Easy Peanut Butter Cookies
Updated
Updated
Quick and Easy Peanut Butter Cookies made with only 5 pantry ingredients and no flour or butter! So simple and effortless, you can whip up this peanut butter cookie recipe anytime. Soft, nutty, with a hint of delicious toffee flavor!
Pin this now to find it later
Pin ItThis post may contain affiliate links. If you click on one and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products we genuinely love.
5 STAR REVIEW
Classic. Old fashioned. Timeless. Foolproof. That’s what these easy peanut butter cookies are. They were the first cookie (and probably one of the first desserts) I ever learned to make on my own. Perfectly suited to the college student, novice baker, or introducing young kids to baking, because they are ridiculously easy and no-fuss, only requiring 5 ingredients – without flour or butter – and they come together in minutes!
Helpful Tips for Success
- The type of peanut butter matters. Use a commercial creamy peanut butter like Jiff or Skippy. Natural peanut butters have too much oil and will cause the cookies to spread too much while baking.
- Don’t skip the fork marks. Peanut butter cookie dough is dense. By pressing the cross-hatch pattern on the dough balls, it flattens them and allows for more even baking. They will cook unevenly if you skip this step. Plus, they look neat!
- Avoid them crumbling. After combining the dough, pinch off a bit and press it with your fingers. It should come together very easily and be soft and smooth. If it feels crumbly at all, keep kneading them a little. And as you’re forming the dough into balls, knead them and roll in the palms of your hands. Avoid over-baking, which can also make them crumble.
- Avoid spreading. As mentioned, the biggest culprit for cookies that spread while baking is using a natural peanut butter (which has too much oil) and/or overmixing the dough, which can incorporate too much air.
Easy Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar, , plus more for rolling, optional
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup creamy full-fat peanut butter, (*see note)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- With an electric mixer, blend together all the ingredients until combined, smooth and thick, 2-3 minutes.
- Using a heaping tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop out 1 & 1/4-inch balls, then knead and roll in the palms of your hands until they feel soft and smooth. (Optional: roll the balls in granulated sugar before they bake.)
- Transfer to the prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart.
- Press down with the back of a fork and then press again from the opposite direction, to form a criss-cross pattern on top. (TIP! To help keep the fork from sticking, dip the tines in a little granulated sugar between cookies.)
- Bake for about 10 minutes or until the tops are lightly brown and they are about 3 inches wide (all ovens run differently.) They will still be slightly soft if you press on them hot from the oven.
- Remove from oven and let cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely and firm up.
- Enjoy with a tall glass of cold milk!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and any changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are very important to you, I would recommend calculating them yourself.
Did you make this? Leave a rating below!
Proper Storage
- How long do peanut butter cookies last? Let the cookies cool completely, then store them in an airtight container. Stored properly, they will last on the countertop for up to 5 days.
- Can you freeze peanut butter cookies? If you want to freeze these, I recommend forming the dough balls and freezing those. Thaw in the fridge overnight, then bake as directed. The dough can be frozen up to 2 months.
More Easy Cookies To Try
- {3 Ingredient} Sugar Cookies
- Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies
- No Bake Cookies
- Flourless Chocolate Cookies
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Love love these cookies!
Thank you Amy. Great peanut butter cookie recipe.
I finally found a truly delicious EASY Peanut Butter cookie recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Karen
I am a home health aid, part of my job requirements are to cook for the clients one family always had a family recipe for me to make, one day we were short on time and I ingredients, so I did some searching and found you PB cookies. The family LOVED them so much they became the go to recipe. I have since shared them with several other of my clients and friends 🧡
Can you use honey instead of granulated sugar?
No, sorry. You need the granulated sugar for these to turn out.
SO easy and delish! Going to make another batch.
I’m really excited to try this recipe! Do you think this would work if I took a Hershey’s kiss and put it in the center?
No, I wouldn’t do that with this recipe, but our Peanut Butter Blossoms recipe is what you’d want. Here: https://bellyfull.net/peanut-butter-blossoms/
THE BEST PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES I’ve had Ever!!
Easy recipe, Thank you. Love your recipes.
We absolutely love this recipe
These are absolutely delicious! I don’t flatten them though before baking because they turn out better. Highly recommend if you’re a peanut butter or cookie lover!
Hooray! Easy gluten-free cookies that are delicious. I have been on a g/f diet since 1991 and these peanut butter cookies are the best I have ever had. Thank you, Amy, for sharing the recipe.
Very easy and taste good
I made these for my Dad’s B-day and he loved them! I had to used crunchy peanut butter, but it ended up working out :)
I added just a pinch of pink salt on top. Love this gluten free recipe!
These are the best peanut butter cookies EVER! I’ve used this recipe countless times and they turn out perfect every time. Can’t believe how simple and easy they are. A must for any peanut butter and cookie lover!
