Fluffernutter cookies are the classic New England fluffernutter sandwich is turned into a cookie! Thin, chewy peanut butter cookies are filled with swirls of marshmallow fluff. If you like these, try these fluffernutter bars or fluffernutter rice krispie treats.
Fluffernutter sandwiches are a New England staple. So much so, in fact, that it’s considered the unofficial sandwich of Massachusetts (and has been proposed to be the official sandwich). Additionally, there is a festival in Somerville, Massachusetts every year called “What the Fluff?” that celebrates the sandwich’s sticky and sweet goodness.
AND October 8th is National Fluffernutter Day.
So… what I’m getting at, is that its popularity in New England is well established. The fact that they don’t hand you a t-shirt with a fluffernutter sandwich on it when you move here is almost shocking.
I’ve eaten a few fluffernutter sandwiches in my day, usually with a ratio of 2:1, fluff to peanut butter. I’ve also done stuff like adding Nutella to the mix, and using crunchy peanut butter instead of creamy.
P.S. Nutella fluffernutter cookies could be on my list of to dos, you never know.
Some people are hardcore fluffernutter loyalists and seeing me do things like that makes them cringe. If you are one of those people, you may want to leave this page – because now I’ve transformed fluffernutter sandwiches into a cookie and it’s my new favorite thing in the entire world.
Fluffernutter cookies are infinitely better than the sandwich, sorrynotsorry.
I brought these cookies to work a few days after I made them and while I was sitting around, I overheard one of my coworkers telling others in a meeting:
“They’re SO GOOD. No joke, one of the top five cookies of MY LIFE.”
And this is coming from someone who isn’t much of a cookie person – she’d take a cake over a cookie any day of the week. I don’t take feedback like that lightly.
To be completely honest, these started out as a simple peanut butter cookie recipe. I’ve been trying for a long time to come up with a peanut butter cookie recipe that matched what I had in my head. I wanted them to be thin, not puffy. I wanted them to be chewy, not crispy or crumbly. I wanted them to have crinkles on top, not the fork crosshatch. I also didn’t want to roll them in sugar, so… yeah, I just didn’t want to do that.
I’m very picky, you guys.
It took many, many, many batches of cookies over the last year or so before I finally got what I wanted.
Tips for making fluffernutter cookies
Here’s what I learned in all my trial and error:
- The butter needs to be room temperature. If you use cold butter, they’re puffier. If you use melted butter, you end up with a thin and crispy mess.
- They need to be 100% light brown sugar, not a combination of granulated and brown sugar. This was more of a flavor thing for me – I wanted them to be less sweet than a traditional pb cookie.
- You have to omit baking powder altogether. I tried using smaller and smaller amounts of it, but any amount seemed to cause them to puff up more than I wanted. I was afraid that completely omitting it would cause them to be flat and crispy, but my fears were unfounded!
- I needed to use less flour than I felt made sense. I thought that 1 cup was as low as I could go, but it still didn’t have the texture I wanted until I cut it down to 2/3 cup. And to be totally honest, 3/4 cup came out the same way for me so you could try that, too.
- Chilling the dough is essential. Non optional. Don’t even think about not chilling the dough.
- I highly recommend doubling this recipe since it only makes 12 relatively large cookies, and they’re going to be hard to part with. You know… maybe triple it. Yeah, go ahead and triple it.
Look at those gorgeous crinkles.
Look at those golden edges.
Look at that wonderfully chewy center. It’s okay to be in love with a cookie, right?
I considered posting these as “The Perfect Peanut Butter Cookies” but realized that not everyone likes them this way. Plenty of people want the puffier, classic kind and that’s totally fine – it’s just not my personal preference.
So instead, you can take this recipe as it stands without the marshmallow fluff as a basic peanut butter cookie recipe and move on with your life. That’s perfectly acceptable. There’s nothing wrong with that.
However, I’ve never been a very basic person.
