These thick, puffy, peanut butter filled cookies are a peanut butter lover's crack.
For reals 😉
Smooth peanut butter flavor paired with a "perfect" peanut butter cookie texture - thick, puffy, moist (these cookies are anything but dry), with a sugar coated firm outside and a soft chewy center. These are some pretty darn good cookies.
Pushing the dough down with a fork to make that classic peanut butter criss-cross is optional, but I love how it makes the edges crack for a true homemade cookie look. If you opt to not do the whole criss-cross thing, these cookies puff up into perfect peanut butter pillows (say that 5 times fast).
This isn't my first rodeo when it comes to peanut butter cookies. I had an older post with a great recipe from over a year ago but felt like something was missing. My original recipe was full of flavor, thick, and puffy...but they had a little more of a crumbly, dry texture. I've eaten my far share of peanut butter cookies to know that dryness can come with the territory, but that's what I wanted to change. I don't know about you, but when it comes to cookies, any kind for that matter, I love that soft, chewy, melt in your mouth texture.
So what's different with the recipe? Less flour, more peanut butter and less baking time. Changing these three things made a big difference and resulted in the perfect go-to peanut butter cookie recipe.
When it comes to peanut butter do you like smooth or crunchy? I love both!
How do you like your cookies? Are you a fan of crunchy texture or do you like a softer, chewier texture? Let me know what you guys think!
Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup shortening
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup sugar - plus more for rolling
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar packed
- 1 large egg room temperature preferred
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 and ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. Give it a quick whisk (or stir) to combine dry ingredients together. Set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl combine shortening, peanut butter, and sugars. Using a mixer on medium speed mix ingredients together until combined. Add in egg, vanilla extract, and milk and continue mixing until combined. Batter will be smooth and thin.
- Slowly add in dry ingredients and continue mixing until everything is well combined. Cookie dough will be thick and sticky.
- Pour an extra amount of sugar onto a small plate.Using a tablespoon (the actual tablespoon you use to measure out ingredients) form cookie dough balls by rolling 2 tablespoons of cookie dough together with your hands to form a smooth circle. Roll formed cookie dough balls in sugar so that the surface is evenly coated. Placed sugar coated cookie dough balls onto a plate and let them chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet with non stick cooking spray or line with parchment paper. If you prefer, use a fork to press down the center of the cookie dough balls to form the traditional criss-cross pattern. This is optional.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes. Cookies will be super soft but they will set as they cool. Allow cookies to cool for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Serve once cooled.