Packed with double the peanut butter, these very peanut butter cookies boast a dense flavor, remarkably soft texture, and a deliciously crumbly edge.
I know these cookies look familiar to you. Peanut butter cookies are nothing new in our kitchens and certainly nothing new on Sally’s Baking Addiction. Along with oatmeal raisin cookies and chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies rank high on my repeat recipes list!
I have a recipe for crispy old-fashioned style peanut butter cookies on my website and another in Sally’s Cookie Addiction. Then there’s these ultra soft and thick peanut butter cookies that serve as the base for variations like peanut butter blossoms and peanut butter and jam thumbprints. But can there be room for one more? With 2 cups of peanut butter in the cookie dough, today’s extra soft cookies steal the spotlight. We’re using the same cookie dough as my bakery-style peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and white chocolate peanut butter cookies, recipes I’ve grown to love so much because of all their flavor. Today’s cookies are easy to make, completely packed with flavor, and boast a deliciously crumbly criss-cross pattern on top. Love them!
Less Flour, More Peanut Butter
I call these very peanut butter cookies because they’re packed with 2 cups of peanut butter in the dough. This is 2x the amount of my classic peanut butter cookies AND they have less flour, so you can be sure today’s cookies are dense with flavor! They remind me of these peanut butter oatmeal cookies in terms of peanut butter flavor, but they don’t have the chewy oat texture.
By the way, did you know that nut butter can take the place of flour in some recipes? These flourless almond butter cookies require just 5 ingredients. Almond butter provides enough structure and stability so there’s no need for any flour at all. If you’re looking for a gluten free peanut butter cookie, use that recipe and replace the almond butter with peanut butter.
Here’s What You’ll Love:
- Crumbly edges
- Packed with flavor
- Extra soft
- Crisp sugar coating
- Easy straightforward recipe
My first piece of advice… make a double batch so you can freeze some for later. Here’s everything you need to know about how to freeze cookie dough. No need to thaw, just bake for an extra minute or two. You never know when a cookie emergency will rear its head. You might not have time to make cookies from scratch, but you’ll have frozen peanut butter cookie dough. That’s a lifesaver!
Success Tips
- Use room temperature butter. Make sure the butter is cool to touch, not overly warm or melted. Here’s what room temperature butter really means.
- Use more granulated sugar than brown sugar. When making chocolate chip cookies, I always prefer to use more brown sugar than white sugar because that ratio produces a softer cookie. With all of the peanut butter in this cookie dough, however, too much brown sugar made the cookies so soft that they fell apart.
- Chill the cookie dough. Chilling the cookie dough is important, but this dough is thick so it doesn’t need hours inside the refrigerator. A quick 1 hour of chilling will prevent the cookies from over-spreading.
Best Peanut Butter for Cookies
The most common mistake with peanut butter cookies is using the wrong type of peanut butter. The BEST peanut butter for today’s cookies is a processed creamy peanut butter, preferably Jif or Skippy. Natural-style peanut butter is my choice for eating, but it just doesn’t produce the same type of cookie as its processed counterpart. With so much peanut butter in this cookie dough, natural peanut butter will give you a dry, crumbly cookie.
If you prefer peanut chunks, use Jif or Skippy crunchy. See recipe note.
Want to add extra peanut flavor? Go for it! Fold 1/2 cup of chopped peanuts or peanut butter chips into the cookie dough. Or you could even drizzle peanut butter on top like we do with these peanut butter chocolate cookies. YUM!
I’ve made hundreds of different cookie recipes and can say with 100% confidence that these have the most peanut butter flavor of any cookie I’ve ever tried.
More No-Fail Cookie Recipes
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Very Peanut Butter Cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
- Yield: 40 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Packed with double the peanut butter, these very peanut butter cookies boast a dense flavor, remarkably soft texture, thick center, and a deliciously crumbly edge. Chill the cookie dough for at least 1 hour to prevent excess spreading.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/2 cups (313g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 cups (500g) creamy peanut butter*
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar for rolling
- optional: 1/2 cup (65g) finely chopped peanuts
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and both sugars together on medium speed until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Add the eggs and beat on high until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the peanut butter and vanilla, then beat on high speed until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, then mix on low until combined. With the mixer running on low speed, add the peanuts, if using. Dough will be thick and soft.
- Cover and chill the dough for 1 hour in the refrigerator (and up to 2-3 days). If chilling for longer than a few hours, though, allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling and baking because the dough will be quite hard.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) Set aside.
- Roll cookie dough into balls, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough per cookie (I like to use this medium cookie scoop), and then roll the balls in granulated sugar. Use a fork to make a crisscross indent on top of each. Bake each batch for 10-12 minutes until very lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft.
- Remove from the oven. Cool cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring 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 2-3 days. Allow to come to room temperature then continue with step 5. 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. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Peanut Butter: It’s best to use a processed peanut butter like Jif creamy or Skippy creamy. I do not suggest using natural style, oily peanut butter. Crunchy peanut butter adds peanut chunks as well as a more crumbly texture. I prefer to use creamy in this recipe.
- Check out my top 5 cookie baking tips before beginning. It includes how to prevent cookies from over-spreading and why room temperature makes a difference.
Keywords: peanut butter, cookies, Christmas cookies
These are wonderful!! I made them with vegan butter and egg substitute. They have a great peanut butter flavor and I like the texture….I didn’t find them to be too dry or crumbly. My entire family approves.
