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Just a nice quick and easy recipe today: Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies.
Everyone needs a good peanut butter cookie recipe, or two, or ten – right? In getting recipes moved over here from the old blog, I realized that none of my favorite peanut butter cookies have made the trip yet. Okay – one did, actually – Peanut Butter and Jelly Kisses, which are a favorite of Larry’s.
I like the simplicity of these though, along with the fact that they not only keep practically forever, but that they also just keep tasting better as they sit around. I love that in a cookie!
This recipe is from when the girls were little and I needed a recipe that baked up a big batch of cookies in a hurry, for when it was my turn to bring a snack to school. Plus, maybe even keep a few here at home! This was obviously before the days of having to worry about allergies in classmates, so I suppose now you would just have to keep them all at home to enjoy yourself.
The extra chewiness in these comes from the brown sugar and molasses, both of which also add a deeper flavor than just granulated sugar would. They also both work to help retain moisture [which, unlike with people, is good in a chewy cookie!] and keep the cookies from getting stale and dried out.
The other big change here is the use of natural peanut butter. I don’t use anything else anymore, and I find that the natural kind really adds more flavor. I haven’t tried this recipe with regular peanut butter, but I think it will work just fine.
If you have a stand mixer, you can have these in the oven in just a matter of moments, and not much longer than that with a hand mixer.
Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup soft butter
- 1 cup natural peanut butter
- 1 & 1/2 cups light brown sugar firmly packed
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup roasted salted peanuts, chopped
- 1/2 cup raw sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º and line heavy baking sheets with parchment paper
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer [or other mixing bowl if using a hand mixer], Cream together the butter and peanut butter.
- Add the sugar and molasses and beat until combined.
- Add the vanilla and eggs and beat until combined.
- Add the reserved dry ingredients and peanuts and beat until combined.
- Portion dough with a medium [1 & 1/2 tablespoon size] cookie scoop. Roll dough into round balls, and then roll in course sugar - I like to use raw sugar for this.
- Space the cookies a couple inches apart on the prepared baking sheet and use a fork to press the cookies down and add the criss-cross pattern.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, turning sheets half way through.
- Remove to a cooling rack.
- Store tightly sealed at room temperature.
Notes
They may be easy, but they taste like a million bucks!
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Almond Shortbread
You can never have too many peanut butter cookie recipes! 🙂
I totally agree Jennifer!
I’ve got quite a few peanut butter cookie recipes I like, but I’m always up for another one! giving this a try at cookie baking time this comeing weekend!
Thanks Ani – hope you love it!
There is nothing like a good peanut butter cookie. I need to stop what I’m doing and make a batch. Pronto! Thank you so much for sharing them with us!
You’re welcome Monet and I hope you get a chance to make them 🙂
My favorite cookies!!! These look perfect!! I’ll take a whole batch please. 🙂
Maybe the next time I’m baking MJ!
One can never have too many peanut butter cookie recipes! Or peanut butter cookies, for that matter. 😉 One of my favorite cookies, and I do like them chewy (crunchy, too, but that’s another recipe!). Really nice – thanks.
It can be hard to decide which ones to make John – we love them all!
If the peanut butter cookies are this good looking, I would have more than two for sure. Okay maybe ten. 🙂
Ten is good, Ray!
I’m having a bit of a cookie craving at the moment but couldn’t decide what to make – you’ve made up my mind for me, Donalyn – simple and delicious, what’s not to love!
I can see how chewy these cookies are just from the photos! Love this!
As a junk food junkie, there is NEVER a thing as too many recipes!!
I live on “Junk Foods”, and cookies of all kinds will always reign supreme!!
TY for sharing this recipe! 🙂
Do I really need the extra peanuts?
Hi Tatyana – they are optional, for sure. Thanks for stopping by!
my grandma used to make peanut butter cookies and we could never find the right recipe, after making literally hundreds of different batches throughout the years this one with the hint of molasses sounds exactly what we’ve been looking for. Crossing my fingers my dad approves.