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Old school style Soft and Crinkly Brown Sugar Peanut Butter Cookies. These are some of the best cookies…rich and decadent, yet shockingly easy to make. Made with sweet cane sugar and real maple syrups for a cookie that’s lightly sweetened, soft, and perfectly chewy. Every bite is warm, soft, and chewy in the center with melted chocolate throughout. So DELICIOUS. Absolutely nothing not to love about these salty-sweet peanut butter cookies. Bonus? These cookies are easy to make, use simple ingredients, and are just the cookies to bake up on the first Friday night of March.
Cookies to end the week! And not just any cookies, but some of my favorites yet. As crazy as this is, I don’t have many peanut butter cookie recipes. Sure, I have A LOT of peanut butter recipes, but the cookie department is lacking greatly.
It’s not on purpose, but more because I am so picky about peanut butter cookies. They have to be just right or I’m not excited about them.
Enter these soft, chewy old-school-style peanut butter cookies. I mentioned last week how inspired I am by “old school” recipes. You know, the ones our moms and grandmas would make. Classics, vintage, retro…no use of anything like almond flour, and nothing fancy about them.
Yes, those kinds of recipes. They’re always some of the best, and right now, they’re all I want to be creating.
So, the idea.
With the “old school” theme in mind, I really wanted to create that soft and chewy peanut butter cookie that you might have enjoyed on pizza day back in grade school. I’m not sure about you guys, but pizza day was very exciting as a kid throughout third, fourth, and fifth grade. Ours were just once a month, but they were the best.
We’d have pizza and an assortment of cookies…chocolate chip, peanut butter, and those frosted sugar cookies.
The peanut butter cookies were always so delicious, thin, soft, and chewy with the best peanutty flavor. These were cookies I really wanted to create…but with the addition of chocolate…because cookies need chocolate.
After a few rounds of testing, I came out with the cookies we have here today. They. Are. Perfect! And just what I’d envisioned.
Here are the simple details.
Honestly, these cookies are almost too good to be true. They’re delicious AND they’re the easiest to make.
First, the butter. You have got to use a good salted butter. I think the butter, along with the brown sugar and maple, are the elements that really make these cookies GOOD! So find a salted butter you love.
You’ll cream the butter together with the brown sugar and peanut butter until light and fluffy. The mix of brown sugar and maple leaves you with a cookie that’s just perfectly sweet and soft, but not in any way cakey, which is KEY. I despise a cakey peanut butter cookie.
Next, add the maple and a good splash of vanilla. Now add in the dry ingredients, plus a small pinch of salt.
Roll the dough into balls, then roll them through a little cane sugar, in true old-school peanut butter cookie form. Then bake away! No chilling required! Simple. Simple.
As with a lot of my cookie recipes, this one requires tapping that baking sheet on the counter midway through baking, then continue finish baking. When the cookies have completely finished baking, remove them from the oven, and tap the baking sheet once more. I say this with every cookie, but this step is KEY. It will ensure you have the least cakey peanut butter cookies. Tapping the baking pan on the counter deflates the center of the cookie, pushing the edges out.
Once the cookies are cool enough to handle, you can then take them through a dip of sweet melted chocolate. Or do as I do, and drizzle each warm cookie with chocolate and a sprinkle of sea salt…
Eat warm and enjoy every last, sweet, peanutty bite.
Oh so wonderfully delicious.
What I love about these cookies is that they’re easy to make, require no chilling, and take less than thirty minutes. And yes, they have all the old-school vibes I was going for. Soft and oh so chewy in the center with the perfect peanut flavor and hints of maple throughout.
The warm chocolate just seals the deal and keeps everyone coming back for more.
A little advice? Bake these tonight…because everyone has thirty minutes to bake up cookies. Then eat a few warm, and welcome in the weekend!
