Bake It Now: Traditional Peanut Butter Cookies
Founders
Peanut butter cookies are one of those old-fashioned favourites that never really go out of style. They’re simple to make, use familiar pantry ingredients and fill the kitchen with that unmistakable smell of cookies baking.
This version follows the traditional approach, with butter, brown sugar and flour for a cookie that’s lightly crisp around the edges and tender in the middle. For more easy recipes see the rest of our Bake it Now series.
Ingredients
- ½ cup (125 mL) butter, softened
- ½ cup (125 mL) creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup (125 mL) brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1¼ cups (310 mL) all-purpose flour, spooned into the measuring cup and levelled
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 mL) baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon (1.25 mL) salt
Directions
Prepare the oven and tray
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake in batches if needed to leave enough space between cookies.
Mix the wet ingredients
In a medium bowl, beat the softened butter, peanut butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until smooth and creamy.
Add the egg and mix until combined.
Add the dry ingredients
In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the peanut butter mixture.
Stir just until a soft dough forms. If unusually sticky, refrigerate for 10 minutes before shaping.
Shape and make the fork marks
Divide the dough into 24 small equal portions, approximately a rounded tablespoon each, and roll into balls.
Place on the baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches (5 cm) between them.
Press each ball gently with a fork to flatten it, then press again at a right angle to create the traditional criss-cross pattern.
Bake
Bake for approximately 10 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden and the centres look just set, not wet or raw. Allow additional time if needed. The cookies will still be soft when they come out.
Cool
Leave on the baking sheet for 5 minutes.
Transfer to a cooling rack. Let the baking sheet cool before adding the next batch of dough.