American · Baking

Peanut Butter Cookies

Dense, sandy peanut butter cookies with the fork-crosshatch pressed into the top. That pattern is not decoration — the dough is too stiff to spread on its own and needs flattening.

27 min prep and cooking plus 1 hr chilling 1 hr 27 min start to finish Serves 24 servings Easy
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Peanut Butter Cookies

Photograph credit: Peanut butter cookies · CC0 1.0 · Rawpixel

Making Peanut Butter Cookies

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  1. Beat the butter, peanut butter and both sugars for 4 minutes until light and fluffy.

  2. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, scraping the bowl well.

  3. Whisk the flour, bicarbonate, baking powder and salt together and mix in on low until just combined. Fold in the chopped peanuts if using.

  4. Chill the dough 1 hour.

  5. Heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F and line two baking sheets.

  6. Roll the dough into 40 g balls and roll each in caster sugar.

  7. Space them 7 cm apart and press each twice with a fork, at right angles, to make the crosshatch and flatten the ball to about 1.5 cm thick.

  8. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until the edges are set and lightly golden but the centres still look soft.

  9. Cool on the tray for 5 minutes before moving to a rack.

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Tips for Making Peanut Butter Cookies

  • Dip the fork in sugar between cookies so it does not stick to the dough.
  • Natural peanut butter makes the dough oily and unpredictable. Use a stabilised commercial one.
  • Underbake very slightly for chewy centres; add two minutes if you prefer them crisp throughout.

What Goes With Peanut Butter Cookies

  • Cold milk
  • A cup of strong coffee
  • A scoop of chocolate ice cream

Storing & Reheating Peanut Butter Cookies

Keeps 5 days in an airtight tin and freezes 3 months, baked or as dough balls.

Questions About Peanut Butter Cookies

How long does Peanut Butter Cookies take to make?

15 minutes of preparation and 12 minutes of cooking, plus 1 hour of chilling, so allow 1 hour 27 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 24.

Peanut Butter Cookies Nutrition Facts

Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: optional ingredients are counted. How the figures are worked out.

258Calories
5gProtein
28gCarbs
14gFat
1gFibre
16gSugar
170mgSodium

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Compiled by Turab

Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.

First published ; last changed .