Magic Peanut Butter Cookies (3 Ingredients!)

They're fast. They're easy. They're super cheap, too, unless you're in Europe and peanut butter is marked way up. :) *ahem*

I'm not super into baking. I like cooking a lot, but baking takes the fun out of it for me... no experimentation (at least not at my level), no tasting as you go - just measure it all, mix it together, throw it in the hot oven, wait, and hope for the best. I do occasionally get a craving for cookies or brownies, but not enough to invest in a mixer, baking soda, flour, etc. The problem is worse when I'm abroad and can't buy mixes and premade dough to satisfy my occasional cravings. Well, I've found an answer to all of the above: Magic Peanut Butter Cookies (with only three ingredients!)

I found this recipe online and tried it out - it's pretty darn good! Several people told me it was the best peanut butter cookie they'd had in their life, and several international students, normally wary of peanut butter, swallowed it whole and happily without ever suspecting the MAIN ingredient! I'm actually less enthusiastic than some - I think a more complex recipe would probably result in a slightly better cookie, but the work-to-product ratio is excellent. They are /very/ dense - you really only want one, but in my mind that's the mark of a good dessert.

Easy to remember, easy to measure (or even guestimate), and even an almost empty pantry probably contains the necessary ingredients. Really something you can make anytime. You don't need a beater or anything like that, either - it only takes about a minute to mix the ingredients together with a spoon. As a bonus, they're gluten free. And did I mention they bake in 5-10 minutes?

Without further ado -

Magic Peanut Butter Cookies:

(about) 1 cup of Peanut Butter
(about) 1 cup of Sugar
1 Egg

Mix ingredients together with a spoon. Place onto ungreased baking sheet in small balls about an inch apart - the mixture should make twelve. Flatten the balls slightly with a fork, making a little tic-tac-toe design on top. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes (some recipes show less, mine took 10). Done!


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Notes:

1.) They will look and feel very raw when you take them out of the oven. They firm up fast but are still more delicate than many cookies. No gluteny-glue keeping it together.

2.) You can add chocolate chips. :) Even better for tricking people who claim not to like peanut butter.

3.) A few recipes say that you should try adding a bit of baking soda (and/or salt or vanilla). If you have them on hand, why not? But it's nice knowing they're not needed. The baking soda makes them a bit lighter, apparently, and the vanilla I'm sure adds a certain richness. I'm not sure I would go for the salt, as the peanut butter is already pretty salty - but that might depend on brand, some people are probably making this with 'natural peanut butter' etc.