I’ve been thinking lately about how many of my favorite cookie recipes started as a hotel lobby experience. Soft center, crisp edge, that deep peanut flavor you can’t quite recreate at home. Then I found a recipe shared by The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay on social media, and I knew I had to try it.
Full disclosure: my first batch was a little rough. The dough was stickier than expected, and I almost gave up on it. But the cookies that came out of the oven were genuinely good, and after a few tweaks, I’ve got this one working reliably in my own kitchen. If I can make it on a Tuesday, it’s a keeper.
Why this recipe works
The recipe comes straight from the hotel’s own social media post, so it’s as close to the real thing as you’re going to get at home. Nearly 2 cups of peanut butter go into the batch, which is why the flavor is so rich. They bake out with crisp edges and tender centers, no dense crumbly mess.
And the best part: it’s all pantry staples. Nothing fancy. The dough and baked cookies both freeze beautifully, so I like to double the batch and stash half in the freezer for a rainy weekend.
What you’ll need
- 1 cup butter (salted or unsalted)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar (mostly brown, for moisture and chew)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (the recipe says ⅝ teaspoon, but nobody is measuring ⅝ of anything)
- 1⅔ cups creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1¼ teaspoon salt
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
I bake with salted butter, but unsalted works fine if that’s what you keep on hand. For the peanut butter, I use creamy. I haven’t tested natural peanut butter, but I’d be surprised if it didn’t work.
How to make them
Step 1: Cream the wet stuff. Cream the butter with both sugars. Add the eggs, vanilla, and peanut butter. Beat until smooth.
Step 2: Fold in the dry. Mix in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until a soft dough forms.
At this point, I like to chill the dough for 1 to 2 hours. The recipe doesn’t say you have to, but it makes scooping so much easier, and the cookies bake up a little sturdier.
Step 3: Scoop and bake. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop to drop dough balls onto parchment-lined baking sheets. I always use light-colored sheets; dark metal needs a longer bake.
Step 4: Bake. 12 to 14 minutes, until the edges are set and the centers still look just a touch soft. Let them cool completely on the pan. You don’t need to press a fork crisscross into the tops. They bake flat and uniform on their own.
A few things I learned
The dough is sticky. Chilling is the fix, not adding more flour. Small cracks on the top of the cookies are completely normal and actually a sign they’re baking properly. And if you wrap the finished cookies in plastic or store them in an airtight container, they stay fresh for days.
To freeze the dough, scoop it into balls first. Bake straight from frozen and add a couple of minutes to the baking time.
FAQs
Is this the actual Ritz-Carlton recipe? It’s based on the peanut butter cookie recipe The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay shared on their social media. I’m sharing it as published, with my own baking notes added.
Can I freeze the dough? Yes. Scoop into balls, freeze, and bake straight from frozen with a couple extra minutes in the oven.
Why do the tops crack? Small cracks are normal. It’s a sign the cookies are baking the way they should.
One batch makes about 36 cookies, around 187 calories each. Prep takes about 10 minutes, and they’re in the oven for 12 to 14 minutes. Give or take, the whole thing is a 23-minute project once the dough is chilled.
A note from Nora
Sam ate three before they even finished cooling. I’m not saying that’s a review, but I’m putting it in the post. Our daughter grabbed one from the cooling rack and tried to share it with Biscuit, who was not an enthusiastic taster. The first batch taught me about chilling. The second batch is the one in this recipe. If you only make one hotel cookie recipe this season, I’d make it this one.
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