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Peanut Butter Shortbread Cookies are light and crispy with a delicious peanut butter flavor. It’s a shortbread cookie that married a peanut butter cookie and had a baby.

These peanut butter shortbread cookies started out as a peanut butter cut out cookie recipe. I mean, they’re still a cut out cookie recipe. But when I wrote these down to make last year, I had no idea what they would turn into.

I didn’t have time to make these last year for one of the many holiday events that I participate in. But I knew they would be made this year some time. They were looming at the top of my cookie list of recipes to make. And then #ChristmasSweetsWeek was on the calendar so I knew they were meant to be this year of all years.

But they were just an idea I had in my head. I had no idea how I would morph a sugar cookie dough with a peanut butter cookie dough and make these peanut butter cookies. Then I started doing some research on different types of cut out cookies. That’s when it dawned on me. This should be a shortbread recipe!

But I didn’t know how to make peanut butter shortbread cookies.

I started with my shortbread cookie recipes. Figuring the peanut butter could replace some of the butter in the recipe, I started to rework the recipe in my head. When I wrote the recipe, I didn’t anticipate the stickiness of the peanut butter in the dough. I should have but didn’t. So, I had to add some milk to the dough as it was stirring in the mixer. That did the trick.

The amount I added to my recipe wasn’t quite enough milk. This is the live and learn part of the lesson. Which happens to me quite often. Sometimes, I write the recipe and it doesn’t quite work out the way I think it needs to. So, I just wing it at the last minute. Of course, I adjust the final recipe so you should be good when you make these.

My cookie dough was rather, shall I say, brittle when I was rolling it? More so than a typical shortbread cookie dough should be. It broke apart around the edges. I was getting very frustrated! That’s when I upped the amount of the milk in the final recipe.

I typically re-roll the cookie dough to get as many cookies out of the batch as I can. I did not with this dough. It was such a pain because it needed that little extra bit of milk.

If yours looks a little too dry, then by all means add a little more milk. Try 1/4 at a time until it doesn’t look dry anymore. It will be just too crumbly to make sense to you. That’s when you add the extra milk.

Now, I normally let the shortbread cookies get just slightly tan around the edges. I like them a little on the less crisp side and more tender side. However, this dough is already tan. Well, darker than tan. So, I had no idea how to tell when they were cooked enough to pull until I baked the first tray.

I set the timer for 10 minutes. Then I checked them. I touched one of them and it was still a little too soft and the edges hadn’t changed color at all. They went back into the oven to 3 more minutes and that was perfect! They were a little more brown around the edges.

Of course, with any cookie recipe, you can’t really wait for them to cool before tasting them. These peanut butter shortbread cookies are no exception. Except, if you taste then right out of the oven they have a different texture than if you let them cool completely. Eating them first out of the oven they’re a bit chewy and almost sticky on your teeth.

Letting them cool completely and you have that perfect peanut butter shortbread cookie I had envisioned in my head. They are crispy with just the perfect amount of peanut butter flavor. I was almost disappointed when I tasted them warm. But tasting them cooled was one of those NAILED IT moments for me.

You can see buttery, flaky layers on those cookies.

And you can see the lightly browed edges of these cookies. With the look on the husband’s face, I’m sure these cookies will be staying here. However, the rest of the baked goods I made yesterday will more than likely end up at work. I know he won’t eat them. They’re cakes and breads. Those things are only good the day of for him.  I, on the other hand, can’t wait to nibble on pieces and slices I’ll be sharing later this week and this month.

I had a tree and a star cookie cutter in my drawer. Since I used the star earlier for the cookie week, I opted for the tree. I may have used the tree, too? I can’t remember. But the stars were the last thing I remember so it was the tree this time around. That in lieu of making the hubs climb the step stool and reach way up top of the pantry. The tins of cookie tins live up there. I can’t reach them when there’s a huge package of water in the pantry floor.

Yes. I have two, actually 3 tins of cookie cookies. The third one is smaller and made specifically for a series of cookie cutters that fit in there. The other two tins are random cookie tins PACKED with cookie cutters. They range from the creepiest looking man cutter to those plastic cookie press style cutters of reindeer to various bridge shapes like diamonds and spades.

I had a tree and a star cookie cutter in my drawer. Since I used the star earlier for the cookie week, I opted for the tree. I may have used the tree, too? I can’t remember. But the stars were the last thing I remember so it was the tree this time around. That in lieu of making the hubs climb the step stool and reach way up top of the pantry. The tins of cookie tins live up there. I can’t reach them when there’s a huge package of water in the pantry floor.

Yes. I have two, actually 3 tins of cookie cookies. The third one is smaller and made specifically for a series of cookie cutters that fit in there. The other two tins are random cookie tins PACKED with cookie cutters. They range from the creepiest looking man cutter to those plastic cookie press style cutters of reindeer to various bridge shapes like diamonds and spades.

Welcome to #ChristmasSweetsWeek 2020! Co-hosted by Terri from Love and Confections and Christie from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures! What better way to celebrate the holidays than with food and fun? 21 bloggers from around the country have come together to share some of their favorite sweet Christmas recipes!! Deck the halls and get ready for very merry sweet treats, like fudge, cookies, Christmas morning breakfasts, layer cakes, cocoa, and more! Follow along on social media with our #ChristmasSweetsWeek hashtag. Happy Holidays!

Enjoy these #ChristmasSweetsWeek recipes from our bloggers:

Breakfast and Baked Goods Recipes
Classic Cinnamon Rolls by The Nifty Foodie

Candy and Fudge Recipes
3 Ingredient Old Fashioned Potato Candy by Blogghetti
Bourbon Caramels with Chocolate and Vanilla by Christmas Tree Lane
Chocolate Peppermint Graham Crackers by Kathryn’s Kitchen Blog
Spiced Sugared Pecans by Love & Confections

Pastry and Dessert Recipes
Banana Cake by Palatable Pastime
Blue Curaco Velvet Cake by Magical Ingredients
Egg Nog Ice Cream by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Hazelnut & Raspberry Balsamic Brownie Cookies by The Spiffy Cookie
Peanut Butter Cut Outs by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
Peppermint Dipped Chocolate Chip Cookies by An Affair from the Heart
Pioneer Woman’s Nantucket Cranberry Pecan Pie by For the Love of Food