Best Ever Soft Peanut Butter Cookies are a classic. Soft & chewy, these peanut butter cookies have quickly become our favorite sweet treat.
My family can’t keep their hands off these easy peanut butter cookies. This peanut butter cookie recipe is not your traditional crunchy peanut butter cookie, but there isn’t a better recipe. Trust me, we’ve tried them all.
Now, I have made this recipe in two different ways: one with baking soda and the other with baking powder. This was all an accident, and while I originally posted the recipe with the baking soda, after making it over a hundred times, we all agreed that the best cookie results from baking powder. But if you make the same “mistake” I did, these cookies will still knock it out of the park.
My Favorite Kitchen Tools To Make This Recipe
From trusty pots and pans to handy gadgets, I’ve curated a list of products I use and love.
What peanut butter cookie recipe is the best?
While I love making homemade peanut butter cookies with just 3 ingredients, they are not as soft and chewy as these. I love three-ingredient peanut butter cookies, but I am just not as satisfied.
These cookies go right in line with my love for creamy peanut butter. Peanut butter is my go-to snack anytime I am hungry.
Whether it’s by the spoonful, with pretzels, on a sandwich or paired with some Nutella, I really could eat peanut butter in any way, shape, or form. Because I have a sweet tooth, cookies are among my favorite foods. This makes soft peanut butter cookies an obvious hit.
Should I use crunchy or creamy peanut butter to make peanut butter cookies?
While I typically love creamy peanut butter for cookies, there are moments—like when I eat my morning breakfast toast with bananas—when I reach for the crunchy peanut butter.
We are a house divided between creamy and crunchy peanut butter. My son, Aiden, and I are more in the middle and could eat either. My husband and daughter, Jersey, love crunchy, and my other three kids, Jojo, Cannon, and Madden, will only eat creamy. If I accidentally pack them crunchy, the sandwich will still be in their lunchbox when they get home, making you wonder what they ate for lunch.
We also have extreme opinions on whether soft or crunchy peanut butter cookies are the best.
I tend to lean towards chewy, soft cookies. The best cookie recipe I’ve ever had is my Best Ever Monster Cookies. But most classic peanut butter cookie recipes I’ve had are too crunchy, leaving a crumbly mess. So, I have been on a mission to find the best peanut butter cookie recipe, and finally… finally… I found it.
Everyone except for Aiden, peanut butter cookies are best when soft and chewy. Aiden loves a good crunchy cookie you can dip in milk. However, he won’t decline these Best Ever Soft Peanut Butter Cookies.
What could you add to peanut butter cookies?
Why do peanut butter cookies have fork marks?
When peanut butter is added to the batter, it densifies it. Putting fork marks in the dough makes it easier for the cookie to bake evenly. This will help keep them soft, so don’t forget this step.
How long do cookies last?
These cookies are kept in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days.
If desired, freeze the cookies in an airtight freezer bag. They can last for 1-2 months.
If you love cookies, try these:
I can’t wait for you to get your hands on a dozen or two of these. They are easy and simply the Best Soft Peanut Butter Cookies you’ll try.
Pin to Pinterest.
Best Ever Soft Peanut Butter Cookies
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter use Jif or Skippy type peanut butter
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking pans with parchment paper, if desired.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the peanut butter, butter, sugar and brown sugar. Beat together until smooth & creamy best if using a stand mixer or hand mixer.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and continue to mix until well combined.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture and mix until well combined.
- Use a cookie dough scoop, or spoon the dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in white granulated sugar if you desire and place onto baking sheet.
- Using a fork, press down on each ball of dough to flatten, creating a criss-cross pattern.
- Bake for 8-9 minutes. Do not over bake. Let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack.
- These keep well for a couple of days in an airtight container.
awesome cookies crunchy peanut butter works better than creamy so yummy and soft.
awesome cookies crunchy peanut butter works better than creamy so yummy and soft.
So happy you love this!
I’ve been making peanut butter cookies for decades using a family recipe. I decided to try this recipe just out of curiosity. This is my go to recipe now. The old one has been retired. (Sorry, Grandma and Mom.) Everyone who has sampled these agree that they’re delicious. Thank you for sharing!
Aww, thanks Dottie, so glad you love them as much as we do!
These peanut butter cookies are really good. I’ve made them twice now and they are a family favorite.
So happy to hear this! We love it too.
To dry for me. IMO Needs a touch more salt, and a few egg whites.
The cookie flavor was scrumptious but I was expecting a different type of texture. I wanted more crunch than mine I baked delivered.
So happy you loved it!
Little more complex but worth it! Loved them
worst trash I have ever tasted. this wasn’t a recipe worth trying unless you like eating dog food.
Sorry it didn’t work for you, hopefully you have a dog to feel it to.
You clearly didn’t do it right, Joe!
just made these but added some mini chocolate chips on top.. yummy! thank you for sharing this recipe!
You’re so welcome!
Made once and currently making them again! My family loves them. Thanks for the recipe
YAY! The best news!
Love this recipe but nobody else in my house likes peanut butter. Can I freeze the dough or do I have to make it all at once?
I would suggest just eating the whole batch 🙂 or keeping the baked cookies in the fridge.
I have been looking for years for a soft peanut butter cookie and this one is perfect. They stay soft even after a few days whereas most others get hard by the next day.
I am so glad you loved them too!
I think that there is a little too much flower in this recipe. I would say 1 1/4 cup would be the perfect amount. I think that’s what leads them to being too dry.
Has worked for majority of people, but that is an easy change for those having issues.
I added 2 cups dark chocolate chips, and my son and his coworkers polished them off!
These were the best peanut butter cookies I’ve ever had. Definitely saving to use recipe again. YUM!!!!
Yay, so happy you enjoyed them too!
My cookies came out too light and fairly gritty. Any idea what I did wrong here? Newbie baker.
Did you let them cool on the baking sheet? Also, what kind of peanut butter did you use?
These cookies are excellent. So soft, but not too crumbly. Melt in your mouth. I would make 1 correction however: By following the directions exactly, I ended up with 50 cookies, not 30 as indicated. That is a bonus.