bake or the cookies will be dry.
- Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet before enjoying.
Notes
¹Type of Peanut Butter
Crunchy peanut butter would work fine here (just adds texture to the cookies!). While “natural” peanut butter will “work”, the cookies tend to be a bit more dry and crumbly.Freezing
This cookie dough freezes well. Chill the dough as instructed then scoop and roll through sugar and criss-cross with a fork (if desired) before freezing in an airtight container. Cookie dough will still need to bake on 375F but may need an additional minute or so in the oven.Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
This peanut butter cookie recipe was originally published 05/09/2018. The recipe remains the same but more notes, photos and a video have been added to the post to make it as helpful as possible!
They taste awesome,the recipe was easy to follow. I have not been disappointed with any of your recipes. Thank you!
Thank you, Diana! I am so glad that you have enjoyed my recipes and the peanut butter cookies. I appreciate your feedback. 🙂
I only have a stainles steel bowl, will that make a differants in the end product ?
Nope that should work just fine. 🙂
These were a huge favorite for my husband and kids! They held together and cooked perfectly. So soft!!
Thank you for the 5-star review, Krystal. I am so glad that the peanut butter cookies were a hit with your family. 🙂
Hi! Can I use this recipe to make peanut butter blossoms?
Yes, I actually have a peanut butter blossom recipe that is essentially the same, you might want to check that out 🙂
Can I ball out this dough and freeze.
Hello, Amy! Yes that would be fine! They may just need another minute or so to bake. I hope that you enjoy the peanut butter cookies. 🙂
Wooo!!!Another winner of a recipe! Last batch cooling on counter as I type this. From an earlier batch I tried, these taste amazing! They came out really good, only the crisscross pattern with the fork tines didn’t “stay” so to speak. Well after the first batch I did use a little more pressure to press down and that seemed to help. While they don’t look as pretty with the pattern as your photo they do taste great, so that is what matters. Guess just means I will have to make again to perfect my fork tine technique! LOL Thanks again for another great recipe 🙂
Thank you, Megan! I am happy that the peanut butter cookies turned out well. With a few more batches (lol) you will be a pro! Enjoy! 🙂
Excellent recipe, great cookies
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed! 🙂
Hmm and I DID find your WORST cookie recipe and am ready. Btw, years ago I got a wacky idea to add maple flavoring instead of/or half&half with vanilla. Man oh man. Now newly inspired, taking your advice re: cornstarch & butter. Double-ready to bake, once the weather cools some more. You are making us very wicked. Kindest regards 🙂
Thank you so much! I hope you love the cookies! 🙂
Beautiful cookies yummy love the recipe
Thank you so much, Mary! I am so glad you enjoyed the cookies! 🙂
So do we really need cornstarch for this peanutbutter cookie dough? I have everything on hand only missing the cornstarch. Is there a substitute we can use?
Thank you.
Silvia G.
Hi Silvia, I recommend the cornstarch (see my post for more info on why). You can substitute additional flour for the cornstarch but it’s not exactly the same.
Best cookies ever I used crispy M&M’s as well and did the fork pattern halfway through cooking, only because I forgot and they were great.
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Laura! 🙂
Thanks Sam: I tried your Peanut Butter Cookie recipe and they came out delicious. The only thing I didn’t have was cornstarch, but the simply melt in your mouth.
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Marie! 🙂
THE MOST AWESOME EVER PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE RECIPE, AND THE ONLY ONE I WILL NOW EVER USE! SIMPLY CRAZY AWESOME GOOD! JUST MADE AWHILE AGO, AND THEY ARE JUST BEYOND FABULOUS! WILL BE SHARING WITH FAMILY & FRIENDS WHO I KNOW WILL LOVE THEM AS MUCH AS I DO! THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR THIS RECIPE. THE COOKIE ITSELF IS EXTREME EXCELLENCE! PEANUT BUTTER FABULOUS TASTE, PERFECT TEXTURE, CRISPY EDGE , SOFT CHEWY MIDDLE. THE APPEARANCE = GORGEOUS! I DID ADD REESES PEANUT BUTTER CHIPS, ABOUT 3/4 TH CUP.
I am so glad you enjoyed the cookies, Sylvia! I love the addition of the Reese’s chip. Great idea! ☺️
Oh my goodness! These are freaking amazing! Every time I bake from you I feel like my silicone mat can not cook off enough to try what I’m baking from you. I so recommend everyone trying this recipe, I was not disappointed (I never am). These are freaking so good!!! Thank you so much!
Not Cool down*
Sam…do you recommend this recipe can be doubled with ease? I have family and friend that I love to bake for.
Definitely can be doubled, enjoy!! 🙂
Too many recipes with peanut butter? No such thing. Hope to try these soon. Are they good contenders for chipwiches?
Hi Sam- this recipe looks wonderful! Was wondering if you could add chocolate chips to it.
Hi Barb! Yes you could, I actually also have a GREAT peanut butter chocolate chip cookie recipe if you want to check that out!
Sam I would like to cut the recipe in half as it’s only one person consuming. What should I do about the egg? All other ingred can be halved. I would like to make these this week for my husband. Unfortunately I am on a strict calorie controlled diet. But.. I’m invluding one cooking into my daily allotment of 1200 calories!
Hi Michelle! I’m tempted to recommend just using the yolk but I’m worried it won’t come out just right, so what I’d suggest is actually breaking the egg into a small cup, using a fork to gently scramble it, and then just add half of that to the batter and discard the other half. I think just approximately eyeballing it to half the egg should be fine, as the size of eggs generally varies anyway.
I really hope that helps, and I hope you love the cookies!!! 🙂
These are the BEST peanut butter cookies, possibly EVER! Just made them with butterscotch peanut butter, added mini M&M’s, butterscotch chips, and chocolate chips! Did recipe + half to make more! Made 2 bakers dozen. Baked one and froze the other! Goodness now and later. 😉
Thank you so much, Katlyn! I am so glad that you loved the cookies. I hope that you enjoy this recipe for years to come. Thanks for commenting. 🙂