Peanut Butter cookies. They are pretty much my all-time favorite. It’s funny because as a kid, I didn’t really love peanut butter (that’s changed…peanut butter is basically an edible member of our family), but I’ve always loved peanut butter cookies. They’re the first cookies I remember learning how to make, and I still feel such a tangible satisfaction in rolling the ball of dough in sugar and then squishing it down with a glass or a fork. When my sister Holley was in South Africa for 1 1/2 years, my mom and I would make them because they reminded us of her. I love everything about them–the delicate melt-in-your-mouth texture, the sugar-crisped edges, the little bite of chewiness. If I had to pick one cookie to eat for the rest of my life, I’m positive it would be peanut butter cookies.
But not all peanut butter cookies are created equal. I almost never get them from bakeries because I’m pretty much always underwhelmed by them. That’s okay because I’m totally at peace with making them at home–they’re quick and easy and are a great cookie to make with kids (or without because baking is kind of therapeutic and baking with kids, little ones at least, is kind of not.)
The most important ingredient in great peanut butter cookies is love. Just kidding. It’s actually peanut butter. Probably my number-one complaint with so many peanut butter cookies is the lack of peanut butter flavor, especially when there’s kind of a stale oil flavor instead. One thing that is tricky about peanut butter cookies is that they do best with a shelf-stable peanut butter where the oil is (and stays) mixed in with the peanuts, but a lot of times, those peanut butters are lacking in texture and flavor department. On the flip side, more natural peanut butters have incredible flavor, but when you use them in baking, things go south in terrible ways.
This Peter Pan Simply Ground Peanut Butter is game-changing.
It settles that age-old family feud of crunchy vs. creamy (I grew up in a crunchy house, but I longed for creamy and would sometimes feel wildly rebellious when I would seek out creamy peanut butter)–it’s a little crunchy, a little creamy (much like freshly ground peanut butter, but it has a little more crunch) and is the perfect texture for peanut butter baking. Creamy with a bit of crunch.
It tastes like the kind of peanut butter you grind by hand, but it spreads like a dream (a good dream, not like that dream I had with that mean seal) and you don’t have to stir it. And taste-wise, I can honestly say that it’s hands-down the best jarred peanut butter I’ve ever tasted. (I love to grind my own, but, like I said, that stuff doesn’t handle the baking so well. Also, I have to store it in my fridge and then it’s cold and if you’ve ever tried to spread cold peanut butter on bread, you know the heartbreak that follows. Or you heat it up in the microwave and go too far and that’s an entirely different heartbreak.)
So anyway. Back to peanut butter cookies. These giant chocolate-dipped peanut butter cookies are incredible–soft, but a little bit chewy (the perfect texture, in my opinion). This peanut butter is so good for stuff like this because of the incredible peanut flavor as well as the texture–it’s discernibly peanut-y without being overwhelmingly nutty.
You’re going to need white sugar, dark brown sugar, peanut butter, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking soda, salt.
You’ll also need some butter-flavored shortening, but it didn’t make it into the picture. I know, I know, you hate shortening. Generally speaking, shortening’s not my favorite, but in some cookies, it really makes all the difference in the texture (if you’ve ever made our Ginger Spice Cookies, you know what I’m talking about). The good news is that many shortenings have only the tiniest traces of trans fats and really, all cookies should be eaten in moderation (“should” being the operative word here…)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
Place shortening, peanut butter, and sugars in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer…
and mix together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
Add vanilla and eggs
and mix until combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt and add to dough. Mix to combine. The dough will be very soft.
Using a 1/4 cup cookie scoop, scoop out the dough and roll it in the additional sugar. Place the dough on the cookie sheet and use a drinking glass with a flat bottom to flatten the cookie to about 1/2″ thick.
Repeat with remaining cookie dough–you should have 6 cookies on each baking sheet.
Bake for 9-13 minutes (this will vary depending on your oven and elevation; mine were perfect at exactly 11 minutes), until puffed and set and just barely beginning to brown around the edges.
Remove from oven, let cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack. Flip the parchment paper over so the clean side is facing up.
When the cookies are completely cool, combine the chocolate and oil or shortening in a bowl or mug wide enough do dip a cookie into.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave for 30 seconds, stir, then place in the microwave for another 30 seconds and whisk until smooth (if the chocolate isn’t completely melted and smooth, you can add a few seconds at a time until it’s where you want it.)
Dip half of the cookie in the chocolate and use a mini rubber spatula to spread it evenly (I actually find it easier to just spread the chocolate on from the get-go, but dipping it is kind of fun.
Place the dipped cookies on the clean side of the parchment paper and allow to cool completely.
Makes 18 cookies.
Giant Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter-flavored shortening
- 1 cup peanut butter I love Peter Pan Simply Ground--perfect texture and flavor!
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour lightly spooned into a measuring cup and leveled with a knife (high altitudes should add 2 additional tablespoons)
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 t salt
- Additional white sugar for rolling
- CHOCOLATE DIP
- 1 package of your favorite chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoons vegetable oil or shortening
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Cream shortening, peanut butter, and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Add vanilla and eggs and mix until combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt and add to dough. Mix to combine. The dough will be very soft.
- Using a 1/4 cup cookie scoop, scoop out the dough and roll it in the additional sugar. Place the dough on the cookie sheet and use a drinking glass with a flat bottom to flatten the cookie to about 1/2" thick. Repeat with remaining cookie dough--you should have 6 cookies on each baking sheet.
- Bake for 9-13 minutes (this will vary depending on your oven and elevation; mine were perfect at exactly 11 minutes), until puffed and set and just barely beginning to brown around the edges. Remove from oven, let cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack. Flip the parchment paper over so the clean side is facing up.
