Use smooth stabilized peanut butter; separated natural butter changes free-oil content.
Stabilized peanut butter and a low-sugar dough produce thick, fork-marked shortbread with a dense nutty crumb.
The recipe card lists measured ingredients, numbered steps, storage guidance, and a nutrition estimate when available. Total time includes the listed preparation, rest, baking, and cooling periods for this recipe.
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Peanut-Butter Christmas Shortbread Recipe
Follow the tray sizes, portions and baking intervals in the instructions below.
Total time includes hands-on preparation, required chilling or resting, whole-batch cooking, cooling and finishing.
Kitchen tools you’ll need
- mixing bowl
- mixer
- kitchen scale
- two 13 x 18-inch half sheets
- parchment
- wide spatula
- cooling rack
Ingredients
US measures are approximate. Gram weights help keep portions consistent; spice weights vary with density.
Instructions
Mix the dough
- Mix the dough: Beat butter, peanut butter and sugar until smooth without whipping. Stir in flour and salt just until a firm dough forms.
Shape and manage temperature
- Shape and manage temperature: Divide into 24 equal portions, about 15 g. Roll into balls and press crosswise with a fork to 1 3/4 inches wide and 3/8 inch thick. Refrigerate the shaped cookies for 25 minutes until firm.
Bake the whole batch
- Bake the whole batch: Heat oven to 325°F (165°C) conventional or 300°F (150°C) fan. Arrange cookies on two parchment-lined 13 x 18-inch half sheets, 12 cookies per tray, with at least 1 inch between edges. Bake one tray at a time on the middle rack, keeping the waiting tray refrigerated for 18–22 minutes, rotating front to back once, until the edges and bases are lightly golden and the centers look dry. Whole-batch cookie baking is 2 trays x up to 22 minutes = 44 minutes.
Cool and finish
- Cool and finish: Rest 10 minutes on each tray, then cool 20 minutes on a rack before serving or packing. Cooling includes the tray rest.
Timing and scaling
- Timing and scaling: Active preparation is 20 minutes; required chill/rest is 25 minutes; whole-batch oven baking is 44 minutes; cooling/setting is 30 minutes. Cooling allowance runs from the final tray; earlier trays may cool during later baking and that overlap is not counted again. Start with butter at the stated consistency; ingredient warm-up and frozen-dough thawing are extra. Oven preheating can overlap shaping or chilling. Scale every ingredient weight but keep piece dimensions, oven temperature and per-tray bake range unchanged; extra trays increase whole-batch time.
Chef’s Science & Pro Tips
Ingredient science
Peanut solids and fat replace some butter, giving density rather than the lift of a standard peanut-butter cookie.
Technique & texture
Use smooth stabilized peanut butter; separated natural butter changes free-oil content.
Finishing & serving
Press every ball to the stated thickness so the centers dry without overbrowning the fork ridges.
Storage and make-ahead
| Method | How long | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Room temperature | 5 days | Up to 5 days. Store completely cooled cookies airtight in a cool, dry room, with parchment between layers. Keep away from moist filled cookies. |
| Refrigeration | up to 7 days | Unnecessary; up to 7 days if needed. Baked refrigeration is unnecessary for these unfilled cookies and may soften the crumb. If the room is warm, seal airtight and bring to room temperature while still covered. |
| Raw freezing | 1 month | Up to 1 month. Freeze wrapped dough or unbaked portions airtight. Thaw covered overnight in the refrigerator; shape as directed, then complete any stated post-shaping chill. Do not add thaw time to the fresh-batch timings. |
| Baked freezing | 2 months | Up to 2 months. Freeze fully cooled cookies airtight with parchment between layers. Thaw in their sealed container at room temperature for about 1–2 hours. |
| Restoring | As described | Serve after thawing; optional 3–5-minute refresh. For plain unfilled cookies only, refresh at 300°F (150°C) conventional or 275°F (135°C) fan for 3–5 minutes, then cool 20 minutes before sealing. This is extra time beyond the fresh recipe. |
Notes
- Scale ingredients, including US measures, without changing cookie size or oven temperature. Extra trays increase whole-batch time.
Nutrition
Approximate values per portion from the listed ingredient weights divided into 24 equal portions. Includes required fillings and finishes. Brands, unused coatings and actual portion size affect the estimate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why no egg or baking soda?
This is a dense shortbread formula, using peanut butter solids and flour rather than a leavened drop-cookie structure.
Can I use crunchy peanut butter?
It would change shaping and distribution; the specified 85 g smooth stabilized butter gives the intended texture.
What if the fork sticks?
Dip it lightly in flour and tap off excess before pressing, rather than adding flour to the entire dough.
Browse more cookie ideas in the Christmas Shortbread Cookies collection.
