My Favorite Peanut Butter Cookies

A simple trick sets these cookies apart as the best peanut butter cookies ever! They are soft and creamy and absolutely delicious.

Believe the hype. These are the best peanut butter cookies you will ever have. I promise.

One-Bowl Peanut Butter Cookie Dough

Here are a few reasons this peanut butter cookie dough is unique and delicious:

• loads of peanut butter (2 cups to be exact)
• high ratio of brown sugar to granulated sugar (for a soft, chewy texture)
• one-bowl recipe (no need to mix the dry ingredients separately)

It helps to use an electric handheld or stand mixer for this recipe to get the peanut butter, sugars and eggs very well-mixed. The dough will be very thick and soft after mixing.

Top Secret Tip To The Best Peanut Butter Cookies

Most traditional peanut butter cookie recipes call for pressing the cookie dough (and maybe even crisscrossing with the tines of a fork) BEFORE baking.

But not for this recipe! Instead, bake the cookies until puffy and just barely done (don’t over bake!). Immediately out of the oven, use a flat-bottomed glass to press the cookies to an even thickness.

Don’t unleash your inner aggressions and press them to smithereens. They should still be plenty thick – just no longer domed and puffy.

Pressing the cookies AFTER baking is what gives them their uniquely delightful soft, creamy, and very slightly dense center with a buttery crisp exterior. They are so, so good. And unlike any other peanut butter cookie recipe I’ve ever made.

Amazing Warm, Cold or Frozen

These really are the best peanut butter cookies ever. I desperately need you to trust me on this. Because they are truly life changing.

I’ve been making this recipe for over 10 years. Every time I make them (not kidding, every time), I wonder why I’m not making these a daily tradition. They are completely irresistible.

And what makes them even better is that they while they are decadent eaten warm, they are absolutely phenomenal eaten straight from the fridge or freezer. In fact, I most definitely prefer eating them chilled. (I hope you understand the serious gravity in which I share this detail; it is positively dangerous information.)

I have seen, time and time again, how people kind of give a bland side eye to these peanut butter cookies but then go completely bonkers after they take a bite. And by the third bite, they are begging for the recipe.

I’m not even going to tell you what happens after the fourth or fifth cookie. ABSOLUTE COOKIE CHAOS. 😜

Take it from a girl who always thought she’d prefer a chocolate cookie to any other cookie on the planet: these peanut butter cookies trump pretty much every other cookie in my cookie repertoire. They may look unassuming, but they are one of the best cookies in the history of ever.

The Best Peanut Butter Cookies

Yield: 36 Cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 11 minutes mins

Total Time: 26 minutes mins

4.75 stars (202 ratings)

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Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups (355 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (227 g) salted butter, softened to room temperature
• 2 cups (510 g) creamy peanut butter (see note)
• 1 ½ cups (318 g) brown sugar
• ½ cup (106 g) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions 

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line half sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer or in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar and mix until combined. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until creamy.
• Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
• Scoop the dough and roll into 1- or 2-inch balls and place them 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
• Bake for 10-11 minutes until puffed. Don't over bake (err on the side of underbaking slightly).
• Remove from the oven and use a flat-bottomed glass to immediately press each cookie to flatten slightly. Don't flatten the cookies to smithereens, just press the puffed part down until the cookies are an even thickness.
• Scoop onto a cooling rack to cool completely. These cookies freeze great (and actually taste amazing straight from the fridge or freezer).

Notes

Peanut Butter: this recipe has been tested with traditional creamy peanut butter (like Jif or Skippy) – I haven’t tried it with natural peanut butter.

Author: Mel

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Method: Bake

Serving: 1 Cookie, Calories: 211kcal, Carbohydrates: 21g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 13g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 23mg, Sodium: 192mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 13g

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Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe, adapted from this chocolate chip version

Recipe originally posted April 2015; updated April 2025 with new photos, recipe notes, etc.

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