Fantastic chewy, peanut-buttery peanut butter oatmeal cookies that everyone will love, plus instructions for freezing the dough for later.
If you’ve never had a peanut butter oatmeal cookie before, friend, you’re in for a treat. They’re the perfect cookie hybrid.
All the satisfying, rich peanut-buttery flavor of a good peanut butter cookie and the bendy, chewy texture and crispy edges of an oatmeal cookie.
Plus (at least here in California) this isn’t a cookie you see every day, so you set out plate of these, and people are always excited to get something a little different and new.
This recipe will make two-dozen large cookies (no worries small-batch friends, here’s a small-batch peanut butter oatmeal cookie recipe for you).
And if you don’t feel like eating all two dozen right now, there are instructions below for freezing baked cookies and dough so you can stock up your freezer for later.
Ingredients
- Softened butter: I like to use salted butter in these cookies, but you can replace it with unsalted butter if that’s what you have. Just add an extra 1/8-1/4 teaspoon of salt.
- Peanut butter: Go with a processed brand like Jiff or Skippy, as these give you the most consistent results for baking. You could probably get away with using natural peanut butter if you really want to, but these cookies have not been tested with it, so I can’t guarantee the results.
- Brown and granulated sugar: A mix of brown and granulated sugar is used to sweeten the cookies.
- Large eggs: The eggs in this recipe add moisture to the dough and act as a binder for the rest of the ingredients.
- Vanilla extract: Even in peanut butter cookies, a little vanilla in the dough is such an excellent flavor boost.
- All-purpose flour: Make sure you’re measuring your flour either by weight or using the spoon and sweep method (stir the flour in your container to fluff it up and then spoon it into your measuring cup, sweep excess off with the flat of a knife). Too much flour and your cookies might not spread correctly.
- Quick-cooking oats: I prefer quick-cook oats for these cookies, but see my note below if you don’t have any on hand.
Baking soda: Baking soda gives the cookies a little lift and (along with the sugar) helps them spread.
A Note on Oats
This recipe calls for quick-cook oats (AKA instant or minute oats). These are rolled oats that have been processed into smaller, thinner pieces so they cook more quickly. Using quick-cooked oats gives you a less “oaty” cookie. You’ll still get plenty of texture, but your peanut butter oat cookies aren’t going to taste like a granola bar.
If you normally keep old-fashioned/rolled oats on hand, not a problem. You can either embrace the extra texture and use them as-is or place 2 cups of oats into your food processor, pulse until most of the oats have been cut into smaller pieces and measure out 1 1/2 cups of the processed oats to use in the cookies.
Do not use steel-cut oats. No good can come of that.
How to Make Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Set your butter out to soften about an hour before you’re ready to make your cookies. When your butter is properly softened, you should be able to smoosh an indentation into it with your finger, but the butter around it should still hold its shape. To speed up butter softening, cut it into little pieces and place somewhere warm in your kitchen.
- Once butter is softened, cream butter, peanut butter, and sugars together.
- Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
- Beat in the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt.
- Scoop spoonfuls of dough onto baking sheets. Bake cookies 6 to 8 to a sheet because they SPREAD. Cool cookies on the baking sheet for 10 minutes to give them time to firm up, and then transfer them to a cooling rack and enjoy!
Freezing Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Freezing Baked Cookies: To freeze baked cookies, cool completely, transfer to a freezer bag, and store in the freezer for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to eat one, you can defrost the cookie on the counter for 10 to 15 minutes or just eat it frozen.
Frozen cookies are surprisingly refreshing on a hot day.
Freezing Cookie Dough: To freeze the cookie dough, shape into balls and place on a plate or tray that will fit in your freezer until dough is frozen solid. Transfer frozen dough to a freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to 2 to 3 months.
Baking Frozen Dough: Frozen cookie dough can go directly from the freezer to the oven. Bake on a parchment paper or silicone baking mat-lined baking sheet at 350°F for 13 to 16 minutes, until the top of the cookie/s looks set and bottom edges are lightly browned.
FAQ
How to store cookies?
Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 or 5 days. For longer storage, freeze for up to 2 months.
Can I add chocolate chips?
Yes!!! !!!! Chocolate chip peanut butter oatmeal cookies are SO good. Add about 2 cups of chocolate chips or chunks to the cookies. I particularly love to make them with milk chocolate chips.
Update: On the advice of some readers, I’ve started making these with peanut butter chips, and OMG, I can’t recommend it highly enough. Add 2 cups of peanut butter chips after you’ve stirred in the oats, and you will not regret it!
More Reader Favorite Desserts
- The Best Snickerdoodles
- Small-batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Small-batch Banana Muffins
- Kettle Corn
- Dutch Apple Pie
Baking Notes
- Because of the amount of dough this recipe makes, I prefer to make it in a stand mixer for convenience, but as you can see from the recipe video, you can use a hand-held electric mixer or muscle power and a whisk, and your cookies will come out fantastically well.
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (8oz, 2 sticks) salted butter softened
- 1 cup (264g) peanut butter creamy or chunky are fine, not natural peanut butter
- 1 cup (200g) brown sugar
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup (180g) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats*
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, combine butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Beat until well-combined and fluffy, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until completely mixed.
- Add flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Beat (if using a hand-held mixer or making by hand, use a wooden spoon to stir) until just mixed and a sticky dough forms.
- Scoop golf-ball-sized scoops of batter onto baking sheets, 8 to a sheet as far apart as possible (these cookies SPREAD).
