Desserts / Cookies, bars & fudge
Peanut Butter Cookies with Flaky Salt
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Roll the balls, press each one with a fork, and finish with a pinch of flaky salt. They come out tender in the middle, chewy at the edge, and smelling like an afternoon you remember from when you were small.
The short version
Beat butter, peanut butter and both sugars, add the egg, then the flour. Chill 30 minutes, roll into balls, press with a fork, salt the tops. Bake at 375°F for 10 to 12 minutes and cool on the pan.
What makes ours better
what we fixed so you don’t have to
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Chill the dough for 30 minutes. Peanut butter dough is soft and oily. A short chill makes it easy to roll and keeps the cookies thick instead of spreading thin.
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Use commercial creamy peanut butter. Stabilized peanut butter has a steady oil content, so the dough comes out the same every time. Natural peanut butter separates and gives greasy, crumbly cookies.
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Finish with flaky salt. A few flakes on each cookie before it goes in the oven wake up the peanut flavor and cut the sweetness.
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Take them out before they look done. They are fragile when hot and firm up fast. Cooling on the pan is what gives you a tender center and a chewy edge.
What you need
the usual suspects
- Unsalted butter1 stick
- Granulated sugar½ cup
- Packed light brown sugar½ cup
- Egg1 large
- Creamy peanut butter1 cup
- Vanilla extract½ teaspoon
- All-purpose flour1¼ cups
yes, all of the butter
Steps
nobody opens the oven door. looking at you, Dad.
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Beat the butter and sugars
In a large bowl, beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar with a mixer on medium for 2 minutes until light and creamy. Beat in the egg, peanut butter and vanilla until smooth.
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Mix in the flour
Stir the flour, baking soda and kosher salt together, then mix them into the dough on low until just combined. The dough should look satiny and hold together when squeezed. If it feels greasy, add flour a tablespoon at a time.
Peanut butters vary in oil. Add flour only if the dough is truly greasy; extra flour makes dry cookies.
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Chill the dough
Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, heat to 375°F, and line two baking sheets with parchment.
About 30 min. Cook mode has a timer for this step.
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Shape and fork
Roll the dough into 1¼-inch balls (a generous tablespoon) and set them 2 inches apart. Press each one flat with a fork, then press again at a right angle to make the crisscross. Sprinkle each with a few flakes of sea salt.
Dip the fork in sugar or flour if it sticks.
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Bake
Bake until the cookies are puffed, set around the edges and golden on the bottom, 10 to 12 minutes, switching the pans between racks and rotating them halfway. The centers should still look a little soft.
About 11 min. Cook mode has a timer for this step.
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Cool on the pan
Leave the cookies on the hot sheets for 5 minutes, then move them to a rack with a thin spatula. They are fragile until they cool.
Good to know
the stuff I’d tell you over the phone
- Chunky peanut butter works one for one. Skip the flaky salt if you use salted peanut butter and like a milder cookie.
- For peanut butter chocolate cookies, fold in ¾ cup of chocolate chips or peanut butter chips after the flour.
- Dough balls freeze well. Freeze them on a sheet, bag them, and bake from frozen, adding 1 to 2 minutes.
- Storage. Airtight at room temperature, 5 days. Frozen cookies or dough balls, 3 months.
Questions, answered
the questions my cousins text me
Why are my peanut butter cookies dry and crumbly?
Usually too much flour or too long in the oven. Spoon the flour into the cup instead of scooping, and pull the cookies when the centers still look slightly soft.
Can I use natural peanut butter?
It's a gamble. Natural peanut butter has more oil and separates, so the cookies spread and turn greasy. Use regular creamy peanut butter for this recipe.
Do I have to press them with a fork?
Yes, at least once. The dough is dense and won't flatten in the oven, so unpressed balls bake into thick, undercooked mounds.
Can I make these without chilling?
You can, but the dough is sticky and the cookies spread more. Thirty minutes in the fridge makes them far easier to shape.
Can I freeze the dough?
Yes. Roll the balls, freeze them on a sheet until firm, then bag them for up to 3 months. Fork-press and salt them straight from the freezer and bake 1 to 2 minutes longer.
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Published October 29, 2026.