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.
