These soft, thick, melt-in-your-mouth peanut butter cookies may be the only peanut butter cookie recipe you ever use again. Some readers say the cookies taste like the inside of a peanut butter cup—YUM! You need just 9 ingredients and the dough can be adapted in many ways to make different variations like peanut butter blossoms and peanut butter jam thumbprints.
I originally published this recipe in 2012 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and more helpful success tips.
Why hello there, peanut butter cookie lovers. You’ve come to the right place! This may look familiar, as I have shared a number of peanut butter cookie recipes over the years. But believe me when I say this one is the one to keep in the front of your recipe folder.
This go-to, flagship peanut butter cookies recipe is the same dough used to make these popular peanut butter blossoms among the other 6+ variations listed below. The recipe stands the test of time and even after publishing dozens of other peanut butter recipes online and in my cookbooks… THIS IS THE BEST ONE.
One reader, Joyce, commented: “I’ve been looking for the recipe like my mother used when I was growing up. Soft and chewy in the middle, crispy on the edges, and the perfect peanut butter taste. Takes me back to when I was 9 years old and learning how to make these standing on a chair. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!!! ★★★★★”
Another reader, Faith, commented: “Seriously the BEST peanut butter cookies I’ve ever had! So delicious. The recipe was very easy to follow while still including helpful tips and directions. Thank you! ★★★★★“
And another reader, Rita, commented: “I’ve been baking for my family for 50 years. This is the absolute best cookie recipe we have ever tried. Thanks, Sally. Outstanding! ★★★★★“
Why You’ll Love These Soft Peanut Butter Cookies
- Pillow-soft centers with slightly crisp exterior and crumbly edge
- No-fuss recipe with 9 ingredients
- Super simple to make
- Marked with a traditional criss-cross on top
- Major peanut butter flavor
- Versatile cookie dough—add mix-ins or turn the dough into pb&j thumbprints
Grab These 9 Ingredients:
You can find the full printable recipe below, but first let me tell you some of the keys to recipe success, starting with the ingredients.
Ingredient Success Tips
- A shockingly small amount of flour. You may look at the recipe below and wonder why there’s so little flour… has Sally completely lost her mind?! Ha! Well, peanut butter and other nut butters act as a binder and can actually replace some or all flour in recipes including these flourless almond butter cookies. Using more flour will dry out the cookies, so stick with the recipe below.
- More peanut butter than other recipes. Most recipes I’ve tried call for around 1/2 cup of peanut butter with similar amounts of other ingredients. We’re using more.
- Use creamy peanut butter instead of crunchy. Just like when making peanut butter snickerdoodles, big giant monster cookies, or white chocolate peanut butter cookies, creamy peanut butter is ideal because crunchy peanut butter creates an overly crumbly cookie. Crunchy peanut butter is typically thicker and, well, less creamy! For a soft cookie that stays mostly intact, use creamy peanut butter.
- A combination of brown sugar + white granulated sugar. Like when you make chocolate chip cookies, it’s ideal to use more brown sugar than white granulated sugar in this dough. Brown sugar lends a softer, moister, and thicker cookie, while white granulated sugar helps the cookies spread. Use both, but use more brown.
Can I Use Natural Peanut Butter in Peanut Butter Cookies?
Yes, you can use natural peanut butter in this dough! Over the past decade, I’ve made these exact cookies with processed peanut butter such as Jif or Skippy as well as natural-style where the ingredients are only peanuts and salt. Here are my notes:
- Processed: The cookies truly taste perfect with great texture. They spread less and aren’t as crumbly.
- Natural-Style: The cookies spread a bit more and are somewhat sandier/crumblier.
But, most importantly, both cookies have fantastic peanut butter flavor. Keeping the above notes in mind, you can use either kind, just like you can in flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies.
Another Success Tip: Chill the Cookie Dough
Chilling the cookie dough in the refrigerator before baking the cookies is crucial to this recipe’s success. The dough is incredibly creamy, almost like peanut butter frosting, and you’ll have a heck of a time trying to roll and bake such a soft dough. Set aside 1–2 hours for chilling, or do yourself a favor and make the dough the night before.
Expect a VERY creamy cookie dough:
After chilling, the cookie dough solidifies and it’s easier to roll into balls:
After chilling, roll the dough into balls and then generously roll in granulated sugar. Sugar gives these cookies a sparkly sweet exterior with a touch of crunch before giving way to soft, melt-in-your-mouth bliss. Don’t forget the classic criss-cross on top of each cookie, just press with a fork!
Another success tip: After flattening the balls with a fork, use your fingers to reshape the edges into thicker/taller discs, because the thicker the disc, the thicker the baked cookie.
Welcome to the Peanut Butter Cookie Headquarters
Today’s cookies have been my go-to for a decade. If you want to compare, here are 2 other peanut butter cookie doughs and how they differ:
- Crisp/Old-Fashioned Version: Crispier with less peanut butter punch.
