Easy Peanut Butter Cookies
For more creative peanut butter cookies, check out our Loaded Peanut Butter Cookies, and Sumbitches.
Peanut Butter Cookies are some of my all-time favorite treats… And I know I’m not alone in feeling that way! When you bite into a perfectly baked homemade Peanut Butter Cookie, there’s no denying how delicious they are. They’re oh so soft, chewy, and sweet! Once you make these quick and easy cookies, you’ll never use store-bought dough again.
In fact, these cookies are so easy to make that your kids will love helping you! Just make sure they don’t sneak too many bites of the cookie dough when you’re not looking… It’s pretty hard to resist. Little ones usually love helping make the checkered pattern with a fork, which gives the cookies their picture-perfect appearance.
Oh, and it’s also worth mentioning that with this homemade cookie recipe, you don’t even need to chill the dough before baking!
No matter what time of year it is, classic Peanut Butter Cookies are always a huge hit. We’re in the thick of Christmas baking madness right now, and I know that I’ll definitely be making a batch (or several) of these tried and true cookies for cookie exchanges, holiday parties, and maybe even to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve. They’re also great to serve the rest of the year, so you don’t ever have to go too long without getting your fix!
Make Ahead and Storing Instructions:
Make Ahead: You can prepare the dough and store it in an air-tight zip-top bag for 2-3 days in the refrigerator. Make sure to pull the dough out 30-40 minutes before rolling the cookies to let it get to room temperature. Tip: When storing the dough, try to make it more flat than round so it warms up evenly when you get it to room temperature.
Storing: You can store the baked peanut butter cookies in an airtight food storage container at room temperature for a few days. To extend the life of the cookies a little more, store them in the refrigerator.
Things to remember when storing cookies:
- Let them cool completely first so the condensation from warm cookies doesn’t create too much moisture inside the closed container.
- You can use a storage container with a lid or a zip-top bag.
- To warm up cold cookies, you can pop some into the microwave for 5-10 seconds to warm up.
Freezing Instructions:
Unbaked cookie dough – Prepare the cookie dough and roll it into the 1-inch balls. Flatten then with a fork and gently crisscross to make the checkered pattern on top. Place the rolled cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Freeze the dough balls for about 2 hours, then transfer the frozen cookies into a zip-top freezer bag. Make sure to let all of the air out first and label. Freeze for up to 2 months.
You can bake frozen cookies as they are! Just add about 2 minutes to the bake time.
Baked cookies – To freeze baked cookies, lay them in a single layer on a wire rack and let them fully cool to room temperature. Once cooled, place the wire rack in the freezer and let cookies freeze for about 2 hours. Set a timer so you remember the cookies!
Once frozen, transfer cookie into a large zip-top freezer bag. You can either store all of the cookies at once or portion them into smaller bags.
Make sure to label, seal, and place back into the freezer. Frozen baked cookies will last up to 6 months.
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Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cream softened butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy (for a couple of minutes). Lower speed to medium.
- Beat in eggs, one at a time, and beat until smooth.
- Beat in peanut butter and vanilla and beat until combined. Turn off mixer and scrape sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Sift in flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat on stir/low speed until incorporated.
- Roll about 1-inch cookie dough balls (I recommend using a #40 cookies scoop) and place them on the cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
- Gently press in top of each cookie ball with a fork forming a crisscross to flatten them a little.
- Bake cookies for 9-10 minutes and cool them on a wire rack. (You will get 2-3 batches out of this cookie dough recipe.)
Nutrition
Want extra flavors in your peanut butter cookies?
- Soft and Gooey Loaded Peanut Butter Cookies
- Sweet and Salty White Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies
- Dulce De Leche Peanut Butter Cookies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
Yummy Cookies!