Why Flattening Peanut Butter Cookies With A Fork Is A Crucial Step

It's pretty easy to identify the peanut butter cookies on a platter. They are, of course, recognizable by the criss-cross pattern stamped on the top, typically made using the tines of a fork. I've always assumed the stamping and pressing was a matter of tradition, but it turns out pressing peanut butter cookie dough down before it's baked is a necessary step in producing quality cookies.

Corporate Pastry Chef for JF Restaurants, Chef Sofia Schlieben, spoke to The Takeout about why peanut butter cookies are unique in this way. "Cookies with lower fat content or different types of fat — like peanut butter or shortbread — don't have enough meltable fat to spread on their own," she said, adding, "That's why they need to be shaped or flattened before baking to achieve the right texture and thickness."

Chef Sofia continued, "Butter has a higher fat content than peanut butter, which contains more protein. In fat-heavy cookies like chocolate chip or lace cookies, the butter melts in the oven, causing the dough to spread naturally." This is why you can place a mound of chocolate chip cookie dough in the oven and it will come out in the classic flattened shape, whereas if you tried this with peanut butter cookies you wouldn't get the right shape, texture, or doneness.

As to the specific pattern a fork makes on the tops of peanut butter cookies, Chef Sofia Schlieben says, "The criss-cross fork pattern on peanut butter cookies serves both a decorative and practical purpose." Of course, if this step is just about flattening the dough, couldn't you use any tool? Chef Sofia's take on this is geared toward practicality, saying, "A fork is a convenient tool found in every kitchen, making it an easy choice for shaping the dough while creating the signature look ... you could use other items to flatten peanut butter cookies, but they wouldn't create the same decorative effect as a fork."

From simple three-ingredient peanut butter cookies to fancier versions, like the contest-winning chocolate Thai, the constant among these recipes is that signature criss-cross pattern. This tradition, as much as anything else, is what makes a fork your best choice for pressing peanut butter cookies. But Chef Sofia concedes that using your hands works, too, saying, "If not using a fork, one option is to roll the cookie dough in raw sugar and press it down with your hands. The sugar adds a nice texture and shine while also acting as a barrier to prevent sticking." (Just make sure they don't get confused with similar looking cookies, like these tamarind-jaggery ginger snaps.)