Small-Batch Peanut Butter Cookies

This small batch peanut butter cookie recipe makes delicious soft cookies full of peanut butter flavor.

Peanut butter cookies are such a classic. The perfect peanut butter cookie is crispy on the edges and soft in the middle with a sort of melt-in-the-mouth texture. It's sweet and a little bit salty. 

If you're looking for a recipe to curb your peanut butter craving, but don't want to make a huge batch, this small batch recipe is for you! Or if you're after something with chocolate chips, try these small-batch cookie bars!

The peanut butter cookie was invented around 1910 after George Washington Carver of Alabama's Tuskegee Institute published a peanut cookbook in an effort to promote the peanut crop. The peanut butter cookie in that cookbook included the criss-cross fork marks we are so used to seeing today.

The fork marks in the dough are because peanut butter cookies don't spread the way that other cookies can. It's the peanut butter in there that makes them denser. This is why they have to be compressed before being baked.

The peanut butter

Choose a smooth and creamy processed peanut butter instead of a natural one for the best texture. The natural peanut butter tends to split and is a bit grainy in texture. They do still work in this cookie, but it results in a much dryer cookie that's less soft.

Use salted peanut butter. This adds a great contrast to the sweet cookie.

If you prefer more texture to your cookie you can switch the smooth peanut butter for crunchy peanut butter.

Chilling the dough

This cookie dough needs a little chilling before rolling - at least an hour, but all the way up to 24 hours. You can roll the cookie dough balls and freeze them too for easy future cookies. The longer you let the cookie dough chill, the thicker the cookies will be.

Method

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set it aside.

In a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, add the softened butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Cream this together with a hand mixer on medium speed until light and creamy. Add in the peanut butter, egg yolk and vanilla. Mix together until well combined.

Add in the dry ingredients and mix them together into a soft and sticky dough. Cover the bowl and chill the dough for at least an hour, or up to 24 hours.

Rolling the cookies

Once chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F/176°C and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Roll the peanut butter cookie dough into 9 cookie balls, and roll each cookie ball into some granulated sugar until it's coated.

Place the balls on the parchment-lined baking sheet, spaced around 2 inches apart. Use a fork to press the dough balls down and create a criss-cross pattern.

Bake the cookies for around 9-10 minutes until the edges are golden brown. The bake time may be slightly more or less depending on your oven, check on the cookies around the 8-minute mark to see how they're baking.

The top of the cookies will still be soft. Allow them to cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool further.

Enjoy the cookies with a glass of milk.