The Best Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe - Retro Housewife Goes Green (2024)

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By Lisa Sharp 10 Comments

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Peanut butter cookies are a classic cookie that doesn’t get enough love these days. This updated vintage peanut butter cookie recipe is the best you will try.

The Best Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe - Retro Housewife Goes Green (1)

When I was a toddler my mom went to nursing school. During that time I stayed with my grandma. We had a lot of fun. My days usually involved watching Dumbo and playing with a vintage wooden circus toy.

The other thing we did often was bake and our favorite thing to bake was peanut butter cookies. I’m sure I baked many dozens of batches of peanut butter cookies with my grandma.

The Best Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe - Retro Housewife Goes Green (2)

They still are my favorite cookies and I can’t eat one without remembering standing in my grandma’s kitchen on a vintage red stool helping her make the peanut butter cookies from the cookbook she got when she got married.

A few years ago my grandma gave me her cookbook with the peanut butter cookie recipe. It is one of my most treasured possessions.

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The cookbook is taped together and falling apart but it’s full of memories. The peanut butter cookie recipe has a note that says “Lisa & Nana yummm!” It makes me smile every time I use the cookbook.

I use a slightly different recipe now because the one in the cookbook has shortening and I have to substitutethe peanut butter for sunflower seed butter. But they are just as good as my grandma’s peanut butter cookies! I’ve even made them for my grandma and she said they were just as good as the ones we made if not better.

The Best Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe - Retro Housewife Goes Green (4)

Don’t forget to make the fork crisscrosses, it’s not really a peanut butter cookie without them and it was my favorite part as a kid.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

The Best Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

The Best Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe - Retro Housewife Goes Green (5)

The best peanut butter cookie recipe you will try. It's been perfected over many years of trial and error.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/4 cup flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375?F.
  2. Cream butter until soft and smooth. Add the sugars and cream again.
  3. Mix in the peanut butter and an egg.
  4. Mix together the dry ingredients. Stir into the wet ingredients.
  5. Roll dough into balls and place on cookie sheet. Flatten the cookies a bit and use a fork to make crisscross patterns.
  6. Bake until light brown, about 9 to 10 minutes.
  7. These cookies are very soft so let them cool for a couple of minutes on the cookie sheet before moving to a cooling rack.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

24

Serving Size:

1 cookie

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 125Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 28mgSodium: 137mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 0gSugar: 8gProtein: 1g

These nutritional facts are estimated.

I hope you enjoy this delicious peanut butter cookie recipe as much as my family and I have. If you have any stories about family recipes share them in the comments below.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Troy Haliwell says

    So if I wanted to make 48 of them, can this safely be made using double the amount? I know not all recipes can be doubled and get the original result.

    Reply

    • Lisa Sharp says

      Yes, this can be doubled and will be just as good.

      Reply

  2. Morgan Graff says

    My mom has the same cookbook which I have now. I will try this recipe ASAP. ??

    Reply

    • Lisa Sharp says

      Let me know what you think. 🙂

      Reply

  3. Tamie Pryor says

    I must use Sunbutter, as well. Why do you need to swap out the shorting for butter?

    Reply

    • Lisa Sharp says

      You don’t have to I just prefer butter to shortening.

      Reply

      • Tamie Pryor says

        Thank you for the quick reply. The BHG recipe is one that I used for years, but then my 2nd son ended up with nut allergies and for a long time we did not have the sunflower alternative, so these cookies were off limits for us.

        I have noticed that on some Sunbutter recipes they warn that the cookies can turn green. I have made them twice and that has not happened. Have you ever experienced this?

        Reply

        • Lisa Sharp says

          Yes, somethings it happens. It’s just the sunflower butter oxidizing.

          Reply

  4. Demetrius B. says

    Hi, I happened to come across your recipe while looking for the BHG peanut butter cookies recipe to compare to the recipe in my Betty Crocker (actually it was my mom’s cookbook the orange 6 slice pie cover so I bought one on ebay for myself) This is actually the recipe in the Betty Crocker I know it by heart make it every few months. I too substitute the shortening with real butter. Did you know…?

    Reply

    • Lisa Sharp says

      It may be the same as the Betty Crocker recipe, I don’t have that cookbook, but it’s based on the BHG recipe from the vintage addition pictured in this post. It’s the recipe my grandma and I have used for many years.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

The Best Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe - Retro Housewife Goes Green (2024)

FAQs

What brand of peanut butter is best for peanut butter cookies? ›

PEANUT BUTTER – For best results, use classic creamy peanut butter like Jif or Skippy. I tested these with natural peanut butter as well and it didn't make a huge difference, but there can be a lot of variability in natural nut butters.

