These chewy peanut butter cookies are made with creamy peanut butter, extra chewy middle, and lots of peanut butter flavor.
These soft and chewy peanut butter cookies are the perfect cookies for peanut butter lovers. They are crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside and are made with super simple ingredients.
If you like making cookies, you should check out our cookies and cream cookies, double chocolate cookies, brown butter chocolate chunk cookies, small-batch chocolate chip cookies, and our M&M cookies!
Jump to:
Why this recipe works
- Texture- These cookies have a chewy and soft center and crispy edges.
- No chill cookie recipe- This is a no-chill cookie recipe! So you can make it in under an hour from start to finish!
- Peanut butter flavor- These cookies are perfect for peanut butter lovers! They are loaded with peanut butter and peanut butter flavor.
- Simple- Made with a few simple ingredients that you may have in your kitchen!
- Time- These chewy soft peanut butter cookies come together in one bowl and take 30 minutes to make from start to finish!
Ingredients
Before you start to make this chewy peanut butter cookie recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
Peanut butter- I prefer using smooth store-bought peanut butter that is not natural peanut butter, like Skippy or Jiff brand.
I do not recommend using natural peanut butter for this.
Butter- use unsalted butter for this recipe. Only butter will work for this recipe, no margarine, and no coconut oil. Margarine has a weird taste and can ruin the flavor of these delicious cookies.
Flour– we used all-purpose flour for this recipe. cake flour will work great as well.
Baking soda – baking soda helps the cookies rise and spread. Make sure that your baking soda isn’t expired. Don’t replace baking soda with baking powder!
Sugar- we used granulated sugar for this recipe. You can use caster sugar as well.
Brown sugar- adds a caramelly flavor and chewy texture to the cookies.
Eggs- you will need 1 large egg for this recipe. Make sure that your egg is at room temperature.
Egg yolk- you will need 1 egg yolk for this recipe.
Vanilla extract- adds extra flavor.
Kosher salt- you will need about ½ teaspoon of kosher salt for this recipe.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180c (350f) and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Into a large mixing bowl, add the ½ cup peanut butter, softened butter, vanilla extract, sugar, kosher salt, and brown sugar, and mix with an electric hand mixer until creamy.
Add the egg and egg yolk and mix until well combined.
Add the baking soda and flour, and mix until just combined! Do not overmix.
Use a cookie scooper to scoop out the cookies or scoop the cookies with a tbsp, 1 ½ tablespoon at a time.
Place the cookie dough balls onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 10-12 minutes.
If you like your cookies crispier, bake them for 12 minutes, If you like them soft and chewy, bake for 10 minutes.
Let the soft peanut butter cookies cool for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Expert Tips
- Use room temperature ingredients. You must use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cookies and not dense and dry cookies.
- Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making these cookies, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the dough.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Line your sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat! This step helps the cookies to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your cookies release easily from the pan.
- Use a cookies scoop to scoop out the cookies, that way you will have even-sized cookies, plus it ensures that your cookies bake evenly.
- Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
- Chill the dough! This step is crucial and prevents the cookies to spread out too much. After making the cookie dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean towel, and chill the dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to eat these cookies as they are pulled out of the oven, but let these cookies cool for at least 15 minutes so they will be more firm and won’t crumble up.
- We suggest letting these cookies cool for 5 minutes and then transferring them to a wire rack to cool for at least 10 more minutes. This step ensures that the bottom of your cookies will not be soggy from the steam.
Faq's
This usually means that there is too much flour in the dough. It is very important to measure your flour correctly.
These cookies will last for up to 5 days stored at room temperature in an airtight container.
We used regular unsalted butter for this recipe. If you want to use salted butter in this recipe, simply skip the salt and make the recipe as written.
The trick to chewy cookies is adding an extra egg yolk and using light brown sugar or dark brown sugar. The molasses in the brown sugar makes cookies extra soft and chewy.
This can happen for a few reasons. The most common ones are you didn't measure your flour correctly and added too much flour. And the second one is that you baked your cookies for too long.
I always love underbaking my cookies by a little bit to keep them chewy on the inside. Cookies keep baking in the cooling process, so I pull them out a minute or two before the baking time ends.
