So Yummy Peanut Butter Cookies
Submitted by Agent Mummy
Lighter peanut butter cookies that bake in 7 minutes flat. Reduced-fat peanut butter, a tablespoon of oil instead of a stick of butter, and a sugar-rolled crackle top. Tender, chewy, lower in fat than the classic.
YIELD
16 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
7 minREADY
20 minMost peanut butter cookies lean on a full stick of butter and a heaping cup of peanut butter. This version cuts both back hard (just a tablespoon of oil and a quarter cup of reduced-fat peanut butter) and somehow still comes out tender, with that classic fork-mark crackle top. The trick is in the binders.
A tablespoon and a half of cornstarch tightens the crumb where the missing fat would normally hold it together, and corn syrup keeps the cookies chewy instead of crumbly. Both are small additions doing big work. Skip either and the cookies turn dry and sandy.
Rolling the balls in granulated sugar before flattening with a glass gives the tops that crackle finish bakeries charge extra for. Watch the clock at 7 minutes. The recipe writer wasn’t kidding about the rocks. These cookies look pale and underdone when they’re actually perfect, then firm up on the rack as they cool. An extra two minutes in the oven and you’ve got hockey pucks.
Reduced-fat peanut butter works because the corn syrup compensates for the missing fat with moisture. Don’t substitute natural-style peanut butter, the oil separation messes with the dough texture.
Pro Tips
- Pull cookies at 7 minutes even if they look soft. They set as they cool.
- Coat your hands with cooking spray before rolling balls. The dough is sticky from the corn syrup.
- Use the bottom of a smooth glass to flatten, not a fork. The classic crosshatch fork pattern works too if you dip the fork in sugar between presses to prevent sticking.
- Add chopped peanuts for a craggier, more textured cookie that feels homemade.
Variations
- Press a chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie the moment they come out of the oven for a peanut butter blossom variation.
- Swap a tablespoon of the flour for unsweetened cocoa powder for a chocolate-peanut butter version.
- Add a half teaspoon of cinnamon for a warmer, spice-forward flavor.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 375℉ (190℃).
Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl; stir well, and set aside.
Combine brown sugar, oil, ¼ cup granulated sugar, and peanut butter in a large bowl; beat at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended.
Add corn syrup, vanilla, and egg; beat well.
Stir in flour mixture and peanuts if using.
Coat hands lightly with cooking spray and shape dough into 48 1-inch balls.
Roll balls in 3 tablespoon granulated sugar, and place 2 inches apart on baking sheets coated with cooking spray.
Flatten balls with the bottom of a glass.
Bake at 375℉ (190℃) F for 7 minutes or until lightly browned.
Remove cookies from pans, and let cool on wire racks.
These are very, very good.
I was quite surprised. Be sure and don’t over bake them or they become like rocks.
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