BEST Soft & Chewy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
on Feb 20, 2019, Updated Jul 19, 2024
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Perfectly soft and chewy, Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies are made with quick oats, peanut butter, and brown sugar and baked to cookie perfection.
These cookies are super soft and packed with oatmeal cookie and peanut butter flavors, which I love. They are so great warm, and they store well, too! If oatmeal cookies and peanut butter cookies had a baby, this would be it! These are right up there with my Chocolate Chip Cookies and my Oreo Cookies!
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Cookies..need I say more?
- They are soft, full of flavor, and easy to make!
- They store well, so you could make a ton and keep them for later
Recipe Ingredients
- Butter
- Peanut butter – creamy
- Sugar – granulated and brown
- Eggs
- Oatmeal
- Flour
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Cream together the butter and peanut butter.
- Add the sugars, eggs, and vanilla and mix
- Next, add all of the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
- Make into balls, bake, and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
In oatmeal cookies, old-fashioned oats will give you a chewier texture, and quick oats will be slightly less chewy, but the flavor is the same. It’s really a personal preference which one you like better for baking, and it also depends on what the recipe calls for. I like quick oats for this recipe, which are the best for the softer texture but still great oatmeal cookie flavor.
The correct answer is to use unsalted butter for baked goods. That way, you can control the amount of salt in the recipe. I like to make my own butter and salt it just how I want. That being said, I love a little extra salt in things, so baking with salted butter is no issue. Use what you like and what you have for this recipe. If you are sensitive to salt, use unsalted! Use salted butter if you like things a little salty (me!).
The best peanut butter to use when making these cookies is a
creamy peanut butter like Skippy or Jif. Steer clear of natural
peanut butter for this recipe because it will change the texture of
the cookies.
Expert Tips
- To freeze the oatmeal cookie dough, make the dough into balls and then let them freeze for a few hours on the cookie tray (or in a dish so that they aren’t touching much). After the cookie dough balls have frozen through, add them to an air-tight container or a freezer zipper-top baggie. When you are ready to bake the dough, simply preheat your oven, place the frozen cookie dough balls on a baking sheet, and bake, adding 2-4 minutes to the suggested cook time, as needed. No need to thaw ahead of time.
- I like to use the thicker peanut butter here that is not the natural kind, if it’s too drippy your cookies will spread when baking
- Use instant or quick-cooking oats for this recipe; they tend to be smaller pieces than old-fashioned oats, and the texture is a little lighter.
More Peanut Butter Cookie Recipes:
Peanut Butter Cookies
Hershey Kiss Cookies
Peanut Butter Cookies
Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies
Dessert Recipes
Life-Changing Peanut Butter S’mores Bars
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Soft Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar, light or dark
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats, (also called instant or minute oats)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat.
- In a large bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer) beat together the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar, until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (using a hand mixer if you don’t have a stand mixer is a good option.)
- Add the two eggs and vanilla and mix to combine.
- Add the oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to the bowl and mix to combine well.
- Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes and then stir again (this gives the oats time to absorb some of the moisture giving you the nice cookie dough texture).
- Using a cookie scoop or two spoons, place a large tablespoon of dough on the baking sheet, about 3 inches apart.
- Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are set and lightly browned.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing from the sheet and placing on a wire rack to cool.
- Enjoy right away. Store extras in an air-tight container for up to a week or in the freezer for much longer.
Notes
- Butter is the best for cookies. It adds great flavor and helps the texture to be nice and crisp
- For cookies that will be eaten in a day or two, store soft cookies in a container with a tight-fitting cover.
- both granulated and brown sugars are great and add color and flavor to the finished cookies
- The key to keeping cookies fresh and soft is to seal them in an airtight container, like a resealable freezer bag. And here’s a nifty little trick: add a piece of bread to the bag.
I used regular oatmeal and they aren’t as soft but still good. Also added chocolate chips because my grandkids love them. Only comment is you don’t need to bake on parchment paper. With this much fat they slide right off. Why waste paper.
Delicious! I will be making these again for sure.
Yummy! I just can’t use Skippy or Jif type peanut butter but I wanted to make these and realized I didn’t have any peanut butter but had natural sunflower butter on hand, so that’s what I used. The only other change I made was to add some cinnamon. If I had some sunflower seeds on hand would have added those too. This is a good recipe. Although I didn’t with this batch, I wonder if one could just add a little extra oats or flour if using natural peanut butter to prevent too much spreading or just refrigerate them first.
Thank you for the recipe.
Everyone absolutely loves these cookies when I make them. I make them just as it’s listed.
I added chopped up Reese’s pb cups and walnuts. Big hit!!
That sounds amazing!
Delicious! I added some honey roasted peanuts.
Ohh that sounds wonderful, thanks for the tip!
This recipe is one of our favorites! I use more brown sugar than white and add two tsp of vanilla, they’re soooo yummy!! This last time I threw in some white chips and my husband said he wants them that way every time! 😁
Love these cookies. Made them a few times. I make a good tablespoon size ball then press a well into the cookie and add a dollop of different flavored jams. Keeps them moist and it’s pb&j! 😋
Ok that sounds amazing!! Thank you for sharing the idea!