The 1-Ingredient Upgrade for Better Peanut Butter Cookies

Venture into any family recipe box and you are bound to find a version of the classic peanut butter cookie. You know the ones with the signature crosshatch from the tines of the fork. I can’t say I’ve ever met a peanut butter cookie I didn’t like because peanut butter's great and I'd argue that peanut butter blossoms are THE BEST holiday cookies of all time.

However, a plain peanut butter cookie never really blows me away. Many recipes I've tried taste a bit flat in flavor. That was until I started adding one secret ingredient that takes it to the next level: miso. 

What Is Miso?

Miso is a staple in Japanese cooking. The paste is made from soybeans, salt, and koji (a type of starter culture that usually comes from rice) and is left to ferment for at least a few months, or up to several years.

I like to use white miso paste (also known as Shiro miso) when baking. This type of miso is aged for the shortest amount of time, which gives it a sweeter and more delicate flavor.

Miso In Desserts Is Genius

Miso has been on the dessert scene for years; the first sweet I tried miso in was a salted caramel. It gave the sauce a beautiful umami base note and kept the caramel from tasting sickly sweet. Next, I baked Claudia Brick’s miso chocolate chip cookies and I fell in love with the juxtaposition of the sweet chocolate chunks and the savory, salty miso.

Once I was confident that many cookie recipes could be improved with a little miso, I swapped out some of the peanut butter in my family’s classic recipe with two tablespoons of miso. The resulting cookie was still rich in peanut flavor, but it was no longer one-dimensional. The miso elevated the nuttiness of the peanut butter and brought balance to an otherwise pretty sweet cookie. 

How To Make My Peanut Butter Miso Cookies

This recipe makes about 30 cookies:

• 2 1/2 cups (300g) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 sticks (170g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons white miso
• 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar, plus 1/2 cup more for coating 
• 3/4 cup (150g) packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, peanut butter, miso, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed for about four minutes, until light and fluffy.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the eggs one at a time, beating for about one minute at medium speed after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and beat for 30 seconds. 

Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and add the dry ingredients. Mix at low speed for about 20 seconds, or until only a few streaks of flour remain. Fold the remaining by hand with a rubber spatula.

Set the cookie dough in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 350˚F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a one-tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the dough into even portions, then roll them into neat balls. 

Roll each ball in sugar, then set them on the prepared baking sheet. The cookies will spread as they bake, so leave about two inches between each. If desired, use the tines of a fork to make a cross-hatch pattern on each cookie. 

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly golden brown, but soft to the touch. Let cool on the sheet pan for about two minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. You will need to bake the cookies in batches because they won't fit on one sheet pan. Eat as many as you'd like in between batches. As the baker, you deserve them.