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Are you ready for some football? Football cookies, that is?
I surely hope so, because they’re made with peanut butter and chocolate!
Easy Football Cookies – no cookie cutter needed!
Tonight is either your favorite night of the year or your least favorite. Or, maybe you’re indifferent. Why? Because tonight is the first night of professional football.
My husband is ecstatic. He’s almost shaking with excitement.
My daughter is depressed. She’s shaking with tears.
Football has returned.
Me? I’m indifferent. I don’t care much one way or another about football. It just means I get to read more in the evenings. 🙂
If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you’ll know what a fantasy football fanatic fan my husband is. He travels to Arizona for his fantasy draft every August. He’s commissioner of the league. Yes – they have a commissioner. And he takes his job very seriously with spreadsheets and research.
I normally make treats to send with him to his draft. One year I made chocolate sugar cookies. Another year I made Nutella Footballs.
This year I made peanut butter football cookies. You should make them too.
These cookies are way too easy. They’re my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe that have been shaped like footballs. This is the same recipe I’ve used before, in Snickers Stuffed Cookies and Pretzel Toffee Cookies. And don’t worry – no rolling or chilling needed!
How to make Football Cookies without a cookie cutter
I scooped 1 tablespoon balls of cookie dough onto my cookie sheets. Then I pressed them flat with the palm of my hand. You want them the same flatness they’d be if you were using a fork to make a criss cross pattern, but it’s easier to frost them without the fork marks (I tried it both ways).
Then, just use your thumb and index finger to pinch the ends to make them look like footballs.
Again, I used 1 tablespoon sized cookie dough balls because I wanted a lot of cookies (the recipe makes 48). If you want bigger footballs or less work, use a 2 tablespoon cookie dough scoop.
Once you’ve baked and cooled your cookies, you drizzle the chocolate on top in the shape of a football. This is easier than it sounds: melt your chocolate chips and then place it in a ziploc bag. You want to cut off just a teeny tiny tip of the corner so it doesn’t come out too fast. Pipe around the edge, then fill in the center. (You can also use a squeeze bottle if you have one.)
After you’ve chilled the footballs so that the chocolate hardens, pipe on the laces using some white chocolate or white frosting.
And voila! Peanut Butter Football Cookies, perfect for tailgating or Sunday afternoon football parties or Saturday college game watching.
Or, if you’re like Jordan, they’re to cheer you up because your dad is hogging the TV and you want to watch Property Brothers. 🙂
Peanut Butter Football Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup (200g) peanut butter
- ¾ cup (150g) packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon (5ml) milk
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ¾ cups (217g) all purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups (255g) chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon Crisco or vegetable oil
- White icing or white chocolate chips for the laces
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment or silpat baking mats.
- Cream butter, peanut butter, and both sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add egg, vanilla, milk, and salt and baking soda. Mix until combined. Slowly add flour and mix until dough comes together.
- Scoop 1 tablespoon sized balls of dough. Place on cookie sheet 2” apart. Press lightly with your palm to flatten to about 1/2” thickness. Use your thumb and forefinger to pinch the ends to make the cookies look like footballs.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, until they just begin to brown. Cool completely on cookie sheets.
- Melt the chocolate chips with the crisco or oil, heating in 30 second increments, stirring after each, until smooth. Place chocolate in a ziploc bag and cut of a teeny tip (or use a squirt bottle). Outline the football shape on the cookie, then fill in with the chocolate. Tap the cookie sheet to even out any wrinkles in the chocolate, then chill to harden.
- Make the laces with a little white frosting or some melted white chocolate chips. (White frosting is easier!)
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Recipe Video
Recipe Nutrition
Click here to see more PEANUT BUTTER recipes!
Click here for my ultimate Football Party Menu!
Snickers Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies
Sweets from friends:
Soft Gingerbread Football Cookies by Amanda’s Cookin’
Football Cookie by Something Swanky
Football S’mores Snickers Brownie Batter Dip by Chelsea’s Messy Apron
It may not be fair for me to give this only 3 stars (I was tempted to give only one or two) because I did modify the recipe a bit by using lowfat peanut powder (mixed with water to resemble consistency of regular peanut butter). This may have contributed to the extremely sticky consistency of the dough. I also couldn’t find regular brown sugar like we have in the U.S. because I’m corre try living in France. I’ve been told there is a French equivalent available in northern France called “La vergeoise brune”, but I haven’t found any yet in Nantes.
As a result, the dough was quite sticky, so I used quite a bit more flour than was called for in the recipe just to be able to form balls with it. They came out tasting more like a combination between cake and bread and not very peanut buttery. I may try it one more time with real peanut butter to see how it turns out. Otherwise, I may look for a regular peanut butter cookie recipe to compare the ingredients.
I did notice that there’s only one review for this recipe, so I wonder of anyone had better results.
Very cute idea for the decorating, so I will try again!!!
Thank you,
Mimi
You modified the recipe to a different one. You cannot substitute peanut powder for peanut butter in baking. You just can’t.
OK, thanks, I’ll try again with homemade peanut butter. Hope it works…
I found your peanut butter dip post and then saw these cookies in that post and had to check them out. Now I have two new peanut butter recipes for my peanut butter loving fans.
Thanks for sharing!I love it so much.
My dad and I turned on the SF football game last Sunday just to have something going on in the background since our baseball games had ended. (Sports-loving family right here!) Mom walked into the room and immediately said, “Crap! Football season already?” She’s probably right there with Jordan! 😉 But hey, if football season means she and I can eat super cute cookies, we have no problem with that!
These look AMAZING! I want one right now! 🙂
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