These peanut butter cookies taste deliciously like your favorite classic peanut butter-packed treats, but with a secret ingredient that leaves them extra chewy and soft. Made with simple pantry ingredients in under 30 minutes, these old-fashioned look-alikes (with the criss-cross fork marks and all) deliver the perfect peanut-y flavor in every baked bite!
The Best Peanut Butter Cookies
Adding instant pudding powder to our cookie dough is the secret to the success of these delicious peanut butter cookies. Sweet and chewy with a soft batch-style texture, the addition of pudding also adds a unique flavor accent that makes them irresistible!
My favorite thing about pudding recipes like this one is that they are so quick and easy to make because you don’t have to refrigerate your dough. In a matter of minutes, you can mix, scoop and bake your batter to create the ultimate classic, crisscrossing, fork-tined treat.
Why We Love This Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe
- Easy to make with simple ingredients.
- Deliciously soft and chewy.
- Pudding mix cookies stay soft for days.
- Creamy peanut butter flavor in every bite.
- Perfect for an afternoon snack, a lunchtime treats, or a decadent dessert.
Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe Ingredients
- Butter flavored shortening: Butter can be used in this recipe instead of shortening but I find that it makes them less chewy overall. The butter-flavored shortening gives the buttery flavor everyone loves and yields the best texture.
- Creamy peanut butter: Do not use all-natural peanut butter in this recipe.
- Light brown sugar
- Instant vanilla pudding mix: You will not be preparing the pudding, rather simply adding the mix to the dough.
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Granulated sugar
Best Peanut Butter Cookies Substitutions
- Pudding: You can substitute other flavors of dry pudding mix. Some other options can include chocolate and butterscotch, however vanilla is my favorite in this recipe.
- Mix-Ins: Feel free to mix in chocolate chips, Reese’s Pieces, or chopped peanut butter cups to your batter.
Recommended Tools
- Mixer or hand mixer
- Cookie Sheet
- Cookie Scoop
- Fork
SEE FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD BELOW
How to Make Homemade Peanut Butter Cookies
Always soft and chewy, this peanut butter cookie recipe is so easy to make using simple ingredients. Delicious peanut butter flavor in every bite!
- Cream together shortening, peanut butter, and sugar.
- Add pudding mix, eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla to peanut butter mixture and beat together.
Pro-Tip: It’s important to use dry instant pudding mix. Do not make the actual pudding! Just add the dry mix! Make sure you’re using instant pudding and not “cook and serve.” The coagulants in the “cook and serve” are different than the instant, containing a large amount of cornstarch. The texture will be altered and it won’t bake up as nicely.
- Mix together flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.
- Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until combined.
- Use a medium cookie scoop to portion out the dough into balls.
- Roll cookie dough into balls.
- Coat each with granulated sugar.
- Place sugar-coated dough balls on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
Pro-Tip: Line your baking sheet with parchment paper. Doing this will make easier to remove the cookies so that you don’t have to scrape them off the pan – they will just slide right off in perfect shape! - Gently press the dough balls flat with a fork, making criss-crossing marks with the tines.
- Bake for 9 to 12 minutes, cool, plate, and enjoy!
Pro-Tip: Don’t over bake the cookies. When you take your cookies out of the oven, they may still look slightly under cooked but they will continue to bake on the baking sheet for a couple more minutes.
How to Store Soft Peanut Butter Cookies
- To Store: Peanut butter cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
- To Freeze Cookie Dough : Freeze the dough in balls until solid and then add them to a freezer bag.
- To Freeze Baked Cookies: Let cookies cool completely, then add to a freezer bag. Store in freezer for up to 3 months.
- To bake from frozen: Place frozen cookie dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet and let sit at room temp while the oven heats up. Then add 1-2 minutes to the original cooking time.
Recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies FAQs
Yes, you must use pudding mix in this recipe to ensure that the cookies stay soft and chewy.
No, simply use the unprepared pudding mix powder in this recipe!
I would not recommend using natural peanut butter in this recipe because the oil levels could impact the final results of these cookies.
