Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Crinkle Cookies — These soft peanut butter cookies are the peanut butter version of a molasses crinkle. They’re soft, supremely chewy, and have an old-fashioned peanut butter cookie flavor!
Table of Contents
I love crinkle cookies. When I see those big crevices, my eyes light up and I know I’m in for a chewy treat.
I love molasses crinkles, but peanut butter crinkles sounded so good. These simple peanut butter cookies are soft, supremely chewy, and have an old-fashioned peanut butter cookie flavor.
It’s a very easy peanut butter cookie recipe to memorize because it starts out with 1/2 cup each of butter, peanut butter, granulated and brown sugars, along with an egg and vanilla. Add in the flour, baking soda, and then scoop into balls.
When I eat cookies, I’m a breaker, not a biter, and these cookies break apart so nicely at the crinkles. Half the fun is them breaking apart. I told myself, oh just break off that little piece there. And then that other little piece over there came off so effortlessly, too.
And then breaking off another section. And another crinkly seam. So good.
Ingredients for This Recipe
This easy peanut butter crinkles recipe calls for just nine basic ingredients. To make these old-fashioned chewy peanut butter cookies, you’ll need:
- Egg
- Creamy peanut butter
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Peanut Butter Crinkle Cookies
When I say these are easy peanut butter cookies, I mean it! Full instructions are provided in the recipe card below, but here’s an overview:
- To make the dough, simply beat together the wet ingredients, then mix in the dry.
- Scoop the cookie dough into balls, then chill them for at least 2 hours.
- Before baking, I roll the dough through granulated sugar because I like my crinkle cookies with the ever-so-slight crunch of a sugary coating. It’s very minimal, but a nice touch.
- I baked these chewy and soft peanut butter cookies for 12 minutes. If you’re an oven door watcher, the cookies begin crinkling about 9 minutes into baking, and the longer the bake, the more they crinkle, and continue to do so as they cool.
Tip About the Batch Size
These soft peanut butter cookies are large in diameter, but not very thick. They’ll disappear quickly since it’s a small batch recipe, making just 1 dozen cookies.
Recipe FAQs
The difference between this dough and most other cookie dough is that for the amount of butter and peanut butter used, adding more flour would be expected. However, more flour isn’t added, so the dough is very soft and limp. Extra flour would firm up the dough and would cause the cookies to bake thicker with smoother rounded tops.
By keeping the dough on the wetter and softer side, the cookies spread more, bake thinner, and as they rise and then fall in the oven, crinkles develop.
I haven’t tried the recipe making smaller cookies, but if you do, you’ll need to reduce baking time, but by how much, I don’t know. Part of the appeal is their softball-like size.
Yes, baked cookies will keep airtight in the freezer for up to 6 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored 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.
You want to use a creamy peanut butter from a brand like Jif or Skippy. Don’t use natural or homemade peanut butter in these cookies, as both are too runny for this recipe.
I haven’t made this recipe using gluten-free flour, so I can’t say for sure. But I’ve had readers report success using Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour, so it’s worth a shot!
You must chill the dough. If you don’t, the already soft and spread-prone dough will spread to epic levels and you’ll have one giant paper-thin cookie that baked together on the baking sheet. Not good, so chill it.
Storage Instructions
Baked peanut butter crinkles will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Or, 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.
Pin This Recipe
Enjoy AverieCooks.com Without Ads! 🆕
Go Ad Free
Old-Fashioned Chewy Peanut Butter Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter, not natural or homemade, too runny
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened (1 stick)
- ½ cup granulated
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- granulated sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- To the bowl of a stand mixer (or large mixing bowl with electric mixer), combine egg, peanut butter, butter, sugars, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until smooth and creamed, about 4 minutes. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the flour, baking soda, optional salt, and beat on low speed until just incorporated, about 1 minute.
- Using a large cookie scoop, 1/4-cup measure, or your hands, divide dough into 12 equal-sized mounds. Roll the mounds into balls, and flatten just slightly. Dough is very soft, limp, and mushy so be gentle with it.
- Place mounds on a large plate or tray, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 5 days. Do not bake with unchilled dough because cookies will bake too thin, flat, and will spread far too much.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- Dredge each mound dough through granulated sugar, coating liberally.
- Place dough mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart. I bake 8 cookies per sheet; do not crowd because the cookies spread considerably.
- Bake for about 12 minutes (start checking at 10 minutes), or until edges have set and tops are just set, even if slightly undercooked, pale, and glossy in the center; don’t overbake because cookies firm up as they cool. If you’re an oven door watcher, the cookies begin crinkling about 9 minutes into baking, and the longer the bake, the more they crinkle and continue to do so as they cool.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes before serving. I let them cool on the baking sheet and don’t use a rack.
Notes
- Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer 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.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
©averiecooks.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
More Peanut Butter Cookie Recipes:
Peanut Butter Comfort – My cookbook, featuring over 100 Peanut Butter Recipes!
Soft Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies — These chocolate-dipped peanut butter cookies are SOFT AND CHEWY on the inside thanks to the addition of pudding mix in the cookie dough!
Easy 4-Ingredient Perfect Peanut Butter Cookies — These 4-ingredient peanut butter cookies are made with a secret ingredient…and lots of peanut butter, of course! These are so easy and fast to make!