Storing
It’s okay to store these cookies at room temperature. Make sure that you store them in an airtight container so they won't dry out.
Freezing
Follow the instructions as written and make the dough balls, then transfer the dough balls into a freezer-friendly airtight ziplock bag, and freeze the cookie dough ball for up to 3 months.
When ready to bake the cookies, bake them right away, no need to thaw. Add an extra minute or so for the baking time.
Substitutions
Dairy-free - If you are dairy-free, replace the butter with vegan butter or plant-based butter. Do not use margarine. It will change the flavor of these cookies and leave a weird taste.
Gluten-free- you can swap the flour with gluten-free flour to make these gluten-free. I never tested this recipe with gluten-free flour, but it should work.
Make it ahead of time
You can make the cookie dough and let it chill in the fridge for up to 3 days sealed tightly with cling wrap. When you are ready to bake, let the dough come to room temperature and follow the same instructions as written.
Variations
Peanut butter- you can use either chunky peanut butter or creamy peanut butter for this recipe. I used classic creamy peanut butter for this but the chunky one can add a fun texture.
Chocolate chips- these cookies taste great with chocolate chips, add ½ a cup to the batter and bake it according to the instructions.
Peanuts- chop some peanuts and add them to the cookie dough for a crunchy texture.
Peanut butter cups- add chopped peanut butter cups for a delicious chocolate and peanut butter flavor. You can use regular sized peanut butter cups or mini peanut butter cups.
Equipment
- Mixing bowl (set of 3)
- Whisk Set (pack of 3) to whisk the ingredients together
- Baking sheet and rack set (our fave)
- Cookies scoop set of 3 (the best cookie scoop we used)
More peanut butter recipes
Chocolate peanut butter ice cream- This chocolate peanut butter ice cream recipe is made with 4 simple ingredients, made without an ice cream machine, takes 10 minutes to prep, and is extremely creamy.
Almond flour peanut butter cookies- These almond flour peanut butter cookies are chewy and soft, crispy on the edges, made with creamy peanut butter, and filled with chocolate chips!
Healthy peanut butter cups- These healthy peanut butter cups are made with only 5 ingredients, taste like Reese's peanut butter cups, and are gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, keto, and low on sugar.
If you tried this recipe, don’t forget to leave a rating and a comment below. We love hearing from you.
If you liked this recipe
- Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
- Share/pin this recipe to Pinterest.
- Leave a comment down below!
📖 Recipe
Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies (Soft & One Bowl)
Ingredients
- ½ cup Peanut butter creamy, not natural.
- ½ cup Butter
- ½ cup Granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup Brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1 Egg
- 1 Egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 ¼ cups Flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180c (350f) and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Into a large mixing bowl, add the peanut butter, softened butter, vanilla extract, sugar, kosher salt, and brown sugar, and mix with an elecrtric hand mixer until creamy.
- Add the egg and egg yolk and mix until well combined.
- Add the baking soda and flour, and mix until just combined! Do not overmix.
- Use a cookie scooper to scoop out the cookies or scoop the cookies with a tbsp, 1 ½ tablespoon at a time.
- Place the cookie dough balls onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 10-12 minutes.
- If you like your cookies crispier, bake them for 12 minutes, If you like them soft and chewy, bake for 10 minutes.
- Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients. You must use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cookies and not dense and dry cookies.
- Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making these cookies, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the dough.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Line your sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat! This step helps the cookies to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your cookies release easily from the pan.
- Use a cookies scoop to scoop out the cookies, that way you will have even-sized cookies, plus it ensures that your cookies bake evenly.
- Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
- Chill the dough! This step is crucial and prevents the cookies to spread out too much. After making the cookie dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean towel, and chill the dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to eat these cookies as they are pulled out of the oven, but let these cookies cool for at least 15 minutes so they will be more firm and won’t crumble up.
- We suggest letting these cookies cool for 5 minutes and then transferring them to a wire rack to cool for at least 10 more minutes. This step ensures that the bottom of your cookies will not be soggy from the steam.
Comments
No Comments