Peanut Butter Cookies
If you've got smooth peanut butter, butter or margarine, softened and white granulated sugar, you're most of the way to this vegetarian: about 60 minutes of cooking across 7 steps. Below: the ingredients split into pantry staples and a quick shopping list, a built-in serving scaler, and the method in 7 steps.
You'll mainly reach for oven and whisk. At medium difficulty across 7 steps, it's manageable with a little attention. As written, it's meat-free.
What you'll need
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
Diet: vegetarian — no meat or fish, based on every ingredient listed below.
Contains: Gluten Dairy Egg Peanut
Allergen labels are informational and may not cover cross-contact; verify every package and consult a qualified professional for medical dietary needs. Diet labels are derived from the ingredient list on this page — how we verify diet and allergen labels.
Food-safety and allergen information is general, not medical advice. Follow current guidance from your local food-safety authority, verify product labels, and seek qualified advice for allergies or health conditions.
How to make it
- Preheat the oven to 180 C and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
- Beat the softened butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar together until creamy and well combined.
- Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together in a separate bowl, then stir into the wet mixture until a soft dough forms.
- Roll the dough into 20 balls and space them well apart on the trays, then flatten each with a fork in a criss-cross pattern.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the edges are set and lightly golden; the centres will still look slightly soft.
- Leave the cookies on the trays for 5 minutes to firm up before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
You'll use: Oven · Whisk · Baking tray
Ingredient substitutions
- Butter
- olive oil (¾ the amount) · coconut oil · margarine
- Brown Sugar
- white sugar + 1 tbsp molasses per cup
Tips & common questions
How long does Peanut Butter Cookies take to make?
About 60 minutes from start to finish — an estimate based on the 7 steps and 9 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of butter?
Try olive oil (¾ the amount). See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes — use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
Is Peanut Butter Cookies vegetarian?
Its ingredients contain no meat, fish or shellfish, so it is suitable for vegetarians. Check any cheese for animal rennet if that matters to you.
Related recipes
Adapted recipe — rewritten in our own wording from an open-licensed community cookbook, not yet independently kitchen-tested by Consomee. How we source, test & correct recipes.
Peanut Butter Cookies is adapted by Consomee from the Wikibooks Cookbook, rewritten in our own wording and used under CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo: Peanut butter cookies, September 2009.jpg by Janet Hudson, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure — how we source recipes.