Peanut Butter Shortbread Bars are a delicious, easy melt-in-your-mouth-shortbread. Made even better with the addition of peanut butter and candy coated peanut butter bits!
Shortbread cookies or bars are perfect for any occasion. You can enjoy them plain or with all kinds of mix-ins like these chocolate chip shortbread cookiess or my favorite butterscotch shortbread bars.
Why This Shortbread is Best
It’s hard to go wrong with shortbread. The ingredients are simple and the method is easy.
I’ve been making shortbread cookies for years. But today, I tried something new: peanut butter shortbread!
And I didn’t stop there. I pressed Reese’s Pieces candies onto the shortbread before baking. The result is a shortbread that will have every peanut butter lover you know doing a little happy dance.
- These shortbread bars have rich creamy peanut butter flavor in every bite.
- Reese’s candies add color, crunch and extra sweetness.
- You can make the dough ahead of time.
- An easy twist on traditional shortbread!
If you love peanut butter, try our dark chocolate peanut butter shortbread next. Perfection.
Ingredient Notes
Even with the addition of peanut butter, the ingredients list for shortbread is short and sweet—like the cookies themselves!
- Butter – Unsalted butter is best for shortbread. Use our tips on how to soften butter quickly in 5 easy ways!
- Powdered sugar – The key to sweet shortbread that melts in your mouth!
- Kosher Salt- Learn why I use kosher salt in my recipes. You can skip this if you use salted butter.
- Peanut butter – Creamy shelf stable peanut butter works best.
- All purpose flour – Bleached or unbleached white flour are both fine in this recipe. Be sure to check out our tips and tricks on how to measure flour so you don’t result in dry dough.
- Milk – To add moisture to the crumbly dough. Any kind will do!
- Mini Reese’s pieces – Also called Reese’s baking bits. Find them in the baking aisle near the chocolate chips.
Make Ahead of Time
You don’t have to chill the dough with this shortbread recipe. Unlike some other shortbreads, the dough is ready to bake as soon as its mixed together.
If you choose, you can prep the shortbread dough ahead of time and keep it chilled for later.
To make in advance:
- Roll the dough into a log shape. I suggest a log about 2½ inches in diameter.
- Wrap the dough in plastic cling wrap.
- When you’re ready to bake, slice the dough into disks, press the mini Reese’s Pieces into the cookies and bake.
I can’t decide whether I like this peanut butter shortbread more as bars or as round cookies. Both are delicious!
Tips and Tricks
- Use your hands. The warmth of your hands helps the crumbly dough come together after adding the milk.
- Line your pan with parchment: Shortbread dough has a tendency to stick to unlined pans making them difficult to remove in one piece. Parchment paper allows the bars to slide off the pan with ease. DO NOT USE WAX PAPER.
Recipe FAQs
Once cooled, you can store these at room temperature in an airtight container for up to one week.
You can freeze shortbread bars too. Use our guide on how to freeze cookies for best practices. Thaw at room temperature before eating.
Nope, granulated sugar will alter the texture of the dough. You want the fine consistency of powdered sugar every time!
I don’t recommend baking with natural peanut butter in most cases. In natural peanut butter, the oil separates from the solids resulting in crumbly, greasy baked goods.
It’s best to use a shelf stable peanut butter for shortbread. Think Jiff, Skippy, Peter Pan, etc.
You could replace them with any other miniature candies you like, however the flavor would be different. M&Ms baking bits make a good swap if you want to add a little chocolate to your shortbread. Or use regular Reese’s pieces chopped into smaller bits.
More Easy Cookie Recipes
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It
Peanut Butter Shortbread Bars
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 Tablespoon milk
- ¾ cup mini Reese’s Pieces candies
Instructions
- Beat butter with powdered sugar for about 3 minutes. Beat in flour, salt and peanut butter. Mixture will be crumbly. Add in milk and mix with hands.
- Dump mixture (will still be slightly crumbly) and knead dough together on a piece of parchment paper. Press into a 12×10 rectangle. Slide parchment paper onto a large baking sheet. Press the candies into the top of the dough.
- Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. Cut immediately and allow to cool.
- Separate and store in air tight container. ENJOY.
Notes
- Make ahead. After combining the ingredients for the dough, roll into a log shape, about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to bake. When ready to bake, slice log into 1/4-inch slices, press candies on top of cookie and bake as directed. These will be shaped similarly to our icebox cookies.
Nutrition
Favorite Cookie Recipes
See all Cookies recipes
Peanut Butter Reese’s Pieces Shortbread Bars are a peanut butter lover’s favorite shortbread!
These shortbread bars are a calling for a tall glass of milk to dunk them in! Yummy.
These shortbread bars look like such a treat! I like the links to the other peanut butter recipes too 🙂
Oh heck yes. Lemme at em!
I’m not a peanut butter fan, but your photos are making me want to try these right now!
The perfect portion…for me to have 3 or 4 😉 yummmmmmmmmmmm
Is it fair to blame you when my pants don’t fit?! I looooove shortbread so it’s hard to resist making a recipe like this! (plus the other day’s lemon? So not fair for a post-terrible eating weekend). These sound sosososo amazing!
Haha, thanks Kelly. It’s so hard being a food blogger 🙂
These look fantastic!
Peanut butter might be one of my all time favorite foods. I’m also a freak for shortbread. You’ve made me very happy.
And making you happy makes me happy!
Yum! These sound wonderful- I love shortbread!
You’ve done it again! You’ve made super simple look super amazing. No, I haven’t seen Reese’s minis yet. Where are those hiding?? I totally frequent the baking isles in many stores! I’ll be on the lookout.
We always make shortbread but never a pb version!! YUMMY!
I want everything you make. All the time.
Awww that’s so sweet!!
You always get me with shortbread! Reese’s mini’s are going on my grocery list!
Shortbread is one of my favorite cookies! Love that you added Reese’s to them 🙂
I always have a bag of those mini Reeses in my cupboard!!! At one point I think I had three because I kept buying them every time I stopped at Walmart 🙂 Love the fun dunkable cookie sticks!!!
Want to come over for coffee and Reese’s?
Aimee, these look awesome. Reese’s Pieces are my absolute favorite! And, I love how you pictured these with coffee…so it’s totally acceptable for me to eat these for breakfast. 🙂
I’ve seen these Reeses Mini’s! And you know what? Thanks to you, they’re getting bought!
This sounds crazy ridiculously easy and it should be fun for the kid to cut them with a cookie cutter once they come out.
I think you have a new follower!
So glad you found me!! Cutting with a cookie cutter immediately is a great idea!
Cant go wrong with butter, PB, and mini Reeses! Love those little things. (except don’t spill them…they scatter like CRAZY all over the floor…I know this all too well)
Wow – gotta love these. Wonderful pics!
Thanks Steve!
Yum! These look like so much fun. I know what you mean about weird cravings. I just made a lemon buttercream, but now you have me thinking about peanut butter!
Oh lemon buttercream is the best!!!