Updated on November 20th, 2023
Yeah, I confess, my sugar addictions are getting a little out of control. Last week I posted a recipe for The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. Now I have for you nonother than a recipe for the best peanut butter cookies!! I seriously don’t know if these recipes are really the best, but there one thing I can assure you of – they are definitely close! These turned out great and they had an amazingly good flavor to them. I decided peanut butter alone wasn’t enough so I decided to add M&M’s as well. The M&M’s are totally optional – they still taste fantastic without them. Like most easy cookies recipes this will take very little time. The baking time differs depending on how chewy or how crunchy you like your cookies. Make a batch… or two of these and everyone is sure to love you J. Enjoy.
Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs (beaten)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup M&M’s (optional)
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl. Beat butter, shortening, and peanut butter until smooth. Add white sugar and brown sugar and beat until smooth.
- Add the eggs on at a time and then add vanilla extract until blended. Use your hands or a spoon and add the flour mixture to complete cookie dough.
- One at time scoop dough with a teaspoon (can use a tablespoon for larger cookies) and drop dough in 1” balls onto a cookie sheet. Place 2 inches apart. With a fork dipped in flour flatten cookies. Then flatten in the opposite direction (so they cross).
- Bake in the oven for 9-10 minutes for chewy cookies or 11-12 for crispy.
Wow! they look really YUMMY! Too good….
Peanut butter cookies with m&m’s sound great!
to me, a peanut butter cookie isn’t a peanut butter cookie until it has the criss-cross pattern on top. nicely done. 🙂
It look’s to good to be through I am definitely going to try this
I love the color that the M&Ms add! So much fun. They look perfectly delicious!
Good, just love that top photo…
beautiful pictures!
this really takes me back, how nostalgic. i used to make this EVERY SUNDAY (what a chubster i was) and take them in tubs to school for the classmates and the fellow pals in the student council.
even the boys were all sucker-punched when it came to M&M’s. love it.
You can deliver me some cookies anytime you want!!! You keep saying these recipes are the test I would be happy to test them for you.
I would love you if you brought me some of these!!!
Sorry it took me so long to get back to your comments…
Vani – Yes, so addictive 🙂
Kevin – The m&m’s went extremly well with the peanut butter!
grace – haha thanks, I had fun criss crossing on top of the cookies 😀
Sorina – Great, let me know how you like them.
GirlCanBake – They were so good, I think I’m going to make some more 😀
Mari – Thanks for the compliments on my photo.
diva – Your classmates were so lucky to be able to eat these amazing cookies!
Toni – I’m sorry, food doesn’t last very long around here :). I think they were gone within a day!
These look great & what a fab photo, thank you!
The photo of these cookies is amazing!
Excellent photos! My kids would love you cookies.
These are some great looking cookies and some fantastic photos. Im getting hungry just looking at them! I think a trip to the M&M cupboard is in order… thanks for the recipe.
HoneyB – thanks for the compliments on my photos!
Karen – Yes, they are very good cookies 😀
kj – no problem, let me know how they turn out.
These look amazing!!! I was hoping to find some healthy recipes tonight but….. now all I can see is cookies 🙂 ha ha!!
I better not make these today as I am just off for a run but still I will be thinking about them all the way round :),
Cheers,
Forest.
This recipe has officially been declared my most favorite cookie recipe. These are the best and I do mean the best peanut butter cookies I have ever tasted!!! I’ve made them twice, once w/plain M&M’s then w/peanut butter M&M’s. I’ve passed cookies around to family members and friends and they always ask me to make more. Thanks for the recipe.
How many cookies does this recipe make?
I was searching on google and I found this and I am hoping to make them today.
-Rob
Rob – I would say about 30 but I’m not really sure.
I’m going to make these tonight. I’ve also made a list of provisions for three other recipes you’ve shared. Thanks so much. I’m off to the store.
Making them right now… the pictures are too amazing to resist making such a soulful dessert. I can’t eat them myself, but I’m sure my family will love them. Thanks for the recipe!
Wow! These look amazing. I’m making them Wednesday for my best friend! He loves them :]
Am I missing something the directions; where are the M&Ms? Assuming you add them once the dough is comeplete and before rolling into balls
Dee – Yes you are correct. Just fold in the m & m when you are done mixing the dough. Enjoy.
omfg! i was looking for this EXACT rescipe! i bought my brother a cookie far for his new home(x-mas gift), and needed to make him some great cookies. thank you so much! i can’t wait to try makeing these!
your pictures came out great btw!
o.m.g. i think your cookies are YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!i wish i could get them right now on my hands!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i’m using my big bro’s e-mail.your cookies rock!!!
First, Bobby, I want to say that I don’t think you were totally honest with your family about how many cookies this batch actually makes. I got 6 dozen medium size cookies when I made 1 inch balls and then flattened them with a fork. You have 3 dozen cookies unaccounted for;)! Just kidding, when I was done with baking and “taste testing” them, I had about the same amount as you (about 3 dozen) still left standing.
I baked about a couple of batches right after making the dough and they tasted a bit bland, and a little flat. I decided maybe it might be better to let them sit in a plastic container with lid (no need to kill the environment with plastic wrap) in the refrigerator overnight (although I think 1 – 3 hrs minimum might be enough?) to absorb all the flavors and let the baking powder and baking soda do their magic. The next morning, I baked the rest, and they were fantastic. These cookies turned out fluffier and more tasty for whatever reason. Instead of having to bake them for 12 min. at 350 F like the night before, I reduced the cooking time to 11 min. after they refrigerated overnight.
Another trick I’ve learned from the past is cooling the cookie sheet more quickly in the refrig for a few minutes in between cooking each batch. To save time, while the cookie sheet is cooling, just make your little balls and put them on your plastic lid or plate, and then transfer then to your sheet and flatten them with the fork, etc. The balls can be kept in the refrig to stay cold until they are ready to be put on the cookie sheet.
DELICIOUS!!!…and so easy! This beats all the other peanut butter cookie recipes that I’ve tested. I also have a feeling that if I try dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar, it will enhance the flavor. The only other recipe which could top this might be the NY Times recipe which calls for grinding up 1 cup roasted salted peanuts, etc., but I’m not sure if it’s worth all the extra trouble.
Thanks again!
amateur cook – glad you enjoyed them 🙂 Thats interesting about letting the dough sit, I will have to try that.
I made the peanut butter cookies again. This time, I used 1 c. dark brown sugar instead of the first time when I used 1/2 c. light brown sugar and 1/2 c. dark brown sugar because I ran out of the light brown sugar. The results were not as good this time. I would recommend either doing the 1/2 c. light brown sugar and 1/2 c. dark brown sugar, or the 1 c. light brown sugar in addition to the regular white granulated sugar. Definitely put the dough in the refrig overnight for a fluffier cookie and the flavors blend together better. I compared some cookies where the dough was and was not put in the refrig overnight, and you can notice the cookies spread out more horizontally if you don’t put them in the refrig overnight. I guess when you put the dough in the refrig overnight, they don’t spread out as much so it stays slightly more fluffed up, and not as flattened.
Another thing I learned was if you have only medium size eggs and the recipe calls for 2 (probably large or x-large) eggs, you can compensate by using 3 medium eggs for this recipe.
Just a minor detail, but you mistakenly left out the salt in your instructions as one of the ingredients which can be sifted together with the flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
You read my mind by posting the recipe for carrot cake this week!
Has anyone tried this with the new transformers strawberried-peanutbutter m&m’s? I’m going to try it tonight, it sounds fantastic! The M&Ms themselves taste like a pb&J.
These are amazing! My new fave PB cookie recipe. Tis recipe makes sooo many cookies. Thanks for sharing!
You take great pictures, those cookies look so good. They would make great gifts! They look nice and chewy!
I’ve made these three times since finding your recipe on a google seach. They are so yummy! Everyone wants the recipe. I use Peanut Butter M&M’s when I make them and I add a few more than one cup.
Bobby! Have I told you that I love your site….my husband does too lol! Well, I made these cookies last night for my husband and father in law. The soft ones were our favs! Do you think they would turn out if I threw in some reeses peanut butter cup pieces instead of m&ms? Safeway makes peanut butter cookies with reeses and they are really good so I wanted to try the same thing.
Megan – Great idea, they would turn out just fine! Infact, I’m going to try it myself.
I used this as an M&M cookie recipe. My husband ended up saying, “Man! What great peanut butter cookies! The M&Ms aren’t needed!” He was right. They were WONDERFUL. You can really taste the peanut butter.
Quick tip, based on my own mistake: make sure to sift the flour, baking soda, and baking powder together, too. It would have given a better rise if I’d done that right, but it still turned out right!
This was wonderful! You really can taste the peanut butter. It doesn’t get hidden in the mix.
I can’t wait to try them! I’m going to add Heath Toffee Pieces!
If you’re a true peanut butter fan, make these with peanut butter M&M’s. Pure peanut butter heaven!!!