Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

These are the best cookies! Peanut Butter. Oatmeal. Two popular, old-fashioned classics meet in one recipe. Toss in a few walnuts, some chewy dried cranberries and/or chocolate chips. You won’t be able to resist. I can’t. Not when their fresh out of the oven still ~~piping hot~~ warm. And not later on when they are cooled off and hidden away. Seek and destroy.

One of my taste testers was crazy for them. Said they were the best I ever made. And then went on to prove it by devouring half the batch in record time. The vanishing cookies.

The recipe comes from Better Homes & Gardens and originally calls for cocktail peanuts. If I had them on hand I would of used them along with chocolate chips. The salty sweet combo would be delicious here. Instead I used cranberries and walnuts. Feel free to personalize them with your favorite additions like raisins, m & m’s, a different type of nut or even butterscotch or peanut butter chips.

I really loved the flavor of these. The peanut butter stands out in every bite. The oats and walnuts give them a hearty texture. Thick, soft, chewy, and totally addicting.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Rounds

(adapted from Better Homes & Gardens 75th Anniversary Edition)
(Makes 4 dozen)

3/4 cup Butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup Peanut Butter (I used Natural)

1 cup Sugar

1/2 cup packed Brown Sugar

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

2 Eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 + 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups Rolled Oats

2/3 cup dried Cranberries,* chopped

2/3 cup Walnuts,* chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Beat together butter and peanut butter until well combined. Add sugars, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Beat until combined.

3. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in flour. Stir in oats, cranberries and nuts.

4. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until light brown around edges.

5. Remove to wire racks to cool.

*Can substitute cocktail peanuts, chocolate chips, raisins, m & m’s or another type of nut.

Printable Recipe

Comments

Crystal says:

03/10/2012 at

These came out great! I made a couple changes though. I used 1 cup packed brown sugar and 1/2 cup white sugar because I prefer a chewier cookie. I creamed the butter and sugars first before adding the peanut butter (I had to; I didn’t want to anger the cookie gods). The only thing I added to the dough was butterscotch chips because the only nuts I had on hand were pecans (I didn’t think they would work with peanut butter and oatmeal) and I omitted the raisins because my hubby doesn’t like them. I will be making these again.

Cory says:

03/04/2012 at

absolutely loved this recipe! I had some old fashioned oats I needed to use and stumbled upon this recipe, and I’m glad I did. I used chopped unsalted peanuts and a mixture of dark chocolate and milk chocolate chunks, they turned out perfect!unlike the comment below, it made exactly 4 dozen

- Reeni says:
  
  03/04/2012 at
  
  Thanks Cory! I’m happy to hear they turned out well! The mix of peanuts and chocolate sounds utterly delicious.
  
Barb_heizman says:

12/29/2011 at

I added sliced almonds.My kids loved them.

- Reeni says:
  
  12/29/2011 at
  
  Thanks Barb!
  
Diana V. says:

12/09/2011 at

I had an awesome peanut butter oatmeal cookie recipe that I have misplaced for years not. I decided to do a Google search and found your recipe, which looks awesome! As much as I am not a fan of peanut butter, this is one recipe that I will make over and over again. Thank you for posting it and sharing the beautiful photo above. ~ Diana V.

- Reeni says:
  
  12/13/2011 at
  
  Thank you Diana! A lot of people have made it and said it’s their favorite. Maybe it will turn you into a peanut butter lover.
  
Leonard Garden says:

12/07/2011 at

Don’t know about others, but this recipe only makes 2 +1/2 dozen rounds of about 2 inches in diameter for me. I added about 3/4 cup of sliced almonds with good result. The sliced almonds confuse nicely with the texture of the oats and provide a nutty flavor when not expected. Also replaced chopped cranberries with raisins.