Chef notes
December is unofficially known as cookie season, but there’s no reason to contain the joys of making cookies to only one month a year. If you’re looking for an easy, kid-friendly recipe, these three-ingredient peanut butter cookies make having a sweet treat in under 30 minutes totally doable.
Peanut butter cookies are quintessentially American, with the first recorded recipe dating back to the 1920s. The first iterations of these cookies didn’t have the classic cross hatch of fork tines, which quickly became synonymous with the cookies in the years that followed.
For this recipe, all it takes is combining peanut butter, sugar and one egg until smooth. That may not seem like enough to have a well balanced cookie, but thanks to the nutty, salty flavor of peanut butter, not much else is needed to buff out these cookies. Place heaps of the mixture on a lined baking sheet and press down. After 10 minutes, you’ll have perfect peanut butter cookies.
While we love that these cookies only take three ingredients, they’re a perfect blank canvas for topping with your favorite add-ins such as M&Ms, chocolate chips or your favorite chopped up candy bar of choice. If you’re looking for a more elevated version, we recommend topping the cookies with some flaky sea salt.
Swap Option: If you’re allergic to peanut butter, or simply want a different flavor profile, try the same recipe with almond butter.
Ingredients
- 1 cup smooth peanut butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
Preparation
1.Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a cookie sheet with a Silpat silicone mat or parchment paper.
2.In a medium bowl, stir together the peanut butter, sugar and egg until completely combined. Drop the dough, one spoonful at a time, onto the prepared cookie sheet.
3.Leave the dough as is, or take a fork and lightly press into the top of the cookie horizontally, then vertically, to create a checkered pattern.
4.Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the tops are golden and the bottoms are lightly browned.
5.Let them cool for 10 minutes before serving.
