Okay, so today’s cookie miiiight be my favorite! This Giant Peanut Butter Cookie is amazingly soft in the center and lightly crisp on the outside and dare I say PERFECT. We cannot WAIT to see your photos of this giant peanut butter cookie!! If you make this cookie, share a photo on social media and Tag #OBBgiantCookie on Instagram!
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- Butter – Use real butter.
- Peanut butter – Good old smooth or crunchy peanut butter works best here. Natural peanut butter has more texture and may affect the final product, but feel free to try it if you’d like.
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
- Egg yolk from a large or extra large egg
- Vanilla extract
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
How to make a Giant Peanut Butter Cookie
- We start with melted butter, but my tip is to NOT melt the butter all the way (if you do, that’s fine). This photo above shows the perfect stage. It’s about half way melted but the solids are SUPER soft. You can see my finger prints in there because if you touch the butter, it should have the consistency of pudding, or frosting. Something that smashes right down and is perfectly smooth.
- I just add the sugar, peanut butter, vanilla and egg yolk all at the same time. Mix that all up and then toss all the dry ingredients in there at once and you’ll have a nice cohesive dough.
- I like to have that traditional peanut butter cookie look, so I form my dough into a ball and add a spoonful of sugar right back into my mixing bowl and roll it around. Place it on a prepared baking sheet and press down lightly. You want to keep it fairly thick to keep it from spreading too fast and keeping that center, soft.
- To create that traditional peanut butter cookie cross-hatch pattern, grab a metal or wood BBQ skewer and gently press the lines into your cookie! It’s a really quick and easy process that has great results.
- When done baking, the cookie should be puffed throughout and the edges set, but you should be able to lightly jiggle the center as you’re moving your pan. That’s how you know it will stay soft inside once it’s cooled. There is something super satisfying about breaking pieces off this cookie in those tiny little squares. Try it and tell me if you love it as much as I do!
Storing and Other Tips
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Homemade cookies are safe to eat for a week or more when stored this way, but they will definitely have the best taste and texture the first couple days.
- Because we are working with such small ingredients it’s important that you measure them correctly. It’s very easy to alter your dough for any of these giant cookies simply by not measuring your flour correctly, packing your brown sugar too much, or using a small egg. We’ve included details in the recipe to help with this!
Gifting Giant Cookies
- Giant cookies make a great gift for neighbors, teachers, and friends! 10-inch pizza boxes lined with parchment paper* hold one cookie perfectly and are adorable for gifting. *Make sure to line your box and use parchment or waxed paper and not tissue paper. Otherwise the box will absorb some butter and look greasy.
- If you are making several large cookies, I recommend setting out several bowls, one for each batch, and measure ingredients into each one by one. This will help prevent confusion when measuring ingredients and ensure that each dough ball is the correct size for one cookie. Alternately, you can use a food scale to accurately divide your dough into individual cookies.
- If you’d like to, use one bowl for every two cookies, so you can use two whole eggs (instead of two eggs and two yolks) and then just split the dough evenly into two pieces before baking. Again, a food scale is helpful!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make regular sized cookies with this dough?
Absolutely. For a small batch of peanut butter cookies, separate the dough into 4-6 portions and roll each in a little sugar, then cross hatch with the fork. You’ll have to keep an eye on them in the oven, as they will bake up more quickly than the giant cookie. To check for doneness, look for set edges and a puffed, but slightly jiggly, center. I would start checking on them after about 8 minutes!
Can I make this with a peanut butter substitute?
This recipe has only been tested using regular peanut butter. Feel free to experiment with other nut butters or sun butter, just be aware I have not tried it and you may be better off finding a recipe specifically designed around those ingredients!
Big Giant Peanut Butter Cookie
A single, giant peanut butter cookie!
Servings giant 9″ cookie
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter melted (*see note in instructions)
- ¼ cup peanut butter
- ¼ cup white sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar lightly packed
- 1 egg yolk from a large or extra large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375℉. Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.
- Melt your butter in a heat-safe mixing bowl. Note: It doesn't need to be ALL the way. See photos for an example- I've found the best stage is when about half the butter is liquid, but the rest is super soft. Like the texture of pudding. You want it to easily stir completely smooth when you touch it.
- Stir in both white and brown sugar, peanut butter, then egg yolk and vanilla.
- Measure your flour by lightly spooning flour into your measuring cup and leveling with a knife. Don't scoop your flour with your measuring cup.Sprinkle flour, baking soda, and baking powder in the bowl and stir until it forms a cohesive dough.
- Form one single ball of dough and set it back in the mixing bowl. Sprinkle a couple tablespoons of additional sugar over it and roll it around until it's coated with a layer of sugar.
- Place dough ball on your parchment-lined baking sheet and gently press down with your hand until it's about 1 inch thick. If desired, use a skewer to form the traditional criss-cross lines on cookie (see photos in blog post for a visual).
- Bake for 13-15 minutes or until edges are golden and top looks set. It should still jiggle in the center when you pull it out- the center will continue cooking as it sits and be soft when it cools. Let cool for 15 minutes or so before using a very large spatula to transfer to a cooling rack.
Notes
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Homemade cookies are safe to eat for a week or more when stored this way, but they will definitely have the best taste and texture the first couple days.
- Because we are working with such small ingredients it’s important that you measure them correctly. It’s very easy to alter your dough for any of these giant cookies simply by not measuring your flour correctly, packing your brown sugar too much, or using a small egg. We’ve included details in the recipe to help with this!
Nutrition
Serving: 1Cookie, Calories: 1587kcal, Carbohydrates: 178g, Protein: 36g, Fat: 84g, Saturated Fat: 37g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g, Monounsaturated Fat: 30g, Trans Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 284mg, Sodium: 1083mg, Potassium: 600mg, Fiber: 7g, Sugar: 58g, Vitamin A: 1637IU, Calcium: 151mg, Iron: 9mg
Calories: 1587kcal
Cost: $4
Did You Make This Recipe?Snap a picture, and hashtag it #ourbestbites. We love to see your creations on our Instagram @ourbestbites!
Questions & Reviews
We have made this cookie recipe soooo many times! Delish! The cooking time and ‘jiggly in the middle’ is on point with perfection when it is cool. We have always received great reviews when we make it for someone else – Best PB cookie ever! Have you ever tried to make a batch of smaller cookies? (Even though the novelty of the giant cookie is so fun!)
This is one of my favorite giant cookies, too! You can definitely separate it into a small batch of regular cookies. You will probably get 6-8. You can also check out this recipe- I believe this is the one I used as my jumping off point to develop the giant cookie recipe:
https://ourbestbites.com/giant-chocolate-dipped-peanut-butter-cookies/
I asked my grandsons what they wanted to cook and my youngest asked for a big giant peanutbutter cookie lol. I Googled and this one came up. The boys loved their big giant cookie, so I will be trying the others as well with the kids.
Oh my goodness!! We made all of the big giant cookies tonight and had a taste test! What a very fun project this has been! We LOVED it! Can’t wait for the holiday event to see what new Big giant recipes you have!
So this recipe only make 1 giant cookie right? Can you double/triple etc. the recipe and multiple cookies and they will still turn out great?
If you want a regular size batch, use this recipe! (Chocolate optional)
Looks yummy! Before I saw how you made the criss-cross pattern, I thought it might have been done with a cooling rack. I have one that’s a grid pattern, so I might try that too.
Can you tell me what size to roll out the cookie. I want to make this. Not sure how large it is.
Thanks,
Rosalie
You just want to press it lightly down with your hands until it is about 1/2 inch thick- remember it will spread lots when it bakes! For me, that was about the size of my hand. Hope that helps!
That’s such a great idea!
I’ve made your big chocolate chip cookie a couple times already and it’s saving me from myself during this quarantine! (I don’t trust myself with a whole batch of cookies! ????) I’ve been craving a peanut butter cookie and here you are! Just want you to know you guys are making my week!
Just one question…can I make two and eat them both by myself? ????
OF COURSE.
I like the skewer idea! I would love for my daughter to be able to make this single cookie in our toaster oven. Do you know if I’d modify anything for that?
I’ve never baked in a toaster oven so I’m not sure, but I assume that would work if it has a temperature setting!