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Perfectly soft and chewy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies are made with simple ingredients – quick oats, peanut butter, and brown sugar – and baked to cookie perfection. These comforting cookies are an irresistible treat that’s ready in just 30 minutes!

A white plate piled with peanut butter oatmeal cookies sits on a blue rustic table. In the background, two glasses of milk are visible, one with a cookie resting on top.


 

🥜 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!

Table of Contents

My 2 Best Tips For Making Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Let the Dough Rest: The resting period allows the oats to absorb moisture from the wet ingredients, which prevents the cookies from spreading too much during baking and creates that perfect chewy texture. Skipping this step can result in flatter, less cohesive cookies!

Watch the Baking Time Carefully: These cookies can go from perfectly golden to overbaked quickly…ask me how I know!! Look for edges that are set and lightly golden brown, but centers that still look slightly underdone. They’ll continue cooking on the hot pan after you remove them from the oven.

Melissa in her kitchen smiling in front of the starting ingredients for the chicken the quinoa salad and skillet chicken on the wood block in front of her

🩷 Melissa

From start to finish, these cookies come together in about 30 minutes. The simple mixing method and quick bake time make them perfect for last-minute treats, after school snacks, or when you need to satisfy a cookie craving fast!

You probably have most of these pantry staples on hand already, plus these cookies store well, so you could make a ton and keep them for later, meal prep for the week’s lunches, or even send as a gift.

A white plate piled with peanut butter oatmeal cookies sits on a blue rustic table. In the background, two glasses of milk are visible, one with a cookie resting on top.
4.96 from 44 votes

Soft & Chewy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

By: Melissa Griffiths
Perfectly soft and chewy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies are made with simple ingredients – quick oats, peanut butter, and brown sugar – and baked to cookie perfection. These comforting cookies are an irresistible treat that's ready in just 30 minutes!
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Total: 25 minutes
Servings: 48 cookies
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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°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. (You can also use a hand mixer if you don't have a stand mixer.)
  • 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 to give the oats time to absorb some of the moisture so you get a 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 for each cookie.
  • Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are set and lightly golden brown.
  • 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.

Notes

Thick Peanut Butter: 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
Best Oats to Use: I prefer 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. You can substitute old-fashioned or rolled oats in equal amounts; pulse them in a blender or food processor for a few seconds to make them more like instant oats.
Storing 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.
Freeze the Dough:
  1. 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).
  2. After the cookie dough balls have frozen through, add them to an air-tight container or a freezer zipper-top baggie.
  3. When you are ready to bake the dough, simply preheat the oven, place the frozen cookie dough balls on a cookie sheet, and bake, adding 2-4 minutes to the suggested cook time, as needed. No need to thaw ahead of time!

Nutrition

Serving: 1 of 48 cookies, Calories: 130kcal, Carbohydrates: 15g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 17mg, Sodium: 89mg, Potassium: 53mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 181IU, Calcium: 24mg, Iron: 1mg
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How to Make Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

A food processor bowl containing a thick, light brown dough mixture pressed against the sides, viewed from above on a white countertop.

Step 1: Cream together the butter and peanut butter.

Close-up of oatmeal cookie dough being mixed in a white food processor, showing a crumbly, golden-brown texture with visible oats.

Step 2: Add the sugars, eggs, and vanilla and mix. Next, add all of the dry ingredients and stir to combine.

top view of baking sheet of oatmeal peanut butter cookie dough on a baking sheet

Step 3: Using a cookie scoop or two spoons, place a large tablespoon of dough on the baking sheet, about 3 inches apart.

A baking tray lined with parchment paper holds twelve freshly baked oatmeal cookies, with a metal spatula lifting one. Glasses and a jar of milk are seen in the background on a wooden surface.

Step 4: Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are set and lightly golden brown. 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.

Recipe FAQs

Can I use old-fashioned oats instead of quick-cooking oats?

In oatmeal cookies, old fashioned oats will give you a chewier texture, and quick oats will result in slightly less chewy cookies, but the flavor is the same. I like using quick oats for this recipe because they break down more during baking, but you can substitute old-fashioned oats. Just pulse them in a food processor a few times to break them up slightly, or expect a more rustic texture with chewier oat pieces.

My cookies turned out too flat – what went wrong?

Flat cookies usually result from butter that’s too warm, not enough flour, or skipping the resting period. Make sure your butter is at room temperature (not melted), measure flour accurately, and don’t skip the 5-minute rest. Also, check that your baking soda is fresh.

Can I make these cookies gluten-free?

Yes! Simply substitute the all-purpose flour with your favorite gluten-free flour blend in a 1:1 ratio. Make sure to check that your oats are certified gluten-free as well, since regular oats can be cross-contaminated during processing.

top view of an oatmeal peanut butter cookie on a glass of milk, next to a plate of cookies.

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About Melissa Griffiths

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4.96 from 44 votes (4 ratings without comment)

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64 Comments

  1. Sharon Glazier says:

    5 stars
    Thank you for sharing this recipe. The cookies are great!

    Reply
  2. Claudia says:

    5 stars
    My husband and I just made these cookies & had one from the first batch, still warm. This is THE BEST peanut better cookie recipe EVER!!! Such a nice flavor with a great texture! I will be getting rid of all my other PB cookie recipes. This is IT for us! Thank you so much for sharing!

    Reply
    1. Melissa says:

      That’s how I feel about these too!

  3. Ellen Brown says:

    4 stars
    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.

    Reply
  4. Dianne says:

    5 stars
    Delicious! I will be making these again for sure.

    Reply
  5. Diane. says:

    5 stars
    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.

    Reply
  6. Monica Johnson says:

    5 stars
    Everyone absolutely loves these cookies when I make them. I make them just as it’s listed.

    Reply
  7. Sabrina Northern says:

    5 stars
    I added chopped up Reese’s pb cups and walnuts. Big hit!!

    Reply
    1. Melissa says:

      That sounds amazing!

    2. Sarah Lucero-Malagon says:

      5 stars
      I gotta try that!

  8. Judy says:

    5 stars
    Delicious! I added some honey roasted peanuts.

    Reply
    1. Melissa says:

      Delicious! I added some honey roasted peanuts.

  9. Kandi L Fortenberry says:

    5 stars
    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! 😁

    Reply
  10. La says:

    5 stars
    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! 😋

    Reply
    1. Melissa says:

      Ok that sounds amazing!! Thank you for sharing the idea!