Simple peanut butter cookies get all gussied up with the addition of honey! These cookies are soft, chewy, and full of flavor. They're sure to be your new family favorite!
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These Honey Peanut Butter cookies are inspired by my mom.
I was too young to remember this, but my mother would often tell me about these "Pooh Butter" sandwiches she used to make for my sister and me when we were really little.
In case you didn't know, "Pooh Butter" is the combo of peanut butter and honey--the "Pooh" represents the honey in the equation and is named for that pants-less, little bear from Winnie the Pooh.
Traditional peanut butter cookies are absolutely delish, and I firmly believe everyone should find a basic peanut butter cookie recipe to keep in their arsenal.
But these honey peanut butter cookies are special, and you should keep this recipe around too.
These are the kind of peanut butter cookies I'd bring out for guests, or tea time...
...or breakfast.
I definitely eat these at breakfast.
And why not?! They have a ton of peanut butter and honey in them, so they're healthy! Right?
Sort of.
Why Add Honey To These Peanut Butter Cookies?
The first reason:
It makes me think of my mom!
Obviously I didn't know it at the time, but my Mom was really on to something back in the day.
Before she had told me about "Pooh Butter", I had never seen peanut butter and honey together up until very recently.
I'm not sure why we don't see more of it though. It's a totally brilliant flavor combo-- a lot like a PB&J.
But mostly, I just love being inspired by my loved ones to create desserts for them, and this was a perfect way to experiment and pay homage to my mama.
Another instance of a family inspired dessert is my Cookies and Cream Cheesecake!
This cake is dedicated to my sister, on account she loves all things cheesecake and cookies and cream.
I've made it for her birthday several times, her honeymoon, her wedding anniversary and everything in between!
As for my husband, Tim, I have dedicated the Chocolate Cream Pie to him. This pie was inspired by a chocolate pie he used to eat when he was younger at a local restaurant in his small town.
But if I'm being honest, he's easy to please. Every dessert I make is pretty much dedicated to him.
And as for D, well she's not too discriminatory when it comes to sweets, but she's obsessed with sprinkles. So these Birthday Cake Cookies are for her.
The second reason to add in some bee-lovin' goodness:
Honey has great health benefits!
While honey is still a sweetener--it tends to be a little more nutritious than white sugar. Honey is full of antioxidants and it helps to promote good heart health!
I am not a doctor, but I found a great list of benefits here if you want to read even more about health and honey. Basically, this stuff is your heart's best friend.
The third reason why honey is perfect for peanut butter cookies:
It makes the cookies soft and delicious!
You know I'm pretty picky about the texture of my cookies. I tend to lean toward the softer side of things.
This cookie is no exception.
Often times I find myself eating a crispy or really dry, crumbly, peanut butter cookie and it really bums me out.
But not these cookies!
Honey is great for a cookie's texture for a couple of reasons: it has low water content and it's not solid at room temp. These two things make for a delicious, soft, moist (so sorry) cookie.
The final reason to add honey to peanut butter cookies:
Honey and peanut butter are the perfect couple!
Similar to what we love in a PB&J, the flavors of peanut butter and honey just compliment each other very well.
The honey in this cookie is so delicious and it really compliments the peanut flavor.
It's just a very lovely cookie.
Choosing The Peanut Butter
I'm typically not very particular when it comes to peanut butter. When I'm making traditional peanut butter cookies or peanut butter toast, I use the smooth, store brand peanut butter at my local grocery store.
However, for this recipe I do use an all natural (Teddy brand), super chunky, peanut butter.
I chose this particular peanut butter for a couple reasons.
The first reason being that it's a little stiffer than say, a Skippy or a Jiff brand.
Because of all the honey in this recipe, using a super soft peanut butter would turn these cookies into pancakes!
The second reason for the all natural stuff is that it only contains dry-roasted peanuts in the ingredient list.
I didn't want any additional added oils or sugars throwing off my recipe.
Lastly, I chose the "super chunky" version because I wanted to pack as much peanut flavor into these cookies as possible.
The peanut chunks also add a nice crunch to help balance out all the softness in the cookie and add some extra dimension.
How To Make Honey Peanut Butter Cookies:
Ingredients
Makes 24 Cookies
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup natural, chunky peanut butter
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, but still cool.
- ¼ cup of brown sugar
- ½ cup of honey
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350º.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the unsalted butter on medium low until smooth.
Add in the chunky peanut butter and mix until the butters are fully incorporated.
Next, add in your brown sugar and honey. Beat with the mixer on medium low until all ingredients are well combined. Stop once to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Crack in your egg and add the vanilla. Mix until thoroughly blended.
Add in the flour, salt and baking soda.
With the mixer on low, stir until all ingredients are just combined, stopping once to scrape the sides of the mixing bowl.
Using a cookie scoop or a tablespoon, scoop the cookie dough onto two sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Keep cookies about 2 inches apart.
Gently flatten the centers of the cookie dough with two fingers. This will help the cookies flatten and bake evenly.
Bake in a 350º oven for 10-11 minutes. The edges will be just starting to turn brown and the centers of the cookies will be puffed.
Allow cookies to sit for 5-10 minutes before removing the cookies from the pan.
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📖 Recipe
Honey Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup natural, chunky peanut butter
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, but still cool.
- ¼ cup of brown sugar
- ½ cup of honey
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the unsalted butter on medium low until smooth.
- Add in the chunky peanut butter and mix until the butters are fully incorporated.
- Next, add in your brown sugar and honey. Beat with the mixer on medium low until all ingredients are well combined. Stop once to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Crack in your egg and add the vanilla. Mix until thoroughly blended.
- Add in the flour, salt and baking soda.
- With the mixer on low, stir until all ingredients are just combined, stopping once to scrape the sides of the mixing bowl.
- Using a cookie scoop or a tablespoon, scoop the cookie dough onto two sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Keep cookies about 2 inches apart.
- Gently flatten the centers of the cookie dough with two fingers. This will help the cookies flatten and bake evenly.
- Bake in a 350º oven for 10-11 minutes. The edges will be just starting to turn brown and the centers of the cookies will be puffed.
- Allow cookies to sit for 5-10 minutes before removing the cookies from the pan.
Notes
*I use Teddy brand, super chunky unsalted peanut butter. I find the natural stuff is a little stiffer than conventional peanut butter. This will help keep the cookies from flattening too much.
Aly says
Peanut butter cookies, we crunky peanut butter AND honey!? These sound amazing!! Thanks for sharing!
Aly says
Peanut butter cookies, we crunchy peanut butter AND honey!? These sound amazing!! Thanks for sharing!
Kristin says
I love peanut butter and I love honey so I need to try these!
Alexa says
Yum! I love finding new ways to use peanut butter. It's a good protein source which makes this a healthy cookie! 🙂
Susan Nguyen says
I love PB anything so I'll have to give this a try! Honey is so good too. I can imagine how good this will be!
Caren says
Your photos are so beautiful and I love the additional information about honey. I definitely will try your recipe! We love peanut butter and honey around our farmstead! Thank you.
mameliasmith says
You are so sweet!! Thank you so much 🙂