You are in luck today, friends. I am sharing with you how to make the best peanut butter cookies in the world! Triple peanut butter cookies, to be exact.
One of my friends inspired me by posting his recipe, and with such a solid base, I decided to inject even more peanut flavor per square inch. And to make them black bottom cookies, because who doesn’t love a little chocolate with their peanut butter?
Need more recipes with peanuts? Try either my peanut butter fudge or triple chocolate coffee peanut crunch gelato?
Looking for more cookies?
For ease of browsing, here are all of my cookie recipes in one place. Thanks for stopping by!
The cookies turned out great! Thank you! Have tried 3-4 of your recipes, always amazing!
Reader Susan
Why These Cookies are So Excellent
Peanut butter lovers, these cookies really are for you.
Let’s count the ways I shoved peanuts into these guys:
- one cup of natural, organic peanut butter (you can use your favorite peanut butter here)
- one ounce of peanut butter powder
- 3 oz of chopped peanut brittle, either purchased or homemade like my bacon peanut brittle (and you can leave out the bacon if you want)
Aside from the aforementioned three kinds of peanutty goodness and the chocolate and using Brooks’s base recipe, I think what makes them so spectacular is the long refrigerated overnight rest I gave the dough before shaping and baking.
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Pro-Tip
Letting the dough “ripen” in the fridge does a world of good to your cookie dough:
It allows all the flavors to mingle.
It allows the flour to fully hydrate before baking, making for a much more consistent cookie and one with a bit more chew.
It allows the sugar to go into solution with the water in the dough (from the butter, egg white, and vanilla).
It gives the fats in the dough (butter, peanut butter) a chance to solidify, preventing overspreading
Another change that takes place, and thank you PJ Hamel from the King Arthur Flour Blog, Flourish, for this:
You’ll also find that chilling the dough allows the flavors to concentrate a bit as some of the liquid evaporates out of the dough–you know things tend to dry out in the fridge, and that’s what happens to your dough. It dries out just enough to concentrate the flavors.
PJ Hamel from King Arthur’s Blog, Flourish
So, pretty much no matter what kind of creaming method drop cookie you’re making–chocolate chip, oatmeal, or even the best peanut butter cookies ever–giving your dough a bit of a chill, from an hour or two up to a few days, can transform a good cookie into a great one and a great cookie into the best cookie.
How to Make Them
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need:
- butter: a relatively small amount since there is plenty of fat in the peanut butter. Still, you’ll need 1 stick. I use unsalted and then add salt to taste. Peanut butter cookies need a good amount of salt to bring out the nuttiness
- sugar: for sweetness, tenderness, and browning
- brown sugar: same as granulated, but with a touch more depth of flavor thanks to the molasses. I used dark brown sugar here, but dark or light will do just fine
- honey, maple syrup, or sorghum syrup: you only need a tablespoon, so it’s not strictly necessary, but I do like the added subtle flavor. I used sorghum, but honey or maple syrup would both be lovely substitutions
- vanilla extract: rounds out the flavors
- salt: as I said earlier, peanut butter cookies need a fair amount. I use Morton’s brand kosher salt
- egg: you need 1 large egg. The egg provides structure, some emulsifiers from the yolk, and browning
- natural peanut butter: I specify natural peanut butter here because so many recipes say not to use it. I found it worked just fine, but if all you have is “conventional” peanut butter, that will work too
- baking soda: balances the acidity of the brown sugar and sorghum/honey
- peanut powder: adds a little bulk and texture as well as reinforces the peanutiness
- flour: provides the structure and the basic “crumb” of the cookie. Use all-purpose here
- peanut brittle: chopped pretty finely. Use homemade or storebought
Procedure
This is a creaming method cookie, and it’s pretty straightforward to make:
- Cream together the butter, sugars, optional sorghum/honey/maple syrup, salt, and vanilla until nice and creamy. I add in the vanilla and salt in this step rather than later. Since fat carries flavor, it makes sense to get those flavors going ASAP!
- Mix in egg until well combined.
- Add peanut butter, peanut powder, and baking soda and cream another minute or so.
- Beat in flour on low speed just until combined.
- Stir/knead in the chopped peanut brittle by hand.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least an hour or up to 2-3 days. No more than that though.
To Bake
Portion into even sizes of about 1 1/2 tablespoons each. There’s a cookie scoop exactly that size, and I love it.
You should be able to get 40 cookies from this recipe.
Rolling in Sugar
You’ll note in the recipe that I mix sugar with a touch of salt for rolling the cookies in before criss-crossing with a fork.
I love to add a pinch of salt to all my sweet toppings because it brings balance to the whole escapade, but you can leave it out if you like.
