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Peanut Butter Cookies
TahiraJaved

Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe

These irresistible peanut butter cookies deliver rich, nutty flavor with perfectly golden edges and soft, melt-in-your-mouth centers. Sweet, comforting, and wonderfully nostalgic, they're a delightful homemade treat for cookie lovers!
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 24 minutes
Chilling and Cooling 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 19 minutes
Servings: 24 cookies
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 165

Ingredients
  

For the Cookie Dough
  • 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp fine salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 large egg at room temperature
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1 tsp alcohol free vanilla extract
For Rolling
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
For Finishing
  • Flaky sea salt for sprinkling

Equipment

  • Medium cookie scoop portions even portions of about 32g so they bake at the same speed
  • Hand or stand mixer creams the butter, sugars, and peanut butter until smooth
  • Rimmed baking sheets lined with parchment give steady heat and stop the cookies from sticking
  • Fork presses the classic criss cross pattern into each cookie
  • Wire rack cools the cookies so the bottoms stay crisp
  • Digital kitchen scale weighs the flour for a soft, never dry cookie

Method
 

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment. Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl until evenly combined.
  2. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, until smooth and creamy, scraping the bowl once.
  3. Beat for 30 seconds, until the dough looks glossy and no streaks of egg remain.
  4. Mix on low speed in two additions until a few streaks remain, then finish with a spatula. The dough should look thick and soft, a little sticky but not wet.
  5. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes, until firm enough to roll without sticking to your hands.
  6. Portion about 32g of dough per cookie, roll each piece into a ball, and coat it in granulated sugar. Place the balls 2 inches apart, then press each one with a fork, once in each direction, to about 1/2 inch thick.
  7. Bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are set and golden and the centers look soft and slightly puffy. Sprinkle with flaky salt, then cool on the pan for 10 minutes.
  8. Chill the dough and pull the cookies while the centers still look soft; warm dough makes them spread, and overbaking makes them dry and crumbly.

Notes

  • Weigh the flour for a tender, chewy cookie.
  • Let the baking sheet cool between batches.
  • Dip the fork in sugar before each press.
Storage: Store airtight up to 5 days, or freeze baked cookies and dough balls up to 3 months.
Cook time allows two trays baked sequentially for up to 12 minutes each. Divide into 24 portions of about 32g before coating. Timing assumes softened butter and a room-temperature egg.
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