★★★★★
Made a couple changes, used 2 large ripe banana instead of egg and semi sweet added chocolate chips. DELICIOUS
★★★★★
is it unsweeten peanut butter or sweeten?
Simply Delicious ! Sally you never disappoint:)
★★★★★
SUPER dry and crumbly. Sucks the moisture right out of your mouth. And they all fall apart. I’m tossing them all in the trash. 🙁
Hi Sally – I want to make my husbands favorite cookie, chocolate chip peanut butter. I have been looking for a great peanut butter cookie recipe with chocolate chips and haven’t found a great one. Could I do this one and add chocolate chips to it? Should I make any adjustments and what amount of chocolate chips? I was thinking a cup and a quarter.
Thanks in advance!
Hi Kerstin, absolutely — you can add 1 cup of your favorite add-ins like chocolate chips. You might also enjoy our Big Bakery-Style Peanut Butter Chunk Cookies. Happy baking!
Definitely the best peanut butter cookies. My husband requests every week.
Making right now! Their just crumbling getting off the cookie sheet. What could I have done wrong! Please help before I discard batter. Thanks
Hi Denise! Make sure you’re using creamy peanut butter (not natural style). Spoon and level the flour and avoid over-baking. You can add 1-2 Tablespoons of milk to the dough if needed. Next time you can slightly under-bake to avoid drying out, too.
I read the suggested peanut butters, but I have mix nut butters from Costco that will expire next month, so I am curious to try them, however, I am an avid follower, LOVE Sally and couldn’t imagine a bad recipe…ever! Before Sally, I couldn’t bake anything! I do now and it’s so much fun. Can’t wait to add your books to my skoolie kitchen!
I use crunchy peanut butter and it turned out amazing. Crumble at the sides and soft centre. Thanks for the recipe
I loved this!
We loved it!
★★★★★
Excellent! Will be my go-to pb cookie recipe from now on. (Note: I added roasted peanuts and some peanut butter chips just because I felt like it. Great, either way!)
★★★★★
I’ve made that recipe more than 10 times now. It’s perfect with natural peanut butter, the smooth one. I usually add a cup of small chocolate chips instead of chopped peanuts. miam miam !
★★★★★
Love this recipe, although my cookies did fall apart easily when being transported….would adding milk to the batter help, like maybe 1/4 cup??
★★★★
Hi Ryan! Thanks so much for the feedback. 1/4 cup milk may be too much– I’d try 2 Tablespoons.
Easy recipe, super rich flavour, the best peanut butter cookies I’ve ever had
I made these cookies today, wow the best peanut butter cookies ever! I followed the recipe to a T. Mine did not crumble. I did the first batch right away and the 2nd batch I refrigerated.
★★★★★
When I was looking for a peanut butter cookie recipe this is exactly what I was looking for. great cookie!
★★★★★
I have made these cookies plenty of times by now and I dont have this issue of it being crumbly, I whip my butter on its own until its almost white then I add the sugar and egg and vanilla, incorporating until smooth. Once I add the peanut butter I let it go for a little bit of time, then slowly incorporate the dry it will look wet and unable to form but I only chill it for 30 minutes. Then I weigh out 2oz portions and they are fluffy, crispy on the edge and soft on the inside, I cook them for 15-17 minutes.
★★★★★
Made these this evening and I was very happy with the cookies!!!! Also, I was able to make 4 dozen with a few extras to spare. I will make these again.
★★★★
Good flavor but dry consistency, crumbly. I followed directions . will not use this recipe again.
★★
Goid flavor
★★★
My teen baked these for me yesterday. They are 100% absolutely perfect. I will never try another peanut butter cookie recipe again. This is IT. Pleasantly crumbly outside, dense rich peanutty interior.
★★★★★
I tried this recipe for the first time this weekend. The cookies came out perfect! Slightly crumbly on the edges but soft in the middle. They are so delicious and a definite treat! My son is mad about peanut butter so this may become a regular bake for me 🙂
★★★★★
These cookies tasted absolutely wonderful. The only problem is they are rather crumbly, even the next day. My husband loved the strong peanut butter flavor so I hesitate to drop down to 1 cup. Is there a way to make the cookie less crumbly or, preferably, with some crunch? Has anyone tried using half butter/half shortening? TIA!
★★★★★
I also had issues with this cookie crumbling. The flavor is good but it falls apart while eating it. I rechecked the recipe and it appears I followed it exactly. The sad part is all the premium ingredients are now tossed.
★★★★
What is the difference between Classic Peanut Butter cookies, and Very Peanut Butter Cookies on this site?
Thanks
Hi Raquel, The very peanut butter cookies are made with twice the amount of peanut butter for a dense flavor and softer texture.
Made this recipe, I’m not a fan of peanut-butter-cookies but I have been converted. They are delicious!! Thank you Sally
★★★★★
These were absolutely the perfect peanut butter cookie. So good! I am using a oven thermometer now and it has made a big difference in my baking. Thank you for the best peanut butter cookie recipe.
★★★★★
Hi,
The peanut butter I will be using is organic Kirkland (from Costco). I saw your comments regarding too much oil making the cookies crumble. Could I cut down on the butter in the recipe to try and alleviate this issue?
Hi Najla, that peanut butter should be fine to use without any changes to the recipe.
Can I use coconut oil in place of butter?
Hi Aisha, Solid coconut oil should work as a substitute.