These easy peanut butter cookies are everything I want in a cookie: soft, chewy, perfectly sweet, and packed with peanut butter flavor.
It’s kind of wild how good this peanut butter cookie recipe is, considering you only need a handful of ingredients. These flourless cookies are a staple in our house. Whenever I need a quick treat that makes everyone happy, this is the recipe I reach for. Well, these and our easy chocolate chip cookies!
We start with the classic three-ingredient peanut butter cookie recipe, but we like to add a few extras to make them truly irresistible. If you’re a peanut butter fan, you’re going to love them as much as we do!
Key Ingredients
- Peanut Butter: I have the best results with well-stirred peanut butter or the no-stir jars sold in stores. To make these completely from scratch, use homemade peanut butter. You can also use crunchy or creamy peanut butter.
- Egg: We use one egg for 1 cup of peanut butter, which adds structure, flavor, and moisture to the cookies. For extra-soft, chewy peanut butter cookies, add one more egg. Keep in mind that adding an extra egg will make the dough stickier, so you may need to chill it for a few minutes before scooping.
- Sugar: You can use pretty much any sugar here! We love a combination of granulated sugar and brown sugar.
- Baking Soda: This helps our peanut butter cookies rise and brown beautifully, adding a lovely texture. If you’re wondering whether or not you can make this recipe without baking soda, you can! They will be softer and more cake-like in the middle.
- Vanilla Extract: It’s rare to see us making cookies without a splash of vanilla extract! It adds a lovely richness to the cookie batter.
- Molasses (optional): This ingredient is rare in peanut butter cookies, but I swear by it. If you have some light or dark molasses in the kitchen, try adding ½ to 1 teaspoon to the cookie dough. It adds color, richness, and a slight tanginess that cuts through the sweetness of the cookies.
- Cinnamon (optional): Here’s another unusual ingredient, but I love the combination of cinnamon and peanut butter!
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Peanut Butter Cookies
Tip 1: You do not need a mixer. My favorite thing about these cookies is that you can make them without a mixer. You only need a bowl and a spoon (how’s that for easy!).
Tip 2: Mix your peanut butter first. If you have homemade or natural peanut butter, there’s a good chance the top of your jar will be oily, while the bottom will be thick. Before making these easy cookies, give the jar a really good mix.
Tip 3: Make the batter. Add your well-stirred peanut butter, egg, sugar, baking soda, salt, vanilla, and the optional ingredients (molasses and cinnamon) to a bowl, then stir with a spoon until combined. It might be hard to stir at first, but it gets easier and things loosen up.
Tip 4: Scoop and bake. Use a cookie scoop or a spoon to scoop up a bit of batter, then roll it into balls. Place the balls on a cookie sheet, then gently press them down (since they don’t spread much, how much you press them will determine how thick they are once baked). Then, before sliding into the oven, make the classic peanut butter cookie indent with a fork.
Recipe Variations
These peanut butter cookies are incredible right out of the oven, but as you can see from our photos, they are really fun to decorate. Our family has three favorite variations:
- Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies: Stir ¼ cup to ⅓ cup chocolate chips into the batter before rolling and baking.
- Jam-filled cookies: Before baking, use a spoon to make a small indent in the middle of the dough balls. When the cookies are baked and cool, spread a teaspoon of jam into the middle of each cookie.
- Chocolate-drizzled cookies: Once the cookies are baked and cool, melt ⅓ cup chocolate chips and drizzle over the cookies. For chocolate-peanut butter drizzled cookies, add one tablespoon of peanut butter to the chocolate chips before melting.
- Reduced sugar cookies: Use ½ cup sugar. The cookies will be a little stickier and won’t indent as easily with the fork. They still bake well and taste great, just not as sweet.
More Peanut Butter Desserts
- Peanut Butter Pie
- Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats
- Peanut Butter Cookie Cups
- Edible Cookie Dough (we include a peanut butter version!)
Easy Peanut Butter Cookies
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
You can make these flourless peanut butter cookies in less than 15 minutes! They are soft and absolutely delicious, plain, and even more delicious with a dollop of jam or a drizzle of chocolate on top. We prefer these with a granulated and brown sugar blend, but you can use just one type of sugar. (We use ½ cup brown sugar and ¼ cup granulated)
**If making the jam-filled cookies, adding the jam on the day of serving is best. The cookies will soften too much from the extra moisture if left overnight.
