Puffy Peanut Butter Chip Cookies — Rich vanilla cookie dough is studded with peanut butter chips and baked to puffy perfection! The ultimate soft peanut butter chip cookie with zero frills, just delicious flavor!
Ultra Soft Cookies with Peanut Butter Chips
These cookies turned out so puffy that they caught me by surprise. And they’re so vanilla-ey, but that was by design because I’m a vanilla fiend.
They are a little bit peanut buttery even though I didn’t add peanut butter to the actual cookie dough.
Instead, I used peanut butter chips and they gave a subtle peanut butter flavor, yet not so much that the vanilla flavor was lost.
I was going to add white chocolate chips, too, but I know not everyone is as crazy about white chocolate as I am, so I refrained.
I did add something to them that I almost never bake with. Good ole Crisco.
I read cookie making guides and online websites devoted to The Perfect Cookie and never tire of the epic food science quest in finding what makes cookies puffy, flat, chewy, crispy, you name it.
Many people swear by some lard to keep things moist and puffy. Scientifically, that makes sense.
And boy, puffy is what happened.
That would be pufffffyyyy.
Not using butter is a smidge of a sacrifice in the flavor department because there is nothing that can replace the flavor of butter in baking. However, in terms of puffiness, chewiness, and softness, these babies were perfectly puffalicious and right on point.
Ingredients in Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
You need very few ingredients to make cookies with peanut butter chips. Here’s the ingredient list:
- Vegetable shortening
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Baking soda
- All-purpose flour
- Peanut butter chips
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 Chip Cookies
This peanut butter chip cookie recipe is one of my easiest yet! Here’s an overview of how the recipe is made:
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the shortening, sugars, egg, water, and vanilla.
- Add the cinnamon, salt, baking soda, flour and mix until just combined. Fold in peanut butter chips by hand.
- Cover and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes, or freeze for 15 if you’re rushed.
- Using a cookie scoop, form 1-inch balls and place on parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. Bake until barely brown. Remove cookies from oven when they look slightly under-baked.
- Allow cookies to cool and firm up on cookie sheets for at least 5 minutes before moving to cooling racks.
Can I Use Coconut Oil Instead of Shortening?
A few readers have suggested using coconut oil in place of the Crisco. In theory, that’s a good idea. However, coconut oil melts when warm, which will result in thin cookies.
However, if you’d looking for a coconut oil cookie recipe, try these coconut oil chocolate chip cookies. Just sub peanut butter chips for the chocolate chips!
Can I Use Butter Instead of Shortening?
Go for it! Make sure your butter is at room temperature and isn’t melted. Just note that your cookies won’t turn out quite as puffy as mine.
Tips for the Best Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
I like vanilla-flavored foods. Actually, I am passionately in love with vanilla-flavored most anything, and I usually use twice the recommended amount of vanilla extract in any recipe.
The way I wrote this peanut butter chip cookie recipe, you don’t need to do that, but if you’re really wanting to go nuts with vanilla flavor because you’re obsessed like I am, you could possibly add one more teaspoon or perhaps some vanilla bean paste to knock your vanilla socks right off.
Also note that instead of peanut butter chips, you could use any baking chip you’d like. Butterscotch, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, you name it.
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Puffy Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup Crisco, or vegetable shortening
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup peanut butter chips, or butterscotch, white chocolate, chocolate chips if preferred
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F and line two cookie sheets with Silpat liners, parchment paper, or spray with cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together Crisco, sugars, egg, water, and vanilla, until batter is creamy.
- Add the cinnamon, salt, baking soda, flour and mix until just combined.
- Fold in peanut butter chips by hand.
- Cover and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes, or freeze for 15 if you’re rushed. Do not skip chilling the dough if you want puffy cookies because cold dough results in puffier cookies.
- Using a cookie scoop, form 1-inch balls (or roll balls by hand) and place on prepared cookie sheets, allowing for adequate spacing (these cookies do not spread much, but like all cookies, they spread some; and the colder the dough, the less they will spread).
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until barely brown. Remove cookies from oven when they look slightly under-baked and allow cookies to cool and firm up on cookie sheets for at least 5 minutes before moving to cooling racks.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Big Soft and Chewy 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!
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies — These peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are hands down the best peanut butter cookies I’ve ever made. Know that I don’t say that lightly! They’re melt-in-your mouth soft and chewy, and extremely moist!
