Brown Butter Peanut Butter Cookies
Brown Butter Peanut Butter Cookies are soft and chewy, and absolutely loaded with flavor! Browned butter, brown sugar, and a whole lot of PB make these cookies utterly delicious, with a rich depth of flavor everyone will love.
Servings: 24 medium-sized cookies
Ingredients
For the Peanut Butter Cookies:
- 113 grams (1 stick) unsalted butter cubed
- 100 grams (½ cup) light brown sugar
- 50 grams (¼ cup) granulated sugar
- 200 grams (¾ cup) peanut butter*
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 195 grams (1 ½ cups) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (85 grams) peanut butter chips (approximately) for topping
Instructions
Make the Cookies:
- Place butter in a medium stainless steel saucepan or skillet. Over a medium heat, melt the butter, and allow it to brown. This will take approximately 5-8 minutes. Stir occasionally. The butter will foam and become a bit hard to see the bottom – that's okay. Keep an eye on it until the butter is golden brown and there are noticeable deep brown bits at the bottom.
- Remove from heat and transfer to a large heatproof mixing bowl, scraping in all the little brown bits at the bottom of the pan for maximum flavor.
- Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar to the browned butter. Whisk to combine well and set aside to cool to about room temperature. You can place it in the fridge to speed this up.
- Whisk in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Using a medium-sized (2-Tablespoon) cookie scoop, portion the dough into 24 medium-sized balls. Press each dough ball into the peanut butter chips to cover the tops in chips, and to slightly flatten the balls into discs about 1" thick.
- Chilling: For best flavor and texture, cover the cookie dough discs with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
Bake the Cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Place dough discs on light-colored aluminum baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing at least 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 10-13 minutes, or until the cookies appear set at the edges and no longer look wet on top. Allow to cool slightly on the baking trays before serving.
Notes
The Peanut Butter: I used conventional PB (Wegmans store brand), but natural PB will work perfectly - just give it a really good stir before using. Natural PB provides a stronger peanut flavor and a slightly softer cookie.
Topping the Cookies: Don't have any PB chips (or don't like them)? Simply skip this step and instead use a fork or the bottom of a measuring cup to press the cookies into 1" thick discs before baking.
Optional Alternative Toppings: See the full post (above the recipe) for lots of other cookie topping ideas, including a delicious PB icing option.