The Best Classic Peanut Butter Cookies recipe is the one my mom used all through my childhood, and something that was handed down to her and the best classic peanut butter cookies I’ve ever tasted! I could eat a dozen and maybe have before, oops. I remember making them as a child and my mom letting me dip the fork in sugar and make the criss cross pattern on the dough. They come out of the oven soft and moist and chewy. And I’ve done the same with my kids-let them scoop (our favorite cookie scoop here) out a ball of dough and mush it down with the fork (although boys seem to sometimes get a little too intense with the smooshing part!
Childhood memories go hand-in-hand with baking for me-my mom was not a fancy cook or baker but she made almost everything from scratch and made the same things often. Most of her recipes came from family and she still has some of the original recipe cards, all stained and wrinkled. There was something comforting and reassuring about cooking simply-we always knew what to expect, and we had strong memories attached to each recipe. Whether it was her homemade spaghetti sauce which reminds me of summer days coming in from outside starving, or this classic peanut butter cookie recipe which reminds me of a long walk home from the bus drop off at the end of the street, I appreciate all the hard work she did to bake and cook by hand.
I’ve made this recipe with crunchy peanut butter and it’s just as delicious.
The Best Classic Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup softened butter
- 1 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 1/2 cups white flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Blend butter, peanut butter and eggs until fluffy.
- Add brown sugar and white sugar to butter mixture and mix well.
- Add flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda to mixture and mix well.
- Roll dough in 1-2" balls and place on greased cookie sheet, or cookie sheet coated with parchment paper.
- Cookies will spread out when baked so leave plenty of space between them.
- Taking a wet fork, dip the fork into a small bowl of sugar and make a criss cross pattern on each cookie, flattening them out slightly.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes.
- Cool on cookie sheet and then transfer.
I often refrigerate the dough and bake on an as-needed basis. These cookies are perfect to serve as an after-school snack or to bake up for special holidays. A picnic in the park can be considered a special holiday, right?
Some more classic old-fashioned cookie recipes you might love:
All of our family friendly recipe favorites here.
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