Looking for other fun cookie recipes? Here are some favorites:
Brown Butter Malted Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Snickerdoodle Peanut Butter Chocolate Chex Mix Bars
Slice n’ Bake Bourbon Caramel Pretzel Cookies
Lastly, if you make these Soft and Crinkly Brown Sugar Peanut Butter Cookies be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Soft and Crinkly Brown Sugar Peanut Butter Cookies
Servings: 16 cookies
Calories Per Serving: 238 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup dark or light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup real maple syrup
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 8-12 ounces semi-sweet or milk chocolate, melted
- 1/4 cup cane sugar, for rolling (optional)
- flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2. In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and peanut butter until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Beat in the maple syrup, then add the egg and vanilla. Beat until creamy. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. 3. Scoop the dough out into rounded 1 tablespoon size balls and then roll through the sugar, the dough will be a little wet. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. 4. Bake 7 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and tap the baking sheet on the counter 2 times to flatten them down. Return to the oven and bake another 3 minutes, until the cookies are just beginning to set on the edges, but still doughy in the center. Remove from the oven and tap the baking sheet on the counter 1-2 times to flatten them down again. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. They will continue to cook slightly as they sit on the baking sheet. 5. Drizzle or dip the cookies in chocolate and sprinkle with salt. Eat…or let the chocolate harden and store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
This post was originally published on March 5, 2021
Could a natural peanut butter or other nut butter used as well?
Hey Venza,
Either one will work here. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
What brand of peanutbutter is everyone using?
Hey Kathy,
I find that something like Jif works best here. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Scrumptious cookies! Baked last night and half have already gone!
Hey Jayne,
I am thrilled this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! Happy Sunday! xTieghan
Made these cookies tonight. They are EXCELLENT & soooo delicious!
Hey Aline,
I am thrilled this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! Happy Sunday! xTieghan
Made these tonight. Great texture. Mine yielded way more than 16 cookies… which was not a bad thing!
Thank you, yet again, for another amazing recipe.
Hey Jeanette,
I am thrilled this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! Happy Sunday! xTieghan
This was the best peanut butter cookie recipe, thanks!
Hey Lisa,
I am thrilled this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! Happy Sunday! xTieghan
Made these tonight because my husband wanted a sugar fix. They turned out great and were a hit with my cookie connoisseur husband. Thanks
Hey Sue,
I am thrilled this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! Happy Sunday! xTieghan
I made these this afternoon and they are delicious! Thanks for another great recipe, Tieghan.
Hey Allison,
I am thrilled this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! Happy Sunday! xTieghan
These cookies are INCREDIBLE!!! I normally don’t eat cookie dough, but I couldn’t resist this stuff!!!! And the finished cookies are amazing! I didn’t find they needed chocolate so just ate them rolled in sugar- seriously delectable.
Hey there,
I am thrilled this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! Happy Sunday! xTieghan
YUM!!! I made these today. Amazing! I used my pampered chef 1 Tbsp scoop and got 34 cookies so I guess mine were smaller…guess I can have more at one sitting!! These are really good. Thanks for another great recipe!! Pretty too! Wish I could add a pic of them!!
Hey Laurie,
I am thrilled this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! Happy Sunday! xTieghan
What can be used in place of maple syrup?
Hey Anna,
You could try using honey in place of the maple syrup. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
These look scrumptious, I can’t wait to try them out!
Out of curiosity, do you think another nut butter could easily be swapped in and work just as well?
Hey Alexis,
I have only tested these with peanut butter, but I am sure another creamy nut butter would work just fine. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
These look delicious! Can these be made with unsalted butter? Should I add a little salt to batter? I don’t usually buy or use salted.
Hey Joyce,
Yes, totally fine to use unsalted butter, I would add 1/4 teaspoon of salt. I hope you love the cookies, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
These look fantastic! I’m very picky about peanut butter cookies too, and you described really well what can go wrong with some recipes 😉 Looking forward to trying these!
Thanks so much Kirsti, I hope you love the recipe! xTieghan
These look amazing! Can I use any kind of substitute for the maple syrup?
Hey Kristina,
Honey would also work well. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan