These are the easiest, most irresistible cookies ever! Our recipe is flour-free, butter-free, and dairy-free, yet the cookies are amazingly good. My family can’t get enough of them!
You won’t believe how amazing these peanut butter cookies taste with just a few simple ingredients. They are soft, chewy, super sweet, and full of peanut butter flavor. These cookies are a staple in our house. Whenever I need a quick and easy treat that everyone will love, these are my go-to items.
Our recipe is based on the classic 3 ingredient peanut butter cookie recipe, but to make them irresistible, we added a few extra simple ingredients. If you’re a peanut butter fan like me, you should also see our homemade peanut butter, no-bake peanut butter pie, rice krispie nuts, and these peanut butter cookie cups!
Key Ingredients
- Peanut butter: You can use fine or creamy peanut butter—it’s totally up to you! Use well-flavored peanut butter or pre-mixed canned peanut butter at the store for best results. For cookies from scratch, try making your own peanut butter (make sure it’s well stirred before making the cookie dough). You can also replace the peanut butter with almond butter, I love homemade almond butter.
- Egg: We use 1 egg to 1 cup of peanut butter, which adds texture, flavor, and moisture to the cookies. For soft and chewy peanut butter cookies, add an extra egg. Remember that if you add more egg, the dough will be stickier, so you may need to chill it for a few minutes before rolling it out.
- Sugar: You can use pretty much any sugar here! We like a combination of granulated sugar and brown sugar. This combination gives the cookies an amazing taste and just the right amount of sweetness. As a basic recipe, we use 3/4 cup of total sugar, but for a slightly sweeter cookie, you can reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup without any problems.
- Baking soda: Baking soda is a key ingredient in these cookies. It creates a chemical reaction that helps the cookies rise and brown nicely, adding a lovely texture. If you’re wondering if you can make peanut butter cookies without baking soda, you can! They will be soft and more like a cake in the middle.
- Vanilla Extract: It’s rare to see us make cookies without vanilla extract! It adds a lovely richness and depth of flavor to delicious recipes.
- Molasses (optional): This is an optional ingredient you rarely see in peanut butter cookies, but I swear by it. If you have light or dark molasses in the kitchen, try adding 1/2 to 1 teaspoon to the cookie dough. It adds color, richness, and a subtle texture that cuts through the sweetness of the peanut butter.
- Cinnamon (if desired): Here’s another unusual ingredient, but I love the combination of cinnamon and peanut butter! Warm notes of cinnamon complement the rich flavor of peanut butter.
How to Make Peanut Butter Cookies
To make my family’s favorite peanut butter cookies, you need a bowl and a spoon (that’s it!). Mix all the cookie ingredients, roll into balls, and bake! Seriously, these are some of the easiest cookie recipes on Inspired Taste, and they taste so good!
These cookies are pretty plain, but as you can see from our photos, you can have fun and make the cookies jam-filled or chocolate-dipped. I even add chopped peanuts or chocolate chips to the cookie dough before baking.
If you’re like me and find yourself sneaking cookie dough before your cookies go into the oven, check out our edible cookie dough recipe. There is a peanut butter cookie version shared in the recipe.
Easy Peanut Butter Cookies
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You can make these flourless peanut butter cookies in less than 15 minutes! They’re soft and sweet and sweet and delicious with dollops of jam or a drizzle of chocolate on top. We prefer this with a mixture of brown sugar, but you can use one type of sugar. (We use 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup granulated sugar)
**If making jam-filled cookies, adding the jam the day of serving is best. The cookies will soften more from the extra moisture if left overnight.
Makes 16 cookies
You will need it
1 cup (270g) finely ground peanut butter
1 large egg
3/4 cup (150g) sugar, use granulated, brown sugar, or a combination
1 teaspoon baking soda
A pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon molasses, optional
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
Directions
1Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or use baking mats.
2In a medium bowl, whisk the peanut butter, egg, sugar, baking soda, pinch of salt, vanilla, molasses (if desired), and cinnamon (if desired) together until combined and fluffy.
3Roll or roll into 1-inch balls and place two inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Press the mounds down with the back of a spoon or the tines of a fork to make them into cookies.
4Bake until the outer edges turn light brown and the top appears dry, 8 to 11 minutes.
5Cool the cookies on the baking sheet, without moving them, for 10 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely. (The cookies will firm up as they cool).
Tips from Adam and Joanne
- The best peanut butter: Use well-stirred peanut butter or pre-mixed canned peanut butter sold at the store.
- Salt: Before making the cookies, taste your peanut butter. If it’s on the saltier side, you may not need to add a pinch of salt to the cookie dough.
- Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies: Add 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup chocolate chips to the batter before rolling and baking.
- Jam-Filled Cookies: Before baking, use a spoon to make a small indent between the dough balls. When the cookies are baked and cooled, spread a teaspoon of jam between each cookie.
- Chocolate Chip Cookies: Once the cookies are baked and cooled, melt 1/3 cup chocolate chips and drizzle over the cookies. For chocolate-peanut butter cookies, add one tablespoon of peanut butter to the chocolate chips before melting.
- Reduced sugar cookies: Use 1/2 cup sugar. The cookies will be slightly sticky and won’t be easy to peel with a fork. They still bake well and taste good, just not sweet.
- Make advance tips: Cookie dough keeps in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Even if you can’t bake quickly, cold cookie dough makes even better cookies. You can freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months and bake it from frozen (add 1 to 2 minutes of baking time).
- To save: Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days or freeze, individually wrapped, for up to 3 months. Jam-filled cookies are best the day you make them.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates and are for regular cookies.
Food Per Serving
Serving Size
1 cookie
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Calories
128
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Perfect Oils
8.6g
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Saturated Fats
1.8g
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Cholesterol
11.6 mg
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Sodium
163.5mg
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Total Carbohydrate
10.5g
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Dietary fiber
0.8g
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Total Sugar
8.5g
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Proteins
4g
