Grandma's Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe (2024)

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This old fashioned peanut butter cookies recipe is the homemade cookies recipe my great grandma and grandma made!These cookies are super delicious and easy to make and your family will love them! You can find this recipe in volume 1 of our Dining On A Dime Cookbook.

Grandma's Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe (2)

This peanut butter cookies recipe calls for a few more ingredients than the 4ingredient peanut butter cookies recipe but don’t be afraid to try it. These cookies are nice and fluffy and it’s not any more work to mix them up.

Give these old fashioned peanut butter cookies a try! They’re just like grandma’s– OK, they ARE grandma’s, so everyone will rave about your cookies, too!

Grandma’s Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe

Print Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 5 reviews

Author: Tawra Kellam
Yield: 6-8 dozen

Ingredients

Units

1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°.
Cream shortening and sugars.
Add peanut butter, eggs, vanilla and dry ingredients.
Stir until well blended.
Roll into balls.
Place on a cookie sheet.
Flatten with a fork dipped in flour.
Turn fork 90° and make another fork print for the design.
Bake10 minutes or until brown. Make 6-8 dozen.

Note: To make all your baking super easy and quick, make sure you have a baking center in your kitchen where all the baking supplies are stored in one place. Then you won’t have to move all over the kitchen to get ingredients and put them back. You can do everything in one smooth movement, taking out, using, and putting back all of the ingredients in one quick motion.

I even go so far as to have 5 shakers of salt in my small(20×20 foot) kitchen. I keep one salt shaker with baking ingredients, two others on the stove (different sized tops for different recipes), one with my spices and one on the table. That may seem excessive, but when you have Fibromyalgia you don’t have the energy to waste going back and forth for ingredients.

Baking gets frustrating when you have to walk all over the kitchen from cabinet to cabinet getting ingredients, so keep all your baking ingredients in one place.

This old fashioned peanut butter cookies recipe is from our cookbook:

You can make EASY and delicious meals at home in less time than eating out! You’ll save a ton of money on food and your family will thank you!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

Linda Certuche
August 29, 2017 at 8:56 am

I made this recipe this morning after watching Jack and Mike make cookies. It has a thumbs up from the husband. I’m sure the Wildbunch will wipe them out when they get home from school.
Reply
Mary
June 14, 2019 at 2:35 am

Any chance U can substitute for butter? I don’t use shortening…gross chemicals.
Reply
- Jill
  June 14, 2019 at 8:50 am
  
  Mary you can use butter but the texture and all will not be the same. You might want to do some research (looking at pros and cons) because there are no chemicals in shortening in the sense you are using it. It is an oil that is taken from plants like palm oil, soybean etc. Not sure where the idea came from that it is made from nothing but chemicals but it is once again one of those fear myths that people are believing. As a matter of fact at one point people (doctors too) said do not eat butter because it has more bad fats in it than shortening or margarine. Now things have swung all the way into the other direction saying you shouldn’t eat shortening.
  Just a heads up, everyone may want to rethink their fear about chemicals- did you know there is nothing you breathe, touch, taste or see that is not a chemical. Everything there is is made up of chemicals. So when you say you don’t want to eat or use anything with chemicals in it that means you can’t eat or use anything.
  Reply
  - Shawna
    May 19, 2021 at 4:20 pm
    
    Love the explanation. It’s like educating someone with a smirk!
    Reply
    - Jill
      May 20, 2021 at 8:31 am
      
      Never thought of it like that before Shawna. :) One thing I want people to learn more than anything though is to stop doing all these different myths and ideas out of fear and what “they” say but to truly research things themselves to find out what the truth is. That doesn’t mean just researching the side you want to believe but to open mindedly research both sides in depth.
      Reply
  - Age
    June 1, 2023 at 2:18 am
    
    The cookies were good. I did half butter and half shortening. The next time, I will add a little more peanut butter, sugar, and less shortening.
    Reply
Selma Swank
March 2, 2020 at 11:00 am

Loved! This recipe. I baked all the time as a kid and this recipe brought back so many good memories. I used butter instead of shortening. The cookies were a crunchy buttery taste. My family loved them. I shared with my granddaughter and shared with my son and they LOVED them. Thanks for sharing. I doubled the recipe. I really had fun baking these cookies. The house smelled wonderful!
Reply
LORRAINE
May 21, 2020 at 5:52 am

WHAT KIND OF SHORTING WITH BUTTER OR PLAIN
Reply
- Jill
  May 21, 2020 at 8:45 am
  
  I usually use plain but you can use either because they are the same except for the one has a little butter flavor in it.
  Reply
  - Ellen Anderson
    May 23, 2023 at 10:58 am
    
