Abstract The objective of this experimental program was to understand how changes in processing conditions affect the morphology and ultimately, the performance of polyetheretherketone (PEEK)‐based carbon fiber composites. Based on some initial differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) work, various molding and aging conditions were implemented on compression molded plaques made from PEEK APC‐2 prepreg. These conditions included samples that were physically aged, annealed just below the melting point, slow cooled, prepared under low pressure, and under fast cooling. Using DSC, the crystallinity of plaques prepared according to the ICI procedure, low pressure, and physical aging conditions were found to be 31–33 percent, while the slow cooling and annealing conditions resulted in crystallinity of 42 percent, with slow cooling displaying a „shoulder”︁ on the primary melting endotherm. Optical and plasma etching/scanning electron microscopy on faster cooled plaques generally revealed a mixture of isolated and graphite fiber nucleated spherulites, while the slow‐cooled condition revealed larger fiber nucleated spherulites exclusively. Fracture toughness and impact delamination as measured by ultrasonic C‐scan indicates that slow cooling resulted in the lowest properties, while simultaneously resulting in the highest compression strength, all of which suggests reduced matrix toughness. The annealing condition, which allowed high crystallinity but in a matrix of smaller spherulites, resulted in properties intermediate between slow and fast cooling, suggesting that both spherulite size and degree of crystallinity are important in characterizing these materials. In contrast, physical aging resulted in no degradation in mechanical properties.