I think the most popular cookie to roll and cut out is a sugar cookie. But what about other flavors? This peanut butter cut out cookie is easily one of my favorite cookies to roll and cut. It’s full of peanut butter flavor, holds the cookie cutter shape nicely and has a soft, but firm texture.
Making these Peanut Butter Cut Out Cookiesis aHalloweentradition from my childhood.
The recipe was clipped(about a million years ago)from a Cleveland newspaper, The Plain Dealer. I remember the recipe was called, “Peanutty Pumpkin Cookies,” and employed the use of a one pound coffee tin lid as the large cookie cutter.
It was probably a 5″ circle; once cut, we would then individually carve out each stem anda piece of the bottom tomake the circle resemble a pumpkin.
(Seriously…were there really no pumpkin cookie cutters back then?)
Once these jumbo sized cookies were baked, we gathered around the table to frost them with a simple powdered sugar icing.
Then, came the good part, because these weren’t your average sugar cookie cut out, but a peanut butter cookie cut out.We used melted chocolateto make the faces, giving each cookie its own delicious personality.
The cookies are full of peanut butter flavor and, depending upon how thin you roll them and how long you bake them, a nice soft cookie.
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Ingredients for Peanut Butter Cut Out Cookies
- Butter-I use unsalted butter in this recipe. It should be at a cool room temperature, so soft enough to make an indent with your finger. The indent should holds its shape. If you use salted butter, then reduce the salt in the recipe to 1/2 teaspoon instead of 1 teaspoon.
- Creamy peanut butter-You can use Jif or Skippy. I’ve also used Smart Balance. I haven’t tried any natural peanut butters that required stirring.
- Brown sugar-I always use light brown sugar, but you can definitely use dark brown sugar. It will bring a little more of that molasses flavor to the cookie. When you measure it, remember it should be packed firmly into the measuring cup.
- Eggs-I generally use large or extra large eggs. These should also be at room temperature. It’s easier to incorporate them into the batter if they are room temperature.
- Vanilla-I love Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla, {aff. link} but use your favorite.
- Flour-This recipe makes a big batch of cookies. It uses 4 1/2 cups of all purpose flour. It’s VERY important that you measure your flour correctly or you’ll end up with dry, crumbly cookies. I use the spoon and sweep method. Just lightly fluff the flour so that it’s not packed, spoon it into a measuring cup and use the back of a knife or other flat edge to sweep the excess off of the top. (If you weigh your flour, my cup equals 4.25 ounces.
- Baking powder-This acts as a leavener in the cookies.
- Baking soda-This neutralizes acids, helps with tenderness while also acting as a leavener.
- Salt-The recipe calls for a teaspoon of regular table salt. If you use salted butter instead of unsalted, reduce the amount to 1/2 teaspoon.
I use smaller, albeit ready made, modernpumpkin {aff. link} and other cookie cutters {aff. link} for this recipe.
If you want to go jumbo or be retro, all you need is the lid from a one pound can of coffee, a sharp knife to cut out a stem and shape the pumpkin, and you’re in business.
You don’t often see iced peanut butter cookies, but theicing works so well here. It adds a nice creamy sweetness to the slight saltiness of the peanut butter.
It also helpskeep the cookie soft. Of course, the chocolate is a perfect partner as well, and we use semi sweet or dark to balance the sweetness of the icing.
Simple Icing Ingredients for Peanut Butter Cut Out Cookies
- Confectioner’s sugar-This is the main ingredient for a really simple icing.
- Water or milk-You can use any liquid as long as you like the flavor of it. I just use water or milk.
- Food coloring-Either gel or liquid food coloring is fine here. If the orange you have isn’t quite orange enough, a small drop of red will deepen the color nicely.
How to melt chocolate to decorate cookies
I make this as easy as possible and just use semi-sweet chocolate chips. Then, instead of turning on the stove, I use the microwave and heat the chocolate, stopping at 15 second intervals to give a quick stir and redistribute the heat.
You want the chocolate to melt slowly and not burn, so don’t leave them in the microwave unattended for long periods of time. The short intervals will help you keep your eye on how well the chocolate is melting.
If you need to loosen up the melted chocolate a bit to make it easier to decorate with, just add a 1/2 teaspoon of shortening during the melting process.
Then, just transfer your melted chocolate to a zip top bag, snip off just a bit of a corner and you are ready to decorate!
We rekindled this Halloween cookie tradition with my own family when the kids were small. We used to set aside a day for pumpkin cookies and then we would carve our pumpkins.
Now that they’re a bit older,they invite their friends over for cookie decorating and leaf pile jumping. I must mention, as fun as these cookies are to make and decorate, they are not just another pretty iced cookie meant for kid consumption.
If you love peanut butter cookies, you will definitelylove these. They are delicious! Every time we make them, I wonder why we only make them once a year. I think it’s time to change that…
Peanut Butter Cut Out Cookies. This is one deliciously sweet tradition.
Click on the images below for some decorating inspiration from past years…
Click here for more fun Halloween Treats, Drinks and Games!
Love peanut butter and chocolate? Check out these Fudge Topped Peanut Butter Cookie Tarts!
Yield: 4-5 dozen cookies, depending upon the size of your cookie cutters
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 cups firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour (see note to insure you're measuring this correctly)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the Icing:
- 3 cups confectioner's sugar
- Water or milk
- Food coloring
- 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cream butter and peanut butter until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- With mixer on low, add in sugar, eggs and vanilla until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add flour mixture to peanut butter mixture and stir until combined. (I used the lowest setting of my stand mixer for this, but it can be done by hand)
- Place plastic wrap directly on top of the dough in the bowl and chill for 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Roll dough out on a floured surface and cut into desired shapes, flouring your cookie cutter between cuts.
- Place cut out cookies onto a greased cookie sheet or on a sheet lined with a silpat or parchment.
- Bake about 8-10 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned and set. Time will vary widely based on your oven and the size of your cookies.
- Cool on cookie sheets for a few minutes until set, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Mix the confectioner's sugar with enough water or milk to create your preferred spreading consistency. I generally use water for this icing. Color, as desired, with food coloring.
- Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave at 15 second intervals, stirring at each interval until chocolate is smooth and glossy. I sometimes add 1/2 teaspoon or so of shortening to loosen it up a bit.
- Transfer the melted chocolate to a zippered plastic bag and cut the corner tip off, or use a piping bag.
- Decorate cookies as desired.
Notes
*If you use salted butter, reduce salt to 1/2 tsp.
*My cookie cutters ranged from about 2 1/2" to 3 1/2". This recipe yielded about 45 of the smaller size and 13 of the larger size. If you use the coffee can lid, I would estimate you'd yield about 3 1/2 dozen cookies.
*Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. We've also frozen them, and while the decorations don't fare as well from a visual standpoint, the cookies still taste delicious.
*Update 7-17-16-There's a lot of flour in this recipe so please be careful to measure it correctly. Too much flour will result in a dry dough. I use the spoon and sweep method which leaves me with a cup of flour that weighs about 4.25 ounces. The spoon and sweep method starts with fluffing the flour to loosen it up. Then lightly spoon the flour into your measuring cup until it's overfull. Use a butter knife to scrape across the top to level the flour.
Adapted from The Plain Dealer, article by Mary Krohme
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