    Hello, my question is, why do the peanut butter cookies break when taking off the cookie sheet? Am I not leaving them long enough to cool? I haven’t tried your recipe yet, I will as they sound awesome!! Thank you and best to you, Ellen
    Reply
    See Also
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    - Jill
      May 23, 2023 at 1:15 pm
      
      Ellen not for sure but you are right usually they break when you try to move them and they aren’t cool enough but I rarely have mine break even when they aren’t cool so not sure. You might try this recipe and see if you have better luck. Could be the amount of shortening in them and sometimes people use butter in place of shortening or margarine which can really mess with the texture of something and how they hold together. I always recommend too when trying a new recipe make it exactly like the recipe – that way the first time you can see what it is suppose to be like and taste like. Then you can experiment with it the next time you make it and if something goes wrong then you know you need to go back to the original ingredients.
      Reply
Joan
September 26, 2020 at 12:34 pm

I walk with a walker and have a tray to put on my walker when I have to carry things. When cooking or baking I load up my tray with all ingredients and have everything in one place before starting to cook. It helps for a person with disabilities.
Reply
Lora
November 24, 2020 at 8:44 pm

These are awesome peanut butter cookies, I use butter and there a hit in my household every time, thanks for the recipe! ❤️
Reply
- Jill
  November 25, 2020 at 8:26 am
  
  There is nothing like a good old peanut butter cookie for sure.
  Reply
Angela
June 12, 2021 at 1:18 pm

This is the recipe for peanut butter cookies that I’ve been looking for! It has no milk for my dairy-free child. Thank you!
Reply
- Jill
  June 12, 2021 at 6:31 pm
  
  Glad this recipe will work for you Angela. I love this peanut butter cookie recipe so much. They are just good old fashion cookies.
  Reply
Denise
May 19, 2022 at 7:17 am

Good morning, I was wondering if I could use almond butter instead of peanut butter. Due to allergies. Thank you for all you do. Love the how to and the common sense to get things done. ❤️ Denise
Reply
- Jill
  May 19, 2022 at 10:44 am
  
  Denise I am not sure it might work but it would maybe have a different flavor than a strong peanut butter. You might make a half of batch and see. It could have a good flavor to it.
  Reply
- Linda
  August 9, 2022 at 7:11 pm
  
  Can you freeze some of the batter?
  Reply
  - Jill
    August 10, 2022 at 9:04 am
    
    Yes you can. I roll mine in logs and then just take the frozen log out and slice off what I need.
    Reply
    - Sandra Johnson
      November 6, 2022 at 2:23 pm
      
      I followed the recipe to the dot! These are delicious cookies! I have saved this recipe and will make them again!
      Reply
      - Jill
        November 7, 2022 at 9:59 am
        
        Glad you liked them Sandra. I have started taking this recipe to potlucks and things because people (adults and kids alike) really like them and they bring back fond memories for many. Plus they are very easy and inexpensive to make.
Kathie
April 12, 2023 at 2:48 pm

This is the second time I made this recipe. The first time they were perfect. For some reason this time the dough was very crumbly. I don’t know what I did wrong. They taste fine but the dough was messy to work with. Has this ever happened to anyone else?
Reply
- Jill
  April 13, 2023 at 11:12 am
  
  Have never had this happen but all you need to do is to add 2 1/2 cups flour and see what the dough looks like – if sticky add another 1/4 cup of flour up to 3 cups or until it looks right. It could be a couple of things – you maybe just added 2-3 Tbsp. extra of flour with out realizing it by heaping it to much, the kind of peanut butter you used could have been a little drier, even humidity can affect it, your eggs may have been a bit smaller etc. Just adjust the flour.
  Reply
Karen
April 14, 2023 at 12:25 pm

These cookies are SO good!! The only thing I don’t like is I can’t stay out of them!!
Reply
- Jill
  April 15, 2023 at 9:03 am
  
  LOL Karen. I know what you mean. I now can bake them – hold back a couple for me and then take the rest to the grand kids so I am not tempted. LOL
  Reply
Kristine
May 18, 2023 at 1:27 pm

Add a teaspoon of cinnamon, makes them even more yummy!!
Reply
- Kim
  August 5, 2023 at 10:51 am
  
  Great cookies, good taste, however, I could get only 4 dozen of 2 inch cookies.
  Reply
Patrick Amyot
January 14, 2024 at 6:00 pm

I have had a great success with this recipe 😋 ☺️ 😊
Reply

FAQs

Should you refrigerate peanut butter cookie dough before baking? ›

Prep your Peanut Butter Cookie recipe up to 24 hours in advance, cover it and refrigerate it so you are ready to bake at a moment's notice. The kids can even help you scoop, roll and flatten the cookies. If the dough is too firm to scoop, let it stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Read On ›

Why are my peanut butter cookies so dry? ›

Why are my cookies dry and crumbly? This is most likely a classic case of using too much flour. It's crucial to properly measure the flour in this recipe, as even 1 extra tablespoon of flour can completely change the structure of the cookies. You also might have over baked them!

