Peanut butter paw print cookies take classic peanut butter blossoms to a new level of cute. They are built on a chewy peanut butter cookie with fun a chocolate paw print design on top.
Are peanut butter blossoms always on your list of favorite cookies? They are definitely on ours.
While we love the classic cookie, you can make them even more fun by turning them into paw prints. Once you make them this way, you won’t want to go back.
I originally called these bear paw cookies, but you can call them dog paws or cat paws if you would rather. No matter what animal you choose, be sure to make these sweet treats.
When should I make paw print cookies?
These cookies are perfect for so many occasions. We make them as a cute addition to our Christmas cookies, but they would also be perfect for cat or dog themed parties.
Or make them for tailgates and game day if your mascot is a cougar, bear, dog, cat, lion, tiger and more.
Tips For Making Bear Paw Cookies
The base of these cookies are the same as our favorite peanut butter blossom cookies. It is a nice soft and chewy cookie.
Because of the high peanut butter to butter ratio, they taste amazing and chilling the dough isn’t necessary. All of the cookies you see here were baked without stopping to chill the dough.
That being said, if you bake the first tray of cookies and they are spreading, go ahead and pop the dough in the refrigerator for a half hour. I have just found that it isn’t necessary when making this recipe.
The dough is soft but not super sticky. It scoops easily with a small cookie scoop.
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You can roll the balls of dough in granulated sugar if you want to. Or just scoop them straight onto the cookie sheet if you prefer.
The sugar rolled cookies will have a little extra crunch on the exterior. The dough without the sugar coating has a softer bite, both ways taste great so it is whatever your preference is.
The cookies should look puffy when they come out of the oven without taking on a lot of color. As soon as they come out of the oven push in the chocolate pieces to look like a paw.
We used Ghirardelli milk chocolate melting disks for the center of the paw. The size is perfect and they taste amazing.
Use the right size chocolate chips
For size reasons, it is best if you use a different brand of chocolate chips. The Ghirardelli chips tend to be bigger which makes them harder to fit on the cookie and changes the visual effect.
Three (or four) milk chocolate chips complete the paw. Feel free to use dark chocolate if that is your preference.
Allow the cookies to cool completely and ensure the chocolate is set before stacking the cookies in an airtight container. That’s all it takes!
Storage
Cookies store for up to a week at room temperature. Put them in an airtight container with a slice of sandwich bread to keep them softer for longer.
For longer storage, the baked cookies freeze well. Just put them in a freezer safe container and pop them in the freezer for up to 6 months. Let them defrost at room temperature to enjoy.
Paw Print Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter softened
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 48 melting chocolate disks
- 144 chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together ½ cup butter, 1 cup creamy peanut butter, 1 cup granulated sugar and ½ cup light brown sugar until smooth and creamy.
- Add the 2 large eggs and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, stirring to mix.
- In a small bowl, stir together 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda and ½ teaspoon salt.
- Add flour mixture to peanut butter mixture and mix until just combined.
- Scoop slightly rounded tablespoonsful of dough onto a sheet pan leaving two inches between the balls of dough, a small cookie scoop works well for this. Roll balls of dough in additional granulated sugar if desired, otherwise roll them between your hands until they are a smooth ball.
- Bake for 7-9 minutes. The cookies should look puffy and soft, but set.
- Press 1 chocolate wafer into the lower center portion of each cookie, then add 3 or 4 chocolate chips to make a paw shaped pattern.
- Move cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Allow chocolate to reset before stacking for storage.
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Followed the recipe and the cookies came out great! They were as delicious as they were cute. Many raves at the cookie swap.
Yay! I am so glad they were a hit!
I made those for my furry babies they loved them alot l will make them again for them soon
@Crystal, I hope you used yogurt chips for the pad and paws! Chocolate is poisonous to pets and it should have been noted in the article! I was shocked that it wasn’t. Hope your furbabies are ok. ❤️
@Grace Dezio, this is for human consumption. Nowhere did it mention it was a biscuit for dogs
I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong but they come out larger after baking and thinner too. Still delicious just not how your pic looks and it doesn’t look right to do paw prints on a larger thinner cookie. Any advice
It sounds like maybe a tiny bit more flour would help, or chill the dough a bit and try again. If the butter was really soft, it could cause them to spread a bit or it could be that your cup of flour is just a bit lighter than mine. I hope you give them another go!
I am making these today for a dog rescue fundraising event. Hoping they will be the big winner!!
I am sure they will be!
@Sharon, I am doing the same! Were they a hit?
@Chris, I made 4 toes which are anatomically correct because someone made these a few months ago, and people were giggling over ‘ What animal has 3 toes?”
Can I use a regular hand electric mixer since I don’t have a kitchen aide one?
I think the dough is soft enough that a hand mixer should work well.
Cutest little Cookies I have ever seen! I just love all my little fur babies! I have always made peanut butter blossoms but never paw prints. What a cool idea! I can’t wait to make them!😊
Thank you so much! I hope you love them as much as we do.
These cookies have the Best flavor!! Didn’t change a thing. My recommendations are to keep your cookies on the small side & use the largest chocolate wafer they sell for the paw pad It looks cuter! I had 2 different size wafers & the one was a little bigger Made all the difference. The size I made only got 28 cookies. Keep them half dollar size..maybe a smidgen bigger
I am so glad you liked them and thanks for sharing your tips!
@Erma, That works better for appearance and what we did, also. However, I hope you made 4 toes and not 3. The cookies were giggled over in the veterinarian clinic as no one knew what animal has only 3 toes, except one that was amputated.
We are SO making these for our trip to Great Wolf Lodge! Thank you for the idea and recipe!
What a perfect treat to take with you!
It is important to make sure the cookie is small – no more than 2-in. in diameter AFTER it’s baked. I thought I used the right amount of dough, but it was still too much. The cookies were too big, making the wafer and chips too small; not right proportionately. I recommend baking a couple first to test. I filled up 2 big cookie sheets, so all my cookies were too big.
Cookies tasted great!
Great tip. Having the right size cookie is key to making them look right. I am so glad you thought they were tasty!
Ran out of choc discs 1/2 way thru. I substituted a Hershey kiss on remaining cookies. Look just as cute!
And I’m sure they are tasty too!