After you scoop your cookies, roll them into balls between your palms.
Then roll the balls in the sugar (or sugar/salt mixture).
PRO TIP: For easy rolling in sugar, put the sugar in a large zip-top bag. Place a few dough balls at a time in the bag, and shake to coat. No mess!
Place them on the baking sheets, 15 to a sheet, press them into thick discs with your palm or the bottom of a glass, and then make the traditional peanut butter cookie criss cross with the back of a fork.
Because of the peanut brittle, there will be some parts that won’t press down, and you may get some cracking around the edges, but all will be well.
Carry on.
You’ll need 3 half-sheet pans. If you only have 2, here’s a tip for you:
PRO TIP: To immediately reuse a hot cookie sheet, run it under cold water for a few seconds and then dry it off.
If you scoop your cookies onto a hot sheet pan, they could end up over-spreading, and then the edges will burn. Boo.
For the Black Bottoms
Melt your preferred chocolate (dark or milk, and yes you can use chips if that’s all you have) along with 10% of the weight of the chips in coconut oil.
So if you have 4 oz chocolate chips, you’ll add 0.4oz coconut oil and melt that together on medium power in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring in between.
What you’re doing is making your own coating chocolate, which means it will set up nice and shiny without having to worry about tempering it.
If you want to simplify things even more, use your favorite coating chocolate or chocolate candy melts.
If you baked on Silpat, you can let your cookies cool chocolate bottoms down. They’ll release completely once they are 100% cool.
If you don’t have Silpat, just let the cookies cool with the chocolate sides up.
I just made these cookies and we are inhaling them! I went ahead and baked them all and will freeze a few already baked. Next time I will try freezing a few cookie dough balls. Jenni, girlfriend, these are excellent!…I used all the accoutrements and ingredients I have bought for other projects of yours, and the whole process was entirely enjoyable! The scale, silpat mats, sorghum, peanut powder, etc., etc. are just marvelous! Thank you so much! I’m off to share with neighbors!
Reader Rebecca (You Can See her full comment in the comments section below)
Q & A
Yes, you can substitute a flax egg for the egg if you’d like. As an egg replacer, stir 1 Tablespoon flax meal into 3 tablespoons water and let sit until thick.
Yes. Use almond butter or sun butter rather than peanut butter. Use almond brittle for the peanut brittle, or leave it out entirely. Omit the peanut powder and increase the flour by 1 oz to 6 oz.
No, but chocolate and peanut butter are just so great together, don’t you think? If you don’t want to make them black bottom cookies, just drizzle the chocolate over the tops of the cookies. Or leave it off entirely.
The best tool for that job is a small, offset icing spatula.
Keep them covered tightly at room temperature for 4-5 days. Freeze for longer storage.
Place completely cooled cookies in freezer bags. Press out as much air as possible before sealing, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the cookies in the bag at room temperature.
A Note About Measurments
Don't let its small price and small size fool you. The Escali Primo is an accurate and easy-to-use food scale that I have used for years. It's easy to store, easy to use, has a tare function, and easily switches between grams and ounces/pounds for accurate measurements.
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The Best Peanut Butter Cookies in the World
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 4 oz 1 stick unsalted butter at cool room temperature
- 3.5 oz 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3.5 oz 1/2 cup, packed dark brown sugar
- Optional .75 oz (1 Tablespoon) sorghum syrup, honey, molasses, or pure maple syrup (I used sorghum)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg at cool room temperature
- 9 oz 1 cup natural peanut butter (the ingredient list should read just peanuts and salt)
- 1 oz about 1/3 cup peanut powder such as Jif or PB2
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 5 oz about 1 cup of flour scooped from the container into the cup and leveled off all-purpose flour
- 3 oz finely chopped peanut brittle
To Finish and Bake
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2-3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt (I keep a container of fine salt that I put through the blender to make it very fine–almost a powder–for making popcorn)
For the Black Bottoms
- 1-1 ½ cups Dark or Milk Coating Chocolate see Notes for how to make your own
Instructions
- In your mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth.
- Add the sugars, optional syrup of your choice, vanilla, and salt. Cream on medium speed until smooth and uniform but not necessarily fluffy.
- Beat in the egg until completely incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix a few more seconds.
- Mix in the peanut butter, peanut powder and baking soda until incorporated, scraping bowl as necessary.
- Beat in the flour on low speed until well combined.
- Stir in the chopped peanut brittle until evenly distributed.
- Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.
To Finish and Bake
- When ready to bake, have 3 parchment-lined cookie sheets ready. Place your oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a gallon zip top bag, mix the sugar and salt together.
- Portion your dough into 3/4 oz pieces and roll into balls. (If you don’t have a scale–and I really want you to get one–you’re looking for balls about 1″ in diameter).
