Peanut Butter Snaps

Seven dozen cookies from one batch. These peanut butter snaps are the kind of recipe you make when you need cookies for a bake sale, a classroom party, or a cookie jar that never stays empty.

The combination of white sugar and packed brown sugar gives these cookies a crisp snap with a hint of molasses flavor. The brown sugar adds chewiness when warm, but once fully cooled, these live up to their name with a satisfying crunch.

Chilling the dough for at least an hour before shaping firms up the butter so the cookies hold their ball shape on the sheet and don’t spread into flat discs. This is the step that keeps them thick and snappy instead of thin and chewy.

Roll into 1-inch balls and bake without pressing down. No fork crosshatch pattern here. They spread just enough on their own.

Pro Tips

• Cream the butter and sugars thoroughly at medium speed until light and fluffy. This builds the structure that makes them crisp.
• Chill the dough fully. Impatient bakers who skip this step get flat cookies that spread too thin.
• Pull at 10 minutes for softer cookies, 12 minutes for a true snap. They firm up more as they cool.
• Let them cool slightly on the sheet before transferring. Warm peanut butter cookies break easily.

Variations

• Chocolate peanut butter: Press a chocolate kiss into the center of each ball right after removing from the oven.
• Crunchy version: Use crunchy peanut butter instead of smooth for bits of peanut in every bite.