Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies • they melt in your mouth! (2024)

FAQs

Why are my peanut butter cookies melting? ›

“Baking cookies in a too-cool oven will cause the fat to melt before your cookies set up, leading to spreading,” Dawn says. Grab an oven thermometer the next time you're in the grocery store so you can be sure your oven is at the correct temperature.

You baked on a hot baking sheet.

If you're baking more than one batch of cookies, you want to make sure your baking sheet is properly cooled before using again. If the baking sheet is too warm, it will cause your cookies melt and spread too much in the oven.

A few things can cause your cookies to burn: a dark-colored cookie sheet could cause it or if the temperature is at full tilt. And, sometimes it's just the simplest answer: cookies were baked too long.

If your peanut butter cookies are getting hard, it's likely because they're overbaked or not stored properly. Make sure to take them out of the oven as soon as they're done baking and let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

The Problem: Your Oven Is Too Hot

Here's what's happening. The butter melts super quickly in a too-hot oven before the other ingredients have firmed up into a cookie structure. Therefore, as the butter spreads so does the whole liquidy cookie.

Chilling solidifies the butter (or other fat) in cookies so that it takes longer for it to melt. Melting too soon means spreading happens too early. Some cookie doughs will work just fine going straight from mixing to the oven, but even with those you should be mindful of this if you have a warm kitchen.

Cookies spread because the fat in the cookie dough melts in the oven. If there isn't enough flour to hold that melted fat, the cookies will over-spread. Spoon and level that flour or, better yet, weigh your flour. If your cookies are still spreading, add an extra 2 Tablespoons of flour to the cookie dough.

One of the most crucial steps in making thick cookies is chilling the dough. After mixing your ingredients, refrigerate the dough for at least 1-2 hours, or even overnight. Chilled dough spreads less during baking, resulting in thicker cookies. This step also enhances the flavors as the ingredients meld together.

Too much butter makes cookies turn out just as you'd expect: very buttery. This batch of cookies was cakey in the middle, but also airy throughout, with crispy edges. They were yellow and slightly puffy in the middle, and brown and super thin around the perimeter.

Information. Bakery or homemade cookies can be stored at room temperature two to three weeks or two months in the refrigerator. Cookies retain their quality when stored in the freezer for eight to 12 months.

How to know if peanut butter cookies are done? ›

How to tell when the cookies are done? Peanut butter cookies are done when the top of the cookie is light brown, they will still be soft to the touch when the are taken out of the oven, but they will firm up as they cool. Let them rest 5-10 minutes on the cookie sheet then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

Microwaving them. If you cover your cookies with a wet paper towel and nuke them for a few seconds, they should soften up enough to eat.

The reason is that peanut butter cookie dough is dense, and unpressed, each cookie will not cook evenly. Using a fork to press the dough is a convenience of tool; bakers can also use a cookie shovel (spatula).

Conventional creamy peanut butter works best for peanut butter cookie recipes because it has a smooth and even texture. My favorite creamy peanut butter brands are Skippy or Jif. Natural peanut butter, made up of just peanuts and salt, is typically very oily and hard to get even.

If you incorporate too much milk, eggs, or another liquid, you can add a proportionate amount of the dry ingredients to the cookie dough to account for the excess liquid. Chill the dough. If the butter became too soft during the mixing process, it can sometimes result in a thin cookie dough.

If your cookies are crumbly, you probably cooked them a tad too long. Next time, take them out of the oven as soon they no longer look wet. They will finish cooking on the baking sheet after you remove them from the oven.

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.