These homemade, Old-Fashioned Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies have a soft texture with crispy edges along with the perfect sweet and salty balance. Rolled in sugar and pressed with the classic peanut butter cookie hash mark, these cookies are melt in your mouth delicious. The perfect peanut butter cookie!
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These old-fashioned peanut butter cookies may be my favorite cookies of all time. There’s something so nostalgic about a classic, old-fashioned peanut butter cookie. This was actually the first recipe I learned how to make all by myself when I was just eight years old! I used to beg my mom to let me make them almost every weekend.
Is there anything better than perfect, salty, sweet, old fashioned peanut butter criss cross cookies? I think not. Looking for more ways to enjoy peanut butter? Try these Peanut Butter Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies and Peanut Butter Oatmeal Energy Balls.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Perfect for Baking with Kids. This recipe is so easy and the perfect way to cook with kids in the kitchen. They can help shape, roll, and give the cookies their signature criss cross marks before baking!
- Hits All the Marks! These cookies bake up with crispy edges while the centers are soft and perfectly chewy. It’s the most amazing combination, and the flavor is spot on.
- Easy to Make. These cookies mix up quickly and easily so you have freshly baked cookies in no time.
Ingredients
These old-fashioned peanut butter cookies are super easy to make with simple ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry.
- Peanut Butter: I love to use chunky peanut butter for a little extra texture, but you can use crunchy or creamy! Most important is to make sure that it’s “no stir” and that it isn’t the kind that separates. If using crunchy peanut butter, you will add two additional tablespoons of peanut butter.
- Butter: Gives the cookies that delicious rich flavor.
- Brown Sugar and Granulated Sugar: Using equal parts brown sugar and granulated sugar gives these cookies great flavor and chewiness. Plus, we’ll roll the cookies in extra granulated sugar just before baking for that extra sparkle. I absolutely LOVE this Zulka granulated sugar. It’s my favorite for baking.
- Egg: Contributes structure and moisture to our cookies.
- Milk: Whole milk is preferred but you can use whatever kind of milk you have on hand. I’ve also used half and half or cream in a pinch!
- Vanilla: Using a good vanilla extract is a must. It brings natural warmth and sweetness to your cookies.
- All Purpose Flour: Gives our old-fashioned peanut butter cookies their structure.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda gives these cookies their lift but also contributes to their chewy texture.
- Salt: It complements the sweetness for perfectly balanced flavor.
More the complete ingredient list with quantities, check the recipe card further down the page.
Fun Cookie Variations
These cookies are perfect as is, but here are some fun variations!
- Add some melted chocolate. Dunk half of each cookie or drizzle melted chocolate over the cookies after they’re fully cooled.
- Make them chunky. Add chopped roasted peanuts for extra peanut flavor and texture! This is great if you’re using creamy peanut butter or simply like more crunchiness.
- Give them a kiss. Skip the hash mark and bake the cookie dough balls as is and press an unwrapped Hershey’s kiss in the center of each warm cookie to make peanut butter blossoms.
How to Make Homemade Peanut Butter Cookies
This recipe is incredibly easy to make. It’s the first recipe that I learned to make all by myself as a kid! Here’s how to make peanut butter cookies from scratch! To get started, grab your ingredients, line your baking pan with parchment paper, and preheat you oven to 375° F.
- Step 1: Make the Cookie Dough. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl. Cream the peanut butter and softened butter until smooth and creamy. Next, beat in both sugars, and then add the egg, vanilla, milk. Mix thoroughly. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in the mixer and mix using low speed, just until everything is combined.
- Step 2: Chill and Scoop. Chill the dough for 30 minutes to make it easier to work with and reduce how much is spreads in the oven. Use a cookie scoop to portion the dough and gently roll into one inch balls. Roll the cookie dough balls in granulated sugar and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet with plenty of space in between each cookie. They spread quite a bit!
- Step 3: Add the criss cross: Usie a fork and gently press a criss cross pattern into each cookie dough ball, flattening slightly.
- Step 4: Bake: Bake the cookies in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 10 minutes. They will be light golden brown, sparkling from the granulated sugar roll and have perfectly crispy edges with a soft and chewy center.
- Step 5: Cool: Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a minute or two before using a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Jessica’s Cooking Tips
- Don’t skip the chill. This helps the cookies bake better. If you skip it, your cookies will spread out too much on the baking pan. This dough is pretty soft so I chill it for at least 30 minutes before I scoop it out and bake it. This makes it easier to form into balls and roll in sugar.
