These simple chewy peanut butter cookies are incredibly delicious! They only require one bowl to make, and are sure to please the entire family. Sugar-free, low-carb, keto, gluten-free, dairy-free.
My Favorite Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe!
There is a super common theme around here with my recipes. I try to keep things as simple as I possibly can, both in terms of ingredients and the time required for prepping and cleanup.
Dessert recipes that require only one bowl are definitely my favorite kind. Combine that together with a recipe that requires only a few simple ingredients, and it’s often one I am incredibly proud of.
These simple chewy peanut butter cookies are no exception, you only need 3 simple ingredients (4, if you want to add in a little vanilla extract), and the dough can most certainly be prepped in a single bowl!
Plus, the flavor of these is incredible! Who likes their peanut butter cookies with only a little peanut butter flavor? I didn’t think so! Since these don’t have all the added flour, the peanut butter flavor is front and center, as a peanut butter cookie should be.
Simple To Prep, Consume and Clean Up!
To make these simple chewy peanut butter cookies, you’ll need peanut butter, a granulated sweetener of choice, an egg and some vanilla extract.
For the sweetener, any will work as long as it has an approximate 1-to-1 level of sweetness when compared to table sugar. Coconut sugar, a stevia blend, or erythritol would work, depending on your dietary preferences.
For the peanut butter, you want to pay attention to the type you are using. Since we are adding sweetener already, I recommend a brand that is simply made of peanuts and salt. These peanut butters will sometimes separate when stored at room temperature. Be sure to mix it up beforehand, so you don’t only get the oily part in this recipe.
If you use a pre-sweetened peanut butter, the cookies will be sweeter than the recipe calls for. If this is your thing, then feel free to do that. If you are following a keto or low-carb diet, be sure to avoid the peanut butter with sugar or high fructose corn syrup added.
To a bowl, add all four ingredients and mix well. You should be left with a dough that can be formed into a ball fairly easily, and isn’t too sticky.
Form into balls approximately 1.5 inches (38 mm) in diameter. Place on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet, and sprinkle with a little additional granulated sweetener. This helps the fork to not stick when you press down the top, to create the iconic criss-cross shape.
To form the shape, press your fork down into the top of the ball, flattening it down. Turn the fork 90 degrees and repeat.
Make sure there is approximately a 1 inch space between the cookies after pressing down the dough, so they do not expand into each other when they bake. Repeat until all the dough is used up.
Bake for 12-14 minutes. The cookies may not look done at this point, but in order to get chewy cookies, we don’t want them to bake much longer. Allow to cool before consuming.
What type of sweetener do you recommend?
It depends on your dietary preferences. If you are ok with table sugar, then that works perfectly. If you are paleo, coconut sugar works great (although peanut butter technically isn’t paleo, but I won’t tell). If you are low-carb, then there are lots of options. I like pyure stevia blend, or Lakanto monk fruit.
What type of add-ins?
Peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, marshmallow fluff…there are TONs of options to make these cookies extra special. Any of the above can be added in right before you form the dough into balls. Simply fold in the add-ins, and gently mix.
You likely won’t be able to press the cookies down the same way with chunks added, so simply use your hands to press the cookies down, and you should be good to go!
If you give these simple chewy peanut butter cookies a try, please let me know what you think in the comments below. Also be sure to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest so you don’t miss a recipe!
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Simple Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup peanut butter (with only peanuts and salt as ingredients) 8 oz
- 1 cup sweetener of choice (192 g) granulated sugar, coconut sugar or a sugar-free sweetener blend with a 1-to-1 sweetness.
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Mix peanut butter, sweetener, egg and vanilla extract together in a bowl. Using your fingers, roll the dough into approximately 1.5 inch balls.
- Lay balls out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with additional sweetener. Using a fork, push down the cookies to form a grid pattern on top of the cookies. You want the dough to be approximately 1/4 inch thick. Make sure there is still about a 1 inch space between the cookies, since they will expand a bit as they cook.
- Place in oven and cook for 12-14 minutes, depending on your oven and elevations. The edges will not yet be brown, but you don't want them to be, to keep the cookies soft.
- Remove from oven, and allow to cool before consuming. Allow them to cool fully before placing into a storage container.
2 comments
Are there 14 g carbs in one cookie?
Hi Denise, that is the total carbs per cookie. If you use a sugar-free sweetener, you can subtract that and the fiber, and you are left with ~2.8 net carbs per cookie. Hope that helps.