Ever wanted a peanut butter cookie that isn’t dry and crunchy? Well, this recipe is the one you’ve been looking for! These super soft peanut butter cookies are packed full of flavor and are sure to melt in your mouth. They’re the perfect cross between a regular peanut butter cookie and a soft snickerdoodle. And they’re even better with a glass of milk!
Jump to:
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Unsalted Butter: You’ll need about ¾ cup of butter. Melting it is crucial for getting that nice chewy texture.
- Natural Peanut Butter: Natural, unsweetened peanut butter is what this recipe calls for. Anything with added sugar could make this recipe too sweet.
- All-purpose Flour: You’ll need around 1 ½ cups of flour.
- Cornstarch: This is the key ingredient for getting that super soft, pillowy texture.
- Baking Soda & Baking Powder: Gives the cookies a slight rise and adds texture.
- Salt: Boosts the flavor of the peanut butter and gives the cookie that perfect balance of sweet and salty.
- Granulated & Brown Sugar: Both add sweetness and the brown sugar helps to give you a chewier cookie. Extra granulated sugar for rolling helps create that glittery cookie top.
- Eggs: You’ll need 1 large egg at room temperature.
- Vanilla Extract: No cookie would be complete without vanilla extract to round out the flavors!
How To Make These Peanut Butter Cookies
First you’ll want to melt the butter and peanut butter to allow it time to cool while prepping the other ingredients. Melting these two together will help give the cookie a chewier texture. While the mixture is cooling, prep your dry ingredients in a separate bowl and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Once the peanut butter mixture is cooled, whisk it together with the granulated and brown sugar followed by the eggs and vanilla extract. Next, you’ll want to fold in your dry ingredients until just combined. This will help prevent you from over mixing.
Once the dough is prepared, use a three tbsp cookie scoop to help portion out the cookies. Then roll with your hands to shape them into a ball. After forming each cookie, roll them in granulated sugar and place two inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Once they’re all lined up on the sheet, lightly press down on them with a fork to create a cross pattern. You can also try using a cookie stamp for an interesting design. Chill them in the fridge for 30 minutes to allow them to stiffen up. If you don’t prepare them on the baking sheet first before chilling, portioning them out could be more difficult as the dough will be dry and crumbly.
Once they’ve chilled, pop them in the oven for about 10 minutes. You’ll want to under bake them just a bit so they keep they’re soft texture. After they’ve baked, let them sit on the baking sheet for 10 minutes to allow them to set. Then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. And that’s it! Now you can enjoy perfect, soft peanut butter cookies!
Tips For Super Soft Peanut Butter Cookies
- Melt the Butter: Most recipes for peanut butter cookies use softened butter, but melting it results in a softer cookie, which is the ultimate goal here!
- Chill the Dough: Chilling the dough for at least half an hour is important for ensuring that the cookies don’t spread too much when baked. This step is especially important if you’re using melted butter.
- Use Cornstarch: Ever wondered how some cookies have that nice pillowy texture? Well that’s most likely thanks to cornstarch. When used in baked goods, cornstarch helps to give things a finer, more tender crumb, resulting in a soft baked good.
📖 Recipe
Super Soft Peanut Butter Cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 14 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies, Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 113 g (½ cup) unsalted butter
- 180 g (¾ cup) natural peanut butter
- 180 g (1 ½ cups) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ½ tsp cornstarch
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 100 g (½ cup) granulated sugar + 50 g (¼ cup) for rolling
- 100 g (½ cup) light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg, room temp
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter and peanut butter together in 20 seconds intervals, stirring in between. Do this until the mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool for 15 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the peanut butter mixture and both sugars until fully combined. Mix in the eggs and vanilla extract.
- Fold in the flour mixture until just combined. Scoop the dough using a 3 tbsp cookie scoop. Roll with your hands to form them into balls, then roll them in the remaining 50g of sugar.
- Place them on the prepared baking sheet and press lightly with a fork in a cross pattern to flatten. They should be about ½ inch thick. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Remove cookies from the fridge and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Leave a Reply