We tested these Air Fryer Peanut Butter Cookies into absolute cookie perfection by packing in as much peanut butter as possible to ensure a soft and chewy center with crisp edges and loads of peanut butter flavor!
It’s no secret that we are absolute cookie aficionados in this house. Mostly because Chad loves to eat cookies for breakfast and gets a bit pouty when the cookie jar is empty. 😉
He’s a sucker for our air fryer chocolate chip cookies too!
We’ve developed many, many cookie recipes but we’re fairly new to testing out cookies in the air fryer. Happy to say we absolutely nailed this one, though! It took multiple tries to get it just right, but we really wanted to pack in as much peanut butter as we could, end up with a cookie with that soft, almost melty center, and the crisp bite on the edges was an absolute must.
Well…check, check, and check…we ticked off every requirement with these air fryer peanut butter cookies!
You might be wondering WHY you would want to bake cookies in the air fryer and I’ll share all those reasons with you – don’t you worry. Just keep on reading for the details.
Table of Contents
Ingredients:
Flour – We’re using all purpose flour here.
Butter – Your butter needs to be at room temperature for baking.
Peanut Butter– Use a creamy peanut butter, like Jif or Skippy. The natural peanut butters that separate will likely not work well in this recipe.
Sugars – We’re using a mix of granulated and brown sugar to get the texture where we want it and add some depth of flavor.
How to Make Peanut Butter Cookies in your Air Fryer:
Make the Dough: Cream together the butter and sugars, beat in the egg, vanilla, and peanut butter. Once creamy, mix in the dry ingredients.
Chill: I do my best to avoid creating recipes that require a chill time, but sometimes cookie dough just NEEDS it. In this recipe, it was either cut back on the peanut butter or add in some time for the dough to chill. That delicious peanut butter flavor and the creamy texture is absolutely worth the 30 minutes in the fridge. Do not skip this step. It’s important.
Roll in Sugar: Use a medium cookie scoop to drop balls of dough on a baking sheet. Roll them into a ball and then roll them in granulated sugar.
Air Fry: Line your air fryer with parchment paper and place the cookies in the air fryer. Leave a bit of space between each for the cookies to spread just a bit. We fit 5 cookies in our basket at a time. Use a fork to make a criss cross pattern and then air fry for 5 minutes.
The tops will be golden brown and the cookies should be set around the edges.
Cool: You’ll want to let your cookies cool in the basket for a few minutes before carefully removing them with a spatula. Warm, soft cookies break apart easily so be gentle when removing them. Pop them on a cooling rack and let them finish cooling.
Why bake cookies in the air fryer?
There are plenty of reasons people may choose to use an air fryer instead of the oven for baking cookies, including being more energy efficient, not wanting to heat up the whole kitchen during the summer months, or when making a smaller batch of cookies.
The air fryer also comes in handy when your oven is out of commission or you’re staying in a place without an oven.
But, beyond that, we LOVE these air fryer peanut butter cookies because of the way the air fryer crisps up the outer edges of the cookies just enough while keeping the centers perfectly soft enough to practically melt in your mouth.
Can I bake these in the oven?
While we’re here to teach you how to use the air fryer, we get that sometimes you just want to pop all the cookie dough on a baking sheet in one go and bake these up quickly. No problem!
These cookies will bake at 350 degrees for 11-12 minutes, or until they’re set around the edges but still soft in the center.
FAQ:
Chilling the dough helps firm up the butter and peanut butter, preventing the cookies from spreading too much during baking. Because we packed in as much peanut butter as possible, chilling the dough is an important step.
The two primary reasons people say cookie dough isn’t safe to eat are health concerns with raw eggs and potential bacteria in uncooked flour. This recipe contains both. While my family does eat raw cookie dough, it’s not recommended and can lead to sickness.
Recipe Tips and Substitutions
You can turn these into peanut butter blossoms!
When preparing to cook, do NOT add the criss-cross pattern to the cookie. After they have baked for 5 minutes, press a Hersey kiss into the center of the cookie and let it cool nearly completely in your air fryer basket before removing.
You can use a mini Reese’s peanut butter cup in place of a Hersey’s kiss, I am a huge fan of this!
More air fried dessert recipes:
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Air Fryer Peanut Butter Cookies
Crispy edges and a soft, almost melt in your mouth center makes these the very best peanut butter cookies. We packed in as much peanut butter as possible, so this one is for true peanut butter lovers!
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter, room temperature
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 ¼ cups flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup granulated sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- Beat together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a medium mixing bowl until light and creamy.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until just combined. Beat in the peanut butter.
- Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the mixing bowl and beat until well combined.
- Place the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill.
- Line the basket of your air fryer with parchment paper and preheat to 350 degrees.
- Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop out portions of cookie dough. Shape into a ball with your hands and roll through granulated sugar to coat.
- Arrange the cookie dough in the air fryer basket leaving 1-2 inches between each cookie to allow space for the cookie to spread.
- Use a fork to lightly press a crisscross pattern into the top of each cookie.
- Air fry for 5 minutes or until golden brown on the edges and tips of the crisscross pattern. Do not overbake.
- Let cool for a couple of minutes before carefully removing from the air fryer with a spatula. Cookies will fall apart if not handled gently. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Notes
We added as much peanut butter as possible to make a really rich dough that bakes into a cookie with a soft center and slightly crisp edges. To achieve this, it’s important to chill the dough for at least 30 minutes prior to baking. Do not skip this step.
To make peanut butter blossoms, skip the crisscross pattern and bake as directed. Immediately press a kiss in the center after baking and let cool completely.
Your first batch may cook a bit faster than subsequent batches as the air fryer may not be quite as hot. Keep an eye on the second batch and remove from the air fryer at 4 minutes, if needed.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 9 Serving Size: 2 cookiesAmount Per Serving: Calories: 379Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 48mgSodium: 409mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 2gSugar: 24gProtein: 7g
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