- When the cookies are completely cool, combine the chocolate and oil or shortening in a bowl or mug wide enough to dip a cookie into. Melt the chocolate in the microwave for 30 seconds, stir, then place in the microwave for another 30 seconds and whisk until smooth (if the chocolate isn't completely melted and smooth, you can add a few seconds at a time until it's where you want it.) Dip half of the cookie in the chocolate and use a mini rubber spatula to spread it evenly (I actually find it easier to just spread the chocolate on from the get-go, but dipping it is kind of fun. Place the dipped cookies on the clean side of the parchment paper and allow to cool completely. Makes 18 cookies.
Notes
- You don't HAVE to dip the cookies in chocolate--these are pretty incredible just by themselves!
Disclaimer: This post was published in partnership with Peter Pan Simply Ground Peanut Butter, but all the ideas, opinions, recipes, and photographs are our own.
Questions & Reviews
I made these yesterday. They were a chore and a half. 1. If the cookie is crumbly in the least (even when cooked perfectly) or if they break, there is no dipping them in chocolate. Most of mine broke. 2. The chocolate. It seems it has to be the perfect consistency. Thicker means the chocolate will “set” better but will NOT be easy to dip into. Thinner, easier to work with, easier for dipping means it won’t set, it will just be soft (like a soft cooked egg yolk) which is fine unless you want to stack them, store them or travel with them. Good otherwise.
It’s Sunday afternoon and I want to make these for a ward picnic… All I have is butter. Is it worth making them and using the butter or should I search for another recipe?
Sorry I’m just seeing this! I would go ahead and just use butter, the texture might just be a little more crispy (but the flavor will be fab.)
Do you dip the whole cookie (1/2) or the front half of the cookie?
Front and back! 🙂
These look great! Love peanut butter! Got a question for you about the shortening… specifically, what does it do for the cookies? I have a recipe I use for peanut butter cookies that only uses peanut butter – no shortening, no butter at all. They are yummy, chewy, somewhat firm texture. I’m always interested in an awesome-er peanut butter cookie though, so do you think the shortening makes any particular integral difference?
It contributes to texture and stability. Peanut butter cookies are a little different because they already get a lot of fat from the peanut butter, but my preference is to have some of another fat, too. 🙂
We made these today for a family dinner. They are delicious! And I used that peanut butter, the plain version, yum! My husband said the only flaw was that the whole cookie should be covered in chocolate!
Ha!!! My husband would agree, lol!
For those of us who buy choc chips in bulk, how much is in a “package”?
Generally about 12 ounces, or just about 2 cups
I grew up in a creamy house, but I longed for crunchy! And, now that I think about it–it’s weird I raised my kids on creamy….why would I do that, lol?
LOVE! GAG ME! Oh, bless you for saying peanut butter is the real most important ingredient. Every time I hear someone on TV say the most important ingredient is love it makes me crinkle up like a dead spider.
Also, I agree that bakery peanut butter cookies are usually a disappointment. Paradise is about the only one I have ever encountered that meets my requirements. These look similar to the Paradise ones. Definitely keeping this recipe. Thanks!
Hahahahaha, I’m so glad we’re on the same page here!
I love all the work you ladies do, but I hate to break it to you that shortening is most certainly NOT trans fat free. If a food has hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil listed in the Ingredients it has trans fats. They trick you by making the serving size so minimal that they can put 0 grams per serving but it’s still in there! What really just uses 1 tsp of shortening? No recipe that I know of!
You’re right–and there ARE completely trans fat free shortenings out there. But I just did some calculations and there are 2 2/3 teaspoons of shortening per cookie in this recipe and a serving of shortening is 1 tablespoon, which has .07 grams of trans fat, meaning each cookie has .06 grams of trans fat. While trans fats aren’t great, when it comes to cookies, I’d be way more concerned about the refined flour and abundance of sugar. Bottom line is that it’s a treat and should be enjoyed in moderation no matter what. 🙂
I was thinking of butter instead of shortening too, since I try to avoid shortening or 1/2 lard or coconut oil and 1/2 butter. Just some ideas. I love peanut butter and chocolate and these look amazing!
These cookies look delicious! I was wondering if you used the honey peanut butter or the plain?
I used the plain (the honey is primarily for me to eat with a spoon…??)
Can’t wait to try! Could help but notice your beautiful glasses, can you share where you got them? Great recipe by the way, looks wonderful!!
I bought them years ago from a little online shop http://www.bakeitpretty.com. I just checked and they’re pretty pricy there, but a lot of places sell glass milk bottles now! 🙂
Wow, I don’t think I have ever wanted to eat a cookie so badly! How screwed up would the cookies be if I maybe didn’t use shortening? Just use the good ole’ butter!
They’ll have a slightly different texture–less chewy and more crispy. But they’ll be delicious.
You had me laughing all through this post! Cookies look delicious!
Ha!! Thanks!!! ❤️❤️
I have a mild distrust of shortening but I do keep some in my pantry for pie crust; however, it is not butter flavor as I totally distrust anything that is butter flavor. Do you think it will make or break the cookies to use regular shortening?
I think you’ll get better flavor if you use butter-flavored shortening, but I totally get it.
How important is it that the brown sugar be DARK? I can never find that at the store where I live. I suppose if I went to a better store than our local Walmart I could probably find it though. Ha!
Don’t stress it if you can’t find it–the flavor will be deeper and richer with dark brown sugar, but regular brown sugar will work just fine. 🙂
I have to admit I’ve never made peanutbutter cookies before but errrm, that is going to change now! I crave them after reading your description! Isn’t it great how food can bring back memories?
Have a great week!
You MUST–they’re the best!! 🙂