OMG, these sweet treats are SO addictively good. They are, in fact, kid tested AND adult tested.
Heck, they' re even dog tested -- the cat refused to try one.
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Table of Contents
❤️ Why you'll love it
- There's no chilling time needed so you'll be munching on these with an ice cold glass of milk in no time. Be sure to save some for the kids!
- Sweet and salty combination that you'll love.
- These homemade crinkle cookies have crispy outside edges and chewy middles thanks to unsulfured molasses in the recipe.
I decided to use my molasses crinkles cookies recipe as a base because I know that they ALWAYS come out perfectly. With just a few tries and a few adjustments I came up with these.
With recipes like Reese's Peanut Butter Cheesecake and peanut butter pie you've probably guessed we love peanut butter around here!
Homemade peanut butter crinkles cookies will delight your family with their old fashioned goodness whether in a lunch box, a college care package, or a 7 week old tattered box that finally made it to that lonely family member in the desert.
🥫 Storage
Store baked cookies in an airtight container on the counter or in the pantry. They'll be fine for a week or more.
These chewy peanut butter cookies freeze well for up to 3 months baked or unbaked.
I like to roll the cookies in balls, flash freeze, and then drop them in a Ziploc freezer bag. I can take out just the number I want to bake.
📖 Variations
- You can roll these in powdered sugar rather than sugar crystals for a pretty crust.
- Dip half the cookie in melted chocolate and sprinkle with chopped peanuts.
- Roll the cookie dough around a Hershey's Kiss or a Rolo candy.
💭 Things to know
Expert Tip: Be sure to use unsulfured molasses like Grandma's Molasses. Blackstrap molasses and the like are not what you want in this recipe!
- As they bake deep cracks form and the outside gets a crispy coating from the sugar. The inside stays soft and chewy but if you like crisper cookies leave them in the oven an extra minute or two. 10 minutes for very chewy cookies, 12 for average, and 14 for crisp cookies is about right.
- This dough is firm enough that your children and grandchildren can help roll the cookie dough into balls and dip them into the sugar.
- Use a larger sugar crystals like turbinado sugar or white decorative sugar to roll the dough in. You can use regular granulated sugar, too. It's just that the texture is crunchy and much nicer when you roll the dough in the larger crystals.
- If you like crisper cookies bake them a little longer.
- Let the cookies cool and set on the pan before you try to move them. At least 10 minutes.
- The dough freezes well. Make the dough balls and flash freeze them right on the cookie sheet. Once they are frozen dump them in a freezer bag. When you are ready to bake just put however many frozen cookie dough balls you want on a baking sheet and bake as usual.
- These travel extremely well and are good for shipping to loved ones in college and in the military.
- Make the balls bigger and use them for the sandwich part of an ice cream sandwich. Yum!
- If you'll be sending these to someone be sure to read my tips for shipping cookies.
👩🍳 FAQs
Here are the questions I am most frequently asked about this recipe.
In traditional peanut butter cookies it flattens them out and helps them to cook more evenly. The fork marks are not necessary in these peanut butter molasses crinkles.
Also called peanut butter blossoms. I just happen to have a recipe for that - Peanut Butter Hershey's Kiss Cookies.
As a general rule peanut butter is too dense to substitute for butter but you CAN use it for half the butter in peanut butter cookies. That way you do get a lot of extra peanut butter flavor.
Peanut butter cookies have a lot of sugar - and that's not good for doggos BUT there's nothing in peanut butter cookies that will hurt your dog if you share your treats once in awhile. Just make sure that you've used sugar and not erythritol or artificial sweeteners - those are deadly to dogs.
📚 Related recipes
I love homemade cookies of all kinds! Once summer is over and the kids are headed back to school I like slipping a few freshly baked cookies into their lunches.
Here are more of my favorite cookie recipes -
- Soft Snickerdoodles Cookies are fluffy, soft in the middle and just a little chewy on the edges. Seriously the BEST snickerdoodle recipe out there. Each bite includes lots of sprinkles!
- Red Hot Snickerdoodles are going to be the favorite of anyone who loves Hot Tamales or Red Hots candy. Full of spicy cinnamon flavor these may just be the spicy snickerdoodles sugar cookies you’ve been looking for!
- Remember Ranger Cookies? They're chewy cookies that travel well - to school or overseas. Recipe is full of oatmeal, coconut, pecans and other good things for a hearty snack anytime.
