Peanut Butter Cookies
Crisp-edged, chewy-centered cookies built on Fannie Farmer's 1896 original — brightened with a touch of lemon and finished with a halved peanut pressed into each top.
Ingredients
- 4 tbspunsalted butter(softened to room temperature)
- ½ cupcreamy peanut butter(natural or commercial both work)
- ½ cupgranulated sugar
- 1 largeegg
- 1 tspbaking powder
- ¼ tspfine salt
- 1 cupall-purpose flour
- 2 tbspwhole milk
- ½ tspfresh lemon juice
- 24 pieceroasted peanut halves(for topping, about ¼ cup whole peanuts halved)
Method
- 01
Preheat the oven to 325 °F (165 °C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- 02
In a large bowl, beat the 4 tbsp softened butter and ½ cup peanut butter together with a hand mixer on medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- 03
Add the ½ cup granulated sugar and beat for another minute until the mixture lightens slightly.
- 04
Add the 1 large egg and beat until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- 05
In a small bowl, whisk together the 1 tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp fine salt, and 1 cup all-purpose flour.
- 06
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in two additions, stirring with a spatula between each, until just combined — do not overmix.
- 07
Stir in the 2 tbsp whole milk and ½ tsp fresh lemon juice until the dough comes together into a soft, scoopable consistency.
- 08
Drop rounded teaspoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
- 09
Press one roasted peanut half firmly into the center of each cookie — this anchors it and slightly flattens the dough.
- 10
Bake for 12–14 minutes, until the edges are set and the tops look just dry. The centers will firm up as they cool.
- 11
Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Adapted from public domain & community sources