Peanut Butter and I have a love-hate relationship. And by that I mean, sometimes I love it and sometimes I hate it. Those Easter Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs? Love beyond all reason. Peanut Butter Captain Crunch? HATE. Squished up peanut butter and jam sandwiches from the bottom of my backpack? LOVE!!! Peanut butter breath? Another hate.
But these cookies are a straight up win! A soft, chewy cookie with a sweet peanut butter flavor that won't spread when you bake it... it's everything I want in a peanut butter cookie. The best part is that I don't even have to decorate them. Dip half of the cookie in melted chocolate and people will forget what day it is....not to mention whether they were decorated or not! I really want to try these with a caramel flavored royal icing though. I'm pretty sure it would be amazing. Or a complete catastrophe. It's a risk I'm willing to take.
Note: Peanut allergies are no joke. Please make sure to bake responsibly and always ask parents before sharing with children.
Peanut Butter Roll-Out Cookies
3/4 cup slightly softened unsalted butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 - 3 1/2 cups flour
Cream together butter, peanut butter and both sugars until well blended. Add eggs and mix again. Stir in salt and baking powder. Scrape the sides of the bowl if necessary. Add 3 cups of flour. If you are going to wait to bake these cookies -- STOP here. Even if the dough is sticky. The flour will continue to absorb the moisture in the dough as it sits. If you are going to bake right away -- continue adding flour 1/4 cup at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Knead the dough together gently before rolling out. Bake at 350F for 7 minutes or until the center of the cookies look "dry."
FAQs
Can I decorate these with royal icing?
Yes! Definitely!
What flavor of royal icing should I use with peanut butter cookies?
I like vanilla, almond, or marshmallow flavored royal icing with these peanut butter cookies.
My cookie dough is too soft! What should I do?
If your dough is too soft, try adding a little more flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl. ALSO... If it's very hot where you live and your butter was room temperature instead of just slightly softened - you might actually need to cool everything down in the fridge for 10 minutes before rolling out the dough.
My cookie dough is too dry! What should I do?
The two most common reasons for this dough turning out dry is:
1) Not using large eggs. It's SURPRISING what a difference that makes.
2) Using too much flour. I'm not saying you used more than the recipe calls for - but since this recipe is written by volume and not weight, you might be adding more flour depending on elevation and humidity. Next time you make this recipe, try starting with 1 cup less flour and adding flour until it's just right. But you can still save this batch too!
Luckily, the solution to both of them is the same -- Crack an egg into a bowl and whisk together. Mix a little at a time into the dry dough until the dough comes together again.
The recipe says non-spreading...but my cookies are still spreading a little bit - What did I do wrong?
The most common reason for this is that your butter is too warm. Most cookie recipes call for room temperature butter. This recipe uses cool butter. It should be "dentable" -- you should be able to make a dent in the side of the butter...but not much more than that. Check out this post for more tips to stop cookies from spreading.