Peanut Butter Cookies

Doneness

Done when the edges are set and the classic crosshatch top looks dry and a touch golden, while the centres still look slightly soft and underdone. Pull them then — peanut butter cookies firm up a lot as they cool, and that carryover is what keeps them chewy instead of crumbly-dry. Flatten each ball with a fork in a crosshatch before cooking so they bake evenly; they spread less than other cookies, so the fork press also sets their final shape. No flipping — they bake flat on parchment.

Oil & seasoning

No — cut a piece of parchment to fit and the cookies lift off cleanly. Oil would just make the bottoms greasy and slick.

Season with: Classic creamed: butter, brown sugar, and peanut butter creamed together, fork-crosshatched and rolled in sugar for a crackly top., Flourless 3-ingredient: just peanut butter, sugar, and an egg — naturally gluten-free, soft, and intensely peanutty (handle gently, the dough is delicate)., Peanut butter blossom: press a chocolate kiss into the centre the moment they come out of the basket., Chocolate-chip peanut butter: fold mini chocolate chips into the dough for a peanut-butter-meets-chocolate cookie..

Watch out for

• !Always use a parchment round — the dough is soft and the cookies would otherwise stick or drip through a slotted basket, and parchment makes lift-out clean.
• !Press each ball flat with a fork in a crosshatch before cooking — peanut butter dough spreads less than most, so without flattening you get domed, unevenly cooked cookies.
• !Pull them when the edges are set but the centres look underdone — carryover heat finishes them and keeps them chewy. Overbaking even a minute makes them dry and crumbly.
• !Use a lower temperature than an oven recipe calls for — the air fryer's fan browns the tops fast, so 320 °F keeps them from scorching before the centres set.
• !Work in small batches; crowding blocks airflow and gives you pale, unevenly baked cookies. Contains peanuts — keep them clearly separated from any nut-free baking.