Jimmy's Peanut Butter Cookies
Submitted by dute
Classic peanut butter cookies with the signature fork-pressed crisscross pattern. Vegetable shortening keeps them tender and bakery-style chewy, with both sugars layering caramel and bright sweetness.
YIELD
24 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
10 minREADY
20 minThese peanut butter cookies are the iconic American cookbook recipe done right. The double-sugar trick is what gives them their distinctive bakery-shop personality. White sugar brings clean sweetness and crisp edges, while brown sugar contributes molasses moisture and that signature chewy center. Use only one or the other and the cookies lose half their character.
Shortening over butter is a deliberate choice here, not a cost-cutting compromise. Vegetable shortening has a higher melting point than butter, so the cookies hold their shape better in the oven instead of spreading thin. The result is taller, softer, more pillowy cookies with that classic puffed top. Some bakers split the difference with half butter and half shortening.
The iconic crisscross fork pattern isn’t just decoration. Peanut butter cookie dough doesn’t spread much on its own due to all that protein and fat, so the fork-flatten step gives the cookies their final size and shape. Dip the fork in flour between presses to keep the dough from sticking and tearing.
Underbake them by a minute. Pull the cookies when the edges are set but the centers still look slightly underdone. They keep cooking on the hot sheet pan for those first 2 minutes off the oven, and that’s when the soft-center magic happens.
Serve with cold milk, obviously. It’s basically the law.
Pro Tips
- Use creamy peanut butter for classic texture. Natural or oil-separated PB will throw off the moisture balance.
- Don’t substitute melted butter for shortening. The texture difference is night and day.
- Let the cookies cool 2 full minutes on the sheet before transferring. Hot peanut butter cookies tear.
- Store in an airtight container with a slice of bread. The cookies absorb the bread’s moisture and stay soft for days.
Variations
- Fold in a cup of chocolate chips for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.
- Press a Hershey’s Kiss into each cookie immediately after baking for classic peanut butter blossoms.
- Add a quarter cup of chopped roasted peanuts for extra crunch.
Ingredients
Directions
Heat oven to 375℉ (190℃).
Cream together; shortening, peanut butter, both sugars and vanilla.
Beat with electric mixer at medium speed for one minute.
Add egg and milk.
Beat until well blended.
Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and add to creamed mixture.
Mix well.
Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto ungreased cookie sheet.
Flatten in crisscross pattern with fork dipped in flour.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
Cool 2 minutes then remove cookies from cookie sheet onto a cooling rack.
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