Fluffernutter Cookie
This peanut butter cookie has extra peanut butter added to the dough, peanut butter chips, graham crackers, buttered pretzels, and a marshmallow filling. It is sweet, crunchy, gooey, and a cookie that should be on everyone’s baking list.
The iconic fluffernutter sandwich, layers of peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwiched together between two pieces of soft white bread, delicious and nostalgic. I loved anything peanut butter when I was a kid, and when my dad would pack our lunches, we knew we were going to be in for a treat because it would almost certainly be a heavenly peanut butter sandwich combo. Fluffernutter was my favorite. I t was always a good day when I sat down in the lunchroom to enjoy a gooey peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich, and it was an uncommon lunch item here in Texas that I always felt super special. Thanks Dad!
I wanted to recreate this yummy nostalgic treat in cookie form but with a little bit of a grown-up twist with the addition of buttered pretzels. The buttered pretzels give a salty and irresistible crunch that balances the sweetness of the cookie while providing texture. If you are not a fan of pretzels or lightly salted desserts, you can omit them and still create a beautiful fluffernutter cookie.
Why I Love This Recipe
Flavor-the flavor of peanut butter and marshmallow are very nostalgic for me, I love this combination in a cookie. The peanut butter chips add an extra layer of peanut butter flavor while the graham crackers give a slight honey flavor. The marshmallow is very sweet, sticky, and melty in the middle of the cookie and the sweetness pairs well with the saltiness and slight bitter bite of the buttered pretzels.
Made to Share- These are extra-large cookies that are wonderful for sharing with family and friends.
Texture-I love creating cookies that have a variety of textures in them, and this cookie recipe is a great example of that. The peanut butter cookie base is soft and slightly crumbly from the addition of extra peanut butter to the dough. The peanut butter chips are soft and creamy, and the graham crackers offer a slight chewiness when baked into the dough. The buttered pretzels are very crisp and provide a great crunch in contrast with the soft and gooey marshmallow middle. Every bite is an explosion of textures that keep you coming back for more.
Ingredients You Need
-Butter- softened at room temperature for easier mixing into dough.
-Eggs-room temperature as well, this will help them mix into the dough easier and not chill your butter.
-Brown and Granulated sugar
-Creamy Peanut Butter-if you are a crunchy peanut butter kind of person, go for it! It will give a lot more texture to this cookie.
-Flour
-Vanilla Extract
-Baking Powder and Baking Soda
-Peanut Butter Chips-I love using the Reese’s brand of peanut butter chips. I have used other brands in the past (I’m not saying which ones, I ain’t no snitch) and this is the one I always go back to. The texture of these when baked are very melty and gooey and when cooled they firm up a bit. The nice thing is that they stay relatively soft and creamy and don’t have a waxy feeling to them. Also, they pack a lot of peanut butter flavor.
-Graham Crackers-I don’t use very much but they do play an important role in this cookie. They adda subtle honey flavor and more importantly they provide structure to our cookie dough base, this will help the cookies bake up tall and prevent the marshmallow from leaking out during baking.
-Marshmallows-I had jumbo marshmallows that were comically large and had to be cut down to fit inside of these cookies. Regular large marshmallows will do just fine and if you are making my recipe for Homemade Marshmallows, one-inch squares are the perfect size for stuffing into cookies. I would not recommend using marshmallow fluff, it has a softer consistency and doesn’t bake well.
-Pretzels-twists or matchstick pretzels work great for these cookies. If you can find them, mini pretzel twists are perfect, and I wish my local grocery store had them at the time I was making this recipe, but they were out of stock.
Buttered Pretzels
Let’s talk about buttered pretzels, an underrated delicacy that I have included in this cookie. The process is quite simple and only takes a few minutes to make and adds a level of buttery crunch to the pretzels and ultimately the fluffernutter cookies. The pretzels are toasted in brown butter until they reach a darker brown color and develop a toasted buttery flavor. They are much crisper after cooling and will stay crisp inside the cookies for a few days, much longer than if they are untoasted. I do add a sprinkle of salt after they are done cooking, but you can omit this step if you want to keep the salt content low.
In a small pan melt 3 tablespoons of butter. Let the butter melt for a few minutes until it starts getting a golden-brown color around the edges. It doesn’t have to be fully brown, just a little color will do.
Next, add your pretzels to the pan. If you are using matchstick pretzels as I am, break them up slightly so the pieces are around an inch long. Mix everything in the pan then with a constant back and forth motion move the pan so the pretzels toast evenly.
This took me around 3-5 minutes on medium high heat. The pretzels will soak up all the butter and the color will deepen to a darker brown. Make sure to keep stirring it so they don’t burn. A little extra toasty is ok in some spots, but you don’t want charred pretzels either.
Allow them to cool as you make the cookie dough. But also, try one. Taste how magically buttery and crunchy they are after toasting, divine!
Let’s Make Cookies!
In a stand mixer add softened butter and sugars and mix until creamy. I add the peanut butter next and continue to mix until it is all blended together.
