Thin & Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

I typically like my peanut butter cookies thick and crumbly, but this recipe for thin and chewy peanut butter cookies is a nice change. It was inspired by recipe in a book called Food Writers' Favorite Cookies where it was submitted by Doris Reynolds.

I first posted this recipe in 2005 and noted that the dough required chilling in order to be shaped.  The cookies were delicious, but not as chewy as I'd hoped. Over the years I tested the recipe again and again, omitting the milk and trying slightly different variations without making it a whole new recipe. After all, it was a food writer's favorite, so no sense changing the recipe completely. I think I finally got it just the way I wanted by making a few adjustments. They're now chewy, but still soft and perfect for ice cream sandwiches since they don't get rock hard in the freezer.

Modern Ingredients

So why adjustments? They're often necessary for these old recipes because ingredients have changed over the years. One example is today's butter, which hovers around 80% fat. It used to be around 82% fat. It doesn't sound like a huge difference, but it can make doughs slightly looser and is probably one reason why this recipe needs less milk than it used to. I also think USA produced eggs may be a little different as well -- maybe a higher ratio of white to yolk. Those are just two examples, but lots of ingredients have changed.

Gluten-Free Thin & Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

And speaking of ingredient changes, we now have gluten-free flour blends. This recipe works very well with gluten-free 1:1 flour. Even though the cookies are gluten-free, they're still chewy. To make the cookies gluten-free, just use equal gram amount of gluten-free blend in place of the all-purpose flour. You can leave the sugar the same or for even more chewiness, change the ratio of brown and granulated sugar a bit and use ¾ cup of brown sugar and ¼ cup of granulated.

Modernized Thin & Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

So here's the more modernized version of the recipe. I switched from salted butter to unsalted and browned it to reduce moisture and intensify flavor. I also reduced the milk, and added a tiny bit of vanilla. For the brown sugar, you can use light or dark depending on what you have. I tend to use light brown sugar often, but the dark works well too. And finally, I used a small cookie scoop or about a tablespoon of dough for a yield of around 48 cookies. The original cookies were a bit smaller and the yield was 60.

If you want a chewy cookie that's slightly thicker, I recommend Peanut Butter Jumbos.

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Recipe

Thin & Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

Anna

Thin and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies from Food Writers' Favorite Cookies. This is my slightly adapted version of the recipe.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 22 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 48

Ingredients

 

• ½ cup unsalted butter browned and cooled slightly (114 grams)
• ¾ teaspoon salt or ¼ teaspoon if using salted butter
• 1 cup chunky peanut butter, sweetened type (260 grams)
• ¾ cup granulated sugar (150 gams)
• ¾ cup light or dark brown sugar (150 grams)
• 2 large eggs room temperature
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (135 grams)
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger or cinnamon
• ½ tablespoon milk, use only if dough seems stiff

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In a mixing bowl, beat together the melted and cooled browned butter, salt, and peanut butter until smooth.
• Add sugars and beat until creamy, then beat in eggs and vanilla until just combined.
• Whisk together flour, baking soda, and spice (if using). Stir into peanut butter mixture until incorporated. Dough should be soft and scoopable. If it feels too stiff, you can add the tiny splash of milk.
• Scoop rounded teaspoonfuls (or use a small cookie scoop) onto baking sheets. Flatten slightly with a fork in a criss-cross pattern.
• Bake 11-13 minutes, until edges are set and centers are still soft. For chewier cookies, pull early; for crispier edges, bake toward 13 minutes.
• Cool on sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

Notes

For gluten-free cookies, use 140 grams of gluten-free all-purpose blend such as Cup4Cup.

Keyword Chewy Peanut Butter

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