If you are looking for a peanut butter cookies with tons of peanut butter flavor, Super Nutty Peanut Butter Cookies will get the job done! The recipe is based on an old one from Cook's Illustrated, where they used a half cup of finely ground peanuts to maximize flavor and improve texture.
Ground Peanut Butter Cookies Texture
Super Nutty Peanut Butter Cookies are pretty versatile when it comes to texture. The cookies can be soft, crunchy, or a little of both depending on how long you bake them. That may sound obvious at first, but if you bake a lot you know that some cookies go from being underbaked to burnt around the edges and soft in the centers, and that's not the case with these. These are definitely crunchier than my old recipe.
Unsurprisingly, the ground peanut dough improves with age. I have been making the dough balls ahead of time and baking the cookies as needed.
I even tried dipping some of the cookies in chocolate, but it was a waste of time because they were better without it. Here's a photo anyway.
Criss-Cross With Peanut Butter Chips
One thing improvement to Super Nutty Peanut Butter Cookies is peanut butter chips. The cookies are peanut-y without them, but the peanut butter chips added a little sweetness, richness and textural contrast. As for appearance, I like to use the traditional criss-cross pattern going even though a lot of people who've raved about this recipe over the years say they skip the criss-cross. In my opinion, these cookies deserve the criss-cross because they are the quintessential version of old-timey peanut butter cookies.
Recipe
Super Nutty Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour 170 grams
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter 114 grams
- ½ cup firmly packed brown sugar -- dark 100 grams
- ½ cup granulated sugar 95 grams
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup extra crunchy peanut butter 135 grams
- 1 large egg room temperature (50 grams)
- ½ cup roasted salted peanuts ground in a food processor
- ⅓ peanut butter chips optional
- Granulated sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Mix the flour, baking powder baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the butter, both sugars and vanilla and beat with a mixer until smooth.
- Add peanut butter and and beat until well blended, scraping side of bowl; add the egg and beat until mixture is light and fluffy.
- Using a large scraper or mixing spoon, gradually stir the flour mixture into the peanut mixture to form a soft dough. Stir in the ground peanuts and the peanut butter chips.
- Using a heaping tablespoon measure (which is about 2 tablespoons, scoop 20 gobs of dough onto foil lined plates or a foil lined tray you can fit in the refrigerator. Chill dough for an hour or until it is firm enough to shape into neat balls. Shape the chilled dough pieces into smooth balls.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and have ready two foil or parchment lined baking sheets.
- Put some sugar in a zipper bag and shake the dough balls around in the sugar until coated.
- Place 2 ½ inches apart on sheets. Dip a fork lightly in water and make criss-cross patterns in each cookie (dip before each cross).
- Bake the cookies for about 12-15 minutes or until the edges appear brown.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Sue says
It sounds like I ground the nuts correctly. I also like the crunchiness of these. They're really good.
Anna says
Sorry I'm late with the reply. I used a coffee grinder to grind the peanuts because I didn't want to wash my food processor. The nuts were finely ground, but not a meal. They were like bread crumbs. Darlene, glad you found the brown sugar weights helpful. My brown sugar always weighs a few grams more than granulated sugar, with dark brown sugar weighing slightly more than light. Some of the more expensive organic brands tend to weigh more, too. I used plain old Domino brown sugar and the weight, even when packed, was just slightly more than the weight of the granulated.
Anna says
Sue, I think these might be a little crunchier. The old recipe has a great flavor, but the texture is a little softer. I liked these because they had crunchy edges and soft centers.
Sue says
I made these and they're delicious. And yes they can be made in the food processor. I can't decide if I like them better than these. https://www.cookiemadness.net/2008/07/one-bowl-criss-cross-peanut-butter-cookies/ I would have to have them side by side to know but I remember being shocked at how good the ones at the link were.
Sue says
I can't stop thinking about these. How fine do you grind the peanuts?
Is that a table or a wooden counter top below the cooling cookies? It's lovely.
Sue says
These sound wonderful. A perfect recipe to use weights instead of conventional volume measurements! I wonder if it would work to make them entirely in the food processor? I might give it a try.
Darlene says
Peanut butter cookies without the criss-cross pattern would be just wrong! So happy to have the weight for the brown sugar, as I always wonder "just how 'packed' is packed?" Hope you are having a happy 4th of July weekend!