Soft peanut butter cookies packed with real peanut butter flavor! This old fashioned recipe makes the best soft and chewy peanut butter cookies I’ve ever had.
Soft Peanut Butter Cookies
I am so excited to share with you today my mom’s soft peanut butter cookie recipe! It is one of our favorite cookies to make all year long. I like to make peanut butter blossoms with them when I’m in the mood for chocolate, or they’re great on their own! If you’ve been on the look out for chewy and soft peanut butter cookies, you will want to make these. Not only are they delicious but they’re pretty simple to make with a few easy ingredients.
Ready to get baking?
Soft Peanut Butter Cookies Ingredients:
This old fashioned recipe uses basic baking ingredients that you most likely already have on hand. The combination of shortening and softened butter give you the great butter taste with the softer texture that shortening provides.
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- salt
- cinnamon
- shortening
- butter
- sugar
- light brown sugar
- eggs
- peanut butter
- vanilla
How to Make Peanut Butter Cookies
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Mix well and set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream the shortening, butter and sugars together. I typically will scrape the bowl and cream a bit more. Add your eggs, peanut butter and vanilla and mix until all ingredients are well incorporated.
Does anyone else get to this point and just want to lick the spatula and/or the bowl? And then you think about the raw eggs. And then you again want to lick the spatula and so you wonder if you should live life on the edge? Anyone?
Mix in your dry ingredients from the bowl you had set aside.
Using a cookie scoop, remove the cookie dough and roll between your hands to form a ball. Roll the dough into a bowl of sugar. (If you’re wondering, I use a 1 1/2 Tablespoon cookie scoop to keep the soft peanut butter cookie sizes consistent.)
Line the cookie sheet with your sugar covered soft chewy peanut butter cookies!
Using a fork, make a criss cross pattern on each peanut butter cookie ball. You’ll want to press down until the cookies are about 1/4 – 1/2 inch in thickness.
Bake in a 350˚ F oven for 12-13 minutes or until the cookies are just starting to brown a little on the edges. You do not want to over bake these cookies! Getting the soft peanut butter cookies perfect means really watching your oven during the first batch to determine how long to bake. Every oven is bit different.
I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as our family has for decades! Enjoy!
Soft Peanut Butter Cookies Tips
How do I make sure my cookies are soft after baking? If you find your cookies are crispy and not soft, you’ve baked them too long. To test the timing in your oven, bake one cookie and see how it turns out. Every oven is different and you’ll need to watch the oven to make sure the cookies do not over or under bake.
Do I need to chill the dough before I start making the cookies? No! This recipe does not required chilled dough. You can make the cookies as soon as you’re ready to.
How do I keep the peanut butter cookies soft and chewy? Keep the fully cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. You can add a slice of bread to the container with the cookies to help the cookies keep their moisture longer.
Do I have to flatten the cookies before baking them? If you want an even cooking you will need to flatten the peanut butter cookies. However, these cookies will bake fine without flattening them, but the baking time will be longer. I prefer to flatten them.
More Peanut Butter Desserts
- Peanut Butter No Bake Oatmeal Cookies
- No Bake Peanut Butter Pie Recipe
- Peanut Butter Fudge Recipe
- Homemade Peanut Butter Cups
Soft Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 Cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 Cup shortening
- 1/2 Cup butter softened
- 1 Cup granulated sugar
- 1 Cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 eggs well beaten
- 1 Cup peanut butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350˚ F.
- In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Mix well and set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl, cream the shortening, butter and sugars together. Add your beaten eggs, peanut butter and vanilla and mix until all ingredients are well incorporated. Mix in your dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until well incorporated.
- Using a cookie scoop, remove the cookie dough and roll between your hands to form a ball. Roll the dough into a bowl of sugar. Place the peanut butter cookie dough balls evenly spaced on an un-greased cookie sheet. Using a fork, make a criss cross pattern on each peanut butter cookie ball to flatten them to approximately 1/4 an inch.
- Bake in a 350˚ F for 12 to 13 minutes or until the edges just barely start to show a little browning.
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published February 2014. The pictures and content have been edited to improve the directions. However, the recipe has remained the same.
Comments & Reviews
Hi Lynette,
My name is Renee and I really want to try this recipe for Soft Peanut Butter Cookies. But as I was going through the recipe I noticed for this recipe and your sugar cookies it doesn’t state weather to use ungreased or parchment lined sheets? It would be helpful to know. I will be using the air unsulated sheets. Thanks in advance for a reply.
Hi Renee! All my cookies are baked on un-greased cookie sheets. I use the air bake brand. However, lately I have been using parchment paper for easier cleanup. So, really you could go either way. Enjoy!