Mom’s Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe

By Becky Hardin

Published Oct 7, 2019

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These peanut butter cookies are just like Mom used to make! Quick and easy to make, these cookies are ready to eat in 20 minutes. This is the best peanut butter cookie recipe, and the only one you will need!

I’m so excited to share this amazing peanut butter cookie recipe with you today! They are soft, chewy and literally melt in your mouth!

How to Make Mom’s Peanut Butter Cookies

• Heat oven to 350°F and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. (If not using parchment, do NOT grease the baking sheets.)
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, add butter and peanut butter. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes until completely incorporated.
• Add the brown and granulated sugars and beat an additional 2-3 minutes or until smooth, creamy and paler in color.
• Add the egg and vanilla and beat another 1 minute.
• In another large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, table salt, sea salt and cinnamon.
• Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and turn the mixer to low speed. Mix until the flour is almost incorporated. There should be just a little flour visible.
• Remove the mixing bowl from the mixer and add the peanut butter chips, if using.
• Stir the dough gently just until all flour is incorporated.
• Use an 1.5” scoop to scoop balls onto the baking sheet 2-inches apart. (If you don’t have a cookie scoop – use about 1½ tablespoons of dough per cookie and roll the dough into balls.)
• Lightly sprinkle the cookies with powdered sugar.
• To put fork marks into the cookies, gently press the fork onto the cookie dough – being sure to crisscross the fork to get that traditional “peanut butter cookie” appearance.
• Bake 9-10 minutes at 350°F or until the edges of the cookies are set.
• Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and…
• Enjoy!

Peanut butter cookies with brown sugar

This cookies are beautifully rich and flavorful, and that’s partly down to the fact that there’s brown sugar in the dough. Brown sugar contains more molasses than white, which results in a deeper flavor. But it’s not just the flavor, the brown sugar also helps to create a thicker cake like cookie.

How do you know when the cookies are baked?

Because of the peanut butter in the cookies, it can be a bit tricky to tell when the cookies are done. Check the edge of the cookies, the should be set and light brown. You may need to take them out of the oven quickly for a closer look and check they are done.

What’s the best peanut butter to use in these cookies?

I prefer to use creamy peanut butter in my cookies, but if you like, you can use crunchy – it’s a preference thing!

Natural peanut butter is often unsalted, so if you use that, you may need to add additional salt the recipe. If you use natural peanut butter, the cookies tend to spread out more and become slightly crisper and less chewy and cake like.

National peanut butter cookie day!

Now obviously these cookies are to be enjoyed all year long, but you for sure need to bookmark this recipe to make on June 12 – NATIONAL PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE DAY!

Top Tips to Make Mon’s Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe

• Cook the cookies in a pre-heated oven for the best results.
• Press the cookies down with a fork on the baking tray – this gives the traditional marks but also helps the cookies to cook more evenly.
• These cookies freeze beautifully and are actually pretty tasty eaten frozen!
• Keep in an airtight container up to 4 days (if they last that long).

Be sure to check out these other yummy cookie recipes!

• Loaded Chocolate Chip Giant Cookies Recipe
• BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Blondies
• Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe (Soft and Chewy!)
• Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Soft Molasses Cookies
• Best M&M Cookies!
• Mom’s Snickerdoodle Recipe

Recipe Card

Mom's Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe

4.71 from 24 votes

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 10 minutes mins

Total: 20 minutes mins

Servings: 24 cookies

Author: Becky Hardin

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These peanut butter cookies are just like Mom used to make! Quick and easy to make, these cookies are ready to eat in 20 minutes. This is the best peanut butter cookie recipe, and the only one you will need!

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Equipment

• Kitchen Scale (optional)
• 2 Baking Sheet
• Stand Mixer
• Cookie Portion Scoop

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter 113 grams, room temperature (1 stick)
• ▢ ½ cup creamy peanut butter 135 grams
• ▢ ½ cup dark brown sugar 107 grams
• ▢ ½ cup granulated sugar 100 grams
• ▢ 1 large egg 50 grams, room temperature and lightly beaten
• ▢ 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 4 grams
• ▢ 1¼ cups all-purpose flour 150 grams
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda 3 grams
• ▢ ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 3 grams
• ▢ 1 cup peanut butter baking chips 170 grams, optional
• ▢ ¼ cup powdered sugar 28 grams, for topping

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions 

• Preheat oven to 350°F and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. (If not using parchment, do NOT grease the baking sheets.)
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and peanut butter together on medium speed until completely incorporated, about 2 minutes.
  ½ cup unsalted butter, ½ cup creamy peanut butter
• Add the brown and granulated sugars and cream until smooth, creamy, and pale in color, about 2-3 minutes.
  ½ cup dark brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar
• Add the egg and vanilla and beat another 1 minute.
  1 large egg, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• In another large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together.
  1¼ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and turn the mixer to low speed. Mix until the flour is almost incorporated. There should be just a little flour visible.
• Remove the mixing bowl from the mixer and fold in the peanut butter chips, if using.
  1 cup peanut butter baking chips
• Stir the dough gently just until all flour is incorporated.
• Use a 1½-inch cookie scoop to scoop balls onto the baking sheet 2 inches apart. (If you don’t have a cookie scoop – use about 1½ tablespoons of dough per cookie and roll the dough into balls.)
• Lightly sprinkle the cookies with powdered sugar.
  ¼ cup powdered sugar
• To put fork marks into the cookies, gently press the fork onto the cookie dough – being sure to crisscross the fork to get that traditional “peanut butter cookie” appearance.
• Bake 9-10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are set.
• Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool to room temperature.

Becky's Tips

• Cook the cookies in a pre-heated oven for the best results.
• Press the cookies down with a fork on the baking tray - this gives the traditional marks but also helps the cookies to cook more evenly.
• These cookies freeze beautifully and are actually pretty tasty eaten frozen!

Storage: Store Mom's peanut butter cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Serving: 1cookieCalories: 170kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 4gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 19mgSodium: 138mgPotassium: 48mgFiber: 1gSugar: 13gVitamin A: 130IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 11mgIron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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