These classic peanut butter cookies come from Joanne Chang’s Flour Bakery. They have a perfect balance of salty and sweet to bring out the peanut butter flavor in the cookies.
One of the items that we buy frequently at the grocery store is peanut butter. My husband loves the stuff and goes through a jar of it very quickly. He’s tried all different brands, and we’ve even made our own.
I tend not to bake too many items with peanut butter since I don’t eat it. Well, maybe I should rethink my strategy and bake more things with peanut butter so I’m not tempted to eat dessert all day long. Anyway, I was gifted the Flour Bakery cookbook for Christmas and was browsing through it one day and started rattling off recipes for us to try. These peanut butter cookies quickly rose to the top of my husband’s list so I decided to make them.
This dough does require chilling time, so make sure you factor that into your schedule. Ideally, the dough should chill overnight so all the ingredients can get cozy and get to know each other. The flavors will meld together and your cookies will be pretty awesome.
Since I didn’t taste any of these cookies, I had to rely on my husband, daughter and skating friends to describe them. My skating friend said that these were “amazing,” and both my husband and daughter were tempted for seconds. The cookies weren’t as peanut buttery as my husband would have preferred (remember, he is a peanut butter fanatic) but said that they were really good. I did see that the cookies dried out quite a bit after a day or two, so make sure you keep these in an airtight container.
Maybe I’ll try making a version of these but by using cookie butter spread so I can enjoy them too.
Peanut butter cookies
Ingredients
- 2 and 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 and 3/4 cups chunky peanut butter
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, until they are well incorporated. Add the vanilla and peanut butter and mix until well blended.
- Turn the mixer to low and slowly add in the dry ingredients. Do not over mix. Turn the mixer off.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for at least 3-4 hours or overnight.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Once the dough has thoroughly chilled, use a medium cookie scoop (or two spoons) to portion out the dough onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet (I used a silicone mat). Place the dough balls about 2 inches apart. Slightly press down on each dough ball to flatten them. Using a fork, press down slightly on the top of each cookie to make an "x" pattern.
- Bake in your preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until the cookie are golden on the edges yet slightly soft (and a bit underbaked) in the middle.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely before serving.