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A quick cookie recipe with only 5 ingredients that is perfect as an after school treat or to satisfy that gnawing sweet tooth. Soft and just a little bit chewy, these cookies are full of peanut flavor.
Peanut butter is one of my favorite things. I love it in savory dishes as well as anything sweet. And cookies may be at the top of my list.
Back in my corporate days, I remember a coffee shop that served a large peanut butter cookie that was soft and literally melted in your mouth then eaten. It was heavenly.
I bought one at least 3 afternoons a week, all the while begging for the recipe. To put a stop to the begging, the finally gave me the recipe. Peanut butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla.
What? Are you kidding? How could this work? And yet, it does, deliciously.
HOW DO YOU MAKE EASY PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES?
I began playing with the recipe. I tried it first with granulated sugar and the cookie felt gritty, like the sugar never fully incorporated into the dough.
Brown sugar wasn’t gritty and gave the dough a great flavor, but the cookie was too soft. I tried baking it a bit longer, but the cookie became too brown.
Powdered sugar blended into the dough and baked to a perfect golden brown. The cookie was a touch too sweet and the texture wasn’t quite right.
However, adding just a ½ cup of cornstarch gave the cookie the right amount of sweetness, without being cloying. But it also gave the cookie that melt-in-your-mouth, velvety texture that I remembered from the coffee shop.
The best part is that the whole recipe comes together and bakes in about 15 minutes. You simply stir all the ingredients together, scoop out the dough, flatten slightly on the baking sheet, bake for 10 minutes, and then enjoy warm, delicious cookies.
LOOKING FOR MORE COOKIE RECIPES?
Try my recipe for the Ultimate Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies or try these amazing recipes that I found from some of my fellow food bloggers (and yes, I have made each of these cookies….research, you know!):
- Small Batch Sugar Cookies from DessertForTwo.com – 6 delicious cookies at a time? Sign me up!
- After School Snack Cookies from Betsylife.com – these are also the perfect after-work snack as well!
- Oatmeal Scotchies from Crazyforcrust.com – flavors from my childhood. Thank you.
EASY PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
A quick cookie recipe that has only 5 ingredients and takes 15 minutes. Velteety, soft, and full of peanut butter flavor, this easy recipe is perfect as an after school snack.
- Author: Eats By The Beach
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: Makes 24 cookies 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup smooth peanut butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, optional, to dip fork into before flattening cookies
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats and set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together the peanut butter, powdered sugar, cornstarch, egg, and vanilla until fully combined. The dough will be thick, like fudge.
- Drop the dough in rounded tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets.
- Use a fork, dipped in granulated sugar, if desired, to slightly flatten the cookies, making a criss-cross pattern.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 – 12 minutes until very lightly browned on the edges.
- Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. (but they won’t last that long)
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1