Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies made with store-bought or Homemade Peanut Butter.

Instructions included.

The latter adds honey and one extra step, but well worth it because it makes the best Easy Peanut Butter Cookies.

Delicious!

The Homemade Peanut Butter can be made a day or two, or more in advance to speed cookie baking day.

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

• 1 cup thick peanut butter (store-bought)
  
  
• 2/3 cups butter (1 1/3 stick)
  
  
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
  
  
• 1/2 cup white sugar
  
  
• 1 egg
  
  
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  
  
• 1 1/2 cups sifted self-rising flour
  
  

Add peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, white sugar, egg and vanilla in a stand mixer bowl.

Beat on low speed about 15 seconds to get the ingredients mixed together.

Turn speed to high and beat one minute.

Scrape sides and bottom of bowl.

Scrape beaters, too.

Mix another minute on high speed.

Fold flour into mixture, a little at a time, until thoroughly mixed.

Place ball of cookie dough in a small bowl and cover.

Or roll it up in waxed paper.

Refrigerate dough several hours until dough ball is firm enough to roll in the palm of your hand.


I leave mine in the refrigerator overnight.

Remove from refrigerator and using the palm of your hands make 24 equal sized balls.

Cover cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Place balls on cookie sheet at least 1 1/2 inch apart.

Make the classic peanut butter, crisscross mark on the cookies with the tines of a fork, slightly flattening the cookie.

A cold-meat fork works better than a regular table fork for flattening your cookies.

They have larger tines to make more prominent marks on the cookie, therefore it will be less lightly the markings will fade during baking.


Dip the fork in sugar after making each mark, if it is sticking to the dough.
 

Keeping the cookie dough cold and firm before baking helps to prevent sticking.


Bake in 350F. oven 12-14 minutes of until lightly browned.

Do not over bake Easy Peanut Butter Cookies.

Remember, cookies continue cooking after they leave the oven for a couple of minutes, especially if they are left on the hot cookie sheet.

Remove cookies from cookie sheet.

You can use a strong spatula to remove gently lift cookies off cookie pan or remove them they way I prefer.

I slide the parchment paper with the cookies still on it, onto a clean counter top or cooling rack to let them cool.

When cookies are thoroughly cooled, place them on a serving tray or platter and serve.

Easy!

However, you can serve a hot cookie as soon as it is cool enough to handle, warm right out of the oven.

Add a delicious glass of cold milk to your warm homemade snack.

A pleasure you can not buy in a store!

Best Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

• Easy Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe, above
  
  
• 1 1/2 cups Dry Roasted Peanuts*
  
  
• 2 tablespoons honey
  
  

Omit the store-bought peanut butter in above recipe.

To make this Homemade Peanut Butter, Process the Dry Roasted Peanuts in a food processor, no more than 1 full cup at a time.


Do not use a food blender.

It is not strong enough to make peanut butter, in my experience.

It is best to process (grind) your peanuts about 1 minute at a time.

With a heavy spoon, stir your ground peanut around to even them out in your machine.

Your peanuts should be finely ground within 1 minute.

With a heavy spoon, stir your ground peanut around to even them up in your machine.

Cover and process 1 more minute.

Your peanuts should be resembling store-bought peanut butter by now.

They may be starting to form a ball.

Stir peanuts again, cover and process another minute.

This third minute should have your peanuts releasing their oil.

You should have a thick spreadable, and very tasty butter at this point.

If not, process mixture a little longer until it does.

Add this butter along with the honey to your recipe above before mixing.

NOTE: You will find that your cookies have a distinctly stronger peanut flavor. 

The honey also enhances the flavor.

*For best flavor, read the peanut's ingredients list to make sure the roasted peanuts DO NOT contain oils other than peanut.

This homemade spread can be used on crackers, in sandwiches or in other recipes.

It is awesome for dipping fresh apple slices or spread on bananas.

History Of Peanut Butter
Cookies

Homemade peanut butter cookies were made from scratch 1910. 

The first cook book recipe that listed instructions for pressing the dough balls down with the tines of a fork, instructed the user to press them down once.

There are various theories about pressing them with a fork. 

Some Historians think it was because the peanut butter did not cook even and some Historians think it was to make signature cookies that would differ from all other cookies. 

I think it was to make them different from other cookies.

Smart!

Related Pages

No Bake Cookie Recipe

Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies Recipe

Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies Recipe
AKA Cowboy Cookies

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