Single Serve Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe
This Single Serve Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe makes ONE cookie that you can indulge in on your own or split with a friend. It’s inspired by Crumbl’s huge soft and chewy cookies and is full of peanut butter flavor. Customize it with your favorite style of peanut butter (I love extra-chunky) and enjoy!
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Alright, let’s talk about this cookie. First, it’s huge. It weighs as much as a Crumbl cookie and measures about 5″ in diameter. It’s chewy, soft, sweet, and full of peanut butter flavor.
I’ve been making single serving cookie recipes because I wanted to get that “Crumbl Cookies” experience without having a whole tray (or more) of huge 5″ cookies. This way, you can make a different cookie every time you want a treat!
My single serving cookies are still the large size, but since the recipe makes just one, it’s a nice amount for 1-2 people. You can absolutely eat the whole thing at once, split it, or eat it over a couple of days.
More Single Serve Cookies: Also check out my recipe for a Single Serve Chocolate Chip Cookie and a Single Serve Sugar Cookie (complete with a swirl of easy buttercream!).
How Close to Crumbl’s?
I modeled this single serve peanut butter cookie recipe after the classic Crumbl characteristics: super large cookie, plenty of chewiness, and great peanut flavor. It’s not like Crumbl’s Ultimate Peanut Butter Cookie with the stuffed peanut butter inside, but it’s similar to the peanut butter cookie base used in the Peanut Butter Cookie ft. Snickers and Peanut Butter Cookie ft. Muddy Buddies cookie (check out all the Crumbl flavors here).
You can also sometimes get a Classic Peanut Butter in the Crumbl shipping lineup. I have had that cookie and unfortunately it wasn’t quite as good as a fresh Crumbl cookie. This recipe? WAY better!
This recipe makes 5.2 ounces of dough and the finished cookie is 5″ in diameter so it’s right in there with the huge Crumbl size! Yum!
Recipe Inspiration
Working out a recipe for just one cookie is a little different than working out the ratios for a whole batch. I find the process quite fun, but I used the America’s Test Kitchen Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe (from The Perfect Cookie) as a starting place for figuring out the ratios here.
I loved ATK’s suggestion of using extra-crunchy peanut butter and I’ve kept that in my final recipe because it is so good! It fills the cookie with tons of peanut chunks throughout the cookie with zero extra work. Yum!
Note that conventional (not “natural” or “organic”) peanut butter should be used for this recipe.
Can I Use This Recipe to Bake Two Cookies Instead?
Absolutely. Simply make up the recipe and divide the dough into two dough balls and flatten to about 3/4″ high discs before baking. Check the cookies at about 15 minutes and pull them from the oven when the edges are golden brown, showing some cracks, and the center is set, but still soft.
Storing and Freezing the Cookie
Since this recipe makes just one cookie, I doubt you’ll find the need to freeze it, but if you do, package it in a freezer safe container and store for up to 60 days in the freezer. You can also store the cookie in an air-tight container for 2-3 days at room temperature.
Shortening Versus Butter in Peanut Butter Cookies
I like to keep the ingredient list for my single serve cookie recipes as short as possible. Since you are just making one cookie, it makes sense to keep things simple. However, I really do love this one with both a little bit of butter and a little bit of shortening!
I tested this cookie with all butter, all shortening, and a mix of both. You can opt to use whatever you have on hand. I used Blue Bonnet Margarine Sticks for my “shortening” which I later realized do have some water content (versus like a Crisco vegetable shortening stick) so I had to smack my forehead on that one. However, the results should be pretty similar if you use the Crisco.
Check out the details below and the accompanying photo for a visual of how things change!
Just shortening: The peanut butter cookie spreads less, has softer edges and subtle crackles.
Shortening + butter: The cookie will spread more and have deeper crackles. The edges will be a bit more crisp as they turn golden brown.
Just butter: The cookie will spread more and have much deeper crackles. The golden brown edges will be quite crisp.
To reiterate, you can use whatever you’d prefer. My favorite was the blend of both butter and shortening!
Tips for Making Giant Cookies
Since this cookie is so large, it’s easy to get a crisp golden brown edge and still maintain a chewy center. You’ll need to bake the cookie for about 18-20 minutes to cook it through. The center will still be underbaked and wonderfully chewy.