Tell Me More ›

How do you keep peanut butter cookies from falling apart? ›

If you find that the dough is too dry (without the fat) then simply hold back some of the flour and add it near the end of mixing when you add the fat/butter If this helps to hold your baked cookies together, fine. If not then add a few more minutes of mixing.

See Details ›

Why do you put Criss Cross on peanut butter cookies? ›

That's because the first recipe books to include peanut butter cookies recommended using forks to flatten the dough. Eventually more people started recommended a criss-cross pattern over parallel lines, because it flattened the cookie more uniformly.

Find Out More ›

What happens if you don't chill peanut butter cookie dough? ›

Firm dough prevents the cookies from spreading too much, which is why chilling the dough is a crucial step for cut-out and rolled cookies. "The colder and more solid the fat is, the less the cookie will spread," says food stylist and recipe developer Caitlin Haught Brown.

Tell Me More ›

What happens if you don't flatten peanut butter cookies? ›

Peanut butter cookies don't spread as they cook, so you have to flatten them before hand. This ensures that the middle will cook through before the outside burns. As for the pattern created, it actually creates slightly more surface area, so you'll get more browning at the extra edges that you create.

Read The Full Story ›

What happens if you add too much peanut butter to peanut butter cookies? ›

With so much peanut butter in this cookie dough, natural peanut butter will give you a dry, crumbly cookie.

Read The Full Story ›

How do you moisten peanut butter cookie dough? ›

Dry – “Dry” or “Crumbly” dough is a product of over-mixing or using too much of any ingredient during the mixing process. This can be reversed by adding one to two tablespoons of liquid (water, milk or softened butter) to your mix.

How do you make cookies more moist? ›

Cornstarch helps product soft and thick cookies. Using more brown sugar than white sugar results in a moister, softer cookie. An extra egg yolk increases chewiness. Rolling the cookie dough balls to be tall and lumpy instead of wide and smooth gives the cookies a bakery-style textured thickness.

Get More Info Here ›

Why do you refrigerate peanut butter cookie dough? ›

Chill your cookie dough! The dough is extremely soft due to the creamy peanut butter, eggs, and butter and if it's not cold going into the oven, the cookies will spread all over your baking sheet. I chilled this cookie dough for 24 hours and my cookies were soft, thick perfection.

Know More ›

What kind of peanut butter is best for baking cookies? ›

Peanut butter: Creamy peanut butter is ideal for this recipe because crunchy peanut butter creates an overly crumbly cookie. You can use processed peanut butter such as Jif or Skippy, or natural-style peanut butter.

Read On ›

Why do you chill peanut butter cookie dough? ›

For starters, chilling prevents cookies from spreading out too quickly once they're in the oven. If you use a higher fat butter (like Kerrygold), chilling your dough is absolutely essential. Popping your dough in the fridge allows the fats to cool.

Learn More ›

Should I let peanut butter cookie dough rest? ›

We prefer natural peanut butter here, so you can dial in the sugar and salt amounts precisely, and smooth peanut butter over crunchy to better control the cookies' fat and moisture levels. Letting the cookie dough rest ensures the flour is fully hydrated, resulting in crisper edges and chewier middles.

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Why do my peanut butter cookies taste weird? ›

Ones with lots of additives do not have as distinct a peanutty taste. So, use a natural peanut butter. Two, your expectations for a peanut taste are too high. The cookies have lots of other ingredients including a significant amount of flavor that decrease the flavor of the peanut butter.

Keep Reading ›

Why do you mash peanut butter cookies with a fork? ›

Using the long tines of a fork and pressing down on the dough ball twice , one vertically and one horizontally, flattens the dough evenly and leaves attractive marks.

How long should you refrigerate peanut butter cookie dough before baking? ›

Stir the dry ingredients into the sugar butter mixture. Chill the dough: Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate at least 3 hours. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).

Learn More Now ›

Does refrigerating cookie dough before baking help? ›

Chilling cookie dough before baking solidifies the fat in the cookies. As the cookies bake, the fat in the chilled cookie dough takes longer to melt than room-temperature fat. And the longer the fat remains solid, the less cookies spread. In addition, the sugar in the dough gradually absorbs liquid.

How long do you refrigerate cookie dough before cooking? ›

How Long Should I Chill Cookie Dough? Anywhere from 24 to 72 hours. The longer you chill the dough, the more flavor will develop. The flour will also absorb more of the moisture so the thicker and chewier the final texture will be.

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