Easy Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe
Peanut butter cookies seem to be a favorite for many people. They remind us of childhood and are a great comfort food. I always liked putting the crisscrosses on the tops of the cookies when baking with my mother. I have included a couple of peanut butter cookie recipes. I came across the three ingredient recipe in a cookbook probably 12 years ago, and made it out of curiosity. I did not believe that they would turn out well at all. Well, I was wrong. I’ve made them several times and they are very easy to make and only use three ingredients. The other recipe is a standard peanut butter cookie recipe.
Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup white, granulated sugar
1 egg
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the peanut butter, sugar and egg. Mix until smooth. Drop dough by spoonful onto cookie sheet. Dip a dinner fork in a small amount of granulated sugar. Gently press the fork across the top of the cookie, and then repeat in the opposite direction, for a crisscross pattern. Bake for 6-8 minutes. Be careful not to overbake. They will be soft when they are done.
Peanut Butter Cookies
½ cup white granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup butter, room temperature
½ cup peanut butter
1 egg
1¼ cups flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add peanut butter and eggs and beat until creamy. In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients into the butter sugar mixture. For best results, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate dough for 1-3 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Shape dough into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased baking sheets 3 inches apart. Flatten the balls with the back of a fork and then repeat to make a crisscross pattern. If your fork wants to stick, you can dip the fork in granulated sugar first. Bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly browned. Do not overbake. They will still be soft when they are done. Cool on the baking sheet for about one minute before removing with a spatula to a wire rack to continue cooling completely. Makes 2 dozen cookies. This recipe doubles very well.
Peanut butter cookie tips:
- It is a personal choice to use smooth versus chunky peanut butter for peanut butter cookies. Some people are diehard “chunky” or “smooth” fans. I’m ok with either!
- Before baking roll dough balls into granulated sugar
- Immediately upon removing the cookies from the oven press an unwrapped chocolate kiss right in the center. Then remove from baking sheet onto wire rack to cool.
- Immediately upon removing the cookies from the oven make a depression in the center of the warm cookie with your finger or the back of a small spoon and fill the depression with ½ teaspoon of your favorite jelly.
- To make bar cookies, press into a greased 9X13 baking pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350.