Make Classic Peanut Butter Cookies for a delicious treat! This simple recipe will yield 3 dozen of these much-loved cookies.
When I was growing up, my Mom would often bake cookies for our family. Most of the time she made chocolate chip, oatmeal, and peanut butter cookies. They were family favorites, and I loved them all!
It dawned on me recently that I’ve posted recipes for oatmeal raisin cookies, and Mom’s chocolate chip cookies, but never a recipe for good ol’ classic peanut butter cookies using my Mom’s old recipe.
In the past I’ve posted a recipe for Flourless, 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies to my blog but never added one for traditional, easy to make peanut butter cookies the way my Mom made them. So today is the day!
Here’s how to make classic peanut butter cookies in under 30 minutes… they’re slightly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and they taste GREAT!
Scroll Down For A Printable Recipe Card At The Bottom Of The Page
Make The Cookie Dough
To make the cookie dough, place creamy peanut butter, vegetable shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl.
Beat these ingredients together using an electric mixer (or a stand mixer) until they are fully combined and smooth in texture. Add one large egg to the dough, and beat well, until it has been fully incorporated.
In a separate bowl, stir together all purpose flour, salt and baking powder until combined. Add these dry ingredients to the cookie dough batter, a little at a time, mixing well after each addition.
When fully combined, you will have peanut butter cookie dough. Ta Da! The dough will be fairly thick. Now you’re ready to shape the dough for the cookies!
Roll The Cookie Dough
Use a spoon or a small dough scoop (as shown in the photo below) to place a small amount of dough onto your hand. Roll the dough between the palms of your hands until it becomes a smooth ball, about 1″ in size.
If you make the dough balls 1″, you will end up with approximately 3 dozen cookies. This dough is very forgiving, so if necessary, pinch off some, or add more dough to adjust the size of the cookie dough balls and then re-roll.
Place the balls of dough on ungreased cookie sheets, making sure they are spaced about 2″ apart from each other. This helps the cookies to not “smash into each other” while baking.
Use the tines of a fork to press down on the top of each cookie, then turn the fork a quarter turn and press down again to form a criss-cross pattern on the surface of each cookie.
Bake The Classic Peanut Butter Cookies
Bake the classic peanut butter cookies at 375°F. for 7-8 minutes. When done, the cookies should be golden brown around the edges, and fairly soft in the middle (they will firm up more as they cool).
Let the cookies cool (still on the baking sheet) for about 2 minutes, then carefully transfer them with a spatula from the cookie sheet onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
Who Wants A Cookie?
Once the classic peanut butter cookies have cooled completely, they are ready to be served and enjoyed! The outside is slightly crisp, and the cookies are nice and soft inside.
Grab a glass of milk (or a mug of coffee or tea), sit back, and gobble up these absolutely delicious cookies! They are really tasty, and I am confident you’re going to like them.
You can also freeze these cookies (to save some for another day) by wrapping them very well and storing them in the freezer in an airtight container. When you’re ready to gobble up more cookies, simply thaw them and go for it!
I hope you have the opportunity to make these yummy cookies for yourself and for those you love. They really have great flavor, and truly are super easy to make!
Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to stop by, and I invite you to come back soon for more family-friendly recipes. Take care, may God bless you… and have a GREAT day!
Looking For More COOKIE Recipes?
You can find ALL of my recipes in the Recipe Index, which is located at the top of the page. I have lots of yummy cookie recipes to check out, including:
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Lemon Krispie Cookies
- Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies
- Butter Pecan Crisps
- Oatmeal Cranberry Pecan Cookies
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Original recipe source: unknown
↓↓ PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW ↓↓
Make Classic Peanut Butter Cookies for a delicious treat! This simple recipe will yield 3 dozen of these much-loved cookies.
- ¾ cup creamy peanut butter (don't use all natural)
- 1¼ cup dark brown sugar can substitute light brown sugar
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- 3 Tablespoons milk
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1¾ cups all purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 375℉.
Place peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat together using an electric mixer (or stand mixer) until fully combined and smooth. Add egg; beat well, until fully incorporated into the batter.
In separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder. Add to the cookie dough batter, a little at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Use a spoon or small cookie scoop to place small amount of dough onto your hand. Roll dough between the palms of your hands until it becomes a smooth ball, about 1" in size. The dough is very forgiving, so if necessary, pinch off more or add dough to adjust the size of the cookie dough balls and then re-roll.
Place dough balls on ungreased cookie sheets, about 2" apart. Use the tines of a fork to press down on the top of each cookie, then turn the fork a quarter turn and press down again to form a criss-cross pattern on the surface of each cookie.
Bake cookies at 375°F. for 7-8 minutes. Cookies should be golden brown around the edges, and fairly soft in the middle. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before serving. Enjoy!
Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!