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Peanut Butter and Honey Shortbread Cookies

Name: Peanut Butter and Honey Shortbread Cookies
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 2 dozen cookies
Ingredients: 3/4 cup butter (melted); 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used natural creamy, but crunchy works too!); 1/3 cup granulated sugar; 1/3 cup runny honey; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; light brown sugar (for rolling and sprinkling); melted chocolate; sprinkles; chopped peanuts

By Nora Rusev | Updated: Dec 21, 2019 | 46 Comments

RECIPE ↓ VIDEO ↓ COMMENTS ↓

white plate on marble surface with peanut butter shortbread

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4.72 from 7 votes

Yield: dozen cookies

Ready In: 35 mins

This Peanut Butter Honey Shortbread Cookie recipe makes probably my favorite cookies ever! Simple with just a handful of ingredients, which means it's super quick and easy to make with the kids. Plus it's eggless, so you can eat all the cookie dough you want.

We love dipping these in melted chocolate and sprinkling with either chopped peanuts or fun sprinkles – they look so pretty! But that's entirely optional 😉

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Recommended Equipment:

Medium Mixing Bowl
Measuring Cups
whisk
spatula
Rolling Pin
Cookie Cutters
Baking Sheet
Silicone Baking Mats

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter (melted)
1/2 cup peanut butter (I used natural creamy, but crunchy works too!)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup runny honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
light brown sugar (for rolling and sprinkling)

Option Decorations

melted chocolate
sprinkles
chopped peanuts

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 15 mins

Ready In: 35 mins

Instructions

Prep: Heat the oven to 375°F and line 2 or 3 baking sheets with silicone mats or baking parchment.
Make cookie dough: Add melted butter, peanut butter, sugar honey and salt to a medium mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. Fold in flour and push together into a soft dough.
Roll and cut out cookies: Sprinkle a surface with light brown sugar and roll dough to 1/3 inch thickness on it. Either cut into fingers or cut into shapes with cookie cutters.
Bake: Place cookies on lined baking sheets 2 inches apart. Sprinkle tops with brown sugar. Bake in batches (one tray at a time!) for 8-9 minutes, or until just turning golden. Cool on the baking sheet (the cookies will still be very soft when they come out of the oven!) before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Optionally decorate: To decorate the cookies, I dip the cooled cookies in melted chocolate and sprinkle them with either chopped peanuts or sprinkles, then I place them on baking parchment until completely dry and firm. Keep them in an air-tight cookie jar for about 1 week.

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Step by Step Recipe Video

Nora’s Tips

Ingredient Notes:

Butter: Use real butter here, it just tastes the best in shortbread.

Peanut butter: I used JIF natural creamy. Feel free to use your favorite peanut butter in place. Crunchy works great too for some texture!

Honey: I use a mild, runny honey for baking. If you use a very sticky/solid one, your cookies might come out differently. If you use a honey with a strong flavor, it will be more prominent in the finished cookies.

Baking Tips:

Flour measuring: It’s very important to measure the flour correctly in this recipe. Spoon it into the measuring cup until it’s heaping full, then level off with a knife. If you add too much flour, the cookie dough will be too dry and you won’t be able to roll it.

The exact flour amount also depends on your peanut butter. If your dough feels almost sticky, add another tablespoon of flour. If it’s very dry, add a teaspoon of oil.

Making the cookie dough: Once you add the flour, switch to a spatula or wooden spoon. Do not overwork the dough, or the cookies won’t be crumbly.

Rolling: Stick to the 1/3 inch thickness when rolling the dough. Otherwise the cookies will spread and turn out too crispy and flat.

Note:

I do not recommend freezing this recipe, because the cookies break easily.

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I updated this recipe on 12/21/2019 to add new photos, a video and to make the recipe/instructions easier to understand. The recipe is essentially the same, I just scaled it a little so the flour doesn’t amount to an impossible-to-measure 2 3/8 cups anymore 🙂

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