Soft Peanut Butter Cookies
Soft, chewy peanut butter cookies with the classic fork crisscross and a sugar-crunch outside. Ready in about 30 minutes, no chilling required.
38% of it needs you at the counter
- Hands-on
- 15 min
- Cooking
- 20 min
- Resting
- 5 min
- Serves
- 24
- Calories
- 145
- Protein
- 3 g
- Per serving
- $0.18
Why this recipe works
Peanut butter cookies are the fastest homemade cookie: the dough is firm enough to roll straight away, so there's no chilling. Rolling the balls in sugar before pressing the crisscross gives them a light crunch on the outside.
- Butter and peanut butter together give a soft, chewy cookie with plenty of peanut flavor; peanut butter alone makes them crumbly.
- Baking soda plus a little baking powder lifts the dense dough so the cookies stay soft instead of hard.
- Taking them out while the centers look underbaked keeps them soft once they cool.
Ingredients
You will need
- 2 rimmed baking sheets
- Parchment paper
- Stand or hand mixer
- Fork
- Wire rack
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done.
Heat the oven
Heat the oven to 350°F and line the baking sheets with parchment. Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
Cream
Beat the butter, peanut butter, ½ cup sugar and the brown sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
Add the flour
Mix in the flour on low speed just until a soft dough forms.
Shape
Roll the dough into 1-tablespoon balls and roll each in the 2 tablespoons of sugar. Set them 2 inches apart and press each one twice with a fork to make a crisscross about ½ inch thick.
Bake
Bake one sheet at a time until the edges are set and just turning golden and the centers still look soft, 9 to 11 minutes.
Cool
Leave on the sheet for 5 minutes to firm up, then move to a rack. Repeat with the second sheet.
Cook's notes
- Use regular no-stir creamy peanut butter. Natural peanut butter, the kind that separates, is oilier and makes cookies that spread and crumble.
- Dip the fork in sugar between cookies so it doesn't stick to the dough.
- Store in an airtight container with a slice of bread to keep them soft for up to 4 days.
Nutrition per serving
145 calories
$0.18 estimated cost per serving
Where the calories come from
| Protein | 8% of calories | 3 g |
|---|---|---|
| Carbs | 45% of calories | 17 g |
| Fat | 47% of calories | 8 g |
| Fiber | 1 g | |
| Sodium | 130 mg |
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for the listed ingredients and amounts; not lab-tested. Cost estimated from average US retail prices.
Questions people ask
Why do you put a fork crisscross on peanut butter cookies?
The dough is dense and doesn't spread much on its own. Pressing it flat with a fork helps the cookies bake evenly, and the crisscross became the classic look.
Can you make peanut butter cookies with just 3 ingredients?
Yes: 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup sugar and 1 egg, baked at 350°F for about 10 minutes. They're flourless and gluten-free but more crumbly and fragile than this version.
Why are my peanut butter cookies dry and crumbly?
Usually too much flour, natural peanut butter or overbaking. Measure flour by spooning it into the cup and pull the cookies while the centers still look soft.
