Give your favorite peanut butter sandwich cookie a home-baked makeover with this fun recipe for Homemade Nutter Butter Cookies!
These peanut-shaped cookies with a rich and creamy peanut butter frosting filling may look like the grocery store cookies you love, but they are so much more delicious.
If you are a peanut butter cookie lover, this is going to be your new favorite fun cookie recipe!
Homemade Nutter Butter Cookies are a scratch-made version of a classic, with soft peanut butter cookies with a crisp exterior, sandwiching a smooth and creamy peanut butter frosting.
They are so good, I have a hard time getting them to last more than a day in my house! I have to hide them from my family so that I can have a peanut buttery snack for tomorrow.
Nutter Butter Cookies go perfectly with a tall, cold glass of milk or your afternoon cup of coffee.
Be sure to try all of my other fun and easy peanut butter cookie recipes! 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies are my go-to when I need a super quick treat, and soft and chewy Lunch Lady Style Peanut Butter Cookies are always a hit.
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
- These are so much better than store-bought! Like most things, if you can create it in your own kitchen it’s going to taste much better than any mass-produced, packaged product. Homemade Nutter Butter Cookies taste homemade but have the same flavor and shape as the original.
- Double the Peanut Butter: Two peanut butter cookies filled with peanut butter frosting! Each one of these peanut butter sandwich cookies is a delectable peanut buttery dream.
- Easy to Follow Recipe: Sandwich cookies can be a bit more complicated than some other cookie recipes, but it’s only because there is an extra step at the end where you add frosting! I’m including step-by-step instructions with photos for you, so don’t be intimidated! It’s easy!
Other sandwich cookies you’ll want to try include my Coffee Macarons and Valentine Whoopie Pies.
Key Ingredients
Complete list of ingredients with quantities and instructions is located in the recipe card below
- Peanut Butter: Use standard creamy peanut butter for this recipe, rather than crunchy style or all-natural versions.
- Butter: Be sure to let your unsalted butter soften to room temperature before mixing up the peanut butter cookie dough.
- Egg: It’s also important to let your egg sit out and come to room temperature. Cold eggs are more difficult to incorporate smoothly into the recipe.
- Sugar: To make the peanut butter cookies soft and chewy, but with crispy outsides, a combination of both granulated and brown sugar is mixed into the dough.
- For the Filling: More creamy peanut butter, unsalted butter, and powdered sugar are blended together with vanilla extract and milk to create a decadent peanut butter buttercream frosting.
How To Make Homemade Nutter Butter Cookies
- Mix the Dry Ingredients: Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Then, in a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
- Mix the Wet Ingredients: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla until smooth.
- Combine: Add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture and mix until just combined.
- Scoop: Use a medium cookie scoop to divide the cookie dough into 30 equal portions. Each portion will create one peanut-shaped cookie!
- Shape the Dough: Divide each dough ball in half, then roll each half into balls. Place the dough balls side by side and flatten them slightly to join them together, creating the basic peanut shape.
- Make it Look Like a Peanut! Use a fork to press the crisscross shape on the cookies, then pinch the middle to ensure the peanut shape stays. Repeat until all dough has been made into peanut shapes. Then bake the cookies for 6-8 minutes, or until they are just starting to turn golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool completely.
- Make the Frosting: Start by creaming together the butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy.
- Finish the Frosting: Then add half of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add 2 tablespoons of milk, and mix again. Add the remaining powdered sugar and beat until it’s completely mixed in. Add the vanilla extract. If needed, add additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time until you have the desired consistency.
- Assemble the Sandwich Cookies: Flip half the cooled baked cookies so that the bottom is facing up and pipe or spread a generous amount of peanut butter frosting over the surface. Place a second cookie on top and gently press down to create the cookie sandwich.
Top Tips
- Make Round Cookies: Instead of making the peanut shape with two balls of dough, you can just bake round cookies in the same way. This method looks less like a traditional Nutter Butter, but is still just as tasty!
- Make them Smaller: You can use a small cookie scoop to make Nutter Butter Cookies a bit smaller. The bake time should be about the same but may be a little bit less.
- Choose the Right Peanut Butter: All-natural peanut butter where the oil separates from the solids is not the right choice for most baked goods. Use standard spreadable peanut butter in this cookie recipe.
- Re-purpose the Filling: This simple peanut butter filling can be used to make other types of sandwich cookies too! Try it in between two sugar cookies, or drizzled over chocolatey bacon cookies for the ultimate sweet and salty treat.
- Add Chocolate: Drizzle the finished cookie sandwiches with melted chocolate, or dip half of each sandwich right into the chocolate instead.
How to Store Homemade Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
You can store these cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 4 days (if they last that long!)
Homemade Nutter Butters also freeze well. Freeze them in a single layer on a baking sheet for 30 minutes to an hour before transferring them to a freezer bag. Keep them frozen for up to 3 months. Enjoy the cookies frozen, or allow them to thaw at room temperature for a few hours first.
Other Peanut Butter Desserts You Should Try
- Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Scotcheroos
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Star Cookies
- No Bake Cornflake Peanut Butter Cookies
- Buckeye Brownie Cookies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Star Cookies
Recipe FAQs
I don’t recommend using crunchy peanut butter in this recipe. Crunchy peanut butter has less moisture in it since there are more solid pieces of peanuts, and an effect the texture of the cookie.
This recipe makes soft peanut butter cookies that are crisp on the edges. You can make them a little bit more crispy by baking them longer, but I think that this soft baked texture is perfect!
The hash marks on the top of peanut butter cookies are part of what makes peanut butter cookies look like peanut butter cookies! This process also serves an important function though. Adding texture to the dough makes the tops of the cookies extra crispy.
You have to try this recipe for copycat Nutter Butter Cookies! It’s just like the original, but so much more delicious. Pin the recipe to save it for later!
Homemade Nutter Butter Cookies
Equipment
- Stand mixer or hand mixer and mixing bowls
- Fork
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 1 ⅔ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup smooth peanut butter
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the filling:
- ½ cup smooth peanut butter
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
To Make The cookies:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla until smooth.
- Add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture and mix until just combined.
- Use a medium cooke scoop (#40) to divide the dough into 30 equal portions.
- Divide each dough ball in half, and roll into balls. Place two dough balls side by side on prepared baking sheet and flatten each slightly to join them together, making them into a peanut shape. Use a fork to press the criss cross shape on the cookies, pinch the middle to ensure the peanut shape stays. Repeat until all dough has been made into peanut shapes, making sure each cookie is at least 2 inches apart.
- Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 6-8 minutes, or until just starting to turn golden. Allow the cookies to cool completely
To Make The Frosting:
- In a large bowl, beat the peanut butter and butter until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
- Add half the powdered sugar and mix until smooth, add 2 tablespoons of milk and mix well. Add the remaining powdered sugar and beat until fully mixed.mix in the vanilla extract, and add additional milk a teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
To Assemble:
- Flip half the baked cookies so that the bottom is facing up and pipe or spread a generous amount of peanut butter frosting over the surface. Place a second cookie on top and gently press down to create cookie sandwiches.
Notes
- If you like, you can make these peanut butter sandwich cookies round instead of creating adorable peanut shapes. You can also use a small cookie scoop to make smaller sandwich cookies. Adjust the bake time if needed, as they will cook a bit faster.
- Let the cookies cool down completely before adding the filling. Warm cookies will melt the frosting, and you don’t want that.
- Choose a traditional style peanut butter for this recipe. Crunchy peanut butter or all-natural peanut butter won’t work well.
- To Store: Keep your cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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Comments & Reviews
Peggy Bauman says
I have a question: Tor the cookies, it says; 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, (2 sticks). I thought that 1 stick of butter equals 1/2 cup? I am double checking. Thank you.
admin says
You are right! You only need 1 stick, thanks for the heads – up we just corrected it.