You Will Need
1 cup well-stirred peanut butter (270 g)
1 large egg
¾ cup sugar, use granulated, brown sugar, or a combination (150 g)
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon molasses, optional
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
Directions
1Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or use silicone baking mats.
2Make cookie dough: In a medium bowl, stir together peanut butter, egg, sugar, baking soda, a pinch of salt, vanilla, molasses (optional), and cinnamon (optional) until smooth and scoopable.
3Bake: Scoop or roll into 1-inch balls, then place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Press the mounds down with the back of a spoon or the tines of a fork to flatten them into cookies. Bake until the outer edges turn light brown and the tops look dry, for 8 to 11 minutes.
4To finish: Cool 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).
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days or freeze, wrapped individually, for up to 3 months. Jam-filled cookies are best the day you make them.
- Make ahead tips: The cookie dough keeps in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Even though you can bake immediately, chilling 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 bake time).
- Best peanut butter: Use very well-stirred peanut butter or the jarred peanut butter sold pre-mixed at the store.
- Salt: Before making the cookies, taste your peanut butter. If it is on the saltier side, you may not need to add a pinch of salt to the cookie dough.
- PB chocolate chip cookies: Stir ¼ cup to ⅓ cup chocolate chips into the batter before rolling and baking.
- Jam-filled cookies: Before baking, use a spoon to make a small indent in the middle of the dough balls. When the cookies are baked and cool, spread a teaspoon of jam into the middle of each cookie.
- Chocolate drizzled cookies: Once the cookies are baked and cool, melt ⅓ cup chocolate chips and drizzle over cookies. For chocolate-peanut butter drizzled cookies, add one tablespoon of peanut butter to the chocolate chips before melting.
- Reduced sugar cookies: Use ½ cup sugar. The cookies will be a little stickier and won’t be as easy to indent with the fork. They still bake well and taste great, just not as sweet.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates and are for the plain cookies.
I made this a few days ago..yummy
Good! I followed the directions to the letter without toppings. They are crispy, surprisingly mildly peanut-buttery, and made about 2 dozen cookies. I used Nordicware baking sheet — no parchment paper or silicone sheet. Doesn’t stick. I will try with almond butter next time.
Oh no, we are sorry to hear that, Kayla. What brand of peanut butter did you use for these?
I made this for my family and they loved it. They were so surprised when I told them I didn’t use any flour. This is great for my lactose intolerant brother!! Even though he doesn’t like peanut butter, he still said the flavor was good. Thank you so much.
They came out delicious! So surprised that it could taste like that without flour or butter! I added a bit of cocoa powder and half a mashed banana.
Hi! Can I use a hand mixer to mix the ingredients?
Yes, absolutely.
LOVE your recipes! I’ve tried many of them and they all come out brilliantly. I have been making your brownies for several years and my family always request them for their birthdays; a true family favorite! Your lasagnas are delicious and I love the lemon chicken thighs and chicken wings too. Whenever I’m in the mood to cook I always check your site first! As expected, these peanut butter cookies are winners just like your other posts. Thanks for the continuously great cooking ideas!
Those look amazing! I was going to make them and realized I’m all out of eggs; it’s the only thing I’m missing. My hens sure are freeloading right now, but it’s winter and laying is sporadic at best. I may use a flax egg so I don’t have to run to town! I sure hope it works 🙂
OMG The cookies just came out of the oven. My kitchen smells fantastic. I ate one and it is so yummy. (They even looked good.) Looking forward to trying other of your recipes. Thank you.
I am a baker so I know when to add the vanilla extract.Only suggesting you correct the directions, for beginners. Making it at this moment. Hope mine come out as beautiful as yours. Have a great day.
Thank you for pointing that out. We forgot to mention when to add the vanilla. We just fixed it 🙂
Hello, Thank you so much for the great peanut butter cookie recipe. So simple, yummy. Great for a diabetic, now I have a cookie I can eat and not worry. Thanks again, really enjoy your recipes.Thanks Linda
Hi guys! I love your recipes. You cook much the same way I do which make your recipes feel good and familiar to me. Someone in my family was diagnosed with Celiac Disease so I’m wondering if your flourless PB cookies are gluten free?
Hi Conni, So glad that you like our recipes. Since no flour is called for to make these cookies they should be gluten-free. I would just make sure none of the other ingredients have sneaked in gluten. (This shouldn’t be the case)