Chocolate Frosted Peanut Butter Cookies — Peanut butter and chocolate is an unbeatable combination and these were gobbled up in no time!
The Best Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies — One bowl, no mixer, and a few ingredients is all you need for these easy peanut butter cookies.
Triple Peanut Butter Cookies — These peanut butter cookies are for true peanut butter lovers because they incorporate peanut butter three ways – peanut butter cups, peanut butter chips, and peanut butter dough.
Toffee and Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies — These soft and chewy cookies have no butter, no flour, and no white sugar. Because there’s no butter or flour to dilute the flavor, they’re intensely peanut buttery.
Peanut Butter Cowboy Cookies — Almost everything but the kitchen sink is included in these cookies, and it’s the type of recipe that it’s easy to make substitutions and swaps with the add-ins used.
Peanut Butter Blossoms — The cookies are perfectly soft yet have enough chewiness to satisfy without being crunchy or crumbly and stay soft for days.
Monster Cookies — My recipe for classic monster cookies that are chock full of creamy peanut butter, oats, chocolate chips, and M&M’s makes both kids and adults reach for just one more cookie! Fast, EASY, soft, perfectly chewy, and they’ll become a family FAVORITE in no time!
Yum!! I love those gorgeous crinkles! These would definitely be a favorite in this peanut butter obsessed house. :)
They just draw me right in, those crinkles! :) LOL
These cookies look so perfect in every way possible.
Modified these into pumpkin spice chai cookies, and couldnt figure out why they poofed instead of crinkled. Three hours later i realized the recipe called for baking soda…i put baking powder in. They turned out amazing and soft!!!! im going to make another batch with the soda soon….hope i get that crinkly chewy goodness!
Good golly, probably one of the best PB cookies I’ve ever had! I just gobbled one up and I have to say, it’s a good thing the recipe only makes 12 or I’d probably double in size in a matter of weeks. A perfectly crisp outside, perfectly chewy inside, and a bit of crunch from the sugar on the outside…sigh. I’ll be dreaming of these tonight.
Oh so glad they’re one of the best PB cookies you’ve ever had! That’s such high praise and I hope those dreams are good tonight :)
Made these yesterday and they were every bit as delicious as I anticipated. Look and taste like bakery cookies. You know those recipes that have you drooling, only to make them and be disappointed? This is not one of those!
Oh awesome! Glad to hear they lived up to expectations! :)
I love these pb cookies! They are so big and look like they’d practically melt in your mouth.
I love PB cookies… these look ESPECIALLY delicious!! Keep up these awesome recipes :)
Your cookies look gorgeous Averie! I’m normally a soft/thick cookie person, but there’s something so appealing about the cute cracks running through the tops of PB cookies (and sugar cookies, and snickerdoodles). They’re absolutely irresistible!
I usually avoid making thin peanut butter cookies–especially since those thick, puffy Reese’s soft-baked ones!–but these ones look like gems. I can’t wait to try them! I’ll actually be retesting your soft-baked PB cookie recipe soon; for some reason, quite a few readers who came across my post using your recipe have had issues with a too-crumbly dough, though my dough came out just fine when I made it. I’ll check your FAQ’s and original post again to make sure I didn’t miss anything, but any ideas? Thanks!
I have never had any issues with it. Maybe the changes you made to the recipe (not sure what you ‘adapted’) somehow adversely effected results? Glad it worked for you, and it’s worked for me and hundreds of others (the post has been pinned 250k+ times), so who knows…with baking, you just never know where people go wrong. I’ve remade those cookies upmteen times though. If the dough is crumbly, maybe they should cut the flour down by 2-4 tbsp and play it by ear….based on climate, brand of ingredients used, etc.
I suggested the same things to them (and thought of the natural vs. storebought PB issue as well), but the recipe is exactly the same as yours and one of my personal favorites. Anyway, who knows–thanks for the input!
Could these cookies be any more perfect? You know I don’t make much sweets but I HAVE to make these crinkle cookies soon. Jason’s been asking for homemade cookies but I keep putting it off for “blog work” food!
Omg I have a FREEZER FULL of dough. I wish I could give you some. I have probably 30 dozen cookies worth of dough? Nuts.
I made these yesterday. OMG delicious. That is all. :)
Thanks for trying them & glad they turned out delish!
they look like perfect pb cookies!
These peanut butter cookies are nothing short of amazing, Averie! I could eat them by the dozen :) Gorgeous photos!
Thanks! :)
I can’t resist fat, thick and chewy peanut butter cookies. They’re a kryptonite! Pinned :)
Averie, I can always count on you for the best peanut butter recipes! I have your cookbook and I bake from it on a regular basis, just because you do amazing things with my favorite food! Peanut butter is the best.
And these cookies combine the best of both cookie worlds: soft and chewy! Thanks for giving me another peanut butter cookie to try!
Thanks for saying you have my book and bake from it regularly and that you’re a big PB fan! I think you will love these! They would have been a great addition to my book b/c they’re nothing like anything else I have in it (or on my blog) so I hope you enjoy!
Crinkle peanut butter cookies sound amazing! Can’t wait to make these!