Peanut Butter Cookies
Peanut butter cookies are a perennial favorite, and a comfort food cookie if ever there was one. Most of the time, peanut butter cookie recipes call for creamy, but these go a slightly different texture. These peanut butter cookies are made with chunky peanut butter, which provides a bit of an unexpected crunch. The cookies, however, are still soft and chewy and possess the signature, nostalgic ridges made with the tines of a fork.If you don't have crunchy peanut butter, you can use regular creamy peanut butter instead. And you can decide which peanut butter is the best. Use whatever your favorite brand is, make your own, or even use another nut butter, such as almond.
Equipment
- rack for cooling
- stand mixer with paddle attachment
Ingredients
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar - firmly packed
- ½ cup butter or margarine
- ½ cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter
- 1 lg egg
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Gather the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C/Gas 6).
- In a mixing bowl with an electric mixer, or in a stand mixer, cream the white and brown sugars with the butter and crunchy peanut butter until light and fluffy.
- Beat the egg and vanilla into peanut butter mixture until smooth and well blended.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda.
- Blend flour mixture into creamed ingredients gradually.
- Using lightly floured hands, shape the peanut butter cookie dough into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on parchment-paper-lined (or ungreased) cookie sheets.
- Dip a fork in flour and press it into the balls of dough, making a criss-cross design and flattening the cookies slightly. Dip the fork in the flour after each press. Dust each cookie with additional granulated sugar, if desired.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 7 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned around edges.
Notes
How Do You Make Peanut Butter Cookies Less Crumbly?
If a peanut butter cookie is crumbly, it means it doesn't have enough moisture, possibly because there isn't enough fat or there is too much flour—or some combination of both. These cookies have adequate moisture from the brown sugar and egg, along with the fat in the peanut butter and butter.
Rob's Little Secret: If you need to make this recipe gluten free, try using a gluten-free flour blend suited for baking. Look for one that contains xanthan gum.
How to Store and Freeze Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies
These cookies will keep in a covered container for several days. If they become a little stale, you can always microwave them briefly to soften them up again.
You can also freeze the dough balls before you bake them. Simply transfer them to a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment or waxed paper, and leave them in the freezer until frozen. Then, transfer to a zip-close plastic bag and bake at the recommended temperature for the recipe, adding on a minute or two.