- Storing your baked cookies. Baked cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container on the counter for 4-5 days. You can also freeze baked cookies by placing them between layers of parchment paper in an airtight container for up to three months. Thaw on the counter at room temperature.
- Do not overbake. For the perfect chewy texture you want to slightly underbake your cookies. The edges should appear set but the centers may still look a bit soft. They will continue to setup and bake a bit more even after you remove the tray from the oven.
- Cool on the pan first. Old-fashioned chewy peanut butter cookies will be soft when you first remove the tray from the oven, so moving them right away may cause the cookies to break.
- Use a cookie scoop. This makes scooping easy but also ensures even-sized cookies which means they all bake up the same amount of time. If you don’t have one, you can use a tablespoon to measure out the dough into even portions.
Recipe FAQs
For the best flavor, you want to use good quality peanut butter. Organic or no sugar or salt added is fine but you want to steer clear of natural peanut butter that tends to separate. Look for labels that say no-stir or jars that don’t have a layer of oil at the top.
Yes. You can make the dough ahead of time and store it in the fridge for up to three days. The dough can also be frozen and baked later, just unthaw overnight in the fridge or until you can easily scoop it out. You can also go ahead and scoop the dough into balls and flash freeze them for an hour. Transfer them to a container to store. When ready to bake, thaw out the desired amount of dough balls, roll them in sugar, add the hash marks, and bake.
There are a few reasons why your cookies may have turned out crumbly. Using natural peanut butter that tends to separate or has a grainy texture can make your cookies crumbly. It’s also important to correctly measure the flour using the spoon and level method so that you don’t stiffen the dough by adding too much.
More of The Best Cookie Recipes
Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies (Soft & Chewy)
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup peanut butter use 2 tablespoons extra if using crunchy peanut butter
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
- Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer, cream together butter and peanut butter until well combined.
- Add brown sugar and granulated sugar and cream until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add in egg, vanilla and milk and mix well.
- Add in dry ingredients and mix until just combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop out dough into one inch balls, roll gently with your hands and roll in granulated sugar.
- Place dough balls several inches apart on the baking sheet and use a fork to gently press a criss cross hash mark into each cookie, flattening slightly.
- Bake for 10 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through.
- Allow to cool on baking sheet for 1-2 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Equipment
Notes
- These cookies will spread quite a bit so leave plenty of space between them on the baking sheet.
- If using smooth peanut butter, use exactly half a cup, if using chunky, add an additional 2 tablespoons.
- Measure flour accurately for perfect soft and chewy texture.
Nutrition
Gayle
It was too liquidy. Seems like there needed to be more flour. Not a good recipe
Jessica
Hi Gayle! I’m sorry this recipe did not work for you. Can you help me understand what was “liquidy”? I’ve been making these for 30 years no fail and never had this happen. Thanks so much!
Julie
Absolutely the best p-nut butter cookies I’ve ever made! I made 1 batch as directed, added p-nut butter chips to the second, chocolate chips to the third and combo for the fourth… Thats how good these cookies are! 4 batches in one day! They were all really really good! Im not sure if I wanna tell where I got the recipe??? Lol! Thanks for sharing.
Jessica
Hi Julie! Thank you so much. This is one of my favorite cookie recipes of ALL time! Of course I wouldn’t mind if you shared the link – it really helps! ; ) So happy you enjoyed them.
Tony Allen
Homemade cookies are always better when you share them with family and friends.
Dick Burgess Seydel
Like my friend at the local coffee stand remarked… these cookies are “Top Shelf”.
Jessica
Thank you so much! This was the first recipe I learned to make as a child and I never changed a thing. So glad you loved them!
Alice
I saw on instagram that this is an award winning recipe and had to try. Easily the best peanut butter cookie I’ve ever made! This will be my new go to recipe. Thanks for sharing Jessica!
Jessica
Hi Alice! I’m so happy you loved this recipe – it’s one of my favorites!
Jazz
This recipe makes perfect peanut butter cookies that remind me of my childhood. It will be my go-to now!
Camille
A soft center and crispy edge are everything I need in a cookie. I loved these peanut butter cookies. Making another batch this weekend!!! xx
Kaluhi
I love a soft and chewy cookie and this classic beauties made me so so happy! The recipe was simple to follow and I will be making it with my nephew when they come to visit!
Robin
Soft in the center, crispy edges just like promised. Biting into these amazing cookies took me directly back to childhood. Thanks!
Marta
My hubby LOVES peanut butter cookies but hate that all of the recipes end up crunchy. Your soft version really spoke to his cookie heart, so this will be my go-to recipe from now on.