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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
These cookies were amazing! Soft and not too sweet! They were the perfect combo and incredibly easy!
Hey Katherine,
I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed. Thanks so much for giving it a try. Have a great week! xTieghan
Love all your recipes Tieghan and have tried many. Have just made a batch of these and am hoping I have some left to actually store in a tin. They are delicious ?
Hey Andrea,
I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed. Thanks so much for giving it a try. Have a great week! xTieghan
Made these last night and they are my husband and I’s new favorite cookie! Thank you!
Question: What type of chocolate do you recommend? I used some semi-sweet Kirkland brand chocolate chips that I’ve had in my pantry for several months and the chocolate didn’t come out looking as silky smooth as yours. Cookies were still delicious, but as I’ll definitely be making these again I’m wondering if you have suggestions for improving in this area.
You may also want to mention melting chocolate is best done using a double boiler — I forgot this and bungled the first set of chocolate goodness!
Hey ALi,
I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed. Thanks so much for giving it a try. I love using Chocolove, and I actually don’t use a double broiler to melt my chocolate, I just do it in the microwave:) Have a great week! xTieghan
Hi!! These look so fun! How do you recommend melting chocolate? I always burn mine…
Hey Emily,
I just warm my chocolate in the microwave with some coconut oil on 30 second increments. I hope you love the cookies, let me know how they turn out! xTieghan
My daughter made these last night. Best peanut butter cookies ever!! You don’t need the chocolate but why wouldn’t you? ?
Hey Judy,
I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed. Thanks so much for giving it a try. Have a great week! xTieghan
Hello! I love peanut butter cookies but never make them because our three children are allergic to nuts. Could I freeze these cookie dough balls and bake a few at a time for myself and my husband to enjoy? Thanks! Your recipes are amazing!
Hey Aruna,
Absolutely, that would work well for you! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
I just made these tonight, and they were absolutely delicious! The chocolate and bit of sea salt add such a special touch to an already delicious peanut butter cookie. Thanks for the recipe! (:
Also, for those asking about what type of chocolate to use, I personally tried two different types of chocolate to see what worked best (a semi sweet baking chocolate bar and then semi sweet chocolate chips) and the baking bar worked so much better! Must easier to drizzle as the baking chocolate bar is a bit more “liquidy” when melted.
Hey Kaylee,
I am thrilled this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! I like to use chocolate chocolate. Happy Sunday! xTieghan
This was one of those “I need to make immediately” recipes as soon as I saw it. These were so easy and delicious, and yielded 24 cookies for me scooping 1 TBSP size dough balls. I also subbed in unsalted butter (which was perfectly fine, because I used salted peanut butter, still added salt to the dough and topped with flaky sea salt as recommended), and subbed the brown sugar for coconut sugar. Served these to friends tonight and they inhaled them. Definitely keeping this one in my back pocket for quick crowd pleaser desserts!
Hey there,
I am thrilled this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! Happy Sunday! xTieghan
These were amazing! Best peanut butter cookies I’ve ever had… followed the recipe exactly, used natural peanut butter and honestly they don’t need the chocolate, we all preferred them without but omg it was hard to stop eating them!
Hey Aggie,
I am thrilled this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! Happy Sunday! xTieghan
Amazing!!!
Thanks so much Julie! xTieghan
Delicious! Both with and without the Chocolate dip. The bit of salt just makes it perfect!
Hey Barbara,
I am thrilled this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! Happy Sunday! xTieghan
Made these last night and they are so yum!! Didn’t take the time to dip em in chocolate (I do love chocolate tho ;). Thanks for the easy awesome PB recipe !!
Hey there,
I am thrilled this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! Happy Sunday! xTieghan
What’s the best way to melt the chocolate?
Hey Barbara,
I usually melt my chocolate in the microwave with a little coconut oil. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
I just made these – they are amazing… I also hate cakey cookies…
I have made a variation of these with adding a chocolate kiss after the last tap down (for that chocolate fix). Baking the kiss make them smooth when eating.
I wanted to know how you got the chocolate to be so smooth for dipping?
Thanks again Mary Lou
Hey Mary Lou,
I am thrilled this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! I add coconut oil to my chocolate:) Happy Sunday! xTieghan
Hi – has anyone tried this recipe with vegan butter with success?
Hey Bri,
Sorry I have not tested this, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work for you! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan