As one of Grandma’s treasured recipes, these Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies do not disappoint. Famous for its versatility, this soft and chewy Peanut Butter Cookie recipe is the only PB cookies recipe you need to make the best basic peanut butter cookies, stuffed cookies with Rolos, Marshmallows, Oreos, or Caramel…or you can even top them with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, or Kisses if you wish.
About this recipe
This recipe to peanut butter cookies oozes with nostalgia for me. I remember my parents both making these cookie treats a lot for us (my siblings & I, and for family parties) when I was a kid.
The best thing is that since it’s a family recipe, of course it has been tried and tested for several generations (it’s technically my Great Grandmother Rachel’s recipe) and to this day it is still my favorite recipe for an old fashioned peanut butter cookie that I have found out there.
I won’t be one of those bloggers that don’t shut up before I dive right in and give you all the cookie details (I save that stuff for last…lol)…so let’s get right to the making of these yummy peanut butter soft cookies.
As you view this recipe, please excuse my mediocre (at best) photography skills…I do my best but I am in no way a professional, nor does this single mama of four have the budget to hire one.
I only share my favorite recipes ever, so please don’t skip past it because I failed to capture just how yummy it is.
Ingredient list
These peanut butter cookies from scratch have different ingredients than some of the other recipes I have seen out there.
So I thought that it would be helpful to show you what is in these so that you can quickly see if it will cause any issues for dietary restrictions and whatnot.
Here is what these ones are made with:
- Flour
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Peanut Butter (creamy or chunky depending on your preference)
- Eggs
- Brown Sugar (light or dark depending on preference)
- Evaporated Milk
- Sugar
Nutritional Info
The nutritional information on any cookie recipe is going to depend greatly on how far the recipe stretches (how big or little you make your cookies).
I am going to show you both the information for using a three tablespoon cookie scoop to make these, as well as what it would be if you used a two tablespoon cookie scoop. Obviously we like big cookies at my house…lol.
*Please note that this nutritional information was estimated by an app on my website and should be used as an estimate only.*
If in doubt, check out the nutritional information listed over on myfooddiary.com…I feel like their estimates are usually pretty accurate for comparable foods.
Recipe card (with video & photo instruction):
Grandma's Cookies Peanut Butter Recipe
As one of Grandma's treasured recipes, these Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies do not disappoint. Famous for its versatility, this recipe is the only one you need to make basic peanut butter cookies, cookies stuffed with Rolo's, Marshmallows, Oreo's, or Caramel…or you can even top them with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, or Kisses.
Ingredients
- 2 & 1/2 Cups Flour (scant)
- 1 & 1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 Cup Peanut Butter
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar (packed)
- 1/3 Cup Evaporated Milk
- 1 Cup Sugar
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.
-
In a small to medium bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt (I like to just whisk my ingredients together). Set aside. -
In a separate large bowl, add the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined. -
Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well (If mixing by hand, towards the end you may want to grease your hands and knead the dough manually with your hands...it gets a little tough to stir without a mixer). -
Cover tightly (I like to use plastic wrap) and chill in the refrigerator for approximately one hour. -
Once the dough has finished chilling, remove it from the fridge, take off the covering, and shape dough into balls and place evenly spaced apart on a baking sheet (in order to get uniform sized balls, I like to use a cookie scoop and then shape my balls with the scooped/measured dough). -
Squash the dough with a fork in a criss cross pattern to make them super vintage and old fashioned looking, it's also fun to use a glass with a cool design on the bottom if you would prefer to pat them down that way and create a different pattern. -
Bake for ten minutes, or until slightly golden around the edges. Leave on baking sheet for one minute, and then move to a cooling rack. Once completely cooled store in an airtight container.
Notes
I don't typically grease my sheet pan before baking these because there is quite a bit of oil in the peanut butter, but you can grease it if desired, or use parchment paper.
For a richer flavor, use Dark Brown Sugar. They're super tasty with Light Brown Sugar too. I prefer to use the darker sugar when making them plain, and the lighter sugar when stuffing or topping them with another sweet.
If chilling your dough for the full hour you may want to wait to pre-heat your oven until about ten to fifteen minutes before the dough is done chilling in the refrigerator.
You may skip the chilling step if short on time, but it will slightly alter your end result with thickness/softness/chewiness.
This recipe makes 19 cookies if using a leveled 3 Tablespoon cookie scoop (see note above recipe card for nutrition info using a two Tablespoon cookie scoop instead).
If you double this recipe you may want to not quite double the flour (or just be good about using scant cup measurements).
These peanut butter cookies freeze well if covered tightly. Remove from freezer several hours before serving if making ahead and freezing.
To stuff these cookies (to make them filled peanut butter cookies) just form a ball around your desired candy (rolors, marshmallows, caramel, etch) and bake as normal. You will know that they are done when they are slightly golden around the edges.
Recommended Products
Please note that I am an affiliate with Amazon.com. When you purchase through my suggested product links, the cost for you is the same but I do receive a small commission for everything in your shopping cart. Thanks so much for the support!
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KitchenAid RRK150IC 5 Qt. Artisan Series - Ice (Renewed) -
Amazon Brand - Happy Belly Creamy Peanut Butter, 40 Ounce -
Commercial Quality Cookie Sheet Pan - 2 Pack Aluminum Half Sheet Baking Pan by Saffron & Sage Home Living - This 13x18 Baking Sheet Set is Rust & Warp Resistant, Heavy Duty, of Thick Gauge -
Pyrex Smart Essentials 4-Quart Glass Mixing Bowl -
Reynolds Kitchens Parchment Paper Flat Sheets, 12x16 Inches, 100 Count -
Cookie Scoop Set - Include 1 Tbsp/ 2 Tbsp/ 3Tbsp - 3 PCS Cookie Scoops for Baking - Cookie Dough Scoop - Made of 18/8 Stainless Steel
I hope that you enjoy grandmas peanut butter cookies recipe as much as we do in my family…honestly, I consider it quite the heirloom to pass down to my kids.
Luckily, since I blogged it, they and my entire family can access it from anywhere…no need to keep the recipes just lying about.
I consider these the worlds best peanut butter cookies, but I may be more than a little bit biased by having been raised eating them…lol.
FAQ’s
It honestly depends on which recipe you use. Some peanut butter recipes absolutely need to be chilled…such as the recipe at Sally’s Baking Addiction for “classic peanut butter cookies”. This recipe in particular doesn’t necessarily need to be chilled, they still taste great if you skip that step. I typically only follow the step to chill the dough first if I’m baking these to take elsewhere…my family doesn’t care if they aren’t “perfect”.
Apparently that criss cross pattern on peanut butter cookies is to serve the purpose of squashing them down so that they bake more evenly as peanut butter is such a crazy-dense ingredient. If you would like to read more about the reasoning behind it, as well as to get some “pro-tips” for doing so, make sure to read the extra info over at entertainingwithbeth.com.
Peanut butter cookies get hard too quickly for a variety of reasons…it could be from baking them too long, leaving them on the baking sheet (where they continue to bake) to cool completely instead of transferring them to a cooling rack.
Sometimes it is caused because of using too much flour, or baking with old/expired baking ingredients. It can also be because the cookies got left out in the open air when they should have actually been stored in an air-tight container as soon as they have completely reached room temperature.
If you’re wondering “can I bake with all natural peanut butter” in my peanut butter cookies and it just depends on which recipe you are using in general.
Sometimes using natural peanut butter instead of regular peanut butter will make your cookies less sweet, or it can sometimes cause them to crumble funny…it’s typically a good idea to make a trial batch to see what you think first before swapping out an ingredient and then taking them to a gathering.
Unless the recipe specifically states otherwise, a peanut butter cookie recipe (when based in the United States) is generally asking for regular creamy peanut butter to be used.
If you want a name brand peanut butter, I say that you can’t go wrong when baking cookies with Jif…and no they’re not paying me to tell you that. It’s just plain a good product and it, like this recipe, has withstood the test of time…so when in doubt, just use Jif, preferably creamy, for amazing peanut butter cookies.
In general, personal opinion here, but I would not consider peanut butter cookies to be healthy. It’s a baked goodie with little to no nutritional value.
The only “healthy” version of a peanut butter cookie that I have found (made with all natural and unprocessed ingredients) was in an old out of print Farmhouse cookbook, and I posted that recipe over a decade ago…you can find it here (it needs to be refinished, so I apologize for it not having a printable recipe card).
Most homemade peanut butter cookies will last five days to a week. Store them in an airtight container and in the refrigerator to make them last a little bit longer.
Here is how to make all your cookies last as long as possible, according to BHG.com.
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*Please note that this recipe was originally shared to this blog on October 4th, 2017, & has since been updated to improve user experience, add video instruction and a free printable recipe card, as well as to make it as shareable as possible across the social medias. It will be continually updated to remain relevant and user friendly.