- Drop the balls, several at a time, into the sugar salt mixture and tilt the bag gently to cover. Place the sugared balls onto the parchment leaving about 1 1/2″ between the cookies, and press the balls down slightly to flatten just a bit. Make a cross hatch pattern on top of the cookies with a fork.
- Bake in the upper and lower thirds for 5 minutes.
- Rotate the pans 180 degrees and switch racks, then bake an additional 5-7 minutes until the cookies are golden brown around the edges.*
- Allow to cool on the sheets for a minute or two and then remove to racks to cool completely.
For the Black Bottoms
- Once the cookies are completely cool, melt your coating chocolate** and then use a small offset spatula to spread a think coating on the bottoms of the cookies. Place on Silpat*** until the chocolate has completely set, about 15 minutes. Gently remove them from the Silpat–once the chocolate is completely cool, it will not stick to the Silpat. If any chocolate does stick, press the cookies back down and allow to cool a few more minutes before trying again.
- Store, well sealed, at room temperature for 3 days or wrap well and freeze for up to a month. Allow cookies to come to room temperature before serving.
Did You Make Any Changes?
Notes
Nutrition
Hi, y’all! I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and hopefully also learned a thing or two.
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And there you have it. I know you will love these cookies. If you’re a peanut butter cookie fan, these really are the ultimate.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read today.
Have a lovely day.
Join in Today!
Hi, Jenni, I’m finally getting ready to make these bad boys. One question. Could I freeze some of the prepared balls before baking? If so, should I refrigerate them first ,or, perhaps defrost them in the refrigerator just before baking? I, too, am afraid to have the entire batch in my kitchen! Too tempting!
Hey, Rebecca! Yes, you can absolutely portion and freeze and even bake from frozen. Just check the baking time because it will likely take a couple of extra minutes.
I just made these cookies and we are inhaling them! I went ahead and baked them all and will freeze a few already baked. Next time I will try freezing a few cookie dough balls. Jenni, girlfriend, these are excellent! I was afraid it would be hard to roll them into balls when I first removed the dough from the refrigerator as it seemed awfully hard, but I sliced the dough into sections, then into 3/4 oz. amounts, and they rolled into balls very easily. I used all the accoutrements and ingredients I have bought for other projects of yours, and the whole process was entirely enjoyable! The scale, silpat mats, sorghum, peanut powder, etc., etc. are just marvelous! Thank you so much! I’m off to share with neighbors!
Today, you are my favorite person in the world! I am so happy you guys love the cookies. Thanks for following along with all the extra-ness! Sometimes it’s those little touches that can really elevate something from good to great!
I think it is the texture that puts these cookies over the top! How is it possible that they are chewy, crunchy, and with a bit of Pecan Sandy-ness all at the same time? Kudos!
Sometimes, throwing the kitchen sink at a recipe is exactly what is needed! =D
The cookies turned out great! Thank you! Have tried 3-4 of your recipes, always amazing!
Oh, wow, I’m so glad! Thank you for letting me know. I appreciate it!
What is peanut powder?
I gave 2 examples of brand names in the post, I believe, Judith, but you’re right, I didn’t explain what it is. It’s peanuts that have been pressed of most of their oils and then ground into a fine powder. You can reconstitute it with a bit of water, salt and maybe a touch of sweetener for a low-fat peanut butter option, or you can blend it into smoothies or do what I did and use it in cookies or other baking. Here’s a link to a popular US brand: https://www.bellplantation.com/ Hope that helps!
Holy cow, these look INSANE! I’m a total peanut butter lover, and these have my undivided attention. I cannot wait to give them a try!
I can (almost) guarantee you’ll fall in love, Karly! Peanut butter cookies are not my Very Favorite, but these guys are dangerous and I had to send most of them to work with my husband because I cannot be trusted! lol
Omg YASSSS I love peanut butter and chocolate so much and in a cookie, it’s even better 😀
I have to say that, while peanut butter cookies have never been my favorite, these are Very Hard to stop eating, Anne! =)
I love the idea of coating the bottom of the cookie in chocolate! You still get the chocolate awesomeness without it becoming the focus of the entire cookie. Brilliant idea. 😀
You knocked these out of the ballpark, my friend. 🙂 Triple the peanut flavor AND chocolaty black bottoms? I’m in! The attention to detail and flavor sensibility in this recipe makes it a 5-star winner. Can’t wait to try them. Thank you for the nod.
Your base was just about perfect as is–I just never met a lily I didn’t want to gild at least a little bit! =) Thanks so much for letting me play with your recipe, Brooks! You weren’t kidding when you said they pack a peanut punch!