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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.
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.
Delicious! I currently don’t have access to measuring spoons or a mixer, so I had to do this by guessing and by hand. They turned out great! I also decided to put the chocolate chips in the cookies instead of dipping them—so good!!
Hey Audrey,
I am thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe, thanks a lot for giving it a try. I hope you have an amazing week! xTieghan
I just made these and they’re very light and airy. Instead of drizzling chocolate I literally dunked half of it in the chocolate because I’m me and that’s where I’m at today. And the flaked salt is worth it! Thanks so much!
Hey! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Happy Monday ? xTieghan
I followed this recipe exactly – but the batter seemed very runny. I put it in the frige after to firm up a bit then rolled into balls. They came out dry and cakey instead of gooey and dense like good PB cookies usually do 🙁 the dough tasted UNREAL SO GOOD so idk what happened to the cookies. I loveeee HBH so ill keep trying
Hey Madison! I’m so sorry about that! Is there anything you did differently? xTieghan
I tried this today, but mine turned out cakey and didn’t spread out . I made sure I timed the cooking exactly and tapped the pan. The only other thing I did differently was added baking powder as I didn’t have soda, I did a conversion for the amount of baking powder to use. Would this be the reason ?
Other than that the recipe has a lovely flavour and was easy to make
Hey Kate,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I’m sorry they didn’t spread for you. Baking soda and baking powder serve two different purposes so I think this could have been your issue. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
I have never had better peanut butter cookies.
I want to bake them when I go up to the mountains next week— do you have any adjustments that need to be made for altitude? (Or since you’re already up at a high elevation, do all your base recipes continue to work like magic?)
Hey Nicole,
Happy Friday! Thanks a bunch for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed. No adjustments needed, you can follow the recipe as is. Have a great weekend☀️ xTieghan
Delicious, not too sweet. I tripled this recipe because we’re having lots of guests over and I’m sure they’ll be great! I dipped in semi-sweet chocolate and then did a drizzle (had to stick in the fridge for 10-15min to get it to harden) and then threw them in the freezer until the party. Made these non-dairy (used sticks of avocado butter) and worked great!
Hey Talia,
Happy Friday! Love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a try! Have a great weekend:) xTieghan
What’s the best way to met the chocolate?
Hey there,
I just melt in the microwave. I hope the recipe turns out amazing for you. Please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
Can you make the dough ahead of time and leave it in the fridge?
Hey Daniel,
Sure, that would be just fine to do! I hope you love the cookies, please let me know if you give them a try! xTieghan
These were delicious!! Made them yesterday 🙂
so soft and addictive, I ended up not rolling the cookie in sugar and it was perfectly fine 🙂
thank you for sharing this recipe
Hey Kris,
Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am thrilled that it was enjoyed! Have a great Sunday:) xTieghan
Simple, delicious, chewy peanut butter cookie! Love these!
Hey Katie,
Awesome!! I am so glad this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! xTieghan
So easy and delicious! A really great take on a traditional peanut butter cookie recipe!
Hey Jennifer,
Awesome!! I am so glad this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! xTieghan
Thank you for sharing, I can’t wait to give these a try! Can I ask if you can store them for longer than four days?
Hey Krissy,
I think these are best eaten by day 4. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give them a try! xTieghan
Made these for a girls night and they were a huge hit!
Hey Gretchen,
Fantastic!! Love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! Have a great Sunday:) xxTieghan
These were so easy and delicious! Gifted two batches and they were much loved♥️
Hey Teri,
I am delighted that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! xTieghan
These were so good!!! Made them for my team for after our game, and all my coaches ended up wanting to “take some home to their families” … I think they ate them in the car on the way home!! ? I doubled the recipe and it was perfect! Soft and delicious, best peanut butter cookie I’ve ever made!!
Hey Allie,
Thanks so much! I am so glad the recipe was enjoyed, thanks for making it! xTieghan