- Very Peanut Butter Cookies: Bigger and crumblier with EXTRA peanut butter flavor. It’s practically today’s recipe, only doubled. This is the same dough we use for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.
The following recipes use today’s dough. (Note that the plain cookies have an extra Tablespoon of flour to retain shape because we’re flattening with a fork.)
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Cookies (pictured)
- Peanut Butter Blossoms (pictured)
- PB Cookie Cups on page 138 in Sally’s Cookie Addiction
- Peanut Butter M&M Cookies
- Peanut Butter Jam Thumbprint Cookies
- Reese’s Cup Stuffed Cookies
So whether you’re looking for a classic criss-cross cookie or want to add some flair, this soft-baked peanut butter cookie is the ideal base recipe for many variations.
Print
Soft & Thick Peanut Butter Cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes (includes chilling)
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
- Yield: 32 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These are the softest, thickest peanut butter cookies! You need just 9 ingredients for the base recipe, and it can be adapted in so many ways to make different variations (see post above). Do not skip chilling the dough.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/3 cups (170g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar, plus 1/2 cup (100g) for rolling
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (about 185g) creamy peanut butter (see note)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute on high speed until creamy. Switch to medium-high speed and beat in the brown sugar and 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar until completely creamed and smooth, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the egg and beat until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the peanut butter and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat on low speed until combined. The dough will be very creamy and soft. Cover and chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for at least 1–2 hours, and up to 3 days.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Roll & coat the dough: Place remaining 1/2 cup (100g) of sugar into a bowl. Roll chilled cookie dough into balls, about 1 scant Tablespoon (5/8 ounce or 18g) of dough each. Roll each ball in the sugar and arrange on baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Use a fork to make a criss-cross indent on top of each. To prevent the cookies from over-spreading, after indenting the cookies, use your fingers to reshape into a thicker disc (since indenting the balls flattened them out).
- Bake for 11–12 minutes or until the edges appear set and are very lightly browned. The centers will still look very soft.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make-ahead instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls, without sugar coating, freeze well for up to 3 months. Let frozen cookie dough balls sit on the counter for 30 minutes, roll in sugar, indent a crisscross pattern with a fork, then bake for an extra minute. No need to completely thaw. See How to Freeze Cookie Dough for more success tips.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Stand Mixer or Handheld) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Cooling Rack
- Peanut butter: Creamy peanut butter is ideal for this recipe because crunchy peanut butter creates an overly crumbly cookie. You can use processed peanut butter such as Jif or Skippy, or natural-style peanut butter. If using natural peanut butter, make sure it’s at room temperature, stirred well, and expect a slightly crumblier cookie. 3/4 cup of peanut butter weighs anywhere between 185–195g.
- Can I use almond butter? Yes, you can use almond butter in this cookie recipe; however, expect a crumblier cookie. You may enjoy these flourless almond butter cookies more, though!
- Can I add chocolate chips or other add-ins? Yes, in step 3 after the dry and wet ingredients come together, you can fold in 1 cup add-ins like chocolate chips (180g), peanut butter chips (180g), or chopped salted or unsalted peanuts (150g). Skip indenting the cookies with a fork.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hello I tried it but I don’t know if I flattened them during the placement process as they came out bigger and thinner ?
Hi Catherine, here’s our best tips for preventing cookies from spreading for next time!
How many cookies does this recipe make?
Hi Leslie, 32 cookies.
This recipe works great with plant based butter and no changes needed to make good cookies. I am going to add a tsp or so vegan butter flavoring next batch, which will make them EXCEPTIONAL cookies that just happened to be dairy free. As an FYI, I find using plant based butter in baked goods gives them extra rise!
I’ve made these cookies a few times now. They are perfect! Definitely my go to peanut butter cookies! THANK YOU!
Great cookies! I used Splenda sugar blend and brown sugar blend to make them more diabetic friendly and they turned out great. This is my go to for all baking ideas.
Hello Sally, I’m not big on peanut butter cookies. But I did make them, these are the best peanut butter cookies. Home made is the way to go. Thank you for another wonderful recipe. I use a few of your recipes, you never disappoint.
I made a double batch of these peanut butter cookies. I rolled them in the sugar but I decided not to do the criss cross on them. Then baked for 11 minutes. They came out terrific and were very soft. My family couldn’t wait until they were cooled. This will be my go to peanut butter cookie recipe from now on.
We’re so happy to read this, Karen!
I made 4 dozen of these cookies on Wednesday and they were all gone by Friday! Everyone loved these peanut butter cookies. I will definitely make these again!
Can I use this identical recipe for Peanut Butter Blossoms? Thank You So Much!
Hi Marsha, these cookies use the same base dough as our peanut butter blossoms, but these have an extra Tablespoon of dough to help the cookies keep shape when they’re pressed down with the fork.
A few years ago, I accidentally made peanut butter cookies that had a texture like the inside of a peanut butter cup. I’ve been trying to replicate it ever since.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
To add some legitimacy, I mixed in some ground mini chocolate chips, and instead of forming balls and pressing, I used a small tart form to give it the edges of a peanut butter cup.
These are not just peanut butter cookies, they are “Inside of a Peanut Butter Cup Cookies” and the owner of the bakery where I work has fallen in love.
Thank you⁹!
I used the recipe for soft and chewy peanut butter cookies and used about 3 cups of chopped mini Reese peanut butter cups in the batter.
They turned out amazing.
I used an ice cream scoop to put them on the cookie sheet and then the fork tines to flatten them.
Delicious
These are delicious ! I made them with natural peanut butter for a get together yesterday.
Thanks for the recipe !
Hello! My daughter is wanting a cookie pizza for her birthday this weekend. What baking temp/time adjustments would you make for that? Would you still chill the dough? Thank you so much! We love all your recipes!
Hi Whitney! You can use our cookie pizza recipe as a guide for baking time and temperature. Since these peanut butter cookies are quite soft, we would still recommend a quick chill before pressing into the pizza pan, just to prevent too much spreading. Let us know how it turns out for you!
Baked these over the weekend and swapped Bob’s Red Mill GF 1-1 flour and smashed the whole batch! Already getting the supplies to bake another!
Will it be a big problem if I don’t have time to refrigerate the dough? Thank you- love all our recipes!
Hi NLD, chilling the dough deepens the flavor and prevents the cookies from spreading too much.
Another wonderful recipe that I will be sure to make again and again. These were delicious PB cookies and were very soft and thick.
I made these cookies last year and they were perfect. Today I made them and they are flat. I baked them as written, I’m wondering if it was the baking soda- I live at 6700 feet.( maybe I omited the baking soda last year)?Please let me know what you think went wrong.
Thank you,
Kelly
Park City
Utah
Hi Kelly, we wish we could help, but we have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Phenomenal as always. Whenever I feel the need to bake but don’t have a recipe or don’t remember the amounts I always check to see if Sally’s baking addiction has a recipe. They always get rave reviews from my coworkers I normally share with
This is hands down the greatest pb cookie of all time! I’ve made it countless times (usually with m&ms mixed in) and I’m always asked for the recipe!
I love the texture of these- do you think I could replace the pb with cookie butter and achieve the same texture but with the biscoff flavor?
Hi Fatima, so glad you love them! We haven’t specifically tested that but that swap will typically work. Or, you might enjoy these Biscoff chocolate chip cookies instead! Feel free to leave out the chocolate chips in that recipe.
Oh my lanta. We made these cookies and substituted the brown sugar with coconut sugar. Wow! I have never reviewed a recipe but this was great! We also used natural peanut butter and it was melting in our mouth delicious.
Fantastic! Just the right amount of everything, they came out perfect!
Cookies turns out perfect, just as described! Will definitely be making these again.
I love your recipe’s. I only make your receipt’s they always turn out to the best. So now I don’t waver from them. However was wondering if there’s an eggless version of the soft & thick peanut butter cookies.
Hi David, we haven’t tested an egg-free version of these cookies, but let us know if you do any experimenting. Thank you for making and trusting our recipes!
I did try out an egg free version. I used 1/4 cup of Greek Yogurt and it turned out great. I had to add a bit more all purpose flour.
Is it possible to get your own app?
Hi Margaret, we do not have an app at this time, so sorry!
Chilles these overnight. Baked them the next morning. They came out beautifully! My only complaint is that they were slightly dry/sawdusty. I’m thinking too much flour. It’s possible I added too much though.
Followed recipe exactly. Cookies are VERY dry and not sweet
Hi C, how did you measure your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to ensure the flour isn’t over-measured, which can significantly dry out cookies. So can over-baking. Did you use a natural-style peanut butter? That will lead to a slightly crumblier cookie, too. Hope this helps for next time!
Followed this recipe to the letter. I was even sure not to over mix. The cookies turned out VERY dry. Additional I found no way to get 32 cookies from this recipe unless you double it. I was able to make 20 cookies.
I tried making these cookies today, and I must say, they were AMAZING!!! They were a bit crumbly, since I used crunchy PB, but still scrumptious 🙂
Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe!
they are so good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why am i using unsalted butter and then adding more salt?
you can essentially either use salted butter, or use unsalted and add salt
Because different salted butters have different salt content so it’s a bit of a crapshoot. Using unsalted and then adding a specific amount of salt ensures that you’re putting the right amount of salt.
First time I’ve made Peanut Butter Cookies and found I only had crunchy PB but the recipe worked very well. Delicious.