Chilled dough before rolling. And ripped fork in Florida per one review. Easier
So good & easy!! I added chocolate chips to 1/2 of the batter.. so good!!
I made these 5 ingredient peanut butter cookies… taste outstanding
Had an issue I hope you can help with… when I pressed the fork on the dough…the dough stuck to the fork
Wet the fork
Can I add chocolate chips?
I failed to see BOTH notes about using a commercial brand, DO NOT use a natural peanut butter. That’s all I ever use so I didnt think anything about it. They were so oily and the texture was so off. I’m not going to fault the writer for my inability to read. Unfortunately I don’t use any of the commercial brands and I have a couple other recipes I can use the natural PB with, so I’ll stick to those. All in all, the process and steps were super streamlined and easy! So that was great.
I don’t have parchment paper. Is that ok to just spay the cookie sheet with cooking spray?
Can this be made with just half the amount of sugar, or will it screw up the consistency?
Hi Tiffany – Without further testing, I can’t vouch for the results. For these cookies to turn out, follow the recipe as written.
Yum
Easy tasty cookies. My 6 year old helped make the criss cross marks!
I enjoyed the cookies, My oldest granddaughter enjoyed them. I used Trivia Sugar, Great Value Creamy Peanut Better. Thank You for sharing the recipe!!
I don’t have a mixer so I’ll have to use elbow grease.
This is my number one Cookie Recipe. Simple, simple and delicious.
This is an easy and great tasting recipe. I added a tablespoon of butter and 1/4 teaspoons of salt
So easy to make! The cookies were delicious!
Eek do not try with Trader Joe’s peanut butter.. came out in a pool of oil and tasted like burnt popcorn lol. Definitely my fault for having the wrong ingredient! Added flour and baking powder to the second batch and it made it slightly better. Just a big old mess but will try again with the right peanut butter next time!
This is now my go to peanut butter recipe. Easy, one bowl, and delicious. I followed recipe as instructed, came out great. Thank you!
Can you double this recipe
Yes, I triple the recipe
Can these cookies be made with chunky peanut butter or will the recipe have to change some what
I just made it with crunchy peanut butter: The cookies were perfect. I really like the texture, taste with the peanut bits.
Haven’t made peanut butter cookies in a while found this recipe me and my son made them this morning great cookie recipe, very easy
My son kept bugging me for cookies (I bake constantly) but it was the day after Thanksgiving I was TIRED. I told him(15) to make this recipe. He did. Friday, Saturday and today. Safe to say this recipe is great.
These are the best peanut butter cookie I’ve ever had. I normally don’t like them because they’re too dry. These were fabulous
Probably the best Peanut Butter cookies I’ve ever made, super easy and delicious!
I just made these, and they are DELICIOUS!!! THANK YOU!!!!
I added chocolate chips. Yummy
Would this recipe work with cookie cutters?
I substituted the peanut butter with Sunbutter (child with nut allergies) and quadrupled the recipe. The cookies are a mess. I don’t understand why. I checked on them after 10 minutes and they are sitting in a puddle of grease and aren’t even cooking. It seems like. Never had this happen with substituting Sunbutter. Maybe it doesn’t work with us recipe without flour? Anybody have this problem?
LOL. You don’t understand why, for real? I think you just answered your own question. Sunbutter and peanut butter have completely different consistencies.
sunbutter is super oily. I had better luck with WOWBUTTER (a soy butter) also Cookie Butter.
Can you freeze these after baked?
Yes. All storage info is included in the article.
If you could use justins peanut butter with chocolate it taste great!!!
You quadrupled a recipe you never made before? Less than optimal thinking!
Just made these. They were so easy to make and delicious!
I have a peanut butter cookie recipe that I’ve been using for years, but I needed something a little simpler and found this recipe – thought I’d give it a shot. We loved them!
My husband loves these cookies.
Made these as an after school treat – kids loved them. And so did I! So easy. Thanks!
Absolutely love, love, love this recipe!! Delicious and easy.
These were easy and delicious! Loved the flavor from the brown sugar.
I added some butterscotch chips.
Can these be made with adding coco powder to make them chocolate peanut butter cookies?
I’ve never tested these with cocoa powder, so I can’t say for sure. I think a little would be fine – too much and the cookies might turn out crumbly. Try it!
Really good and super easy! I rolled mine in granulated sugar before cross-hatching, as suggested, and liked that. Will definitely make again!
I made this using Splenda brown sugar and truvia sugar substitute (use the measurements conversion chart on the bags) and turned out great for a Keto cookie!
Thank you for this easy and FAST recipe! they turned out PERFECT (and in 30 minutes, from start to finish) ;)
Great recipe. I was concerned with using Splenda brown sugar because your recipe calls for 1/2 cup brown sugar and the equivalent of Splenda is 1/4 cup. Thanks so much!