The Truth About Peanut Butter Cookies' Classic Crosshatch Pattern - Tasting Table (2024)

FAQs

Why do we crosshatch peanut butter cookies? ›

Peanut butter cookies don't spread as they cook, so you have to flatten them before hand. This ensures that the middle will cook through before the outside burns. As for the pattern created, it actually creates slightly more surface area, so you'll get more browning at the extra edges that you create.

The iconic criss cross fork imprint began in 1932, when the Schenectady Gazette published an article where it said to “shape [the dough] into balls and after placing them on the cookie sheet, press each one down with a fork, first one way and then the other, so they look like squares on waffles” (Tastingtable).

The most common mistake with peanut butter cookies is using the wrong type of peanut butter. The BEST peanut butter for today's cookies is a processed creamy peanut butter, preferably Jif or Skippy.

If you use all-natural peanut butter, grind your own, or use low-fat or low-salt peanut butter, the cookies won't turn out as described. Can you substitute butter for shortening? Sure; I'd use 1/2 cup butter, since it includes milk solids as well as fat.

Too much peanut butter leads to dry cookies

If you want to nail the perfect ratio of ingredients for maximum peanut flavor but a soft cookie texture, try using no more than 1 cup of peanut butter for every 1 1/2 cups of flour and 1/4 cup of butter.

Certain cookies — Sugar Cookies, Snickerdoodles, Classic Peanut Butter Cookies — need to be flattened a bit before they bake, lest they end up emerging from the oven looking like ping-pong balls rather than typical flat, round cookies.

The Incas developed a paste made out of ground peanuts as far back as 950 B.C. Contrary to popular belief, George Washington Carver did not invent peanut butter.

The peanut butter cookie was invented in the early 1910's by George Washington Carver.

The Problem: Your Oven Is Too Hot

If your cookies repeatedly turn out flat, no matter the recipe, chances are your oven is too hot. Here's what's happening. The butter melts super quickly in a too-hot oven before the other ingredients have firmed up into a cookie structure.

You can further augment the gustatory potential of the peanut butter by using both vanilla extract and almond extract in your dough—just a splash of the latter is enough to boost your cookies' nuttiness (while remaining subtle enough that no one will cotton onto the presence of drupe essence in your legume dessert).

Why are my 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies falling apart? ›

Only 3 Ingredients

Do not use natural peanut butter with the oil on top as the cookies will spread and possibly break apart. Standard creamy peanut butter like Jiff Natural or regular Jiff works best. Some other brands of natural peanut butter without the oil on top, like creamy MaraNatha works good too.

Peanut Butter Cookie Mix Hacks

Flavor Twist: After creating the dough according to the peanut butter cookie mix instructions, portion the dough into balls then roll in a tasty topping like poppy seeds, sesame seeds or sprinkles, or go for a 4:1 ratio of sugar and dry spice, like ground cinnamon or nutmeg.

Peanut butter cookie dough is typically quite dense and needs to be pressed down to encourage spreading and even baking. Typically this is done with the tines of a fork.

Shortening traps more air bubbles and has a higher melting point than butter, so recipes using shortening tend to produce baked goods with more lift and that hold their shape during baking. Interior texture will also be softer and lighter.

Due to its liquid nature, using oil in cookies typically results in a denser texture. Also, because oil is 100% fat, it doesn't react with flour the way butter does (butter contains water). Because of that, your cookies won't be as fluffy. If you're a fan of flat cookies, then using oil is an excellent option.

Pressing a fork into these peanut butter cookies prior to baking helps flatten the cookies slightly, promoting oven spread. The fork marks also encourage the cookies to bake more evenly and brown evenly.

Peanut butter cookie dough is typically quite dense and needs to be pressed down to encourage spreading and even baking. Typically this is done with the tines of a fork.

The iconic criss-cross pattern isn't just for looks; it serves a functional purpose too. The fork's tines create small grooves on the cookie surface, increasing the surface area exposed to the oven's heat. This helps the cookies cook more evenly and gives them that beautiful, golden-brown finish.

That's why some of our cookies look the same but have two different names. Whether the package says Peanut Butter Patties® or Tagalongs®, or Samoas® or Caramel deLites®, the cookies are similarly delicious. Contact your local Girl Scout council to find out which Girl Scout Cookies are available in your area.