Jimmy Carter’s Peanut Butter Cookies

By Danielle Nieman

Jimmy Carter’s Peanut Butter Cookies call for real peanuts, which makes them incredibly delicious and similar to peanut brittle.

This post is all about how to make Jimmy Carter’s Peanut Butter Cookies.

This famous peanut butter cookie recipe, also known as Jimmy Carter’s Cookies, is insanely tasty and probably different from any PB cookie you’ve made in the past. The recipe does not call for actual peanut butter but instead relies on butter and oatmeal for its creamy and textured base, with a hearty helping of salted peanuts. It’s been said that Carter’s grandmother is the mastermind creator of these chewy and slightly crispy peanut treats.

To legitimize this recipe, it’s important to note that Carter grew up on his family’s peanut farm in Georgia and, after his father’s death, operated the farm before becoming the 39th president of the United States. The Carter family obviously knows a thing or two about peanuts, which may be why this vintage cookie recipe that’s been popular for decades recently went viral on Reddit.

I thought these cookies tasted incredible. They are far better than any basic PB cookie that calls for peanut butter. Once baked, the chunks of peanuts, combined with the butter and oatmeal, reminded me of peanut brittle.

I have some recommended tweaks for this recipe that will undoubtedly make everyone obsessed with these cookies. First, I sprinkled Maldon sea salt flakes before and after baking the cookies. Second, I highly recommend adding 12 ounces of white or semi-sweet chocolate to the dough. Enjoy!

Jimmy Carter’s Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients You’ll Need:

• 1 Cup Salted Butter (2 sticks softened at room temperature)

• 1 Cup White Granulated Sugar

• 1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar

• 2 Large Eggs (room temperature)

• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla

• 1.5 Cups All-Purpose Flour

• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt

• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

• 3 Cups Rolled Oats (like old-fashioned oats)

• 1.5 Heaping Cups of Salted Peanuts (cocktail style)

Optional Ingredients I Recommend Adding:

• Sea Salt Flakes (I used Maldon sea salt to sprinkle the cookie dough balls before baking and again after the cookies were removed from the oven. I highly recommend it!)

• 12-ounce Bag of White Chocolate Chips or Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Equipment Needed:

• Oven

• Measuring Cups and Spoons

• Mixing Bowls

• Stand or Hand Mixer

• Refrigerator (for chilling the dough)

• Baking Sheets

• Parchment Paper

• Wire Cookie Racks (for cooling)

How To Make Jimmy Carter’s Famous Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe, Step-by-Step

Step 1: Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and oats in a mixing bowl. Set aside for now.

Step 2: Using a stand or hand mixer, cream the room-temperature butter and white and brown sugars together for approximately three minutes at medium-high speed. I recommend setting a timer.

Step 3: Add the eggs and the vanilla to the mixture and beat for two more minutes.

Step 4: Add half of your flour mixture to the bowl. Mix on low just until combined. Add the other half of the flour mixture, mixing on low until combined.

Step 5: Using a spatula, stir in the peanuts until combined. At this point, you can also add and stir in the optional chocolate chips.

Step 6: Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and chill the dough for a few hours or overnight. You can skip this step if you’re short on time. However, chilling the dough will cause the cookies to spread out less during baking and have a chewier consistency.

Step 7: Once ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Step 8: Add dough balls to the lined baking sheets with a cookie scoop or a spoon. Each of my cookie balls had about 1.5 tablespoons of dough. I added eight balls per cookie sheet. The recipe makes about three dozen cookies.

Step 9: Sprinkle sea salt (like Maldon) onto each dough ball before adding them to the oven. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10-12 minutes until edges look golden brown.

Step 10: After baking, sprinkle with more sea salt (optional but highly recommended!) and let the cookies stay on the cookie sheet for 2 to 3 minutes.

Step 11: Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Cookie Storing Tips: If you don’t want to bake all three dozen cookies at once, you can make three dozen dough balls, placing them onto a baking sheet and into the freezer for about an hour. Once the balls are frozen, add them to a Ziploc bag with the baking instructions on the freezer bag. That way, you can enjoy a fresh Jimmy Carter cookie whenever you desire!

FAQs

Why do Jimmy Carter’s Peanut Butter Cookies taste different from other PB cookie recipes?

Jimmy Carter’s cookies call for real peanuts instead of peanut butter, which makes them different in taste. They have a butter oatmeal base and resemble peanut brittle when combined and baked with real peanuts.

Why did these Peanut Butter Cookies recently go viral on Reddit?

Jimmy Carter’s cookie recipe went viral on Reddit about nine months ago, after he passed away on December 29, 2024. A user posted the recipe in his honor, which other Reddit users then shared.

Final Thoughts On Jimmy Carter’s Famous PB Cookie Recipe

These peanut butter cookies are delicious and unique! While basic PB recipes call for peanut butter, this one stands out because it uses real peanuts, oatmeal, and creamy butter for a textured taste. While I enjoyed Jimmy Carter’s cookies, I can’t wait to make them again and add white or semi-sweet chocolate chips. Maybe even both!

Let me know what you think in the comments. Follow Career Girl Meets… on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Also, check out Career Girl Meets…KITCHEN cookbook available on Amazon.

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