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I can count on one hand the number of people I know who don’t like peanut butter! I truly believe it’s one of the best things to happen to mankind. And these crispy peanut butter cookies are even better! These melt-in-your-mouth scrumptious cookies are super easy to make and a joy to devour! And if you think you like them, wait until your kids try them (you’ll definitely have to hide these out of reach if you want them to last!).
How to Make Crispy Peanut Butter Cookies
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and the sugars until creamy and smooth.
- Add in the peanut butter, eggs, and vanilla extract, then beat until smooth.
- In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder until combined.
- Add the dry mixture into the butter mixture and mix in well.
- Chill in the fridge for an hour.
- Preheat your oven to 375 °F.
- Shape the dough into small golf ball sized rounds.
- Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
- Now, you can flatten each ball by crisscrossing with the tines of a fork as is custom. You can ALSO do what I did and use a meat mallet to press them down. My meat mallet is circular so it’s perfect for cookies. You can use a square one to press down the cookies as well.
- Bake at 375° for 11-13 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are well baked. Don’t let them brown too much, but do bake them as much as possible.
- Remove and cool on the baking sheets completely.
- Enjoy!
How do you Store Peanut Butter Cookies So They Stay Crisp?
Once you’ve finished baking these peanut butter delights, the last thing you want is to end up with soggy cookies within a few hours! To properly store your crispy peanut butter cookies make sure that you let them cool completely beforehand. Then put your cookies into an airtight container and place parchment paper in between each layer of cookies. Adding some white bread into the container will also soak up the moisture and keep them nice and crispy! Once that’s done, keep the container at room temperature and your cookies will stay crispy for 2-3 weeks!
How Long do you Bake Peanut Butter Cookies?
These crispy peanut butter cookies should be baked in a preheated oven for 11-13 minutes until slightly browned (but not too much). You’ll need to keep an eye on them to make sure they’re properly baked but not overdone either – it’s a delicate balance but it will be second nature once you’ve made them a few times!
How to Make Peanut Butter Cookies Without Sugar
If you don’t want to use sugar in your crispy peanut butter cookies recipe you can substitute a 1 to 1 ratio sweetener such as Splenda or Stevia for the sugar in this recipe and it will work just as well. Agave nectar is also a good swap for sugar in this recipe without sacrificing taste, just make sure that you look at your substitution ratios and adjust accordingly. Peanut butter cookies are one of the most popular cookies to make sugar free.
How to Tell when Peanut Butter Cookies are Done
You should bake your crispy peanut butter cookies until the edges turn a light brown. But make sure you take a close look to ensure they actually have turned brown as the peanut butter itself can create a bit of an optical illusion if you’re not looking closely! Sometimes it’s worth taking them out of the oven to have a closer look. Don’t forget to keep an eye on your cookies as they bake as they can get overbaked very easily too.
Other Cookie Recipes
- The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe: this reader-friendly favourite is one of the most popular chocolate chip cookie recipes on my entire website! These chewy chocolate cookies are an absolutely decadent delight and if you haven’t tried them yet then you’re in for a treat!
- Thick & Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies: these crazily addictive, thick & chewy peanut butter chocolate chip cookie will absolutely blow your mind. I mean, peanut butter and chocolate, where can you go wrong with that combination?!
- Old Fashioned Cut-Out Sour Cream Sugar Cookies: this classic pairing of sour cream and nutmeg in a soft, pillowy sugar cookie is an absolute treat to the tastebuds!
- Raspberry Walnut Thumbprint Cookies: these are my Mom’s favourite cookie and I’m definitely a big fan of them too! With a yummy jam center they look and taste gorgeous!
- Crispy, Buttery Candy Cane Cookies: these colorful cookies are definitely a little festive but you can make them at any time of the year! Their crispy yet chewy texture is one I love (as you’ve probably noticed!).
These are my new obsession, no word of a lie. Peanut butter cookies are my FAVORITE. Beyond my favorite. And when you make them crispy? Awwww man, they are addicting. I mean, let’s face it I honestly wouldn’t turn down any cookies, but there is something about PB cookies that makes them the best ever.
Happy baking!
Love,
Karlynn
Crispy Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter softened
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and the sugars until creamy and smooth.
- Add in the peanut butter, eggs and vanilla extract, then beat until smooth.
- In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and baking powder until combined.
- Add the dry mixture into the butter mixture and mix in well.
- Chill in the fridge for an hour.
- Preheat your oven to 375 °F.
- Shape the dough into small golf ball sized rounds.
- Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
- Now, you can flatten each ball by crisscrossing with the tines of a fork as is custom. You can ALSO do what I did and use a meat mallet to press them down. My meat mallet is circular so it’s perfect for cookies. You can use a square one to press down the cookies as well.
- Bake at 375° for 11-13 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are well baked. Don’t let them brown too much, but do bake them as much as possible.
- Remove and cool on the baking sheets completely.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
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The Real Person!
The Real Person!
These are not peanut butter cookies; they are sugar cookies with a hint of peanut butter. The recommended temperature was either too hot, or the recommended cooking time was too long (or both), as they came out burnt, not just well done. I ended up going with a lower temperature plus an 8 minute cooking time to get them to work, but then they weren’t crispy.
Felicia C says
These didn’t come out crispy for me and the peanut taste was mild.
