Peanut Butter Cookies Lab326 recipes
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What goes into peanut butter cookies

The main ingredient list of all 326 recipes, with names merged so one choice counts once: unsalted and salted butter are butter, light and dark brown sugar are brown sugar, kosher and table salt are salt. Different flours stay apart. Frosting, glaze and other extras are counted on their own at the end.

In short

  • For sugar, 68% use white and brown sugar together, 15% brown sugar alone, and 10% white sugar alone.
  • For leavening, 42% use baking soda alone, 37% baking soda and baking powder together, and 15% baking powder alone.
  • For eggs, 85% use whole eggs alone, 7% no egg, and 3% whole eggs and egg yolks together.
  • 37% add chocolate, 25% coconut, candy or chips and 8% nuts; 39% add none of these.

The main choices

Each block sorts every recipe into one group by a single decision. Amounts are the median among recipes in that group, scaled to 190 g of flour, the size of a typical batch. The recipe named under each group is the one in it closest to the typical batch on every ingredient.

White, brown or a syrup

Each recipe counted once, by the sweeteners in its main ingredient list.

White sugar includes powdered sugar, in 2% of recipes. "With honey or corn syrup" means any liquid sweetener (honey, corn syrup, maple syrup and sweetened condensed milk), with or without dry sugar. Coarse and cinnamon sugar are usually sprinkled on top, so they do not count here.

Baking soda, baking powder or both

Each recipe counted once, by what it relies on to rise.

Whole eggs, yolks or whites

Each recipe counted once, by the parts of the egg it uses.

A large egg is about 50 g out of the shell, a yolk about 18 g, a white about 32 g.

Add-ins

Share of recipes that add at least one of each. A recipe can add several, so the shares do not sum to 100%. 39% add none of these.

  • Chocolate37%

    chocolate chips or chunks 28% · bar chocolate 7% · white chocolate 1%

  • Coconut, candy or chips25%

    candy or cookies 14% · peanut butter chips 9% · sprinkles 1%

  • Nuts8%

    peanuts 7%

  • Fruit4%

    banana 1% · raspberries 1%

  • Spice4%

    cinnamon 3%

How often each ingredient appears

Share of the 326 recipes that list it at least once, for every ingredient in 5% or more of them. The median amount is among recipes that use it and give a weighable amount, scaled to 190 g of flour; for a flour, it is that flour's share of all the flour in the recipe.

  1. All-purpose flour95%

    310 recipes · median: all of the flour

  2. Peanut butter93%

    306 recipes · median 163 g

  3. Butter89%

    292 recipes · median 119 g

  4. Eggs89%

    291 recipes · median 57 g (about 1 large egg)

  5. Brown sugar88%

    287 recipes · median 131 g

  6. Salt84%

    276 recipes · median 1.8 g

  7. Vanilla83%

    272 recipes · median 4.8 g

  8. Granulated sugar81%

    266 recipes · median 101 g

  9. Baking soda79%

    259 recipes · median 3.7 g

  10. Baking powder52%

    171 recipes · median 2.8 g

  11. Chocolate chips or chunks28%

    93 recipes · median 154 g

  12. Candy or cookies14%

    47 recipes · median 216 g

  13. Milk11%

    39 recipes · median 19 g

  14. Peanut butter chips9%

    32 recipes · median 131 g

  15. Bar chocolate7%

    26 recipes · median 110 g

  16. Cocoa powder7%

    23 recipes · median 35 g

  17. Peanuts7%

    23 recipes · median 69 g

  18. Egg yolks6%

    22 recipes · median 17 g

  19. Shortening5%

    19 recipes · median 64 g

  20. Cornstarch5%

    18 recipes · median 3.4 g

Toppings and extras

21% of recipes (71 of 326) list something beyond the main recipe: a frosting, glaze, filling, crumb topping, a boiling bath or a sprinkle on top. None of it is counted above. The most common extra ingredients, as a share of all recipes:

  • Granulated sugar8% (27)
  • Salt5% (17)

How the ingredients are counted

A recipe uses an ingredient when any line of its main ingredient list names it. Names are merged by the words in them, so “1 cup unsalted butter, softened” and “salted butter” are both butter, and a line that offers a choice (“walnuts or pecans”) counts as the first one named. Canola, vegetable and other neutral oils are one oil; coconut and olive oil are listed on their own.

Lines only for greasing the pan are left out. Lines for brushing, sprinkling or serving, and lines that belong to a frosting, glaze, filling or topping, count as extras.

Amounts come from the grams on each recipe page: printed by the source, or converted from cups and spoons with standard densities. Scaling them to 190 g of flour lets a small recipe and a double batch line up. Percentages are rounded down.