12 Delicious Ways To Make Peanut Butter Cookies
Whether you’re Team Crunchy or Team Creamy, we all have a jar of peanut butter somewhere in our pantry. While I love scooping it straight out of the jar or slathering it on a piece of buttered toast, you can also give this humble and delicious kitchen staple a tasty glow-up in the form of cookies. Incorporating it into these delicious, simple, homemade treats will satisfy your tastebuds and give you a sugary, nostalgic boost. PB deserves to be the star, so give this classic spread it’s due with these 12 delicious cookie recipes.
1. Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookie Bars
I absolutely adore this recipe because it hits on that tried-and-true childhood combo of peanut butter and jelly with a sweet kick of vanilla and a luxe hint of brown sugar. Filled with rich jelly and creamy peanut butter generously slathered on a buttery, sugary crust, every bite invokes those childhood summers. Plus, it comes together in a snap, and it’s ideal for picnics or a fun after-school treat for the kids.
2. Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
Welcome to the OG of peanut butter cookies. These big, super soft, circle-o-joys let the main ingredient shine. Every bite is full of delicious peanut flavor and plenty of brown sugar, all nestled in a buttery base that’s the best consistency. Also, there’s minimal hands-on time. Once you mix your ingredients together, it just needs to sit in the refrigerator for an hour before baking for a mere 10 minutes. Once you’ve done that, you’ll have the cookie of your dreams.
3. Monster Cookies
These cookies pay homage to one of the best combos in the world: chocolate and peanut butter with a generous sprinkle of M&Ms and chocolate chips and plenty of textural interest from old-fashioned rolled oats. With a velvety peanut butter base spiked with just the right amount of brown sugar and vanilla, they’re buttery gems that are a new spin on a classic combination. In other words, monstrously good!
4. Homemade Nutter Butters
These homemade Nutter Butters eclipse anything you can get off the grocery store shelves, and since they’re simple to make, you’ll never be tempted to go for a subpar version again. Creamy, sweet peanut butter filling is nestled between two homemade cookies for a decadent treat. The biggest selling point for me is that I can totally personalize how much filling I want per cookie, hitting that ideal cookie-to-cream ratio in every bite.
5. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies
Dark chocolate gives these cookies a sophisticated makeover, and a sprinkle of good sea salt adds oodles of flavor depth in this upmarket spin on a cookie classic. With serious notes of peanut butter and brown sugar throughout, some textural interest from the oats, and lots of chunks of premium dark chocolate, these cookies would be just as at home on a banquet table as they would at your local picnic or BBQ.
6. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookies
These cookies are my go-to for any bake sale or party because they are super easy to assemble and always a crowd-pleaser. The deliciousness of peanut butter and chocolate in Reese’s peanut butter cups is amped up when you pair them with a cookie base that loads up on the peanut butter and adds a bit of vanilla extract for deeper flavor. Plus, this recipe uses Reese’s pieces and Reese’s peanut butter cups to get tons of texture, plenty of chocolate, and that ideal candy/cookie combo.
7. Peanut Butter Snickers Cookies
While I never will question the idyllic made-in-heaven combo of Reese’s peanut butter cups and peanut butter cookies, there’s room for other candies to shine, too, as this inspired recipe proves. Miniature Snicker’s bars have a built-in nougat and peanut base, making them the perfect foil for a standard and scrumptious peanut butter cookie. Plus, oven time makes the candies deliciously soft and gooey, allowing their flavor to infuse throughout the cookie itself. These are so fabulous that you’ll want to put them into your regular cookie rotation.
8. Peanut Butter Banana Cookies
Did you love dipping bananas into peanut butter as a kid, like I did? If so, you’re gonna love these cookies that feature perfectly ripened bananas, plenty of light brown sugar, and a half cup of peanut butter to balance out all of the flavor. These cookies are a lighter, refreshing take on your traditional peanut butter cookie with a smooth, fruity base that invokes notes of banana bread, thanks to the extra vanilla and brown sugar.
9. Peanut Butter Blossoms
Eat these cookies after they’ve cooled just the right amount, and you’ll get soft, melty chocolate and a chewy peanut butter base in every bite. They’re beautiful to look at, have the perfect ratio of chocolate to peanut butter, and make a showstopping addition to any bake sale or backyard get-together. Whenever I make these cookies, I always buy extra chocolate kisses to snack on while I’m baking, otherwise, I might come up short when it’s time to put the blossoms together.
10. Peanut Butter Snickerdoodles
Crisp on the outside, creamy and velvety on the inside, and packed with tons of peanut butter and chopped peanuts inside, these cookies are a celebration of different textures and flavors. You’ll find standard snickerdoodle elements, like plenty of light and dark brown sugar and vanilla, laced throughout every bite, and the sugary, cinnamony topping gives it a light crunch and additional depth in every bite. After tasting these, I’ll never settle for standard snickerdoodles ever again.
11. Fluffernutter Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
While peanut butter shares the center stage with other ingredients in this knock-out cookie, you’ll still get plenty of peanutty taste in every bite, coupled with silky marshmallow fluff and a generous serving of chocolate chips to round off the flavor and texture in an oh-so-fabulous way. These cookies are dense and decadent and transport me right back to my childhood summers.
12. Peanut Butter and Marshmallow Crackle Cookies
There’s a lot to love about these crackle cookies, but the primary thing that makes me go for this recipe again and again is that they have just five ingredients and come together super quickly. The combination of creamy peanut butter and maple syrup is a surefire winner, and when you pop in some mini marshmallows, you get the crackle effect. They’re good, simple, and unexpected.
These peanut butter cookie recipes give your favorite pantry staple a delicious way to shine and are perfect recipes for all of your summertime events.
