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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.

Soft and Crinkly Brown Sugar Peanut Butter Cookies | halfbakedhavrest.com

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.

Soft and Crinkly Brown Sugar Peanut Butter Cookies | halfbakedhavrest.com

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.

Soft and Crinkly Brown Sugar Peanut Butter Cookies | halfbakedhavrest.com

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.

Soft and Crinkly Brown Sugar Peanut Butter Cookies | halfbakedhavrest.com

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.

Soft and Crinkly Brown Sugar Peanut Butter Cookies | halfbakedhavrest.com

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!

Soft and Crinkly Brown Sugar Peanut Butter Cookies | halfbakedhavrest.com

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

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
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

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.
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Soft and Crinkly Brown Sugar Peanut Butter Cookies | halfbakedhavrest.com

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  1. 5 stars
    Let me tell you — the dough was an absolute dream to make! SO easy, and it didn’t stick to the beaters of my electric whisk (a common problem for me). In addition to this, the dough was SUPER easy to scoop out into dough balls. And it was such a quick recipe I had the dough done in 15 minutes! Just measure out ingredients and incorporate them separately, then scoop. And now, I’ve taste-tested them. They are FABULOUS!!! Simply the best peanut butter cookie. It’s soft and chewy, and has a flavor of pure peanut butter that’s just simply *chef’s kiss*. Peanut butter isn’t even one of my favorite cookies, but this recipe sure gives chocolate chip a run for its money! I’d give a 10-star rating if I could!

  2. 5 stars
    I haven’t baked much since I quit my baking job (too much stress). I wanted an easy recipe that wasn’t just chocolate chip or sugar cookies and I wanted to use brown sugar, as I prefer it. This recipe was super easy. I unfortunately didn’t have real maple syrup on hand, so I settled for the fake stuff and I just had kosher salt so I used that instead. They still came out awesome and my parents ate half of them in one sitting. Thanks for the recipe!

    Side note, I used all natural creamy peanut butter, (not the hard kind that you have to mix though) and I swear it made a huge texture and flavor difference.

  3. 5 stars
    So, I haven’t actually baked these yet — I’ve just made and frozen the dough, to bake at a later time. And let me tell you — the dough was an absolute dream to make! SO easy, and it didn’t stick to the beaters of my electric whisk (a common problem for me). In addition to this, the dough was SUPER easy to scoop out into dough balls. And it was such a quick recipe I had the dough done in 15 minutes! Just measure out ingredients and incorporate them separately, then scoop. Even though I haven’t baked these yet, I can just tell that these will be winners. Overall, if you want a quick, easy, and delicious crowd-pleasing dessert, these cookies are for you. Thank you so much!!!!

  4. Can you freeze these after already baking them and dipping them in chocolate?
    If so, would I just thaw at room temperature?

    1. Hey Dominique,
      I would freeze these without the chocolate and then save that for once they are thawed:) I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xT

  5. 5 stars
    These cookies are delicious and quick to make! First time tapping cookies to flatten them and that worked great. I sprinkled mini chocolate chips on them when they were hot out of the oven and they stuck perfect for the chocolatey finish.

    1. Hi Janine,
      Happy Monday!!🌞 Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing your review, I love to hear that it turned out well for you! xx

    1. Hey Vanessa,
      Happy Friday!! I appreciate you trying this recipe and sharing your review, so glad to hear it was a hit!⛄️ xT

  6. 5 stars
    Soooo good!! Loved the texture: a little crispy around the edges and softer in the middle. This was my first time pan banging cookies and I can’t wait to try more! Love all your recipes, Tieghan!

    1. Hey Angela,
      Wonderful!!🎅 I love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it and your comment! xT

    1. Hey Bailey,
      Totally, you can do either! Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xx

    1. Hey Holly,
      Happy Sunday!!☃️ Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I love to hear that it turned out well for you! xT

    1. Hi Kayla,
      Fantastic!! 🍁🍂 I am delighted to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks so much for making it and sharing your review! xT