These melt-in-your-mouth peanut butter shortbread cookies are made with brown butter to enhance that nutty flavor, and baked in a baking dish to avoid any issues with spreading in the oven. Dip them in melted chocolate for the ultimate afternoon treat!
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Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies with an Elevated Twist
Meet your new afternoon tea companion: crumbly (not dry) peanut butter shortbread cookies! After sharing my beloved lemon lavender shortbread, I was inspired to make this brown butter shortbread recipe, inspired by Heidesand that I ate growing up in Germany. And let me tell you, the nutty, rich flavor of brown butter goes amazingly well with the flavor of peanut butter, so they really enhance each other!
Once the dough is pressed into a baking dish & chilled for an hour, it gets baked to delicious golden perfection, then sliced into bars for the perfect buttery, chewy shortbread cookies.
Seriously, these chocolate-dipped shortbread cookies are firm enough to dip into tea, but soft enough to indulge in on their own, even without the optional (but highly recommended) dip in melted chocolate. Because who doesn’t love pb + chocolate?? And if you want some tips for melting chocolate for your baked goods, I have a whole guide on the blog.
Let's Gather Our Ingredients
- Unsalted butter - Making brown butter from scratch is optional - if you're short on time, you can just use softened butter and start mixing the dough right away.
- Granulated sugar - I tested this recipe with brown sugar, but there was a little too much moisture added into the dough.
- Peanut butter - I prefer using natural peanut butter, with just peanuts or peanuts + salt. When you use more processed brands, the added oils and sugar can mess with the flavor & texture of your cookies.
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
- All purpose flour
- Cornstarch - This is my not-so-secret trick for ensuring butter cookies don't spread or brown too much as they bake.
Welcome to My Kitchen - Let's Make Bake-and-Slice Cookies!
For the full step-by-step directions and ingredient quantities, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
1. Melt & brown the butter in a saucepan.
2. Cool the butter until it's solid but still soft.
3. Mix the browned butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.
5. Mix in the flour and cornstarch until it's really crumbly.
7. Cool then slice into rectangles while still warm.
4. Stir in the peanut butter, vanilla extract and salt.
6. Press the dough into a baking dish. Chill then bake.
8. Enjoy right away or dip in melted chocolate.
Tips for My Baking Besties
- Chilling: By chilling the dough, the butter and the oil in the peanut butter can solidify before going into the oven, to prevent greasy cookies.
- Baking: Shortbread can go from pale to overbaked quickly (trust me on this one) so keep an eye on it, and pull it out from the oven once the edges turn lightly golden.
- Slicing: To get clean, precise edges on your shortbread bars, wait for the cookies to cool for about 30 minutes. Then while they’re still warm and soft, slice them into rectangles in the baking dish with a sharp kitchen knife.
- Cooling: Don’t try to take your cookies out of the baking dish while they're still warm, since they’ll fall apart. Once they finish cooling completely, they’ll finally be ready to be devoured!
Peanut Butter Shortbread Cookies with Brown Butter
Equipment
Ingredients
- 16 Tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt (use table salt or fine sea salt)
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
Optional Topping
- 4 ounces semisweet baking chocolate (or ½ cup chocolate chips)
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- Flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Grease a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish or line it with parchment paper.
- In a saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Continue whisking the butter as it gently simmers until the butter is golden and you start to see flecks of brown at the bottom of the pan, after about 10 minutes. Transfer the butter to a large mixing bowl to cool for 30 minutes at room temperature, then another 30 minutes in the fridge, until it solidifies into softened butter.
- Once the butter has solidified but is still soft, add the granulated sugar and mix with a large wooden spoon or silicone spatula until it’s light and creamy.
- Add the peanut butter, vanilla extract and salt, and mix until it’s well combined.
- Add the flour and cornstarch and gently mix just until it forms a dry, crumbly mixture. It should be able to hold its shape when you squeeze some in the palm of your hand.
- Dump the dough into your prepared baking dish. Press the dough firmly in an even layer with the palm of your hand or the bottom of a drinking glass. Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or up to 3 days).
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake the cookies for 18 to 22 minutes, until the edges just barely start to turn golden. Cool for about minutes, then slice into 16 even rectangles while it’s still slightly warm. Allow the cookies to cool for another 15 to 30 minutes in the baking dish, until they firm up a bit more to avoid breaking them.
- Optional: Melt the chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave on 20 second intervals or on the stove, mixing to combine. Dip half of each rectangle cookie in the melted chocolate, then place it on a sheet of parchment paper. Sprinkle with flaky salt, and allow the chocolate to harden for about 20 minutes. Enjoy!!
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