Peanut butter jelly cookies are as nostalgic as you can get. I remember as a child being given Warburton’s white slice bread slathered with crunchy peanut butter and oozing with raspberry jam on the reg. The crusts were *always* cut off and the entire sandwich was quartered into tiny triangles. My lunchbox would usually consist of this for lunch, along with a pack of Sunmaid raisins, a small bag of Cadbury’s Animals and a piece of fruit. Occasionally, my friends and I would swap one triangle of our sandwich for something else ā€“ cheese and ham, cucumber and cream cheese, pitta bread and hummus. But PB+J always reigned supreme.

Top tips on baking these peanut butter jelly cookies:

If you’re looking to get just the right amount of crunch from the outer edge of your cookies, and a fudgy chew in the centre, there are a few tips to baking them to perfection. Here’s what I recommend:

  1. Using a mix of brown and white sugar gives these cookies a chewy centre.
  2. If you want a deeper flavour, chill the cookies dough for a few hours ā€“ or even better, overnight!
  3. Use a size 20 cookie scoop for even cookies, and don’t flatten them before they go into the oven.
  4. The cookies will spread as they bake, so be sure to leave plenty of space between each one.
  5. Bake for 14-15 minutes, and leave to cool on the tray. They’ll continue to bake a little once out but this will ensure a cookies that’s baked with the ultimate chewy centre.
Peanut Butter Jelly Cookies

How to store and freeze your peanut butter jelly cookies:

Freezing cookie dough

Freezing cookie dough is super easy, and great if you want homemade cookies in minutes without the faff of making them all in one go. There are two methods for freezing dough:

  1. Freeze in bulk
    You can freeze all of your cookie dough in bulk, if you know you’ll use it all in one go when you choose to defrost it. Wrap them dough in baking parchment, then place in a ziplock bag before putting in the freezer. When you want to use it, thaw it out for a few hours until pliable then scoop and bake as per the timings below.
  2. Freeze individually
    Alternatively, you can pre-scoop your cookie dough and wrap in baking parchment before placing in a ziplock bag and putting in the freezer. When the craving calls, place the balls of dough onto a lined baking tray and bake from frozen for 16-18 minutes.

Storing your cookies

Best eaten straight from the oven, or on the day. Otherwise, these cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to four days.

Peanut Butter Jelly Cookies

What makes these peanut butter jelly cookies so special?

I not only wanted to create a cookie that tasted amazing, but that looked amazing too. Firstly, the additional effort required to make these is totally worth it. Secondly, I highly suggest you purchase freeze-dried strawberries or raspberries for this. You can find this at Sous Chef here. This is why I love them so much:

  • They’re super nostalgic and are great for adults and children
  • These cookies have the perfect pairing of sweet jam and slightly salted peanut butter
  • The rivers of real jam pack into the crevices as they bake
  • You can substitute the peanut butter for any other nut butter of choice, and the jam for any other you desire
  • They can be made in advance and frozen, ready for baking when the craving calls
Peanut Butter Jelly Cookies

Love cookies? Want to see my top five cookie recipes?

Peanut Butter Jelly Cookies

Peanut Butter Jelly Cookies

Chewy cookies made with creamy peanut butter, freeze-dried strawberries and the generous addition of raspberry jam.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Dessert
Servings 12 cookies

Ingredients
  

  • 315 g plain flour
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
  • 225 g unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 100 g brown sugar
  • 200 g granulated sugar
  • 200 g crunchy peanut butter
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 12 g freeze-dried strawberry powder optional
  • A few drops red food colouring
  • 50 g strawberry or raspberry jam I like Bonne Maman

Instructions
 

  • Preheat your oven to 180C / 350F and make sure your oven rack is on the middle shelf. Line three baking trays with parchment.
  • In a medium bowl, sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt together and then mix.
  • In a larger bowl, cream your butter so itā€™s nice and soft then place 113g of it into another large bowl.
  • Add 150g granulated sugar to one bowl, and 100g brown sugar and the remaining 50g granulated sugar to the other. Cream the butters and sugars in their separate bowls so youā€™ve now created two mixtures.
    N.B.Ā Remember which bowl is which! You can use a post-it note to label them. The one with the brown sugar is our peanut butter base, and the one with only granulated sugar is for our ā€œjellyā€ cookie dough base.
  • Whisk together your egg and egg yolk then divide this between the two bowls with the butter and sugars so you have half in each. Add 1tsp vanilla to each bowl, whisking each again until completely combined.
  • Now add your peanut butter to the bowl that had the brown sugar and butter in and beat again.
  • Divide the flour mixture in half between the two bowls and beat each on low speed until a dough starts to form.
  • In the bowl that only had granulated sugar in {your ā€œjellyā€ cookie dough}, add in 12g of your freeze-dried raspberries or strawberries, and a few drops of red food colouring, and knead until the dough is pink in colour.
  • Take your ball of dough and break it up into 6-7 pieces. Add back to the bowl and then drizzle in 50g of jam {I like raspberry but itā€™s entirely up to you!}. Do not mix, just bring the dough together again so you have streaks of jam running through.
  • Measure out about 30g of your peanut butter dough, and 30g of your jelly dough squashing them into a size 20 cookie scoop and then turning out onto your prepared baking trays.
  • Bake for 14-15mins until golden around the edges.

Notes

Inspired by Sarah Kiefferā€™s Neopolitan Cookies from 100 Cookies
Keyword cookie, cookies, jam, peanut, peanut butter, raspberry, strawberry

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