Description
Classic peanut butter cookies that are soft, chewy, and packed with rich peanut butter flavor. These cookies are easy to make with simple ingredients, featuring a criss-cross fork pattern and a perfect balance of sweetness and a hint of saltiness. Ideal for a quick homemade treat or to share with friends and family.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (180g)
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder (3g)
Wet Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (113g)
- 1 cup peanut butter (250g)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed (100g)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5mL)
- 1 large egg, room temperature
Optional
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (optional, if peanut butter is not salty)
Instructions
- Preheat the Oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). This ensures even baking and helps the cookies set properly.
- Sift and Combine Dry Ingredients: Sift together the all-purpose flour and baking powder to remove lumps, then whisk them to combine evenly. This step ensures a uniform texture in the cookies.
- Cream Butter and Sugars: Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the unsalted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Optionally, add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt here if your peanut butter lacks saltiness.
- Add Peanut Butter: Mix in the peanut butter until fully incorporated with the creamed butter and sugars, creating a smooth and even batter.
- Incorporate Egg and Vanilla: Beat in the egg and vanilla extract to the mixture, ensuring a well-blended batter ready for adding the dry ingredients.
- Combine Dry and Wet Ingredients: Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients gradually and beat until just combined, forming the cookie dough.
- Shape Cookies: Roll the dough into one-inch balls and place them evenly spaced on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
- Flatten with Fork: Press down each dough ball with the tines of a fork in a criss-cross pattern, gently flattening the cookies for their classic look and even baking.
- Bake Cookies: Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes. The cookies will appear very soft when taken out but will firm up as they cool.
- Cool Completely: Allow the cookies to cool fully on the baking sheet. This step is crucial as the residual heat finishes baking and setting the cookies, ensuring they hold their shape and have the perfect chewy texture.
Notes
- Cookies should be baked until just done as they will continue to set up with residual heat once removed from the oven.
- They will be very soft when fresh out of the oven; let them rest and cool completely to become firm enough to handle.
- If your peanut butter is not salty, add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt to the batter for balanced flavor.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie (approx. 105g batch divided by 18)
- Calories: 193 kcal
- Sugar: 7 g
- Sodium: 115 mg
- Fat: 13 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 16 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Cholesterol: 23 mg
