Treat yourself to some delicious Peanut Butter Cookies that require just three ingredients from your pantry. These easy, flourless homemade cookies are both gluten-free and dairy-free, allowing you to enjoy a perfect blend of sweet, savory, and nutty flavors in every bite. This recipe is ideal for beginners and is one of the simplest you’ll ever make!
A classic peanut butter sandwich is one of my favorite go-to breakfast recipes. Nutty, creamy, and delicious, it’s my version of starting the day on a peanut-tasting note!
As much as I love savoring the peanut butter sandwich, there are days when I am in a rush and need a quick, grab-and-go snack that I can easily stash in my bag for later. For times like this, I trade my sandwich for a delicious cookie recipe that gives me the advantage of preparing a batch ahead of time!
With a quick baking session, I can have a stash of cookies ready to last for a few days. Ergo, no more assembling any last-minute sandwiches or searching for other snack options!
As peanut butter is healthier than standard sugary cookies, I can indulge in this delicious treat without worrying about empty calories. Packed with protein and healthy fats, these peanut butter cookies meet your sweet cravings while maintaining a wholesome balance in your diet!
Variations For Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe
With just 3 ingredients and three simple steps in preparation, I have crafted this recipe to be simple enough for everybody to try. However, if you have more ingredients at home or are simply interested in customizing these cookies, let your creativity run wild!
Peanut butter cookies are incredibly adaptable, as they pair well with many other toppings and ingredients to create delightful variations. Here are some ideas you can use to customize your peanut butter cookies:
Chocolate Chips
All chocolate lovers will agree that we try to put little chunks of chocolate wherever we can. That applies to peanut butter cookies as well!
Chocolate chips go wonderfully well with peanut butter cookies because of their taste and texture. The rich sweetness of the chocolate is the perfect partner to balance the nutty and creamy texture of the peanut butter. Mixed with the cookie batter, the chips create the perfect gooey, melty pockets of chocolate that make the cookies taste extra delicious!
To use chocolate chips in your peanut butter cookies, fold them into the dough while mixing the sugar, peanut butter, and egg. Be careful not to overmix, as that might affect the texture. You can sprinkle some extra chocolate chips on top just before baking the cookies to add a touch of decoration.
Oatmeal
Another healthy addition to peanut butter cookies is oatmeal. Oatmeal adds a chewy and heavier texture to the cookies that might make you feel full even after just one cookie! With healthy fats and fiber content, oatmeal keeps you energized for a long time as it releases sugar more slowly in your body.
You can use either rolled oats or quick oats for this recipe. Use a food processor to grind the oats into a flour-like consistency for a finer texture on your cookies. Add a sprinkle of cinnamon and mix some dried fruits as a garnish for extra flavor on your peanut butter cookies.
Banana
To enjoy a fruity flavor in your peanut butter cookies, consider adding bananas to the cookie batter. Bananas help make the cookies more nutritious and flavorful. If you are using bananas for this recipe, you can cut back on the amount of sugar as bananas are naturally sweet. For every ½ cup of sugar, you can use ¼ cup of mashed bananas instead.
However, keep in mind that bananas add a lot of moisture to the batter. To balance that out, I recommend adding 1-2 tablespoons of flour or oatmeal to the batter. You may also consider increasing baking time by 1-2 minutes if the cookies don’t firm up properly.
Adding a dash of cinnamon powder helps enhance the banana flavor in the cookies. Also, you can combine bananas with oatmeal and chocolate chips for a more flavorful and wholesome snack.
Tips For Making The Best Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe
- Depending on your preference, you may go for either creamy or chunky peanut butter for this recipe. Creamy peanut butter helps create cookies with smooth texture while chunky peanut butter adds crunchiness to the cookies.
- If the cookie dough is too soft to scoop up properly to form a ball, refrigerate it for 15-20 minutes. Chilling the dough will help it firm up a little and make it easier to form the balls.
- Choose the type of sugar you want for your cookies wisely. White sugar will give you a crispy finish while brown sugar gives that chewy texture everyone loves so much! For the best result, mix white sugar with brown sugar in a 1:1 ratio to enjoy a perfectly moist and sweet cookie delight.
- It’s so easy for the cookies to become hard due to overbaking. Start checking the cookies for doneness a minute or two before the suggested baking time.
I know for many of you peanut butter cookies are more than just a snack. They are cherished memories spent in a childhood kitchen filled with love and care!
The aroma of freshly baked peanut butter cookies, the joy of licking the mixing spoon and the playful fights with our siblings to get the last one on the jar- these are the moments that come with these delicious cookies. Today’s recipe, I hope, allows your kids to recreate such beautiful memories and inspires them to continue the tradition of baking and sharing delicious treats with friends and family.
Recipe FAQs
You can store peanut butter cookies for a week at room temperature. Make sure the cookies are stored in an airtight container to keep them fresh and crispy.
You can substitute sugar with natural sweeteners like honey or maple syrup. As these are sweeter than regular sugar, use about ⅓ cup of honey or maple syrup instead of ½ cup of sugar as instructed in this recipe.
To make softer peanut butter cookies, you need to reduce the baking time by a little or add more peanut butter while preparing the cookie batter.
No, you don’t have to refrigerate the dough before baking; you can just directly bake them after making these soft peanut butter cookie dough.
