My husband, Cory, asked me to make some peanut butter cookies, and I thought that sounded like a good idea. He’s been working hard to make Lovely Little Kitchen sparkle with a new design, and so he definitely deserved a treat! I realized I didn’t have a go-to peanut butter cookie recipe, but I thought it might be a good chance to experiment with brown butter again. Plus it meant I got to have a title for my post that contains the word “butter” twice! And we all know butter is goooood.
These are bakery sized peanut butter cookies – the crispy on the edges and soft and chewy on the inside kind. They have a rich peanut butter flavor, which is enhanced by the brown butter, and I love the addition of the sparkling sugar crystals on top. Even after a few days, these cookies were still super soft!
Of course I used my Silpat baking mat when I made these. I love the way it transfers heat so evenly, and makes clean up so easy because nothing sticks to it!
This recipe is not complicated, but it does require a couple of extra steps to make sure the cookies stay nice and thick without spreading too much while they bake. So make sure you read the recipe all the way through before you begin so you know what to expect as you go.
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Brown Butter Peanut Butter Cookies
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 32 minutes
- Yield: 30 large cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
These brown butter peanut butter cookies are big, soft and chewy with a rich peanut butter flavor you’ll love!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- To brown the butter: In a small saucepan over medium high heat, melt butter. Whisk continuously and be careful not to let it burn. Let the butter boil until it foams up, and then turns brown and has a nutty aroma.
- As soon as you see the butter has turned brown, remove it from the heat and pour it into the bowl of an electric mixer. Let the butter come back to room temperature.
- When the butter is cool, add dark brown sugar and granulated sugar and mix on medium speed. Then add the egg, and egg yolk. Mix until creamy.
- Add in the vanilla extract, and mix.
- Add creamy peanut butter and mix on low speed until well combined.
- Add the oil and Greek yogurt and mix until combined.
- In a separate small bowl, mix together flour, salt and baking soda.
- Gradually add the flour mixture into the peanut butter mixture on low speed until it is well combined and a dough has formed.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for a couple of hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- With a large scoop (ice cream scoop size), scoop balls of chilled dough onto a Silpat lined baking sheet, six per batch.
- Press down dough with the tines of a fork to make a crosshatch pattern, and sprinkle with sparkling sugar.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes. The edges should be slightly golden.
- Cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before moving to a cooling rack.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cookie
- Calories: 183
- Sugar: 11g
- Sodium: 131mg
- Fat: 9.6g
- Saturated Fat: 3g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5.5g
- Trans Fat: 0.2g
- Carbohydrates: 22g
- Fiber: 0.8g
- Protein: 3.6g
- Cholesterol: 21mg
Jen @ It's a Food Fetish says
Peanut Butter Cookies are so dangerous in our house. How do you not eat the whole batch in one sitting, lol.
Julie says
Jen, I know what you mean! I just had two for breakfast :0) And I actually made three whole batches of these guys before I had the recipe tweaked just right! Sheesh that’s a lot of cookies!
Christina @ Sweet Pea's Kitchen says
You can’t go wrong with browned butter…It’s makes everything taste delicious!! 🙂
Julie says
I agree!
Connie | URBAN BAKES says
Ooo these sound so good. I’ve made peanut butter cookies in the past but never thought of using browned butter. That’s a great idea!
Julie says
Thanks Connie!
taradiane says
Hiya!
Is it possible to substitute the greek yogurt with anything else, like regular yogurt? Or do you need that bitterness and thicker texture of the greek? I hate the stuff, ergo I never buy it…that’s such a small amount, I hate to go buy some for just this purpose. But man, those cookies look amazing!
Julie says
Hi there! I see your point with the Greek yogurt. Do you by chance have sour cream on hand? Otherwise, yes, I think regular yogurt would be an okay substitute though I have not tried it so I can’t say for sure.
taradiane says
Thanks! I will try it with the sour cream this weekend and let you know how they turn out. 🙂
LuvK says
Honestly pain Greek yogurt tastes the same as sour cream. I use it as a replacement for anything I’m putting sour cream in. Fage has a higher protein count. Also less sugar than sour cream
dina says
I love all types of pb cookies. i’m sure brown butter makes it even better!
Joy @ Yesterfood says
Julie, I saw these over at Ali’s Jam Hands, and wanted to come over and discover your blog! I’m such a fan of peanut butter cookies, and I, too, like that you used the word “butter” twice in your post title. 😉
Julie says
Hi Joy, thanks for stopping by!
Juli says
I made these recently, and they were so delicious! Brown butter has to be one of my very favorite ingredients in baking, and to put it in peanut butter cookies is inspired. Thanks for the recipe! I will admit I found the dough extremely difficult to work with, my dough didn’t look anything like the smooth, manageable dough shown in your pictures and I was worried they wouldn’t turn out, but once baked, they were amazing.
Julie says
Hi Juli! That’s interesting that the dough was not very smooth, but I’m glad they turned out so well anyway! Thanks so much for letting me know.
Katie says
Could one add peanut butter chips/choc chips to this recipe with no problem? Thank you.
Julie says
I think that would be good but haven’t tried it so let me know how you like it!
Solange says
The recipe is an interesting concept and they sure look good. I will also give it a try.
Norma de Meel says
Because I have extra yogurt thought I would “make up” a yogurt peanut butter cookie and thrilled to find you have already created one. What better way to spend a snowy Canadian Friday.
JS says
I made these last night, and made your more recent peanut butter cookie recipe last week. This recipe is my household’s personal favourite, but both of your recipes are dangerous to keep in the house.
The brown butter is to die for! I used Adam’s Dark Roast Natural peanut butter and it further deepens the flavour so nicely.