Fork marks on peanut butter cookies help flatten the dense dough for even cooking and create their classic, recognizable crisscross pattern.
Refrigerating peanut butter cookie dough is optional but can improve texture and flavor, preventing excessive spreading during baking.
Peanut butter cookies may crumble due to dry dough, overbaking, or moving them before they have cooled sufficiently.
Other Easy Classic Cookie Recipes
- Peppermint Thumbprint Cookies
- Haystack Cookies
- 8 Great Cake Mix Cookies
- Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Rainbow Sprinkle Cookies
- Butter Pecan Cookies
Homemade Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter flavored shortening room temp
- ¾ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 3.4 oz box instant vanilla pudding mix unprepared
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk additional
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup granulated sugar optional coating
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Cream the shortening, peanut butter, and sugar together until smooth. Add the unprepared pudding powder, eggs, additional egg yolk, and vanilla. Beat for about one minute on medium speed.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a ½ cup at a time and mix until combined.
- Use a medium cookie scoop to portion out the dough into balls and roll the dough between your palms. Roll the balls in granulated sugar.
- Place the balls of dough on the prepared cookie sheet about two inches apart. Use a fork to gently press the balls flat, making two indents with the fork tines, criss-crossing the marks.
- Bake for 9 to 12 minutes then let rest on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Jenn’s Notes
- To Store: Peanut butter cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
- To Freeze Cookie Dough: Freeze the dough in balls until solid and then add them to a freezer bag.
- To Freeze Baked Cookies: Let cookies cool completely, then add to a freezer bag. Store in freezer for up to 3 months.
- To Bake From Frozen: Place frozen cookie dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet and let sit at room temp while the oven heats up. Then add 1-2 minutes to the original cooking time.
- Line your baking sheet with parchment paper. Doing this will make easier to remove the cookies so that you don’t have to scrape them off the pan – they will just slide right off in perfect shape!
- Don’t over bake the cookies. When you take your cookies out of the oven, they may still look slightly under cooked but they will continue to bake on the baking sheet for a couple more minutes.
- It’s important to use dry instant pudding mix. Do not make the actual pudding! Just add the dry mix!
- Make sure you’re using instant pudding and not “cook and serve.” The coagulants in the “cook and serve” are different than the instant, containing a large amount of cornstarch. The texture will be altered and it won’t bake up as nicely.
Haven’t baked then yet. Will do so this evening.
I’m just wondering how you got them to stay puffy
Mine went flat as a pancake :/
Oh, my gosh! These look ah-maz-ing. Jenn, thank you for having Diane today, and Diane, thank you for this gorgeous recipe! Pinning! ๐
Wow Diane these cookies look so good! Pinning them right now:)
Carrie,
We always seen to be thinking alike. You truly just stir these cookies together and bake. They are so easy my special needs son loves to bake them by himself (mostly).
Many Blessings,
Diane Roark
Janine,
You really cannot go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate at least in my house. I cannot tell you how easy these cookies are to make. We whip them up way to often.
Many Blessings,
Diane Roark
WOW Diane! Great recipe and NO flour?! You always amaze me and we are so on ‘the same page’ lol. I just made pb cookies with choco chips this weekend, but with flour. I LOVE your recipe my friend. Great co-hosting spot. Carrie, A Mother’s Shadow
How could you go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate chips. So, totally pinning this one for my girls to make soon. Thanks for sharing with us, Diane ๐
Jenn,
Thank you so much for allowing me to be a guest blogger. I love these easy to make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. They only have a few ingredients which is great. I use to make them all the time and never try one because I am not a peanut butter fan, but everyone else in my family loves peanut butter. I tried one of these cookies hot right out of the oven and could not get enough. I love them. I guess I am now a peanut butter fan.
I had computer issues last week and am just stopping by.
Many Blessings,
Diane Roark
arhhh i love peanut butter anything! which is weird because I’m not such a huge fan of it on its ownโฆ but with cookies or with browniesโฆyum! Going to give this one a go…