I have never been a huge fan of peanut butter cookies. It isn’t that I don’t like the flavor of them… it is just that they are so inconsistent. You never know what you are going to get when you bite into a homemade peanut butter cookie. Is it going to be crunchy? Will it have peanuts in it or be nut free? Will it be soft and tender with a chewy center? You just never know.
In the August 2007 issue of Gourmet magazine I was reading an article about The Willows Inn…a beautiful Bed & Breakfast on Lummi Island, which is a two hour drive from Seattle and a 1 1/2 hour drive from Vancouver. The chef at The Willows Inn graciously provided Gourmet magazine with some of their most popular recipes. One of the recipes he shared is a recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies. Normally, I would have flipped right by this, but when I read that the Gourmet food editor who tested the recipe then slipped the recipe into his own recipe file as the peanut butter cookie of choice, I had to give it a try.
This recipe makes 40 large cookies. We are talking 1/4 cup of dough per cookie people, so they are really good size. The recipe also says to bake the cookies for 30 minutes. This did not work for me at all as my first batch that I finally took out after 20 minutes were brown and crispy. The next batch I left in for only 11 minutes. I took the cookies out when they looked like they could maybe use one minute more (which is my secret to a great cookie) and left them on the cookie sheet for 3 minutes. During that three minutes they firmed up and became the most delicious, soft and chewy peanut butter cookies I have ever had. They had a slightly crispy outer edge too, which tops my criteria for a great peanut butter cookie.
If you are still on the hunt for a great peanut butter cookie recipe and you like your cookies soft and chewy on the inside and slightly crispy on the outside, then give this recipe for Britta’s Peanut Butter Cookies a try. May your search for the perfect peanut butter cookie recipe end right now.
Britta's Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 sticks 3/4 pound unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/3 cups creamy peanut butter
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs plus 2 large yolks
- 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F with racks in upper and lower thirds.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
- Beat together butter, peanut butter, sugars, and oil with an electric mixer at high speed just until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes in a stand mixer or longer with a handheld. Add whole eggs, yolks, and vanilla and beat until just incorporated. Reduce speed to low, then add flour mixture in 3 batches, mixing until well incorporated.
- Scoop scant 1/4cups of dough about 2 inches apart onto 2 ungreased large baking sheets. Flatten mounds with floured tines of a fork, making a crosshatch pattern, into 2 1/2-inch cookies (about 1/2 inch thick).
- Bake, switching position of sheets halfway thorough baking, until slightly puffed and golden around edges, about 30 minutes total. Transfer cookies to racks to cool.
- Switch an oven rack to middle position and make more cookies with remaining dough on a cooled baking sheet.
Your cookies look fabulous. I’m with you on underbaking – it’s the secret to great, moist, chewy cookies. I’ll definitely have to put this recipe in my file of to-make’s.
I love peanut butter cookies!
I thought I had my problem solved of my husband eating them faster than I could take them out of the oven. Worked well for a while but then he discovered the frozen shaped raw dough in the freezer and at it frozen. If you want fresh baked all the time just shape them, freeze them on the cookie sheet, wrap the dough in plastic and bake when wanted.
Your cookies look lovely.
OMG! Don’t make me crave now.We can’t even go out to take a walk today to digest those,it’s so HOT!:D
As you know, peanut butter is one of my favorite things in the world. It is a whole food group for me. Peanut butter cookies have long been my FAVORITE cookie so I’m DEFINITELY going to have to try this. Looks AMAZING!
Sounds like my type of cookie! Chewy on the inside crisp on the outside. I will definitely give this one a try. Thanks!
I TOTALLY agree re: peanut butter cookies. They are great, but only when they are right and how can you know?
Thanks for sharing this recipe! How did you get your August Gourmet already?? I am jealous. 🙂
Oh yum, peanut butter cookies! I made them earlier this year, and they are one of the few biscuits my little one will eat without icing! I was pretty keen myself too 🙂
I also agree about the underbaking on cookies – I’m going to try this recipe out for sure. My husband loves pb cookies, so I’m excited to try it!
Yum! I’m always on the lookout for a good PB cookie recipe! I like to add just a dash of cinnamon to them which give them an added dimension. I’ll definitely be trying these out soon!
I dogeared that recipe, too! But I love PB cookies. (And feel free to throw some chocolate in mine. Thanks.)
Your were actually able to have any left by day 5? Gracious you are disciplined! These sound so good I would have eaten them all by the next day (or less).Super recipe and description, too.
Okay, you’re dangerous to visit. I leave your blog hungry every time! LOL!
I love peanut butter cookies. All kinds. I like them soft and I also like them crunchy. I’ll have to save this recipe and try it soon.
Thanks!
Kat
I am crazy for peanut butter cookies! I’ll have to try this recipe.Thanks a bunch.
oh my i’m extremely excited about this post! i can’t wait to try out this recipe, perhaps tomorrow. i hope it’s "the one". 😉
oh sorry and i had a question about leaving them on the cookie sheets for 3 minutes after taking them out. what happens if you take them off right away versus leaving them for 3 minutes? i know in some recipes it says to leave them on the sheet but i never thought it would make a big difference. i guess i’ll just have to try it and find out!
oh and i am so craving peanut butter right now. im in the med school cafeteria and they don’t have any! i was dreaming of peanut butter on an english muffin and here you go with your peanut butter cookies… right in my face
Hi Ashley!
Thanks for stopping by. Make sure if you follow this recipe to really watch the first batch. I ended up doing one sheet of 6 cookies at a time instead of the two sheets like they suggested. When I followed those instructions the first time my cookies were horrible. So…watch the time and only do one sheet would be my tip!
As far as leaving the cookies on the sheet. If you take them out when they look like they could use one minute more, leaving them on the sheet allows them to "bake" a little more. Plus, when you take them out at that stage, if you try to take them off the sheet right away they will fall apart as you are moving them because they will be too soft.
Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Kristen
Kristen, I have never baked with peanut butter and these cookies would be a wonderful way to start!
I just read this in "Gourmet" and flagged it with one of my tiny posy-its for EXACTLY the same reason you did! i actually like pb cookies, and bake them often, but I am intrigued by the attention given to this recipe by exalted foodie personages at "Gourmet." Yours look great; we’ll see how I do….