These Peanut Butter Jelly Cookies are incredibly chewy, soft, and delicious! Very easy to make. With video and step-by-step photos.
These soft peanut butter cookies are filled with jelly. The texture of them is incredible. They are soft and melt in your mouth. The dough tastes intensively like peanut butter and fits the sweet jelly filling just perfectly.
Equipment
Here's what you need:
- 2 bowls
- 1 plate
- a kitchen scale or measuring cups and spoons
- an electric mixer
- an ice-cream scoop or tablespoon
- 1-2 baking sheets
- parchment paper
- a cooling rack
Photo instructions
You will be surprised how easy they are to make. I made a 1-minute video and lots of step-by-step photos to successfully guide you through the recipe.
Start with spooning twelve ½ tablespoon dollops of jelly or jam on a paper layered plate and freeze it until you are done with the dough.
Then melt the butter in the microwave until it is ⅔ melted. Then stir until it is completely melted. This makes sure that the butter is liquid but not too hot when you use it. It should be dull and not look-through.
Transfer to a large mixing bowl and stir together with the brown sugar just until combined, about 1 minute. Then it looks like this:
Add egg, vanilla, and peanut butter.
I recommend using creamy peanut butter from a brand like Skippy. Do not use all-natural peanut butter nor crunchy one. Both lead to a drier and somewhat crumbly texture.
Mix just until combined. Do not overmix at any step. The longer you mix, the more air you incorporate into the dough. Too much air dries the cookies out and makes them rather cakey than soft and chewy.
Add flour, baking powder, and salt.
I encourage you to use a kitchen scale for accurate measuring. It is so important to add the right amount of flour to the cookie dough. If you don't have a kitchen scale, then please spoon and level the flour in the measuring cup.
A gram is a gram and an ounce is an ounce, but a cup doesn't equal a cup. Cups differ in size all over the world. So, again. For best results, use a kitchen scale. This investment is worth every penny.
The dough is smooth, soft and can be touched with having clean fingers afterward. You see my fingerprints in the dough in the next photo.
I always weigh my dough and divide it by twelve. When doing this, I can be sure that all cookies have the same size, need the same baking time, and come out with the same consistency.
You have now 12 balls of dough. Then divide each ball into two equally sized pieces. Form one half into a disc, fill with ½ tablespoon of jelly, form the second half into a disc, place on top of the jelly, and pinch and seal the edges of the cookies with your fingers that the jelly is completely enclosed.
Bake them for 11-13 minutes until they look dry and pale. Do not bake them until they get color otherwise you end up with super dry and hard cookies.
Top tips
- Measure the ingredients with a kitchen scale or spoon and level the flour.
- Do not overmix the batter at any step, just until combined.
- Make sure that you have equally sized cookies that need the same baking time.
- Pinch and seal the edges of the cookies that the jelly doesn't run out.
- Do not overbake them. Remove them when they start looking dry and pale. They may look underbaked when you remove them from the oven and that's a good thing.
Storage
Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Freezing
If you want to freeze them, tightly wrap each cookie in plastic wrap. Then put them in freezer bags and remove as much air as possible. To thaw them, remove from the freezer, unwrap, and let sit on the counter to come to room temperature. This takes about 1 hour.
Related recipes
You can't get enough of peanut butter? Then check out our peanut butter brownies, fudge, or cake as well.
Recipe
Easy Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoon jelly or jam (120g)
- ½ cup butter, melted (113g)
- ½ cup peanut butter, creamy (125g)
- ⅝ cup brown sugar (125g)
- 1 large egg
- 1 vanilla bean* (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
- 1+½ cups all-purpose flour, spoon and level (180g)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Spoon twelve ½ tablespoon dollops of jelly or jam on a paper layered plate and freeze until you are done with the dough.
- In a large bowl, using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment mix butter and sugar just until combined. Add egg, vanilla*, and peanut butter and beat just until incorporated. Add flour, baking powder, and salt, and mix just until combined. Do not overmix at any step.
- Weigh the dough and divide it into 12 dough balls. Remove jelly from the freezer. Divide each cookie dough into two. Form one half into a disc and fill with one dollop of jam. Form the other half into a disc and lay on top of the jelly. Pinch and seal the sides with your fingers, that the jelly is completely enclosed.
- Bake one sheet after another for 11-13 minutes, until the tops aren't shiny anymore and look pale, puffy, and dry. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. They will stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Notes
Video
You can find the video in the post above. If you don't see a video, please check your browser settings.
Nutrition
Felicia
The filling is the stunner. It's so great to bite into these cookies. We couldn't stop eating them. They were away on the same day. Thanks for the recipe!
Sabine
I know! The filling is definitely the star. Thank you so much!
DJ Satterfield
Couple "critiques" to make.
On your printed recipe I would recommend stating that the butter should be 2/3 melted, as most baking recipes just use softened butter when creaming with sugar. Also, you may want the printed to list creamy peanut butter, for anyone that just prints off the recipe. Lastly, you state the storage time is 3 days in your written description but 4 days in your printed recipe. Just trying to help out and clarify things.
Going to make these this weekend, looking forward to them. Thank you for the recipe.
Sabine
Thank you so much! Made all corrections. Hope you like them!