When it comes to a classic you absolutely cannot go wrong with these Easy Peanut Butter Cookies. Done in no time, these are an every day hit for family and friends.

I’ve been on a peanut butter kick lately, and these Easy Peanut Butter Cookies had to be made. We have been making them for years, and they are the only way we make our Peanut Butter Cookies.

The secret to these cookies is that we use dry vanilla pudding mix in them. Trust me, it really makes them chewy and amazing, it also gives a nice bonus flavor but still lets that classic flavor shine through.

This makes a nice large batch of 24 cookies, enough to keep everyone satisfied. But if your family is anything like mine, we always double the recipe because these don’t last very long.

We are absolutely a cookie family around here, they are one of our favorite desserts. I mean we eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well – but who’s counting.

I know everyone has their go-to Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe, but if you get a chance to try my Easy Peanut Butter Cookies I promise that they will NOT disappoint.

Ready in less than 30 minutes, you can have yourself a chewy large batch of cookies that everyone will be running to the kitchen for, trust me you’ll want to make these.

Some of our other favorite peanut butter recipes that we have on our site include: Ultimate Peanut Butter Brownies, Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars and Peanut Butter Cake.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:

Staple pantry ingredients help these come together fast.
You can easily double, triple or halve this recipe.
They are super soft and chewy, the best type of cookie.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM):

Butter flavored shortening
Creamy peanut butter
Light brown sugar
Instant vanilla pudding mix
Large eggs
Additional large egg yolk
Vanilla extract
All-purpose flour
Baking soda
Salt
Granulated sugar, for optional coating

HOW TO MAKE EASY PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES, STEP BY STEP:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
With a hand mixer, beat together the shortening, peanut butter, and sugar until smooth.
Add the dry pudding mix, eggs, additional egg yolk, and vanilla extract. On medium speed, beat for about another minute to combine.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in ½ cup intervals and beat until incorporated.
Using a medium cookie scoop, portion out the dough into balls.
Roll the dough between the palms of your hand creating a ball.
Then roll the cookie dough balls in granulated sugar if desired.
Place the cookie dough balls on the prepared cookie sheet about two inches apart. Using a fork, gently press the balls flat, making two indents with the fork tines in crisscrossing marks.
Bake for 9 to 12 minutes. Remove from the over and let sit on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

DO I HAVE TO USE SHORTENING?

The butter flavored shortening we feel really gives these the nice chewy texture along with the pudding. You can swap out butter if you like, but I cannot guarantee that they will be as chewy.

CAN I USE CHUNKY PEANUT BUTTER?

We love creamy peanut butter in this recipe, but if you are looking for a texture contrast you can use chunky. We love to also have some bite of peanut pieces in the cookies as well.

HOW MANY COOKIES DOES THIS MAKE?

This recipe makes 2 dozen or 24 Easy Peanut Butter Cookies. If you want more you can easily double this recipe, or you can halve it to have less.

CAN I ADD ANY ADDITIONS TO MY PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES?

While we love these just the way they are, you can add some additions to your dough or on top. Some of our favorites include:

Peanut butter chips
Chocolate chips
Reese’s Pieces
Chopped peanuts
Chocolate drizzle
Flaked sea salt

HOW TO STORE:

These can be stored in an airtight container on the countertop where they will keep for up to 1 week.

They can also be frozen, place in a freezer container or bag and they will keep for up to 3 months.

To defrost, remove the cookies from the freezer and place on the countertop until thawed.

TIPS AND TRICKS:

Do not use natural peanut butter for this recipe.
You can use chunky peanut butter for a texture contrast if you’d like.
The shortening can be swapped out for butter, but it may lose some of the chewy consistency.
Make sure that you are not preparing your pudding and using the dry powder from the mix.
You can easily double this recipe to make more.
These can be frozen, see above on how to do that.
Additions can be added to the dough or the top, see above on some ideas.
The dough does not need to be chilled.
The sugar coating on them is optional, but highly recommended.

Want that perfectly chewy and peanut buttery cookie recipe? You need not search anymore, these Easy Peanut Butter Cookies are the only recipe you’ll be needing.

If you like this recipe you might also like:

If you’ve tried these EASY PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies