Peanut Butter Cookies

I love peanut butter cookies.

It’s not like some random cookie I just met puppy love. I mean like if I had to pick one cookie to eat for the rest of my life love. We’re talking unswervingly commited cookie love.

I love peanut butter cookies.

Now that you grasp the full depths of my feelings here, let me say that this is the recipe for my favorite peanut butter cookies of all time. That’s right. You’re about to get into some pretty heavy stuff if you choose to stick around and learn the magic.

These are now considered my mom Kay’s peanut butter cookies. Before that they were my grandma Jessie Bell’s peanut butter cookies. And apparently before that, they were my aunt Josephine’s peanut butter cookies. Don’t ask me how that math works. All I can say is that this is a cherished family recipe.

It has been passed down (and loved) for generations, and I hope that your family savors them as much as we have!

Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe

Print recipe

• Print with all photos
• Print with main photo
• Print text only

Ingredients

• 1 cup peanut butter (we always use creamy)
• 1 cup cricso
• 1 teaspoon salt (this is one place I use fine salt)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups flour

Directions

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. I like to start out by getting some things measured. Measuring your dry ingredients before the P.B. and crisco means that you only clean your measuring cup once. If you don't mind the extra cleaning, or if you're a smart baker with multiple measuring cup sets, feel free to jump right in with the sticky stuff.

Step 2

First sift the flour into a bowl.

Step 3

Then put the two sugars together in their own bowl.

Step 4

Now on to the stickies! Add both the crisco and the peanut butter into the bowl of your mixer.

Step 5

Using the paddle attachment, cream together until it looks nice and dreamy. Then add in the salt, soda and vanilla.

Step 6

Now dump in the sugars.

Step 7

Mix everything together until it looks like sandy peanut butter. I alternate mixing then scraping the sides of the bowl down a couple of times.

Step 8

Before I add in the eggs I always crack them into a separate bowl. This will help you avoid mistakes like shells, or creepy eggs (I've gotten a black one before...yuck!). I also like to mix them up a bit with a fork to help them blend into the rest of the batter a bit smoother.

Step 9

Dump them right in with the rest.

Step 10

Again you want to mix and then scrape at least once.

Step 11

Today I learned that my grandma never added all of the flour and neither does my mom. I'm just here to do what I'm told, so I didn't either. Add the flour in several batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl in between each addition.

Step 12

This is how much flour was left in my bowl once it was all said and done.

Step 13

This is what delicious dough should look like!

Step 14

My family has always hand-rolled the dough into small balls and then squished the balls with a fork. This makes them look like the traditional peanut butter cookies we all know and love. However, I just discovered that this dough also rolls out with a rolling pin beautifully! I used half of this batch in our traditional way, and then I rolled the other half with a rolling pin. Look for photos of my Candy Corn Cookies featuring my Caramel Frosting recipe!

Step 15

Line your baking sheet with parchment paper, and roll a small clump of dough into a ball.

Step 16

Now make him lots of friends, and space them a couple inches apart.

Step 17

Dip a fork into the reserved flour, and give 'em a good squish.

Step 18

Just to make sure they've learned their lesson, give 'em another squish!

Step 19

This is the line-up before they go into the oven. They already look so good, you'll want to eat them right now!

Step 20

They bake anywhere from 10-12 minutes. Here are mine after 11 minutes.

Step 21

These cookies are wonderful crunchy or chewy. For a crunchier cookie I would bake them the full 12 minutes. Also carefully move them after 2-3 minutes of cooling from the baking sheet onto a cooling rack. For a softer cookie (like mine) never cook them the full 12 minutes, and once you pull them out of the oven let them completely cool on the cookie sheet. No cooling rack involved.

Step 22

These are wonderful just as they are. No frills... except maybe a glass of milk.

Step 23

They also make wonderful little sandwich cookies with a filling of your choice. Some of my favorites are: Nutella, chocolate frosting, peanut butter frosting, or just plain old peanut butter. These are some I made with my Caramel Frosting recipe!

Step 24

The assembly line is so fun. Just have your filling and bowls of sprinkles ready.

Step 25

Then spread the filling.

Step 26

And roll in your sprinkles.

Step 27

We hope you enjoy these cookies as much as our family has for decades!

Step 28

Happy Halloween!