My favorite Peanut Butter Cookie recipe made using natural peanut butter.
Natural Peanut Butter is the kind of peanut butter that only has 1 ingredient: peanuts. I’m sharing this recipe because I have found that I have to alter the recipe a little when using natural peanut butter vs. regular. Regular peanut butter found at the grocery store is not made with just 1 ingredient it actually has multiple ingredients like: oil, sugar, salt, etc. It still may be called natural peanut butter but it is not pure peanut butter made with 100% peanuts only so check the label.
I have been buying Whole Foods brand of natural peanut butter(amazon affiliate link), the 365 brand with the green lid, it only has 1 ingredient which is of course peanuts.
I have found that you either have to add oil to the peanut butter yourself, cut back on the amount of flour you are using or increase the amount of peanut butter. Below is a recipe that has worked for me when using natural peanut butter. If I use my normal peanut butter cookie recipe the dough turns out way too dry. Be sure to stir the peanut butter up really good before using it in the recipe. Also if you are not using salted butter add 1/4 teaspoon of salt to recipe.
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, melted (microwave for 25-30 seconds)
- ½ cup natural peanut butter
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- (**if not using salted butter add ¼ teaspoon salt)
- Preheat oven to 350 F. degrees.
- Hand Mix the dough for this recipe and stir peanut butter well before using.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl add sugar, brown sugar, & butter together & stir until creamy. Add peanut butter, egg, & vanilla & stir until smooth & creamy.
- Add flour & baking soda & stir until well combined.
- Scoop or roll dough into 1 inch balls & place on ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten each ball using a fork making a criss-cross pattern on top.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges start to slightly brown. (Don't over bake or your cookies will turn out hard).
Great texture, nice peanut butter taste, however not at all sweet. Needs way more sugar to compensate for the lack of sugar in the peanut butter. Will have to try it again but just adjust the sugar. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Hi Sam, Thanks for the feedback and thanks for taking the time to comment, we appreciate it.
These are perfect. I used Bob’s Redmill Gluten Free 1-1 flour. Thanks for sharing your recipe (I scoured the internet for one that used NATURAL PB). The sweetness level is definitely individual (I will experiment to cut down the sweetness), so don’t change your recipe!
So glad you liked the recipe and that gluten free flour worked well. Thanks for taking the time to comment, we appreciate the feedback.
Hi, Can I add chocolate chips? How many should I add?
Hi Tara, I haven’t tried it but I don’t see why not. I’d say probably 1/2-1 cup of chocolate chips. I’d start with 1/2 cup and then add more if needed. Thanks.
I made these vegan using a flax egg (1 tbsp. flax and 3 tbsp. water) and Miyoko’s Cultured Vegan Butter. They came out great! Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Shannon, So glad you liked the recipe and that it worked with the vegan substitutes. Thanks for taking the time to comment, we appreciate it!
I’ve made this recipe 3 times now and my family has decided it’s a favorite! Thanks for making it easy to use natural peanut butter.
Hi Caroline, So glad you liked the recipe. Thanks for taking the time to comment, we appreciate it.
Can I use make these keto with almond flour and sugar substitutes
I’m not sure but those substitutes may work, the recipe is pretty versatile.
Delicious. I used dark brown sugar to make the dough slightly darker since we don’t want to overbake them. I thought they were sweet enough. LOVED them. I used Trader Joes Natural creamy peanut butter.
Hi Cindy, So glad it turned out for you. Thanks for taking the time to comment, we appreciate it!
Hi. I only have crunchy natural peanut butter. Do I need to adjust the quantity?
Hi Kris, It should be ok to use same amount. I think it makes for a crumbly styele cookie because of the chunks but it should work.
These are the best peanut butter cookies I have had in a long time. And so glad I could use natural pb, I only buy natural so I appreciate not having to get separate pb to bake with
Hi Ciarra, So glad you liked the recipe. Thanks for taking the time to comment, we appreciate it.