Less-Sugar Peanut Butter Cookies
By Joe
Source: King Arthur Baking, America's Test Kitchen and NYT Cooking.
Fork-pressed peanut butter cookies with a quarter less sugar in the dough and the same sugar roll, so the peanut flavour comes through more.
Always check the labels of the products you use.
Method
- 1
Cream butter, peanut butter and sugars. Beat the softened butter, peanut butter and both sugars on medium speed for 2 minutes until creamy and a shade lighter, then beat in the egg and vanilla. The peanut butter's own fat and sugar mean the dough comes together smoothly without needing much creaming time.
- 2
Add the dry ingredients. Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt on low speed, mixing just until combined.
- 3
Chill the dough. Cover and chill for 1 hour. The dough is quite soft straight after mixing, so chilling firms it up enough that the cookies hold their shape instead of spreading thin in the oven.
- 4
Heat the oven. During the chilling time, heat the oven to 175°C (155°C fan) for at least 20 minutes before baking.
- 5
Shape and flatten. Roll the dough into 35g balls, roll each in caster sugar, and set them 5cm apart on the lined metal trays. Press a fork in a criss-cross pattern to flatten each to about 1.5cm, dipping the fork in sugar first so it doesn't stick.
- 6
Bake. Bake one tray at a time for 10-12 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden at the edges but still soft and pale in the centre. They carry on firming up as they cool, so pulling them while the middle still looks soft keeps them from drying out.
- 7
Cool on a rack. Cool on the tray for 5 minutes, since they're too fragile to move while hot, then transfer to a wire rack to cool fully.
Storage
Keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before eating.
Free sugars
7.5 g per serving
15 % of the 50 g daily maximum · 30 % of the ideal 25 g
Free sugars under 50 g a day, ideally about 25 g, based on WHO free-sugar guidance (not endorsed by WHO). The share shown is the share of one serving. WHO
Equipment
- 2 large metal baking trays lined with baking paper
- stand mixer or electric hand whisk
- fork
- wire rack
Nutrition per serving Calculated from USDA FoodData Central
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 146 kcal |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Carbohydrate | 15.5 g |
| of which sugars | 8.4 g |
| of which free sugars | 7.5 g |
| Fat | 8.4 g |
| of which saturates | 3.4 g |
| Fibre | 0.6 g |
| Salt | 0.25 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
2.1 g High protein needs ≥ 5 g per 100 kcal (20% of energy) and ≥ 10 g per serving
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