I crack the eggs in a separate bowl and add to the mix, making sure they are mixed in well after each addition. I add in the vanilla extract after the eggs are mixed in then continue to mix on medium high until mixed in. I scrape the bowl down several times during these first steps to make sure everything is mixing evenly.
I sift all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl making sure there are no lumps in the dry mixture. I add to the mixer on low and mix until it just comes together. Then I add the peanut butter chips, chopped graham crackers, and cooled buttered pretzels for a few turns with the mixer on low. I turn the mixer off, remove bowl from stand and mix by hand making sure the bottom is mixed well and the mix-ins are distributed evenly in the dough.
After the dough is mixed, I get my baking sheet, parchment, cookie scoop, and marshmallows ready to fill the cookie dough. It is easier to fill cookies if you have all the ingredients and pan set up ready to go.
**Please refer to videos on my Instagram , Facebook , and Pinterest for visuals on the technique used to fill these cookies**
Using a 4-ounce cookie scoop I take a full scoop of dough and place on the parchment lined baking sheet. I was able to scoop 11 portions of dough.
After all of the dough is portioned out, it’s time to fill them with marshmallows. I take the dough and press down to make a disc of dough that has a slight indention in the middle. I grab a marshmallow, place it in the middle then wrap the dough edges around it to seal it in. I press the dough between my hands to smooth out the edges as best as I can. This dough has a lot of bulk mix ins, to help maintain height during baking, so special attention to sealing in the marshmallows is key.
I repeat with the remaining cookie dough then freeze them overnight. Freezing the stuffed dough will help the marshmallow stay inside the cookie and not melt and spill out when baking. This is a very important step and cannot be missed.
I bake these, from frozen, at 375*F for 12-14 minutes. I know they are ready when they are slightly golden on the tops. I don’t want to overbake these, the longer they are in the oven the higher the chance the marshmallow will get too hot, expand, and melt out.
I take them out of the oven and let them cool for 5-10 minutes. At this point you might see some marshmallow trying to peak through, that’s ok! I will usually fan them for a bit with a sheet pan, so the tops cool off and keep the marshmallow from spreading too much. I also let them cool away from the heat of the oven on an adjacent counter, so they cool much quicker. It’s a race against time trying to keep the marshmallows from getting too hot and melting out while also cooking the inside of the cookie dough to an appropriate temperature.
These cookies are wonderful enjoyed warm but can be cooled to room temperature and stored for 3-4 days. The longer they are stored the softer the pretzel will become due to the moisture in the cookie so it’s best to enjoy day of or at least in the first couple of days.
These just might be the best peanut butter cookies you will ever eat. They are not only delicious but addicting and I cannot stop thinking about them days after I made them.
If you try this recipe and love it as much as I do, please tag, follow, and like @sunshinetxcookies on Instagram and Facebook. New posts every Thursday so be sure to follow me for more delicious cookie recipes. Happy Baking!
Fluffernutter Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter unsalted, room temperature.
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup peanut butter I used creamy.
- 1 tspn vanilla extract
- 2 eggs room temperature.
- 2¼ cups flour
- 1 tspn baking soda
- ½ tspn baking powder
- 1 cup peanut butter chips
- 3 graham cracker sheets roughly chopped into 1 inch pieces.
- 11-12 large marshmallows I used Jet Puffed brand.
Buttered Pretzels
- 1 cup pretzels I recommend using matchsticks or small twists. Don't use thick pretzels.
- 3 tbsp butter
- sprinkle salt
Instructions
Buttered Pretzels
- Break up the pretzels with your fingers so they are roughly one inch in size.
- In a small sauté pan melt butter until just starting to brown over medium high heat.
- Add the pretzels and stir to coat them evenly in butter.
- With a smooth shaking motion, keep constant movement in your pan while toasting the pretzels. This will prevent them from burning.
- Pretzels are done after a few minutes of toasting. They will have a deeper color and smell buttery and toasty. Sprinkle a a pinch of salt on top after taking off heat.
- Allow to cool in a clean dish while you prepare the cookie dough
Fluffernutter Cookies
- Cream butter and sugars for 3-5 minutes until pale and creamy. Add peanut butter and continue to mix until smooth.
- Add in eggs one at a time making sure to scrape down the sides so everything is mixed in evenly. Add the vanilla extract and mix in.
- In a separate bowl sift the dry ingredients then add to the butter mixture on low. Mix until just incorporated, do not overmix.
- With the mixer off, add the peanut butter chips, chopped graham crackers, and buttered pretzels. Mix on low for a few seconds.
- Using a 4 ounce cookie scoop, portion out 11 portions of dough onto a baking sheet.
- Patting the dough flat in one hand, place a marshmallow in the center, then wrap the remaining dough around the marshmallow. Pinch the dough to seal in the marshmallow and roll around in your palms to smooth out the edges of the cookie dough. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Freeze overnight.
- Bake 6 cookies per baking sheet at 375*F for 12-14 minutes. Do not overbake or you risk the marshmallow center leaking out.
- Cool for 5-10 minutes. Enjoy!
