Peanut Butter Cookies
Soft, chewy, and deeply nostalgic, peanut butter cookies are the kind of treat that taste like childhood. In Canada, they almost always meant reaching for a jar of Kraft Peanut Butter — the yellow-lidded classic that’s been in pantries for decades. Whether smooth or crunchy, its familiar flavour made these cookies a bake sale favourite, a lunchbox staple, and a comfort food across generations.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Makes: About 24 cookies
Ingredients
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup Kraft Peanut Butter (smooth or crunchy)
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
Method
Prep oven: Preheat to 180°C (350°F). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream base: Beat butter, Kraft Peanut Butter, and both sugars together until light and fluffy.
Add wet ingredients: Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth.
Combine dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir into peanut butter mixture until just combined.
Shape cookies: Roll dough into 1-tbsp balls. Place on baking sheet and flatten gently with a fork in a crisscross pattern.
Bake: Cook 8–10 minutes, until lightly golden at the edges. Cool on a wire rack.
Variations
Extra peanutty: Stir in ½ cup chopped roasted peanuts.
Double delight: Add ½ cup chocolate chips for a classic peanut butter–chocolate combo.
Chewy twist: Swap ¼ cup flour for rolled oats for a heartier cookie.
Kraft Peanut Butter, introduced in Canada in the 1960s, quickly became the country’s top-selling brand and a symbol of home kitchens. For decades, these cookies filled lunchboxes and bake sale tables, tied to the familiar yellow jar and its smiling Kraft bears. Today, with peanut allergies affecting about 1 in 50 Canadian children — often severe enough to cause life-threatening reactions — peanut butter is no longer allowed in most schools. A bittersweet change, it highlights how a once-universal childhood staple has become a nostalgic treat best enjoyed at home.
