With their sparkly sugar exteriors and crinkly tops, my Peanut Butter Crinkle Cookies are a unique alternative to classic peanut butter cookies. They take just 15 minutes to prep and are so fun to make with kids! Recipe includes a how-to video (and quite a few bloopers, too)!
The Sparkliest Cookies
Peanut butter crinkle cookies are a fun and simple changeup from classic peanut butter cookies. My recipe makes thin and chewy, soft and irresistible peanut butter cookies with satisfying crinkly crackles throughout the surface (similar to snickerdoodles or chocolate crinkle cookies!). They have a great peanut butter flavor and a frosty sugar coating that’s just so pretty.
I love this recipe because it’s easy to make (it does involve some chilling though) and uses ingredients you’ll already have on hand. It’s also so much fun to make with kids–as you’ll see if you take a peek at the video in the recipe card 🙃
Why make my recipe:
- Quick chilling time–just 30 minutes!
- Unique flavor and texture combination.
- Can be made in advance.
- Uses just a handful of simple ingredients.
- EASY!
What You Need
You need just 11 basic ingredients to make these cookies! Here are a few of them in detail.
- Butter. For best results, use unsalted butter and make sure it’s softened (but not so soft that it’s melty or oily) before you start. If you only have salted butter, reduce the salt in the recipe to ½ teaspoon.
- Brown sugar. Typically I like to use light brown sugar in most of my cookie recipes, but we’re opting for dark brown sugar here for a rich flavor and super chewy texture. The subtle molasses flavor pair surprisingly beautifully with the peanut butter (I initially worried they’d clash) and makes the peanut butter crinkle cookies utterly irresistible.
- Peanut butter. Use regular peanut butter, not the “natural” kind that separates. Natural peanut butter just doesn’t mesh well with most of the baked goods on my website, unfortunately (mega-unfortunately, considering it’s my preferred peanut butter for any other use).
- Coarse sugar. For rolling, we’ll use a coarse sugar like turbinado or sanding sugar. If you don’t have either on hand, plain granulated sugar will also work.
SAM’S TIP: This recipe will work best if your eggs are at room temperature before starting. If you forgot to set yours out in advance (or don’t have much patience) check out my how to quickly bring eggs to room temperature post for a few tips on how to do this!
Remember, 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 Crinkle Cookies
- Cream the butters – Beat together the butter, peanut butter, and sugars until creamy.
- Stir in the eggs – Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.
- Add the dry ingredients – Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gradually add them to the wet ingredients.
- Let it chill – Cover the dough in plastic wrap and let chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Roll through sugar – Roll 1.5 tablespoon-sized scoops through coarse sugar before placing on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake and enjoy! Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes and let them cool completely on their sheets before enjoying. They’ll be a bit puffed when they first come out of the oven but as they cool they settle and flatten.
SAM’S TIP: Make sure your cookie sheets are completely cool before adding your next batch of cookie dough! Placing cookie dough on a hot cookie sheet will cause the dough to start cooking and spread too much.
Frequently Asked Questions
This can happen for several reasons: if your cookies were placed on a hot cookie sheet, your dough wasn’t chilled long enough, your baking powder is bad, or your sugar coating wasn’t applied evenly.
Yes! You can chill the dough for up to 24 hours, or you can freeze the cookie dough using the instructions for sugar coated cookies in my how to freeze cookie dough post.
If your cookies are dry, you may have just over-baked them. They should still look a bit underdone when you pull them out of the oven, and this is okay! We’ll let them finish cooking on their cookie sheets for soft and chewy results.
Over-measuring your flour can also cause dry cookies, so make sure you know how to measure flour properly.
Today’s video has some funny bloopers featuring Luke, so if you need a laugh, definitely give it a watch (and make sure you watch through the end!) 😆
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Peanut Butter Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup (245 g) creamy peanut butter
- 1 ¼ cups (250) dark brown sugar firmly packed
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature preferred
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups (310) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoons salt
- ½ cup (100 g) coarse/turbinado sugar for rolling (may substitute regular granulated sugar)
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Combine butter, peanut butter, and sugars and use an electric mixer to beat together until smooth and creamy.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, 1 cup (245 g) creamy peanut butter, 1 ¼ cups (250) dark brown sugar, ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- Add eggs and vanilla extract and stir until combined.2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.2 ½ cups (310) all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ¾ teaspoons salt
- With mixer on low-speed, gradually add dry ingredients to wet, stirring until completely combined.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
- Once dough has chilled, preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside. Measure out your coarse sugar in a small bowl.½ cup (100 g) coarse/turbinado sugar
- Remove dough from refrigerator and scoop by 1 ½ Tablespoon-sized scoops. Roll dough between your palms to make it smooth, then roll in coarse sugar until completely covered.
- Place cookie dough on baking sheet, spacing at least 2” apart.
- Transfer to center rack of 350F (175C) oven and bake for 9-11 minutes. Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet before enjoying.
Notes
Peanut butter
I recommend using classic creamy peanut butter and avoiding the “natural” variety that tends to separate.Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Dorothy Williams
Can the balls be made and froze? Then taken out and thawed then roll in sugar?
Sam
Hi Dorothy! Yes that would be fine. Note that when baked from frozen the cookies sometimes take longer to bake and do not always spread quite as much, but they’ll still taste good!
Jill
Luke is so cute. Loved when he was putting the butte in the bowl. Making these cookies soon. Merry Christmas.
Sam
I hope you love them, Jill! Merry Christmas! 🙂
Bruce
I’ve never heard of peanut butter crinkle cookies, so I’ll definitely try these. Tonight I’m making your peanut butter fudge. I don’t have any butter softened, so these cookies probably won’t happen tonight, but it’s only 6:00, so it’s still possible.
Luke really takes well to the camera!
Sam
I hope you love them, Bruce! He’s a little star in the making for sure! 🙂
Cathy
I made these cookies today and they are awesome! I did not chill the dough and the cookies came out great. They are light and soft.
I highly recommend.
Sam
I just baked your peanut butter blossoms last night, along with two other types of cookies for my sons’ teachers. I might just have to add this to the kids’ Christmas baking festivities tomorrow night. lol! Thanks for inspiring a typical day at the office with yet another scrumptious-looking recipe.
I’m never disappointed coming here.
Sam
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed all of the recipes, Sam! 🙂
jim hynes
He is adorable. I bet that was a lot of fun. 3 minutes!!!! Loved it.
Oh, and I am making these today. I found some “Snickers” sugar and will roll some of them in that. And some as reccomended.
Sam
It was a lot of fun! He is a real trip! I hope you love the cookies! 🙂