Sugar-crusted, soft and chewy, sweet and salty, these peanut butter cookies are perfection. The dough comes together in one bowl — no stand mixer required — and the baked cookies could not be more delicious!

Just-baked peanut butter cookies all together on a sheet pan.

Jessie Sheehan’s Snackable Bakes is filled with “100 easy peasy recipes for exceptionally scrumptious sweets and treats,” including these soft and chewy peanut butter cookies, which won The Pancake Princess’s peanut butter cookie bakeoff, triumphing over recipes from Bon Appetit, The New York Times, Bravetart, and Ovenly, to name a few.

As with many soft and chewy cookies, these are made with brown sugar alone, which in addition to chew, adds lovely caramel-y notes to the cookie. But what separates these peanut butter cookies from others is the coating, which includes both sugar and flaky sea salt, creating that incredibly irresistible salty-sweet dynamic.

The result? A sugar-crusted, soft and chewy, nicely peanutty and salty cookie with a surface crinkling to perfection. Did I mention it’s a one-bowl job? What are you waiting for? The peanut butter cookie of your dreams is just a few whisk strokes away.

How to Make Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies, Step by Step

Gather your ingredients:

Ingredients to make peanut butter cookies on a countertop.

Melt the butter and let it cool briefly; then whisk in brown sugar and vanilla.

A bowl holding melted butter, brown sugar, and vanilla.
A bowl of melted butter, vanilla, and brown sugar all mixed together.

Add two eggs, whisking after each addition.

One egg added to peanut butter cookie dough batter.

Whisk in the peanut butter.

A large bowl with peanut butter cookie dough being mixed with a whisk.

Then add baking soda, baking powder, and salt, whisking after each addition.

Peanut butter cookie batter with baking powder just added.

Finally, switch to using a spatula, and fold in the flour.

A large bowl holding peanut butter cookie batter with the flour just added.

At this point, because the dough is very sticky, I like to chill it for about an hour before portioning it. You can also chill it overnight before portioning it.

A bowl filled with peanut butter cookie dough, just mixed.

I like to use my scale to portion the batter into 50-gram portions. Cold-ish batter makes this easier.

A small tray holding peanut butter cookie dough balls.

Before baking, roll the portioned balls into granulated sugar. Depending on the size of your dough balls, you’ll be able to fit 6 to 8 per sheet pan.

A peanut butter cookie dough ball coated in sugar.
A sheet pan holding sugar-coated peanut butter cookie dough balls.

Bake at 375ºF for 14 to 16 minutes.

Just-baked peanut butter cookies on a sheet pan.

Out of the oven, flatten the cookies gently with a spatula.

Just-baked and flattened peanut butter cookies.

Let the cookies cool completely on the sheet pan before storing.

Just-baked and flattened peanut butter cookies on a sheet pan.
Just-baked peanut butter cookies all together on a sheet pan.
A plate of peanut butter cookies.
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Just-baked peanut butter cookies all together on a sheet pan.

Soft and Chewy (Contest-Winning) Peanut Butter Cookies

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Description

Sugar-crusted, soft and chewy, sweet and salty, these peanut butter cookies are perfection. The dough comes together in one bowl — no stand mixer required — and the baked cookies could not be more delicious!

From Jessie Sheehan’s latest book, Snackable Bakes. I made a few small changes:

  • In place of using a combination of butter and shortening, I use all butter. If you would like to use the combination of shortening and butter, use 1/4 cup (48 g) shortening and 3/4 cup (169 g) butter. Jessie includes shortening in her recipe because it shortens “the time between assembly and baking, as it keeps the cookies from spreading as they bake.” Without it, she notes, the dough needs a rest in the fridge, which is what I’ve done here.
  • I’ve also made the cookies smaller. Jessie uses a 1/4 cup measure to portion the batter, which will give you 16 jumbo cookies. I portion the batter into 50-gram balls using my scale, and as a result I get more cookies: 23 to 24. 

Variation from Snackable Bakes:

  • Fold in 1 cup (170 g) of milk chocolate chips into the batter along with the flour. 

Sugar Quantity

  • Often people ask if the quantity of sugar can be reduced. The answer is often yes, and if you know you prefer a less sweet cookie, I think you could make these successfully by cutting back 1/4 cup of the sugar or possibly even a little bit more. Keep in mind, the sugar lends not only a sweetness but also a softness and chewiness, too, so you don’t want to cut it back to the point where the texture becomes compromised. 

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled, see notes above
  • 1.5 cups (300 g) packed light brown sugar, or slightly less, see notes above
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs, cold
  • 1 cup (255 g) smooth peanut butter, such as JIF or Skippy (i.e. not all-natural)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1.25 teaspoons (5 gram) kosher salt
  • 2.5 cups (325 g) all-purpose flour
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons (25 to 50 g) granulated sugar for rolling
  • flaky sea salt for sprinkling, optional

Instructions

  1. Place the butter in a large bowl. Whisk in the brown sugar and vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition. Whisk in the peanut butter. Add the baking soda, and whisk to combine.  Add the baking powder, and whisk to combine. Add the salt, and whisk to combine. Finally, fold in the flour. 
  2. At this point, the batter will be very wet and sticky. You can chill it for one hour before portioning it into smaller balls and then returning to the fridge to rest overnight. Or you can chill the batter overnight or until you are ready to portion it. If you choose to chill the batter for a longer period of time, you may need to let the batter rest at room temperature briefly to allow it to soften before portioning it. When you are ready to portion, use a 2-tablespoon scoop or a scale to portion the batter into 50-gram balls. You should get 23 to 24 portions. Ball up each portion.
  3. Place the granulated sugar in a small bowl. Roll each ball in the sugar. At this point, you can chill the dough balls until you are ready to bake or you can proceed with the recipe. 
  4. Heat the oven to 375ºF. Place 8 of the sugar-coated cookie dough balls on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Sprinkle with sea salt, if using. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until the tops are slightly puffed and crinkly and the cookies are just beginning to brown at the edges. (I find 15 minutes to be perfect.) 
  5. Remove the pan from the oven. Use a spatula to flatten each ball gently. Let the cookies cool completely on the sheet pan before eating or storing — I do prefer the texture and taste of these cookies when they have cooled completely. 
  6. Store in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days. 
  • Prep Time: 24 hours
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Category: Cookies
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American