Felicia says
These didn’t come out crispy for me at all and they didn’t taste much like peanut butter. I’ve never used brown sugar in any crispy cookie and if i try these again it will be with only regular sugar or no more than 1/2 cup brown sure.
Ginny says
These are delicious. I used a square mallet and it didn’t stick. I accidentally melted my butter in the microwave but they still turned out. I rolled balls bigger than a walnut so I think that affected the middle not as crispy as the edges. I also had to bake an extra 3 minutes due to the size I assume. I used crunchy Skip py. The taste is very peanutty and not too sweet.
I made one cookie sheet then rolled the rest in balls and froze for future use. I will thaw a few of the balls when I want a snack and use the mallet to press down as before. I hope that they are just as good after freezing.
Alexia Suiter says
I made these gluten free with Bobs cup for cup (blue bag)—they turned out amazing!! Still crispy and held together!! As with all gf recipes from regular recipes: add about 10-15% more flour (estimated) and turn down the temp (I baked these at 350°) for a little longer (I did 13 mins) They’re PERFECT!! Great recipe to begin with, so simple -and I’m even more happy it translated to GF so seamlessly that no Ken who didn’t need to know, even knew!
Thank you!!
Terrie hill says
I love these cookies the best ever it only took me 40years to find it
Jeff says
Great PB cookie recipe! But, I have a storage question. You say to keep them crisp, put a slice of bread in the cookie container. That confuses me because I’ve always read to keep brown sugar soft, to put a piece of bread with it (because bread contains moisture). So, wouldn’t the bread makes the cookies soft, not keep them crispy?
Sylvia Pagliaro says
Can this dough be frozen? Would like to make a double batch and freeze one. Thank you!
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Yes. The dough freezes well.
Tom T says
Came out great. Wait for them to cool as they get crunchier. Not oily like peanut butter cookies can get. Used super crunch and liked the bits of peanuts. Used fork dipped in sugar to flatten. Needed 3 cookie sheets and used parchment. Will make again
Susan says
Well this was a disappointment. I made/baked as stated and it was not crispy. I baked for 11 minutes and when I took them out of the oven they were a bit dark around the edges. I was afraid I had over baked them. When they cooled, about two hours, I tried one and it was much too soft and not at all crispy. Not only that it didn’t have a very strong peanut butter taste.
Madison says
Can this dough be frozen? I would love to make a large batch to freeze and bake 4-6 cookies at a time.
Susan says
A delicious recipe. I like a crisp cookie and these are great. I made a different recipe for PB cookies recently, and the cookies were doughy and too cake like. I’m glad I found these. I used a meat mallet to make the pattern like you show on your cookies, but the pattern was not very distinctive after baking. Any tips to have the pattern be more visible after baking? I do dip the mallet in sugar before pressing into the cookies, and that kept it from sticking.
Freya says
These are so good. If you make a thumbprint in them after you flatten them, bake half the baking time, put 1/2 teaspoon jam in the dent, and then bake the rest of the baking time you get crispy peanut butter and jam cookies! Great with a glass of milk.
Lb says
All the instructions, no quantities listed for Ingredients. Genius.
Mr. Kitchen Magpie says
Perhaps read the recipe card, where those quantities are listed perfectly clearly in a manner you can print before you claim to be a genius. 😉
Mike Daniels says
Superb! My second time for this recipe. I love your wit and thorough explanations. By the way, I have a rather blunt square meat hammer, and for the person who asked about sticking, I lay a piece of plastic wrap over the cookies as I press them.
Linda Hensens says
I have been wanting a crispy peanut butter cookie forever! I finally made these today, and I only used half of the cookie dough, (it made 26 cookies)! I stuck the other half in my freezer for another time!
My question is how did you use your meat mallet to press your cookies out? I have a meat mallet that has a flat side and a side like the one you have.
However, when I tried to press the cookies out with the mallet, the dough stuck to the mallet, and the dough was torn when I tried to get the dough off of it. I winded up using the typical fork to press the cookies out. If you have any tips, I would appreciate them! The cookies were very good though. Nice and crispy! Yumm!!
Karlynn says
I’m glad it turned out for you! If they’re sticking to the mallet I would honestly just melt some butter and brush it onto the mallet. You can also dip the mallet into water and shake it off, that also helps prevent sticking when I use the bottom of glasses on cookies.
eileen says
Just have these cooling right now and they smell and taste amazing! Still a bit chewy as they’re a bit warm but totally amazing! Thank you!
Tamaira says
LOL! Last 2-3 weeks….like they would ever last that long in my house! Maybe 2-3 hours 🙂 I really love the look of these cookies. Now I need a meat mallet like yours so I can make such pretty looking ones. What brand of peanut butter do you use? I only ever buy the kind that has ground peanuts but I am guessing that won’t work here.
Karlynn says
we use the junky peanut butter for baking, but we use natural peanut butter for everything else like toast etc. I just find that usually natural peanut butter doesn’t bake up as nice for some reason. Probably some terrible additives lol.
Tamaira says
Thank you! If you don’t use a specific brand then I guess I can go with No Name, PC or whatever happens to be on sale 🙂 Looking forward to making these!!
Yolande Robinson says
You could try using the bottom of a glass as some of them are quite decirative
Rick Collins says
Yes I love them! I also am a big fan of Karlynn! She shares so many great ideas and recipes!