How old is the peanut butter cookie? ›

The peanut butter cookie was invented in the 1910's, when George Washington Carver of Alabama's Tuskegee Institute published a peanut cookbook in an effort to promote the crop.

How can you tell if a cookie is baked properly? ›

Internal Temperature – Most cookies are done when the internal temperature reaches around 93-96°C (200-205°F ), so you can use an internal thermometer if you prefer. Cooling Time – Remember that cookies will continue to cook slightly as they cool on the baking sheet.

Why are the peanut butter cookies crumbling? ›

Why are my cookies dry and crumbly? This is most likely a classic case of using too much flour. It's crucial to properly measure the flour in this recipe, as even 1 extra tablespoon of flour can completely change the structure of the cookies. You also might have over baked them!

Is Jif or Skippy better? ›

But this peanut butter also scores higher when it comes to the nutrients that it provides. Most notably, Jif provides 17 milligrams of bone-building calcium, while SKIPPY does not have any. On the other hand, SKIPPY contains less saturated fat and still contains ample amounts of nutrients like protein.

Should you refrigerate peanut butter cookie dough before baking? ›

Chill your cookie dough! The dough is extremely soft due to the creamy peanut butter, eggs, and butter and if it's not cold going into the oven, the cookies will spread all over your baking sheet. I chilled this cookie dough for 24 hours and my cookies were soft, thick perfection.

What country invented peanut butter cookies? ›

A peanut butter cookie is a type of cookie that is distinguished for having peanut butter as a principal ingredient. The cookie originated in the United States, its development dating back to the 1910s.

Who made the first peanut butter cookie? ›

The peanut butter cookie was invented in the early 1910's by George Washington Carver.

How old is Skippy peanut butter? ›

SKIPPY® History

In 1933, Joseph Rosefield had the nutty idea to change the formula for peanut butter. He created SKIPPY® peanut butter, which was less sticky and longer-lasting. Peanut butter lovers fell in love, and spread the fun to their families and friends.

Should you bake cookies at a higher or lower temperature? ›

Baking at 325° also results in an evenly baked cookie, but the slower cooking will help yield a chewier cookie. The outsides will be a little softer, too. If you love slightly underdone cookies, 375° is for you. You'll get the crisp edges while maintaining a doughy, fudgy inside.

How long should cookies sit before baking? ›

As a general rule of thumb, you should refrigerate cookie dough for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours. More than that, and you won't see a noticeable difference in the final product. Once the dough has chilled, let it warm up at room temperature until it's just pliable (about 5 to 10 minutes).

What happens if you add too much peanut butter to peanut butter cookies? ›

Too much peanut butter leads to dry cookies

The protein in peanut butter may also be to blame — it typically adds structure to baked goods but can also retain water, leading to a dry consistency.

Should I let peanut butter cookie dough rest? ›

We prefer natural peanut butter here, so you can dial in the sugar and salt amounts precisely, and smooth peanut butter over crunchy to better control the cookies' fat and moisture levels. Letting the cookie dough rest ensures the flour is fully hydrated, resulting in crisper edges and chewier middles.

What happens if you don't flatten peanut butter cookies? ›

If you don't flatten the cookies first, then the fork does double duty – it performs both functions. One very subtle result of creating the pattern is that the little tips of dough bake up crisper than the rest of the cookie, giving you both a bit of additional texture and deeper taste where the dough is more baked.

Which brand of peanut butter is best? ›

Meanwhile, check out this article on the best peanut butter online.
  1. Pintola All Natural Peanut Butter Crunchy. ...
  2. ALPINO Chocolate Peanut Butter Smooth. ...
  3. MYFITNESS Original Peanut Butter Crunchy. ...
  4. DiSano Peanut Butter. ...
  5. Sundrop Peanut Butter. ...
  6. Pintola HIGH Protein Peanut Butter. ...
  7. Saffola Peanut Butter Crunchy.
Jan 10, 2024

What is the number 1 peanut butter brand? ›

1. Jif Creamy Peanut Butter. For many years we were told that “choosy moms choose Jif,” until the brand decided to get a little more PC and take the “choosy” out of the equation. But in going through the reviews used for our list, it's very clear that peanut butter lovers choose Jif.

Is smooth or chunky peanut butter better? ›

As long as you are choosing a peanut butter that's all natural and pesticide free, in addition to being free from added salt or sugar, any peanut butter will be a healthy choice. However, crunchy peanut butter has a little more fiber and less saturated fat, making it overall more nutritious, even if only slightly so.

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