These peanut butter jam cookies are simple and satisfying. This peanut butter and jelly sandwich as a cookie is for everyone who loves the classic PB & J.

peanut butter jam cookies on plate

Easy Thumbprint Cookies

There are only a handful of things you come across in your life which change how you live everyday. Connecting with an extraordinary person. Discovering a dream job. Having a baby or in our case, bringing home a puppy for the first time. Maybe a life altering moment which sends you in an unforeseen direction.

Or maybe it was something less dramatic. Something you picked up as a hobby or started learning for any number of reasons, but you found yourself deeply drawn into it. It quietly changes you little by little, embedding itself into your life. You start thinking about it all of the time. In the shower, while driving, standing in line at the grocery store. Your daily culture is now infused with it.

peanut butter jam cookies on plate

For me there have been a few instantly altering moments; meeting Diane so many years ago, us raising our pups together, buying homes together. And for the less dramatic events, there are only a couple which have fully become a part of me. Cooking and aikido.

Peanut Butter Jam Cookies

Cooking began as a young teenager on our cattle ranch. We always had a freezer full of beef, and since we tended to be a very self sufficient set of individuals in the family,  I started fixing my own meals. It started out teenage boy basic – monster sized burgers. Then I started making sauces, then cooking trout caught in the creek running through our property. It continued to blossom and the joy and curiosity in cooking has never strayed from my soul.

aikido

Aikido began much later. One night I stumbled across a dojo after watching a movie with Diane. I had been casually looking for something to help stay fit and maybe develop some skills. I had heard of aikido and it seemed like a good fit to my personality, but I didn’t know much. We watched from the window as their class went on, a mix of several races and ages of people all in white uniforms, many with traditional black Japanese hakama. There was a calm yet powerful presence to the class.

Aikido

I recognized one of the gentlemen with a hakama on. He was one of our regular customers at the restaurant where I managed at the time. I liked him. He was “good people”. Next time he was in I chatted with him about aikido and felt myself being drawn in towards it. It wasn’t long before I had my first intro class. He was too humble at the time to mention it, but I soon discovered he was the head instructor at the dojo.

This a video we filmed and produced for dojo.

Fast forward to thousands of hours at the dojo later, and it is hard to remember life before aikido. Our Sensei, or head teacher, is one of the kindest most sincere people I know. He is also able to disable any attacker with core shaking power, like a massive wave instantly and effortlessly sweeping you up in its motion. And even though the dojo has produced many amazing and powerful martial artists, it is also welcoming to nearly all ages and abilities. From the old to the young, the fit to the initially uncoordinated, from the stocky to the petite, man or woman.

For me, through the dojo, I have found another home and family. I move through crowded rooms differently now, more aware and with greater body control. Life’s difficulties somehow seem less unsettling and are often met with a calmer head. I have become more patient with myself and gradually become more aware of my weaknesses and in doing so, I’m able to lessen them. Aikido has become a great influence in the quality of a person I try to be. And have come to know and trust a great group of people in which we meet with a smile and dude hug.

For the food fixated, I am amazed if you have made it this far through the post. You must be wondering what in the hell does any of this have to do with peanut butter cookies. Where’s the sweets?!

Every year Diane and I try to make the time to have the dojo and their families over to the house. It is always a great afternoon with everyone chatting away, kids playing, Sierra nudging her way into constant affections. Just before 4th of July it was the dojo’s anniversary so we freed up our schedule and put our party hats on.

We smoked up an 11 hour Texas brisket. Grilled sliced pork shoulder to throw into sliders. Made a curried noodle salad and a refreshing cucumber-jicama mint salad. Fried Vietnamese egg rolls. Put out the house-made pickles and kim chi. Froze up a bunch of zero-proof and adult ice pops. Made mini cupcakes using Joy the Baker’s amazing frosting recipes. It was good eating.

One of the dessert favorites was a PB&J cookie and they have become another house favorite. We’ll often use blackberry jam and it is so good, but we’ll also play with different jams. For the party I used up the last of my strawberry jam from this spring and it was quite delicious. Marmalades have been a surprisingly great addition as well.

Hope you enjoy these peanut butter jam cookies. We’d love for you to share any of your own life altering passions or moment. Thanks for listening!

Todd

Peanut Butter & Jam Cookies

Yield: 24 2 1/2″ Cookies
Prep Time: 16 minutes
Cook Time: 14 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
PB&J as a cookie, yes please!
5 from 4 votes
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Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups (156 g) All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) Baking Powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) Kosher Salt
  • 1 cup (220 g) packed Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 cup (114 g) Butter (1 stick) , at room temperature
  • 1 cup (260 g) Creamy Peanut Butter , at room temperature
  • 1 large Egg
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) Vanilla Extract
  • 1/4 cup (85 g) Blackberry Jam (or jam of choice) *see note 1

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheet pans with parchment paper.
  • Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt for at about 30 seconds or until fully blended. Set aside.
  • In stand mixer using a paddle attachment or hand mixer with the beater blades, beat the brown sugar, butter, and peanut butter until fluffy (about 2 minutes), scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated.
  • With the machine on the lowest speed, slowly pour the flour mix into the batter. Mix until incorporated, stopping occasionally to scrape bowl sides and bottom.
  • Roll the dough into balls or use a cookie scoop to form the balls and arrange apart and evenly on the prepared baking sheet pans.
  • Press a 1/2" divot into each ball. Spoon or pipe the jam (*see note 2 below) to fill each divot.
  • Bake for 11-14 minutes or until the dough is just set (I'll usually give the nearest one a little push test to feel if it seems too soft or if it feels like it has set up). If like, add a little extra fresh jam on top of the cookies. Cool on a wire rack.

Notes

Note 1: Blackberry jam which is excellent and often our first choice, but we’ve found many variations to be equally or even more delicious. Try a nice homemade strawberry jam or some unique jam in your cupboard. Marmalades are great too. If using homemade or boutique jams, make sure the jam isn’t too runny.
Note 2: For a quick piping bag, place jam in a quart size ziplock bag and snip one of the bottom corners off of the bag to create your piping hole.

Nutrition Information per Serving

Calories: 170kcal, Carbohydrates: 19g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 18mg, Sodium: 132mg, Potassium: 104mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 12g, Vitamin A: 129IU, Vitamin C: 0.3mg, Calcium: 24mg, Iron: 1mg
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American
Calories: 170
peanut butter and jelly cookies on plate