Best Peanut Butter Cookies recipe creates soft and chewy cookies that are a peanut butter lovers dream come true. These melt in your mouth cookies are made from natural peanut butter, whole peanuts and peanut butter chips.

These classic Peanut Butter Cookies are the best cookies for peanut butter lovers. However, they make a wonderful addittion on a Christmas cookie tray with Mom’s Walnut Balls, Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies, Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Coconut Cookies and Chocolate Rum Balls. Add to the tray some Homemade Divinity Candy and Mom’s Old Fashioned Peanut Brittle for an over top festive spread.

4 Peanut Butter Cookies Stacked together on a wire cooling rack.

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Peanut Butter Lovers Dream Come True

When you love peanut butter, these Best Peanut Butter Cookies are the “it” cookie. This is because the cookies are packed with chunky peanut butter, peanut butter chips and shelled peanuts. In short, they have the best peanut butter flavor and they are peanut heaven through and through.

Natural Peanut Butter Cookies scattered on a cooling rack.

Ingredients Needed for this Easy Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

Ingredients for Best Peanut Butter Cookies in clear glass bowls.

Unsalted Butter– Butter adds a wonderful flavor to these cookies so it is important to not substitute margarine or shortening. Also, using unsalted butter allows you to control the amount of salt added since many salted butters vary in sodium amounts. However, if you only have salted butter on hand the cookies will still turn out amazing. Just make sure to eliminate the salt.
Light Brown Sugar– The higher amount of brown sugar compared to granulated sugar helps to create a chewier cookie.
Granulated White Sugar– I use organic granulated sugar which tends to have a light brown tint.
Salt– Not all salt is the same. Ever since discovering that I have high sensitivities to excessive iodine, I started to use Maldon’s Sea Salt because of its low iodine levels. However, I fell in love with the taste. When baking with this salt it is important to crush the crystals using a mortar and pestle.
Natural Crunchy Peanut Butter– There are many recipe sites that say you should not use natural peanut butter. I call baloney on that. It all depends on the recipe and this recipe is tailored to make incredibly soft and chewy Peanut Butter Cookies using natural peanut butter.
Large Eggs– To achieve optimal results it is important not to use egg substitutes.
Pure Vanilla Extract– Using pure vanilla extract yields the best tasting results. Costco generally has the best value on this product.
All Purpose Flour– Using unbleached all purpose flour helps in creating chewier cookie.
Baking Soda
Peanut Butter Chips– Chocolate chips can be used in place of peanut butter chips.
Shelled Unsalted Peanuts

How To Make The Best Peanut Butter Cookies

Pictures showing steps for making Best Peanut Butter Cookies.

Preheat oven to 350℉. In a stand mixer using the paddle attachment cream butter and peanut butter together.
Add sugars and cream until light and fluffy, making sure to scrape sides of bowl often.
Beat in eggs and vanilla and let rest. Note: Letting the sugar and egg mixture rest for about 5-10 minutes will help in creating a soft and chewy cookie.
In a large bowl sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Working in two batches, add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix on low speed.
Repeat with second half of flour mixture and mix until just incorporated, making sure to scrape down sides of bowl.
Stir in peanuts and peanut butter chips.
Using a medium sized cookie scoop (about 1 1/2-2 tablespoons in size) scoop the peanut butter cookie dough.
Roll dough into a ball using clean hands.
Place 1/2 cup of granulated sugar into a bowl and roll cookie dough in sugar.
Place cookie dough balls onto un-greased cookie sheet. Using the back side of a fork make a criss-cross pattern on surface of cookie dough balls.
Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes.
Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Pro Tips

The type of ingredients used (as listed above) can make a huge impact on the quality of the cookies. Additionally, here are a few more tips that can help in creating soft and chewy cookies.

Once the eggs and vanilla are mixed into sugar mixture, let the mixture rest for about 5-10 minutes. This resting period allows the sugars to begin to melt, which helps in creating soft and chewy cookies.
Roll the dough into a ball and then roll in granulated sugar. This helps to create the shape and gives the cookies a classic old fashioned feel.
Since this dough is denser than other cookie doughs, placing a crisscross pattern on the dough ball will flatten it just enough for even baking.
Make sure to not over bake the cookies. Over baking will result in crispier cookies. 10 minutes of baking time is just the right amount of time for most ovens.
Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Freezing Cookie Dough

Making the dough up in advance and freezing individual portions to bake later is a wonderful time and energy saver. To do so, follow the instructions but do not bake. Place the cookie sheets with the prepared unbaked cookies in the freezer until frozen solid, about 1 hour. Transfer the frozen dough to a freezer safe bag or container and freeze up to 3 months. To bake the frozen dough add an extra minute or two to the baking time.

Note: It is best to place either foil or parchment paper under the cookies before freezing to ensure easy removal off of the cookie sheets.

Refrigeration of Cookie Dough

Place the dough in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Let the dough rest at room temperature for about an hour before baking. This will make forming the cookies much easier.

Baked Cookies Stored at Room Temperature

Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Frequently Asked Questions About this Best Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

What is the best peanut butter to use?

Because natural peanut butter has no added sugar or tans fat, it is the healthiest option. Additionally, this recipe has been formulated to create cookies with a soft texture using natural peanut butter. In the same vein, either crunchy or creamy peanut butter may be used for this recipe.

Can this recipe be doubled?

Absolutely! In fact, make a double batch and store half of the dough (see Freezing and Storage section above) for later use during the busy holiday season.

Do the cookies need to be rolled in sugar?

No, these cookies do not need to be rolled in sugar. However, doing so adds a fun sparkly finishing touch and for many of us the sugar feels very nostalgic.

Can the cookie dough be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator?

Yes. See the “Freezing and Storage” section above.

Should I pour the oil out on my peanut butter?

No, please do not discard the oil in natural peanut butter. It is an essential part of creating an ideal cookie texture. The easiest way to incorporate the oil into the peanut butter is to place the jar of peanut butter upside down for about 15 minutes, open the jar and stir. Allowing the jar to sit upside down will begin the process of mixing the oil into the solid peanut butter.

Can a hand mixer be used in place of a stand mixer for this recipe?

Yes, a hand mixer may be used successfully to make this recipe. Just remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl using a bowl scraper often.

Does natural peanut butter need to be refrigerated?

If you consistently eat your peanut butter within a few weeks and do not live in a humid climate, you do not need to refrigerate natural peanut butter. However, if there is any uncertainty it is always best to just refrigerate an open bottle of peanut butter.