Creamy Smooth Peanut Butter Cookies

These peanut butter cookies skip the traditional fork crosshatch and go for a thumbprint dimple in the center instead, optionally finished with a single peanut pressed into each one. The result looks more like a thumbprint cookie at a holiday cookie swap and tastes like a dialed-up version of the lunchbox classic.

The ratios are what set this recipe apart. A full 1½ cups of peanut butter (more than most recipes call for) gives them serious peanut intensity, while 1½ cups of brown sugar to one cup of granulated leans the texture toward soft and chewy rather than crisp. The molasses in the brown sugar attracts moisture and keeps the cookies tender for days.

Makes 5 dozen, which is the right amount for a holiday tin, an after-school snack jar, or a bake sale where these always sell out first.

Pro Tips

• Use creamy peanut butter, not natural. The processed kind (Skippy, Jif) emulsifies into the dough properly; natural separates and gives oily cookies.
• Cream the butter and peanut butter thoroughly before adding sugars. Properly creamed fat creates the air pockets that give the cookies their lift.
• Make the thumbprint dimple gently, not deep. Too deep and the cookie cracks at the edges; just deep enough to hold a peanut.
• Don’t overbake. Pull cookies when edges are set but centers still look slightly underdone. They firm up on the hot pan and stay soft in the middle.
• Let cool on the cookie sheet for 2 to 3 minutes before transferring to a rack. Hot peanut butter cookies are too tender to lift cleanly straight from the oven.

Variations

• Press a chocolate kiss into each thumbprint instead of a peanut for a peanut butter blossom version.
• Add 1 cup of chocolate chips to the dough for chocolate-chip-peanut-butter cookies.
• Roll dough balls in granulated sugar before baking for a sparkly, slightly crunchy exterior.