These soft and chewy peanut butter cookies are not only the best you'll ever have, but they have an easy mix up and can be customized with chocolate chips, nuts, or crunchy peanut butter!
Prep and line: preheat your oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream butters, sugars, and flavor: cream the butter, peanut butter, sugars, and vanilla together until very light and fluffy for about 2 minutes on medium-high speed using a hand or stand mixer.
Beat in the egg: add in the egg and beat for 30 seconds more on medium-high until the batter is smooth and fluffy again.
Add in dries: stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl until blended. Add that dry mix to the batter, and mix on low speed just until the flour is incorporated (p.s. be sure to scrape the bowl really well about halfway through mixing!).
Add chips and/or nuts, if using: add in the chocolate chips and/or peanuts all at once, and mix in on low speed, just until they’re evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Scoop and tray: scoop dough into 2” rounds (using a scant ¼ cup of dough per cookie) and drop onto a baking sheets at least 2” apart. (An ice-cream scoop works really well for easy portioning here as the dough is very soft, but you can use just s spoon as well if needed!)
Bake: bake for 15-17 minutes, just until the bottoms are a medium golden brown. The tops should be crackly and look dry, but the dough peeking through the cracks may still look a little molten which is good (a touch underbaked is actually good for these cookies as they’ll crisp up when they cool).
Knock ‘em down: as soon as you take the cookies out of the oven, knock the tray firmly on the counter, or hit it a few times from underneath with an oven mitt on (this helps to settle the molten batter while it’s still all gooey and give you that nice crackly finish).
Cool, share and enjoy: cool cookies as long as you can resist the toasty scents wafting through your kitchen, then pass around these nutty delights and enjoy!
Notes
*1Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies: if you’d like make these cookies gluten free, you can use 1 cup certified gluten free whole grain oat flour (105g) in place of the all-purpose flour, and ensure all your other ingredients are certified gluten-free as well.The gluten free version of these cookies will be a bit cakier instead of chewy, but they will still be a delicious wheat-free alternative!
Sweet n’ Salty: if you love a good sweet and salty combo, feel free to add a sprinkle of Maldon salt on top of your cookies right before they go in the oven. This is especially delicious if you added chocolate chips and peanuts.
Storage: while of cookies are always best when freshly baked, you can store these cookies at room temperature in an air-tight container for up to 7 days.
Fridge or freezer bake: while I prefer these cookies when baked fresh just after mixing, you can chill this dough for up to 3 days or freeze it for up to a month. To bake from chilled or freezer, set oven at 325°F, and know that your bake time will be a little longer (16-19 minutes).Cookies baked from the fridge or freezer, and cookies with added chips or nuts will be a little taller, a little doughier, and spread a little less than those that have no add-ins or are baked immediately after mixing.
It’d mean so much to me if you could please give the recipe card a ⭐ rating on the site and leave a comment to help others find this sweet recipe! Xo, Jocelyn @ Mint+Mallow