Who doesn’t love an insanely easy cookie recipe? These soft, chewy, crispy-edged peanut butter oatmeal cookies are not only a breeze to make, but odds are you already have all the ingredients in your pantry: Peanut butter, oats, brown sugar, eggs, and a sprinkling of baking soda. When we say these classic cookies are easy, we’re not kidding. The hardest part of this recipe is waiting for them to cool before eating them.
Cream the peanut butter and brown sugar, add the mix-ins, then bake the cookies until the edges start to crisp. Even better? Like other cookie recipes, there are loads of wickedly good variations for peanut butter oatmeal cookies. It’s the perfect homemade treat that can be thrown together on the fly when guests drop in—or when you have a sweet tooth to satisfy. You’ll add this one to your list of favorite oatmeal cookie recipes in no time.
Ingredients for Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Peanut butter: Chunky peanut butter is our favorite for these cookies, but smooth works equally well in the recipe. Our Test Kitchen generally tests recipes like this with commercially made peanut butter vs. natural ones. (Here’s their pick for the best peanut butter for baking) Natural peanut butter may affect the texture of the cookies, possibly rendering it more crumbly.
- Oats: There are a few types of oats out there, but the best for baking are quick-cooking and old-fashioned oats. The latter lends a chewier texture to these peanut butter oatmeal cookies.
- Brown sugar: The main reason we love brown sugar for this recipe is its rich, molasses-like flavor, and it combines more easily with peanut butter compared to white sugar for extra soft and puffy cookies. (This is thanks to the air pockets that form when creaming the two ingredients.) Use light or dark brown sugar—dark will add even more molasses flavor.
- Eggs: The glue for many a baking project, eggs act as a binding agent and help your dough come together. Eggs also help the cookies spread out when baking.
- Baking soda: For soft, chewy cookies, rather than flat, hard discs reminiscent of hockey pucks, a rising agent like baking soda is a must. Baking soda releases carbon dioxide as the cookies bake, so they rise and have a light texture.
Directions
Step 1: Make the cookie dough
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Cream the peanut butter and brown sugar in a bowl until airy.
Beat in the egg, then stir in oats and baking soda until the mixture is well combined.
Editor’s Tip: The key to soft, chewy cookies is to cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Even though you cream peanut butter and sugar in this recipe, don’t rush the step! It creates the same desired airiness as butter and sugar.
Step 2: Bake the cookies
Grease a baking sheet. Drop tablespoons of the dough on the prepared tray 2 inches apart.
Flatten the cookies slightly with your fingers. Bake until lightly browned, six to eight minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Variations
- Add chocolate: Whatever types of baking chocolate you like in cookies, you’ll love them here. Milk chocolate chips will make your cookies sweeter, while dark chocolate gives a rich, almost bitter flavor. You can split the difference with semi-sweet chocolate or even reach for white chocolate. The bottom line: Chocolate peanut butter oatmeal cookies are a revelation.
- Mix in chopped nuts: Chopped almonds, walnuts, pecans and hazelnuts will bring a bit of crunch and an extra layer of nutty flavor to your cookies.
- Add warm baking spices: Amp up the flavor with a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice or pumpkin pie spice.
- Use honey instead of sugar: Instead of sugar, honey will lend a subtle floral flavor to your cookies. It’s an easy 1:1 substitution, but you may want to chill the dough slightly before baking, so the cookies don’t spread too much.
- Add vanilla extract: There’s no question that vanilla improves every baking recipe. Use homemade vanilla extract or one of our Test Kitchen’s picks for the best vanilla extract.
- Make GF cookies: Use gluten-free oats for gluten-free peanut butter oatmeal cookies. Make sure your peanut butter is also gluten-free.
How to Store Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Pop your peanut butter oatmeal cookies in an airtight container and keep them in the fridge for up to four days. Because these five-ingredient oatmeal cookies don’t have flour, they have a shorter shelf life.
Can you freeze peanut butter oatmeal cookies?
These cookies freeze extremely well. Once cooled, store the cookies in a freezer-safe bag or container in the freezer for up to three months.
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Tips
Why did my oatmeal cookies go flat?
Wondering why your cookies are flat? It happens for several reasons. If there aren’t enough air pockets in the dough, your cookies won’t puff up when baking. The easy fix? Cream the peanut butter and sugar well so it’s light and fluffy. Another easy trick for avoiding flat cookies is to chill the dough for about 30 minutes before baking. The peanut butter will harden, which means it will melt slower in the oven, and the cookies won’t spread quite as much when baking.
Finally, don’t forget to test your baking soda to see if it’s still active. There are a couple of ways to do this, but the easiest is to pour a little baking soda into a bowl and add a splash of vinegar. If it fizzes, you’re good to break out the mixing bowl!
Can you use old-fashioned oats in cookies?
You can definitely use old-fashioned oats for these cookies and most oatmeal recipes. Also known as whole rolled oats, old-fashioned oats lend a chewy texture to your oatmeal cookies. If you want a texture more like quick oats, pulse the old-fashioned oats in a food processor a few times to break them down into smaller pieces.
Why are my oatmeal cookies dry?
The simplest way to ensure your cookies don’t wind up dry is to avoid overbaking them. Too long in the oven can make your oatmeal cookies go hard. For recipes with flour, it’s important to accurately measure your ingredients before assembling the dough. If there’s too much flour in your dough, it will dry out your cookies.
