The classic peanut butter cookie. Hot out of the oven, the edges are light and crispy and the center is slightly chewy. The second day, the cookies are crispy throughout. Nothing fancy or difficult here – just a good, old-fashioned cookie.
Gather all ingredients.
Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
With an electric mixer on medium speed, combine the butter, peanut butter, both sugars, and the vanilla and mix until light and fluffy, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add the egg and beat another 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Add the dry ingredients to the peanut butter mixture and mix on low speed until blended. Refrigerate the dough 1 – 2 hours or even overnight, if desired. This step can be skipped. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or grease lightly with butter or Crisco vegetable shortening. Measure out heaping tablespoons of dough and roll them into balls with your hands. Roll in granulated sugar and place 2″ apart on prepared cookie sheet. Bake until dark golden around the edges and lightly puffy and light in the center, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool on the cookie sheets.
- 1½ cups plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick) at room temperature
- ½ cup plus 2 Tablespoons peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
- ½ cup plus 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- ½ cup plus 1 teaspoon lightly packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
- With an electric mixer on medium speed, combine the butter, peanut butter, both sugars, and the vanilla and mix until light and fluffy, about 1½ minutes. Add the egg and beat another 30 seconds. Scrape the bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients to the peanut butter mixture and mix on low speed until blended.
- Refrigerate the dough 1 - 2 hours or even overnight, if desired. This step can be skipped.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or grease lightly with butter or Crisco vegetable shortening.
- Measure out heaping tablespoons of dough and roll them into balls with your hands. Roll in granulated sugar and place 2" apart on prepared cookie sheet. Bake until dark golden around the edges and lightly puffy and light in the center, about 13-15 minutes. Allow to cool for about one minute on the cookie sheets and then transfer to a wire rack.
