Nutter Butter Cookies
Give me a recipe that starts with cooking oats in butter and vanilla bean and you’ve stolen my heart. Throw in some peanut butter and you’ve convinced me to make cookies, something I rarely feel inclined to do.
It had been a while since I made a Nancy Silverton recipe, and now I feel the need to pull all her books off of my shelves and hit the kitchen with a vengeance. Seriously, she might be my pastry hero. Top 5 at LEAST. This cookie recipe came from her Sandwich book, a book I might never have paid attention to had it not been for her take on Nutter Butters.
As mentioned above, I started by toasting oats with butter and a vanilla bean.
I mixed those into a pretty straight-forward peanut butter cookie dough.
I rolled and stamped out little discs that I popped into the fridge to chill before baking.
While those were baking I made the filling, a salty, buttery, peanut fluff.
And then it was the best assembly line one can imagine. The funny thing is, these cookies actually get BETTER as they age. The first night I had them after a Monday night family dinner, with some ice cream. They seemed rich and intense, almost to the point of turning me off. I couldn’t eat a whole one and considered sending them away with my friends just to get them out of my house. The next day though, either I was hungrier or they mellowed out because I devoured one in 15 seconds flat. And they were so much more tender. So from now on, I’m making these little ones the day before I actually need them. And I’ll definitely keep them oreo sized next time.
NUTTER BUTTER COOKIES RECIPE (by Nancy Silverton)
Yield: 36 cookies
Cookies:
12oz unsalted butter, cool
1 vanilla bean
2 cups quick cooking rolled oats
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup chunky peanut butter, I prefer JIF
2 ¼ cups AP flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
– In a medium sized skillet, melt 4oz of butter over medium heat. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Toss the seeds and the pod into the butter along with the oats. Cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring constantly, until the oats are lightly toasted and golden brown. Transfer the oat mixture to a bowl, discarding the vanilla bean pod, and chill in the fridge.
– Place the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
– In a stand mixer, cream the butter on medium speed for a minute with the paddle attachment. Slowly pour in the sugars and continue creaming until the mixture is light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the peanut butter and mix just until combined. Lower the speed and add the chilled oats, mixing until just combined.Turn off the mixer and add the flour mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough comes together in a ball.
– Roll the dough into 2″ balls, or use a scooper to scoop out individual portions and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Slightly flatten each cookie and use a knife to score each cookie with criss-cross patterns. Chill the dough for about 15 minutes.
– Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the cookies for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. They should be lightly browned. Cool completely.
Filling:
3oz butter, cool
1½ tsp salt
6 TBSP powdered sugar
1 cup + 2 TBSP natural chunky peanut butter
– In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and salt on medium speed for about a minute, until the butter is softened.
– Add the sugar and peanut butter and mix another minute to combine.
– Assemble and Enjoy!
I made that! 
these look absolutely amazing!!! thanks for sharing. CANNOT wait to try them.
These are my favorite! I love love love nutter butters!!! I am going to try this recipe immediately!!!
Yum! 🙂
Oh, mama! I see no reason why these wouldn’t fit nicely into my early Thanksgiving buffet. Thank you!
No wonder they were rich, there’s a lot of peanut buttery goodness crammed into those cookies!
I am making these tomorrow. TOMORROW. I am already cataloguing my pantry for what I need to buy. Thank you, and I will report back!
Yes, yes, yes!!! These have been a favorite of mine for at least a decade, albeit one I considered my dirty (oaty, buttery, insanely delicious) little secret for years. Who reads an ancient, pictureless, pastry-wonk cookbook any longer?
We made these most recently for teacher gifts in June, and I’ve been hungering after an encore, ever since.
So glad to know the book and biscuit isn’t lost in the ether. Sigh. Happy happy. (And enjoy!)
Wow, what delicious-looking cookies. I love sweets and these cookies look mouth-watering! I usually stick to these Brownie Cookies. They’re pretty tasty too!
OMG. Must try.
These cookies look amazing…just wondering what AP flour is and also powdered sugar as I don’t know them as that in the UK…please help so I can bake these asap!!!!
AP Flour is All-Purpose Flour or Plain Flour and powdered sugar is confectioners sugar which is powdery, not grainy.
If you are allergic to peanut butter… are you allergic to sunflower seeds? Sunbutter would make a great option.
So, I made these last night and they are absolutely one of the best cookies I have ever made (and I’ve made a lot of cookies). The oats are genius. I have had this cookbook sitting on my shelf for years but needed your inspiration to try the recipe so, thanks! Also, Brandi, your site is awesome. Keep it up!
Great recipe! Amazing results! Thanks for posting the cookie origin as well. Nancy’s
cookbook is inspiring.
But why jif and not pb that doesn’t need an ingredient list?
Because Jif is my favorite silly! But you can choose whatever peanut butter you like best…
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We’ve made these cookies two times in the past week! The first time, a mixer was used and some store-brand peanut butter.. they came out suuuuper crumbly and we lost a few during the transfer to the cooling rack. Second time, no mixer and used JIF. Let me just say…. wow, huge difference. The cookies came out perfectly golden and much more sturdy. The first batch (as the article states) definitely did get insanely better with age. We’re hoping that the second gets even better.. seeing as how they’re already better than the first. 🙂
Is there something missing from this recipe? I made it and it completely crumbled? Shouldn’t there be eggs? I make a lot of cookies…. something seems to be missing?
I don’t know what to say, I’ve made these several times and never had trouble! Did you use natural peanut butter? I always use Jif, because I think the emulsified oil gives it a smooth texture.
[…] homemade oreos and nutter butters. The latter took quite of bit of research and I wavered between these and those. It was Brandi’s zen technique of toasting oats with a vanilla bean that hooked me. […]