Soft Peanut Butter Chip Sugar Cookies with Peanut Butter Frosting — Similar to Lofthouse Soft-Frosted Sugar Cookies, but these are for peanut butter fans! I added peanut butter and frosted them with peanut butter buttercream.
Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Chip Cookies – Super soft, perfectly chewy, BROWNED BUTTER cookies that are LOADED with two kinds of chips!! An EASY one-bowl, no-mixer recipe for irresistibly DELISH cookies!!
Triple Peanut Butter Cookies — PB is used 3 different ways in these melt-in-your mouth cookies! Batch size of just 8 cookies when you don’t ‘need’ dozens laying around!
Your yummy baked goods, always leaves me drooling!!!!
They look like they melt in your mouth! So so yum!
I’m interested in learning about the science of obtaining the “perfect” cookie: chewy, etc. thanks for the links!
And everyone has “the perfect answer”, too. It all comes down to trial, error, and practice makes perfect :)
How do you make all these goodies and still look amazing?!?! If you have a begger pile of cookies waiting to go to someone, I will personally fly to San Diego to take them off your hands ;) haha
Most everything I made yields no more than 1 or 1.5 dozen That way me and the family each have our couple of cookies over the course of a day or two, and it’s done. No 4 dozen batches of anything for us around here!
These cookies look wonderful, as does the new page. Very cute!
An yes I agree, as long as you have cookies you can have them any way.
Thanks!
Pff, don’t listen to the white chocolate skeptics. They know nothing ;P
All my family’s “traditional” recipes use Crisco as the fat. I think it started as a “poor people” thing, and now they still use it because “You shouldn’t mess with what works.”
These look so wrinkly and delish!
I can count on you to be my white chocolate advocating champion :)
that’s funny about the puffy ness and crisco.
I haven’t had shortening in my pantry for over a decade. I’m a butter fanatic all the way.
and I don’t even measure vanilla…I just pour it in! SPLOOSH!
hehe
cookies look amazing!
xoxo
I don’t measure it either….I use the sploosh method, too :) Unless I am cooking for a blog recipe, then I try a bit better to be exact.
Cookies look perfect! I love a puffy cookie! I sometimes use 1/2 Crisco 1/2 butter in cookies or you can go all crisco but get the butter flavored one. But I try to use at least 1/2 to get the fluffy cookies!
That’s a good tip. So if something says use a 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), you’d use 1/4 cup of butter & 1/4 cup Criso…I’ve read that and should try it and see what I come up with.
These look divine! I always use butter flavored crisco for cookies. I know it’s horrible for you, but if I’m having a cookie, I want it puffy and chewy and perfect, and crisco just gets it done! And double vanilla??? Yeah, I usually use a full tablespoon! ;)
I really don’t think it’s any worse than butter..I mean, lard is lard, fat is fat; “healhty fats” and “unhealthy” fats…I dunnno…as you say, it’s a cookie, not broccoli :)
How pretty are those cookies?!? I can almost taste them! I love a puffy, soft moist cookie. Everyone always asks how I get my cookies so puffy. My secret is vanilla instant pudding powder. It gives an amazing taste and gives the cookie great height! I know you would love them. Here is a link to the recipe: https://kellird.com/worlds-best-chocolate-chip-cookies/
They look perfect!
Your cookies always look so delicious!!
I love the texture of these, they look so moist and chewy. My favorite in a cookie. Love these!
I saw an 8th grader who did a cookie taste test for a science fair. A gril after my heart. She made the same recipe with crisco, margarine, butter, and vegetable oil. The crisco cookies won, hands down.
I would have loved to be a judge on that one!
New Blog Design/Header? Love it! And these cookies. Wow they look so fluffy and moist. Love that you added the PB Chips :)
Thanks for the compliments on everything!
The cookie “tophot” lol! Love the description, it’s perfect. Love that you’re getting back to the basics with these using good old fashion crisco, white sugar, brown sugar etc. I think your grandmother would be proud :)
she would be and then I have to freeze them inside Folger’s coffee cans so I have things on hand for all my unexpected guests that will be dropping by for tea and coffee :)
I “puffy heart” love cookies like this! I always use a mixture of butter and shortening in cookies because I just love the butter flavor, but want the softness from shortening. Your cookies look amazing!!!! I love the subtle hint of peanut butter that you added to the vanilla cookie!!
I’m going to try to do a blend of butter/shortening on the next batch I make and see what I get.
You used the word “puffy” and I am so in love with that. In a cookie :) LOVE your new blog name and header!
Thanks my friend!