Cooling time is important here. The cookie is so large that it’s a bit unstable until it’s almost cool. Leave it on the baking tray for at least fifteen minutes and then use a large brownie turner to remove to a plate or cooling rack (cooling rack is ideal) for another fifteen minutes before diving in.
Of course, if you want to hover over the cooling cookie and break off pieces because you just can’t wait any longer I fully support that too.
Don’t waste the leftover egg! This recipe uses just a small portion of a whisked egg. You can use the rest of the egg to make more single cookie recipes, freeze it, or use it in an omelet/scrambled eggs etc.
You don’t need a stand mixer or handheld mixer for making this giant cookie–just a bowl and a fork! As far as other tools, I do love using a kitchen scale though for weighing ingredients and I use my set of measuring spoons throughout making these single cookies as well.
Ingredients You Will Need
Here’s a few quick notes on some of the ingredients you will need to make this cookie.
Butter & Shortening– I use a combo of butter (room temp) and shortening for this recipe. You can use all butter or all shortening if you like. Check out the side-by-side comparisons earlier in the post.
Sugar – Light brown sugar gives extra chewiness to the cookie and I use an equal amount of granulated sugar too.
Peanut Butter – Use conventional peanut butter here and avoid any peanut butter labelled “natural” or “organic” as those perform differently in baking recipes.
I didn’t test this recipe with each variety of peanut butter (smooth, chunky, extra chunky), but use your favorite and it should work just fine! I used Skippy Super Chunk (which is an extra-crunchy peanut butter) and I loved it! The peanut chunks throughout the cookie are irresistible.
Flour – I do suggest weighing your flour if possible. If you do not have a kitchen scale, here’s a good tutorial on how to measure flour without a scale and still get an accurate measurement. In my recipes, 1/4 cup of flour equals 30g just like on your bag of flour.
How to Make a Single Serve Peanut Butter Cookie
This cookie is so quick to whip up! Grab a small bowl and a fork–no electric mixers needed here. The dough can also be baked immediately, so there is no chilling required.
Preheat the oven and line a small baking tray with parchment paper.
Cream it up: Cream together the softened butter, shortening, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until totally combined.
Peanut butter time: Measure the peanut butter (if you weigh it it’s so easy to measure) and add it and the vanilla extract to the bowl. Mix until combined. Add the whisked egg and use the fork to incorporate until the egg is just combined.
Dry ingredients: Sprinkle the flour, baking powder, and salt over the dough and mix in until just combined. The flour will incorporate easily and the dough will be soft and a little sticky.
Shape and bake: Use your hands to shape the dough into a ball and slightly flatten once on the baking sheet. It’ll be roughly a 1″ tall by 3″ diameter disc. Bake cookie about 18-20 minutes until desired done-ness. Allow the cookie to cool (or not) before digging in.
More Recipes to Try
- Crumbl Sugar Cookie for One
- Make Whipped Cream in a Mason Jar!
- Crumbl Milk Chocolate Chip Cookie for One
- Mason Jar French Silk Pies
- Crumbl Cinnamon Cookie Recipe
If you loved this recipe, leave a 5-star rating! I would so appreciate it!
Single Serve Crumbl Peanut Butter Cookie
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter (14g) room temp
- 1 tablespoon shortening (14g)
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar (24g)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (24g)
- 2 tablespoons extra-crunchy peanut butter (32g) I use Skippy "Super Chunk", so good! Avoid using a "natural" or "organic" peanut butter here.
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons whisked egg
- 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour (38g)
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- pinch of salt regular table salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a small baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Use a fork and a small bowl and mash together the softened butter, shortening, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until totally combined. Once combined, cream with the fork another 30-60 seconds.
- Add the peanut butter and vanilla extract and mix in completely. Add the whisked egg and use the fork to incorporate until the egg is just combined.
- Sprinkle the flour, baking powder, and salt over the dough and mix in until just combined. The flour will incorporate easily and the dough will be soft and a little sticky.
- Use your hands to shape the dough into a ball. Don't leave any dough behind in the bowl. Flatten the cookie dough ball so it's about a 1" high disk (about 3" diameter).
- Bake cookie about 18-20 minutes until desired done-ness. The edges will be golden brown and forming cracks, the center will be just set, but still gooey and soft.
- Allow the cookie to cool at least 15 minutes before moving it to to a plate (or my preferred, a cooling rack). Wait another 15 minutes for a sturdier cookie, or dig on in. Enjoy!
