Sometimes you just want a warm peanut butter cookie or two without committing to a full batch - and after decades of baking cookies in my own kitchen, I've got the small batch down to a science. This small batch peanut butter cookie recipe makes 10 cookies with crisp edges, soft chewy middles, lots of peanut butter flavor, and that classic crisscross pattern on the the top. If you are craving chocolate chip in you cookies, my small batch chocolate chip cookies are just as easy to pull together.
I've tested this recipe multiple times and it's been approved by all of my usual taste testers. It took a few rounds to get the texture just right. The egg yolk and a traditional creamy peanut butter guarantee cookies that are soft and chewy rather than dry and crumbly. Best of all, this recipe comes together in one bowl with ingredients you already have in your panty. Mix, chill, scoop and bake - in less than an hour, you'll have fresh peanut butter cookies to satisfy your cookie craving. For more recipes, browse all of our easy cookie recipes. For more ideas, browse all of our easy cookie recipes.
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Small Batch Peanut Butter Cookies Ingredients
egg yolk - for that soft and chewy texture
peanut butter - use a traditional peanut butter like Skippy or Jif - nothing natural here!
Be sure to see the recipe card for the full list of ingredients and detailed recipe instructions.
How to Make Peanut Butter Cookies
Combine melted butter with sugars and mix until well combined.
Add egg yolk, peanut butter and vanilla to the butter and sugar. Mix well.
Add the dry ingredients.
Chill cookie dough for 30-60 minutes.
Scoop the cookie dough and roll into balls. Roll each ball in coarse sugar and use a fork to make a crisscross pattern.
Bake cookies at 350° for 8-10 minutes. Enjoy freshly baked cookies with a tall glass of your favorite milk.
Easy Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe Substitutions & Variations
Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies - make these small batch peanut butter cookies gluten free - instead of all-purpose flour, switch it out for your favorite gluten free flour blend. I've had good luck with both King Arthur Measure for Measure and Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour.
Small Batch Peanut Butter Blossoms - roll the cookie dough into a ball before rolling in sugar. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350° - Immediately after baking, add an unwrapped Hershey's Kiss or Reese's Peanut Butter Cup to the top of each cookie.
Amanda's Top Cookie Baking Tips
Use a cookie dough scoop - This makes it easy to get the perfect amount of cookie dough every time. Grab those scoops of dough and roll them with your hands to create perfectly round balls of cookie dough. I used a medium scoop (1.5-2 tablespoons) to make this recipe.
Be sure to use a traditional (not natural) peanut butter for this recipe - The texture and oil content of the soft and chewy peanut butter cookies relies on using a traditional peanut butter. Choose a creamy peanut butter similar to Jif or Skippy.
Use A Kitchen Scale to Measure Your Ingredients - a kitchen scale guarantee that you have the exact measurements of ingredients in your recipe. This also helps with your cookie structure. You won't have cookies that spread too much or are too puffy if you measure the flour using a kitchen scale.
Troubleshooting Peanut Butter Cookies
A peanut butter cookie only has a few ingredients, so when something goes wrong, it's almost always one of these. Here are some of the troubles I've had over my years of cookie baking and how to fix each one.
Your cookies are dry or crumbly - The most common cause here is using a natural peanut butter. Stick with something like Jif or Skippy for peanut butter cookies.
Your cookies spread out flat - This happens either because the dough was not chilled or you didn't have the correct amount of flour in the recipe. Chill your dough and weigh your flour with a kitchen scale.
Your cookies came out puffy - This is always too much flour. Scooping straight from the bag adds more flour than the recipe calls for. Either fluff the flour up and use a spoon to fill your measuring cup or use a kitchen scale to measure 65g of flour.
Your crisscross marks flattened out or disappeared - This happens when the dough warms up. Make your fork marks right before the cookies go into the oven. Make sure the dough is nice and cold and it will hold the pattern.
Easy Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe Storage
Baked Cookies - Baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days. If you want to freeze the cookies, wrap the baked cookies in plastic wrap and store in a freezer safe bag or container. Cookies stay fresh in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Cookie Dough - You can store the peanut butter cookie dough in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Cover tightly so that the cookie dough doesn't dry out. You can also scoop the cookie dough onto a sheet pan. Freeze the cookie dough in balls. Once the dough is frozen solid, transfer the cookie dough to a freezer bag. Store cookie dough in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Baking Frozen Cookie Dough - It's easy to bake the frozen cookie dough. Pull the dough from the freezer and arrange on a cookie sheet. Leave the dough at room temperature while the oven preheats. Bake cookies at 350° for 8-10 minutes. You may need to add an additional 1-2 minutes of baking time to the cookies when baking the frozen cookie dough.
Small Batch Peanut Butter Cookies FAQs
There are a few key ingredients that create a moist and chewy cookie. Brown sugar has a higher moisture content which helps create chewy cookies. Using an egg yolk as opposed to whole egg will keep your cookies moist and chewy.
There are a couple of reasons that cookies come out flat. You may have measured the flour differently than the recipe creator.I recommended that you use a kitchen scale when measuring flour. If you don't have one, use a spoon to scoop flour into your measuring cup. Overfill the cup and then level it off.
Cookie often come out flat because the recipe is one that required the dough to be chilled. If you bake cookie dough right away, without chilling it, it can flatten out. Always be sure to follow the exact recipe directions when making cookies.
I don't recommend using a natural peanut butter for this recipe. The chewy texture and rich peanut butter flavor comes from using a conventional, creamy peanut butter like Jif or Skippy.C
Yes! You can easily double the recipe - use two egg yolks rather than using one whole egg.
More Soft And Chewy Cookie Recipes
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Soft & Easy Small Batch Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe
Equipment
- mixing bowl
- spatula
- cookie sheet and parchment paper
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled
- ¼ cup (55g) light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (85g) creamy peanut butter
- 1 large egg yolk at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (65g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (2g) baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon (1.5g) salt
For the Sugar Coating
- 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar for coating the cookie dough before baking
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Mix until light and fluffy.
- Add the peanut butter, egg yolk and vanilla to the butter and sugar mixture.
- Add the flour, baking soda and salt to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Be careful not to over mix.
- Cover dough and chill in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Use your cookie dough scoop or two small spoons and scoop 1.5 tablespoons of dough. Roll the dough between your hands to form nice, round balls. Coat each ball of cookie dough with the turbinado sugar.
- Arrange cookie dough balls on a parchment lined half sheet pan. Use a fork to make crisscross marks on the dough.
- Bake cookies at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are just golden brown. The middles will look slightly undercooked. Allow cookies to cool for 15-20 minutes on the sheet pan before moving to a cooling rack.
Notes
Nutrition
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