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Square side shot of 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies on a white platter
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5 from 1 vote

3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

Check your pantry, because you probably have everything you need to whip up a batch of these soft and chewy peanut butter cookies!
Course Cookies
Cuisine American
Keyword 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies, easy peanut butter cookies
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 18 cookies
Calories 132kcal
Author Blair Lonergan

Ingredients

  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter (such as Jif or Skippy brand)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar, plus extra for rolling
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • Optional, but recommended: 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together the peanut butter and 1 cup of sugar until smooth. Add the egg, vanilla, and salt. Mix on medium speed for about 1 more minute.
  • Place about ½ cup of additional granulated sugar in a shallow dish.
  • Using a cookie scoop (about 1 ½ tablespoons), roll dough into balls and coat in sugar. Place dough balls about 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
  • Gently flatten each cookie by using a fork to make a crisscross pattern on top.
  • Bake for 10 minutes, or just until set and lightly brown on the edges. The cookies should still be soft in the centers so that they stay chewy when cooled.
  • Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes, and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Notes

  • Don't grease the cookie sheet. The dough will not stick, so there's no need for nonstick spray or parchment paper.
  • For thinner, flatter cookies, press down harder with the fork. The dough won't spread too much in the oven, so you can control the size and thickness of your cookies.
  • Use a processed peanut butter (like Jif or Skippy) rather than all-natural peanut butter. The processed nut butters do not separate, which yields a better quality cookie.
  • For soft peanut butter cookies, pull the cookies out of the oven when they still look slightly under-baked in the center. They will firm up as they cool, but will remain nice and chewy on the inside.
  • The cook time is just an estimate, and will vary depending on your individual oven. Keep a close eye on the cookies and pull them out when they are set and lightly golden brown on the edges. Don't overbake, or you'll end up with crunchy pb cookies!
  • This recipe yields a fairly small batch of just 18 cookies. You can double or triple the ingredients to bake more cookies.
  • Substitute with crunchy peanut butter if you like little bits of crunchy peanuts in your cookies.
  • Add chopped, salted, roasted peanuts to the dough for an extra-crunchy cookie with great flavor and texture.
  • For peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, stir about ½ cup of your favorite chocolate chips into the dough. We like mini semi sweet chocolate chips here.
  • Rolling the dough in extra sugar adds a nice texture and flavor to the cookies; however, this step is optional. Skip it if you don't want to bother!

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 132kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 9mg | Sodium: 65mg | Potassium: 84mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 13IU | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 1mg