Chewy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

I had a revelation: oatmeal and peanut butter are a match made in dessert heaven. Each alone makes a wonderful cookie, but together they are the perfect duet! Like, cue cookie angels singing with a harp good. 

To be fair, I haven’t met a cookie that I don’t like, but there's something extra warm and homey about these cookies. It must be the soft, chewy texture of the oats paired with the salty, nutty peanut butter. Swoon! With simple ingredients and just a few steps, this recipe comes together in a snap. 

Bring them to a friend’s house, put them on a cookie tray or keep them in a cookie jar for those need-a-cookie moments. 

3 Key Ingredients

These cookies bake up nice and thick without being overly dense. There are three key ingredients that help with that:

• Oatmeal: To get an extra chewy texture, old-fashioned rolled oats came out as the winner for this recipe. They are thicker than quick-cooking oats, making the overall cookie chewier. This recipe calls for loads of old-fashioned rolled oats, 3 1/2 cups!
• Sugar: These cookies only call for one kind of sugar—light brown sugar (three cheers for easy!). I think it produces a moister and thicker cookie than granulated sugar. I also love how brown sugar pairs with the nutty, salty flavor of the peanut butter.
• Peanut Butter: The best peanut butter for these cookies is regular smooth peanut butter, not the all-natural kind. All-natural peanut butter will cause the cookies to spread too much, resulting in a flat, crunchy cookie. It may also become crumbly. Any brand of smooth peanut butter will do, as long as it’s not labeled as all-natural. 

My Tips for Baking Cookies

Here are some things to keep in mind when baking these cookies:

Room temperature butter is best: The butter should not be cold or warm. Cool or room temperature is best. If the butter is too cold, you’ll have a difficult time creaming it and getting the ingredients to incorporate properly. If the butter is too warm, the cookie will spread too much in the oven. Aim for 64°F to 68°F. 

The idea of using a thermometer for cookies sounds like a terrible? Pick up the butter. It should be soft, but still hold its shape. 

Unsalted butter is best: Make sure it’s unsalted butter, unless you really, really like salt. For this recipe, I do not recommend salted butter. In a pinch, proceed with the salted butter, but leave out the salt. 

Weigh the flour: If you don’t have a kitchen scale, use a spoon to scoop the flour into the measuring cup. Once the flour has reached just above the top of the measuring cup, use the backside of a knife to scrape off any excess flour. 

The flour compacts when scooped with a measuring cup—you’ll end up with too much flour. Properly measuring the flour is difference between dense, dry cookies and wonderfully moist and chewy cookies. 

Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl: Stop the mixer while beating the batter and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to help mix it properly. Whenever I don’t do this, I end up with poorly combined dough and flat or lopsided cookies. 

Chill the dough: Chill the dough for 1 hour before baking the cookies. It makes the biggest difference in texture. You could bake them without chilling, but they will be denser and much thinner. 

Use a cookie scoop: This recipe calls for a 3-tablespoon cookie scoop to form the dough. A regular ice cream scoop also does the trick! To keep the dough from sticking to the inside, wipe it clean every three or four scoops with a paper towel or a rinse under running water. 

Let the cookies cool: Cool the cookies for at least 30 minutes directly on the baking sheet set over a wire rack. It will be tempting to eat one right away (I know), but they will fall apart! The cookies need time to properly set and prepare themselves to be eaten. 

Cookie Add-Ins

Use this recipe as a guide and feel free to play with some of your favorite mix-ins. 

• Add a handful of raisins or nuts. Chopped walnuts, pecans, or even peanuts make a great addition!
• Add 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. 
• Try adding 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips—I like dark chocolate, but any type will do! It may seem like a lot of chocolate chips, but it all comes together perfectly. If you decide to add nuts too, reduce the chocolate chips to 1 cup. 

Make the Cookies Ahead

If you have no need for 24 large cookies all at once, consider freezing some.  Scoop the dough on a baking sheet and freeze it until solid. Transfer the frozen cookie dough into a freezer bag. The unbaked cookies will last in the freezer for up to 3 months. 

There is no need to thaw the cookie dough before baking. Just add a couple of extra minutes to the baking time. 

Oatmeal Treats to Try

• Oatmeal Almond Butter Breakfast Cookies
• Carmelitas
• Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Orange Pecan Cookies
• Oatmeal Lace Cookies
• Easy Overnight Oats