The BEST Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe
Salty and sweet, soft and chewy, these peanut butter cookies are everything you want in a sweet treat—perfectly golden brown with a crunchy sugar coating, they’re super easy and never come out dry!
I don’t know about you, but I can be pretty picky when it comes to peanut butter cookies. I can’t count the times that I’ve eaten one and it was just…okay. Due to the peanut butter in the dough, it’s incredibly easy to make a cookie that’s dry, crumbly, and flavorless. So I set out to make a worthy peanut butter cookie recipe, one with a soft and chewy interior and a crunchy sugar coating, and I’m happy to say I hit the mark!
Peanut Butter Cookie Ingredients
Like most basic recipes, these peanut butter cookies require minimal ingredients that are pantry staples. Chances are, you already have them on hand! Here’s what you need:
- Unsalted butter.
- Light brown sugar. Brown sugar has molasses added to it, which gives the cookies a deeper flavor and chewier texture.
- Granulated sugar. Some of the sugar will go in the dough, but we’ll also use some extra sugar to roll the cookies in before baking.
- Vegetable oil. Vegetable oil isn’t a common ingredient for most cookies, but its part of what makes this recipe so good! Vegetable oil, unlike butter, is liquid at room temperature and keeps baked goods moist and fresh for longer. Since peanut butter can dry out most cookies, this additional ingredient helps to keep the chewy texture of the cookies without hindering their peanut butter flavor.
- Vanilla extract.
- Egg and egg yolks. Eggs bind the dough together, but the additional egg yolks allow the cookies to have a dense and chewy middle.
- Peanut butter. Of course, peanut butter is the crucial ingredient for these cookies—I used JIF (read more about what kind of peanut butter to use in the next section)!
- All-purpose flour.
- Baking soda and baking powder.
- Salt and flaky salt (for garnish). To get that perfect balance of salty-sweet!
Tips for the Best Peanut Butter Cookies
- Use room-temperature ingredients. Unless stated by the recipe, room-temperature ingredients are best to bake with, since it allows every ingredient to easily combine with one another.
- Use processed peanut butter instead of natural. I know, I know—but trust me, you want to go for an emulsified peanut butter brand like JIF or Skippy. If you use a kind of peanut butter that separates, your cookies will be too greasy and won’t bake well in the oven.
- Measure flour correctly. Flour is one of those tricky ingredients to measure—be sure to fluff the flour or spoon it into your measuring cup before leveling it out, otherwise you could end up with too much (resulting in a dry cookie) or too little (resulting in a peanut butter puddle in the oven).
- Fully chill the dough. Chilling the dough lets the flour fully hydrate and thicken the batter. If the dough isn’t fully chilled, your cookies will spread too much in the oven and won’t have enough structure for a thick and chewy texture.
- Don’t overbake. The longer you bake, the more moisture escapes from the cookies, which leaves them dry and tough. They’re done baking when just golden brown at the edges and set on top.
How to Freeze Leftover Cookie Dough
One of my favorite baking hacks is to freeze leftover cookie dough—that way, you aren’t wasting ingredients and you can bake fresh, individual cookies whenever you like!
If you have any leftover dough you want to freeze, simply scoop it onto a baking sheet and pop the tray in the freezer for an hour. Once firm to the touch, transfer the dough to a plastic bag and keep in the freezer for 3-6 months!
When you want to bake, there’s no need to thaw the dough—just bake them as normal (though they might need an extra minute or two in the oven)!
Hope you guys love this recipe as much as I do—it’s one of my favorites! Happy cookie baking!
The BEST Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup smooth peanut butter
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Flaky salt, for garnish
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl until well combined and set aside.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy (around 3-5 minutes).
- With the mixer running, stream in the vegetable oil and beat for another minute. Add in the egg, egg yolks, and vanilla extract, then mix in the peanut butter until just combined.
- Pour in all of the dry ingredients and mix for less than a minute, until most of the flour is incorporated. Finish mixing the dough by hand, using a spatula to fold until just combined.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and use a cookie scoop to portion the dough onto the sheet. Cover the tray with plastic wrap and chill at least overnight, but I ideally for 24 hours. If you need the cookies quicker, you can freeze the scooped dough until completely solid (around 2-4 hours), then proceed with baking.
- To bake, preheat the oven to 375℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour around ½ cup of granulated sugar into a bowl and roll each ball of cookie dough into the sugar until fully coated.
- Evenly space the cookie dough on the baking sheet with a 2'' gap between each cookie. Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through. Remove the cookies from the oven once golden brown and set, but do not overbake (they will set more as they cool). Once out of the oven, sprinkle the cookies with flaky salt and allow to cool before serving.