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until cookies are browned around the edges and tops look mostly set. For crispier cookies, bake until cookies look completely set.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking tray. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase using them. There is absolutely no additional cost to you.
Amy Milender says
Can I leave out brown sugar or replace it with granulated sugar?
Tracy says
Hi, Amy, it will affect the texture and flavor a little bit, but it should work okay.
Cindy says
These cookies aren’t spreading. They are more cake like in texture re. What went wrong?
Tracy says
Hi, Cindy, without being there, it’s hard to say. Did you make any changes like cutting the butter or sugar or refrigerating the dough before baking? All of these would definitely affect how much they spread.
Sonya Lynette Scott says
I made a small batch and they came out great! I was so happy. I chopped my old fashion oats up with a knife instead of the food processor. They still came out great. Thanks so much.
Tracy says
Hand chopping the oats is a great tip!! So glad you enjoyed the cookies!!
Barbara says
These are the best peanut butter cookies! I used old fashioned oats & didn’t put them in food processor. We love the texture & taste.❤️
Tracy says
Thanks, Barbara!! So glad to hear it!
Rachael says
I just finished making these and they are great! I made it with natural peanut butter. I was tempted to add more sugar bc of the natural peanut butter but decided not to and they came out great. I didn’t change any of the recipe amounts (other than cutting it all in half) and I did add a sprinkle of cinnamon. These taste so much like the girl Scout cookies (do si dos?). I totally see this being a great base for glyten free version or adding chocolate chips. Sandwich marshmallow fluff in between to make an amazing cookie sandwich. Yep, will be making again!
Jeannine Bianchi says
Thank you for “explaining” everything and it’s intent. Bakers like me tend to change things up or use different ingredients. Your explanations are great! I’ll let you know when I try them……
RGray says
I made the cookies and they are bland. My husband and I are trying to figure out what needs to be added for more flavor. If it wasn’t for the chocolate chips I added, it wouldn’t have any flavor accept a little bit of peanut butter.
Amanda says
I made these last night and my family loved then. I used maple brown sugar instant oatmeal instead and half of recipe sprinkled 2-1 sugar and cinnamon on top and my family woke up eating for breakfast lol. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with us.
Tracy says
Cookies for breakfast are the best breakfast!! LOL So glad that you all enjoyed them!!
Megan says
These cookies are 100% PERFECT!!! Please use this recipe. It is perfectly gooey in the center, but has a crisp outside. I used chunky peanut butter and that added some crushed peanuts throughout the cookies which made it so yummy. My family loves these and these are a family favorites of mine.
Tracy says
Thanks, Megan! This makes me so happy to hear!
Kady says
Just made these and they’re amazing! I froze the remaining half, any tips for baking these from frozen?
Tracy says
So glad you enjoyed them, Kady! To bake from frozen, just cook them at the same temperature but extend the baking time slightly (a minute or two) as needed.
Sharron says
Just made this recipe and it is definitely a keeper! Quick and easy for sure and the kids ♥️ It! Mmmmmm . I added a teaspoon of cinnamon to the mix because who doesn’t luv cinnamon with their oatmeal?! A 10 minute baking time and I let them finish up on the baking sheet when they came out of the oven. I also dusted half of the cookies with a sprinkle of granulated sugar and cinnamon just to see how they would turn out. Clean up was a breeze since I used parchment paper on the baking sheets.
OMG!! So goooood!!
Tracy says
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Sharron! Love that idea of adding a sprinkling of sugar and cinnamon at the end!!
Terry C says
I’m looking forward to trying these, We are dairy free here. How bout using Crisco in place of butter? Flavor might change a little but I don’t have much of a choice. Has anyone tried it?
Thank you,
Terry
Tracy says
Hi, Terry, Crisco will work just fine in these. Hope you enjoy them!
Dustin says
I’m not dairy free, but have used butter flavored crisco in chocolate chip cookies with great success.
Sandra says
I made these cookies to the letter and they did not spread not one bit disappointed
Tracy says
Sorry to hear these didn’t work out for you, Sandra. That’s odd since these cookies usually like to spread a lot. If you’re interested in trying them again, I’d keep a close eye on the way you measure your flour. Use a scale or the spoon and sweep method (stir the flour in your container to fluff it up and then spoon it into your measuring cup, sweep excess off with the flat of a knife). Too much flour can result in cookies that don’t spread. Hope that helps!
Diolores says
With the amounts of sugar, butter and 2 tsp of soda, , these should spread!
Might you have forgotten the baking soda or something? Or mistakenly used one stick of butter instead of two?
(I bake professionally)
Tracy says
That’s a great point. Thanks for weighing in!
Hayley says
Could 2 bananas be added to this recipe? Thank you.
Tracy says
Hmmm, you could definitely experiment with it, but without further testing, I couldn’t say for sure how they would turn out. Sorry!
jane says
Has anyone added chocolate chips and/or raisins to this recipe??
Tracy says
They’re fantastic with chocolate chips (I usually add 1 1/2 to 2 cups of chips). I particularly love them with milk chocolate! I haven’t heard of anyone adding raisins that I remember, but if you like that flavor combo, it wouldn’t hurt anything.
Sarah says
Oh my – these are delicious, so nice and chewy. I made a half recipe and used all old fashioned oats. It’s a unique recipe and will definitely be repeated. Thank you!
Tracy says
I’m so happy you enjoyed them, Sarah!!