My grandmother’s easy peanut butter cookie recipe is super quick to make, and they’re great for refuelling on our family microadventures! They’re a classic family favourite.
Grandmother’s recipe notebooks
Shortly after Christmas (2014) I received a heavy parcel in the post all the way from California. It contained scanned and bound copies of my grandmother’s handwritten cookery notebooks, kindly copied and posted by my step-father (who, although he was born and raised on the East Coast of Canada, now calls the warmer climes of the western USA his home). What a treasure these papers are. It’s wonderful to see my grandmother’s handwriting after all these years (she passed away when I was only sixteen) and to relive her cooking journey through them – it’s priceless.
I’ve been working my way through these recipes one by one, jotting my own notes next to hers. There are some rather bizarre recipes contained within those pages! I think most of the recipes date from the 1960s through to the 1990s, but some could be even older.
Some ingredients I can’t buy here in the UK (like graham crackers and Chipits), and I notice a distinct lack of butter in the ingredients lists. Shortening (white vegetable fat for my UK readers) is a common fat substitute.
The recipe instructions aren’t always clear or even complete, so I am testing my own cooking abilities by filling in the blanks. I hope to share many of these recipes with you once they’ve passed my family taste test first!
The first recipe I’ve made from these treasured pages, which has generated a resounding, lip-smacking Yes! from my entire family, is this peanut butter cookie recipe. I’ve slightly adapted the original recipe by adding finely chopped peanuts (or sometimes a whole peanut) on top, but other than that, this is my grandmother’s recipe.
They make for a perfect refuelling snack while out on microadventures with the kids. See what our youngest thought of them in our latest micro-adventure video below!
Peanut butter nostalgia
Does anyone else in North America remember the peanut butter sold in teddy bear-shaped glass jars? When you opened the lid, there was always a whole peanut sitting on the top. I think placing a peanut on the top of these cookies was inspired by that childhood memory.
Peanut butter is quite different now than what I remember as a child. Maybe it’s because there is more emphasis on healthy eating and reduced sugar these days. Now, and I insist that for maximum flavour if you try and do this yourself, you should use peanut butter with a very short ingredients list: ideally just peanuts! My favourite is the Whole Earth smooth original peanut butter, but under no circumstances should sugar be on the ingredients list.
These cookies are incredibly moreish. I ate far too many of them and only just managed to salvage enough for the children’s lunchboxes before they all disappeared! They have just the right amount of chew and crunch, and they’re wicked with a big glass of ice-cold milk.
What you’ll need
- 1/2 cup/ 140 grams peanut butter (preferably no sugar added)
- 1/2 cup/ 100 grams vegetable shortening
- 1 cup/ 225 grams brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1.5 cups/ 225 grams all-purpose plain flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- chopped roasted, salted peanuts – optional
How to make peanut butter cookies
- Cream together the brown sugar and shortening until light. Add the egg and vanilla.
- Sift over the flour and baking soda.
- Mix well until it forms a soft cookie dough.
- Roll into 1-inch round balls and arrange on a baking sheet.
- Press down slightly with a fork dipped in cold water.
- Add chopped peanuts (optional) and bake in a preheated 180 C/ 350 F oven for 8-10 minutes.
Tips for making this classic cookie recipe
- use a silicone baking mat to help stop the cookies from spreading too much
- make sure your peanut butter is a sugar-free variety for the best flavour
- ensure your baking tray is cooled between batches – I pop mine outside for a few minutes to cool quickly
Recipe Difficulty Levels
Easy
Requires basic cooking skills and ingredients you most likely already have in your kitchen.
Moderate
Requires more experience, preparation and/or cooking time. You may have to source special ingredients.
Challenging
Recipes requiring more advanced skills and experience and maybe some special equipment.
Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 140 grams smooth peanut butter
- 100 grams vegetable shortening
- 225 grams soft brown sugar
- 1 large free-range egg beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 225 grams plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 30 grams roasted peanuts to decorate
Affiliate Links
This recipe card may contain affiliate ingredient and equipment links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C/ 350 F and lightly grease a baking sheet. Alternatively, use a silicone baking mat (I use this – it’s great!)
- In a large bowl, cream together 100 grams vegetable shortening, 140 grams smooth peanut butter and 225 grams soft brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add 1 large free-range egg, beaten, and 1 tsp vanilla extract, mixing well.
- Sift together 225 grams plain flour and 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda and add to the wet mixture, combining well.
- Roll into balls one inch in diameter and place, well spaced apart, on the prepared baking sheet.
- Using a fork dipped in cold water, gently flatten each biscuit.
- Press a whole peanut, or some of 30 grams roasted peanuts, into the top of each biscuit.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown. Leave cookies to cool on the baking tray for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Ten Shetland Instagram Accounts to Follow in 2019
I’ve been looking for a decent peanut butter cookie recipe after seeing some that my friend made for a bake-off last week .Think I may have found the one – thank you Elizabeth!
Oh wow, these look heavenly! i love peanut butter cookies….Thanks for sharing this recipe…
Simon
That’s a wonderful inheritance and they do sound like excellent cookies.
Isn’t it! 🙂 I feel very lucky to have these pages.
I’ll be giving these a try, thank you.
Do let me know what you think of them Sally 🙂
It is funny to me how many recipes from two (or 3) generations back use shortening instead of butter. And it’s also amazing how many of these recipes were little more than lists of ingredients (and often sketchy at that) with virtually no instructions. And yet the cooks knew exactly what to do! These cookies sound and look fantastic, Elizabeth, and I agree completely with the simple-list peanut butter.
I wonder if it was cheaper to buy shortening back then. Some recipes work better with it, especially certain cookie recipes, I’ve found.
Oh these do sound good and they look ever so moreish!
They are far too moreish! Dangerously thigh fattening good! 🙂