- Monster Cookies are crispy, chewy, oatmeal based cookies with a variety of types of chocolates added. These are a lunch box favorite - and with good reason!
🥄 Restless Chipotle recommends
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You'll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
Silicone mats are the way to bake cookies! No sticking, no burning. Grandma's Molasses is the brand I use most often and the brand I used in these cookies. Just makes sure whatever brand you use says "unsulphured" or the taste will be too strong and bitter.
📞 The last word
I don't know about you but I do not like peanut butter cookies that crumble when you bite into them and turn into dry sawdust as you chew.
I want something that is crisp when I nibble the edges and chewy as I get to the middle -- AND I want to taste peanut butter!
Looking for a traditional recipe? You love these classic peanut butter cookies with the crosshatch design.
If you love crinkle cookies as much as I do try the cinnamon crinkles!
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Peanut Butter Crinkles
Print Save Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt, kosher salt
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, (½ stick) softened
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup unsulphured molasses
- Turbinado or granulated sugar for sugaring cookies
Instructions
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl until combined.
- Beat together peanut butter, butter, and brown sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes on medium high.
- Add egg and molasses, beating until combined.
- Reduce speed to low, then mix in flour mixture until combined.
- Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 375°F.
- Roll 1 heaping teaspoon of dough into a 1-inch ball with wet hands.
- Roll ball in sugar or turbinado sugar to cover.
- Arrange 2-inches apart on a baking sheet covered with silpat or parchment paper.
- Bake cookies undersides are golden brown and tops "crackle", 10 to 12 minutes total.
- Cool on cookie sheets 5 minutes.
- Transfer to racks to cool completely.
Notes
- As they bake deep cracks form and the outside gets a crispy coating from the sugar. The inside stays soft and chewy but if you like crisper cookies leave them in the oven an extra minute or two. 10 minutes for very chewy cookies, 12 for average, and 14 for crisp cookies is about right.
- This dough is firm enough that your children and grandchildren can help roll the cookie dough into balls and dip them into the sugar.
- Use a larger sugar crystals like turbinado sugar or white decorative sugar to roll the dough in. You can use regular granulated sugar, too. It's just that the texture is much nicer when you roll the dough in the larger crystals.
- Be sure to use unsulfured molasses like Grandma's Molasses. Blackstrap molasses and the like are not what you want in this recipe!
- If you like crisper cookies bake them a little longer.
- Let the cookies cool and set on the pan before you try to move them. At least 10 minutes.
- The dough freezes well. Make the dough balls and flash freeze them right on the cookie sheet. Once they are frozen dump them in a freezer bag. When you are ready to bake just put however many frozen cookie dough balls you want on a baking sheet and bake as usual.
- These travel extremely well and are good for shipping to loved ones in college and in the military.
- Make the balls bigger and use them for the sandwich part of an ice cream sandwich. Yum!
- If you'll be sending these to someone be sure to read my tips for shipping cookies.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
First published March 17, 2017. Last updated January 19,2023 to improve readability and replace areas of corrupted code.
Lisa says
I made them with almond butter and they were delicious!!
Philip says
Very good kids love them
Linda says
These were just as you described - Thick soft cookies with chewy middles and crispy edges! The only change I made was to use KAF Measure for Measure gluten free flour.
This recipe is a keeper! Thank you!
Joel says
I just made a double batch. These things are delicious.
Elena Neely says
I have your recipe printed and have used and loved it before but I noticed that you now only use 1tsp of baking soda instead of 2 tsp which is what’s printed on my copy (no I don’t know what year I printed it out but at least 3 years ago) and was wondering why you changed it. I also was going to ask if I don’t have unsalted butter could I just use regular and leave out the extra salt called for in the recipe?
Marye says
Oh goodness. Not I'll be forced to make these today and see why! :::YAY!!!::::: I think that last time I made them the baking soda seemed harsh? You can use regular butter for sure.
Schuyler says
These were good, but I think the baking soda should've been cut in half - mine came out a bit fluffy.
Marye Audet says
Really? Mine weren't at all - they were chewy. I wonder if my baking soda was outdated?!
Miz Helen says
We will love your Peanut Butter Molasses Cookies! Thanks so much for sharing your post with us at Full Plate Thursday this week. Hope you will come back and visit us again real soon!
Miz Helen
Marye Audet says
Thanks for stopping by!