Much to the dismay of my cat, it’s National Puppy Day and we’re celebrating with a treat inspired by some of my favorite Disney puppies–the 101 Dalmatians! These soft and chewy peanut butter puppy paw print cookies are a quick, easy, and satisfying treat!
I’ve found there are two main peanut butter cookie camps. The first is a thin, harder peanut butter cookie, and the second is a chunky, moist peanut butter cookie. I tend to like ones that are somewhere in the middle, so these cookies are a thinner cookie but they’re still soft and moist like a chunkier cookie. If you’re looking for a good chunky peanut butter cookie with some chocolate mix-ins, check out my PB Chocolate Chip ‘n’ Dale Cookies! In addition to these peanut butter cookies, I also made some Dalmatian inspired cut cookies to pair with them. I’ll explain the decorations below!
For the peanut butter puppy paw print cookies, I started by making the peanut butter cookie dough. First, combine the dry ingredients, except for the flour, in a medium bowl. Set it aside and in a separate bowl, beat the peanut butter, butter, and shortening. I used Skippy’s Creamy Peanut Butter for these cookies but you can use your favorite creamy peanut butter as well. Typically, I just use butter in my cookie doughs, but the shortening in this one does make the dough a bit softer. I used Crisco Vegetable Shortening Baking Bars. If you don’t have or can’t find shortening, you can substitute butter.
Add the eggs and vanilla, and then the flour and beat until combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for an hour. While you’re waiting for that to chill, you can make the dough for the cut-out cookies, if you’d like.
Once the dough is done chilling, preheat the oven to 375 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Pour about 1/4 cup of granulated sugar into a small bowl. Using a #40 cookie scoop or a large spoon, scoop out 1.5 – 2 tablespoons of dough. Roll into a ball and then roll in the granulated sugar.
Place the ball onto the prepared baking sheet and flatten using the heel of your hand. Stamp the flattened dough with a paw print cookie stamp. I used the stamp that came as part of this American Crafts Sweet Sugarbelle Set. Repeat, placing cookies 2 inches apart, until all of the dough is gone. Bake the cookies for 7-9 minutes. Let them rest on the cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
If you’d like to make the Dalmatian inspired cut-out cookies, bake your favorite cut-out cookies. If you don’t have a favorite or are looking for something new, you can try my vanilla cut-out cookies, spiced brown sugar cut-out cookies, or lemon cut-out cookies. Once your dough is assembled, cut out the cookies using a bone shaped cookie cutter. I used this two-piece set by Ann Clark.
While cookies are cooling, make up a batch of royal icing. I have a recipe linked in any of the cookies posts above. When your icing is ready, scoop some of it into a separate bowl and dye black using gel food coloring. Transfer the black icing to a piping bag fitted with a small round piping tip. Transfer the white icing to a piping bag fitted with a small to medium round piping tip.
For these cookies, you’ll fully decorate each cookie one at a time so that the black spots merge into the white base. Using the white icing, pipe an outline around the bone shaped cookie, keeping a little but of distance from the edge of the cookie. Fill in the the space with the white icing but following your outline around the cookie until it is completely filled in. Use a cookie pick to adjust the icing or pop bubbles if needed.
Before the icing sets, pipe small spots into the white icing. They don’t have to be perfectly round or uniform, since Dalmatian spots are all shapes and sizes! Once you’ve finished one cookie, repeat the steps for all of the other cookies. Let rest for a couple hours so that the icing sets completely before stacking and storing.
To all the puppies and puppy lovers out there, Happy National Puppy Day! Bow wow!
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Peanut Butter Puppy Paw Print Cookies
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Puppy Print Cookies
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ cup shortening
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar, for dipping
Equipment
- Paw Print Cookie Stamp
- #40 cookie scoop or large spoon
Instructions
Peanut Butter Puppy Print Cookies
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In a medium bowl, combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, beat the peanut butter, butter, and shortening until combined. Add the sugar mixture, beating until combined.
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Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.
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Add flour, beating on low speed until fully combined.
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Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
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Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
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Using a #40 cookie scoop or large spoon, scoop out 1 ½ – 2 tablespoons of dough. Shape into balls. Roll balls in granulated sugar and place two inches apart on prepared baking sheets. (You might need to adjust the size of the the dough ball based on your paw print stamp).
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Flatten the dough balls using the heel of your hand.
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Press paw print cookie stamp onto the flattened cookie dough.
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Bake for 7-9 minutes.
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Let sit 1-2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.