Instead, try filling these with Fluff and watch as the marshmallow oozes out to give you the most perfectly imperfect cookies. They’ll likely be lopsided or uneven, but it’s better that way.
Perfect looking cookies make me suspicious… and I don’t want to be suspicious of my food. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
Speaking of suspicious, one of the cats refused to leave my side as I was shooting this recipe and just stared at me from over the edge of a box the whole time I worked:
So yeah, anyway, I’m in love with a cookie. A fluffernutter cookie. You could also think of it is as a peanut butter marshmallow cookie if the name “fluffernutter cookie” seems too weird to you. Hey – I didn’t invent the term “fluffernutter” (though I kind of wish I had).
But to be fair, I think this cookie is in love with me, too. Just look at it – it came out in a heart shape. That’s obviously a sign.
I find great satisfaction in being able to stack them up high and pick each cookie from the top of the pile.
I don’t know why, but it’s just more satisfying than plucking them from a flat container.
If your friends are anything like mine, fluffernutter cookies are going to be in high demand after the first time you make them – so prepare yourself.
After you’ve made this recipe, please leave a comment below with a rating – and if you came from Pinterest, add a photo of what you make to the pin to share your experience!
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Fluffernutter Cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 12 cookies 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
The classic New England fluffernutter sandwich is turned into a cookie! Thin, chewy peanut butter cookies are filled with swirls of marshmallow fluff. If you like these, try these fluffernutter bars or fluffernutter rice krispie treats.
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- 8 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter (well-stirred if using natural)
- 1 1/3 cups light brown sugar
- 1 egg, room temperature and lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla bean paste (aff link) or extract
- 2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup marshmallow fluff (depending on how much you add to each cookie)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine butter, peanut butter and brown sugar and beat on medium speed until well combined.
- Add egg and vanilla and beat to combine.
- Add dry mixture and beat again to combine until you have a thick dough.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, preferably up to 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare two baking sheets with nonstick silicon mats (aff link) or parchment paper and set aside.
- Grab a medium cookie scoop (aff link) and fill it halfway with dough, pressing it into the bottom and up the sides. Spoon a teaspoon of marshmallow fluff into the center, and then top with more dough to fill the scoop. Place each ball of dough on prepared baking sheets, with no more than 6 on each, evenly spaced out with plenty of room for the cookies to spread.
- Bake for 8-9 minutes until the cookies have spread and started to crinkle on top. Remove from the oven and let cookies cool for at least 15 minutes on the baking sheet itself – they will continue to spread and set a bit more as they cool. Carefully move to wire racks (aff link) to cool completely. Enjoy!
Notes
- Store cookies for up to a week in an airtight container, with parchment paper between layers.
- The butter needs to be room temperature. If you use cold butter, they’re puffier. If you use melted butter, you end up with a thin and crispy mess.
- They need to be 100% light brown sugar, not a combination of granulated and brown sugar.
- If you find the dough needs a little more flour to work with it, you can use up to 3/4 cup all purpose flour and get similar results.
- Chilling the dough is essential.
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: fluffernutter cookies, peanut butter cookies, peanut butter and fluff, peanut butter fluff cookies, marshmallow fluff cookies, marshmallow cookies
Product Recommendations
But for what it’s worth, here’s what I use for these fluffernutter cookies (affiliate links):
- Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Bean Paste
- AirBake Nonstick Cookie Sheets
- Nonstick Cooling Racks
- OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
- Artisan Silicone Baking Mats
- OXO Good Grips Cookie Scoop 3-Pack
- KitchenAid 6QT Stand Mixer
If you want more peanut butter or marshmallow fluff:
- Homemade Marshmallow Fluff by Liv for Cake
- Peanut Butter Banana Bread with Salted Chocolate Chips by Hunger Thirst Play
- Nutter Butter Waffles by Whitney Bond
- Marshmallow Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars by A Latte Food
- No Bake Peanut Butter Pie by Spicy Southern Kitchen
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