Easy, soft, and chewy peanut butter cookies! The frosting is light, fluffy, AMAZING, and my new favorite! You'll want to eat it by the spoonful!!
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time11 minutesmins
Total Time26 minutesmins
Course: Cookies
Cuisine: American
Keyword: best peanut butter cookie recipe, chewy peanut butter cookies, ingredients for peanut butter cookies, peanut butter cookies from scratch, soft peanut butter cookies
Servings: 22
Calories: 190kcal
Author: Averie Sunshine
Ingredients
Cookies
1large egg
½cupunsalted butter
½cuplight brown sugarpacked
¼cupgranulated sugar
heaping 3/4 cup creamy peanut buttersomething like Skippy or Jif works best, don’t use a ‘natural’ peanut butter than separates
2teaspoonsvanilla extract
1 ¼cupsall-purpose flour
½teaspoonbaking soda
Frosting
¼cupunsalted butter, melted
2cupsconfectioners’ sugar
¼cupcocoa powder
¼cupmilk
½teaspoonvanilla extract
pinchsaltoptional and to taste
chocolate sprinklesjimmies, optional and to taste
Instructions
For the Cookies:
To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large bowl and electric hand mixer), add the egg, butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes.
Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the peanut butter, vanilla, and mix on medium-high speed until incorporated, about 1 minute.
Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, baking soda, salt, and mix on low speed until just incorporated, about 1 minute; don’t overmix.
Using a two-tablespoon cookie scoop form approximately 22 equal-sized mounds of dough.
Place mounds on a large plate or tray, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, up to 5 days. Do not bake with unchilled dough because cookies will bake thinner, flatter, and be more prone to spreading.
Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray.
Place dough mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet) and bake for about 8 to 11 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just set, even if slightly undercooked, pale, and glossy in the center; don’t overbake. Cookies firm up as they cool. I let them cool on the baking sheet and don’t use a rack while making the frosting.
For the Frosting:
To a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter.
Add the remaining ingredients (except the sprikles) and whisk aggressively until smooth and combined.
Frost the cookies using as much frosting as desired and optionally add the sprinkles.
Notes
If you have extra frosting it will keep airtight in the fridge for many weeks.
Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week (I’m comfortable storing frosted cookies at room temp but if you’re not refrigerate them) or in the freezer (unfrosted) for up to 6 months.
Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.