My take on the famous Three-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookie

Hello! Hello!

You know that thing that happens when you learn a new word? No sooner do you learn the word than you start to see and hear it everywhere. That’s what it was like with the Three-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookie. As soon as I learned about it, I began to see it all over the internet and in a few coffee shops, too. Just as I may have been the last person in America to see Dan Ackroyd’s imitation of Julia Child, I think I must have been the last human to make this cookie. But I’ve made up for lost time – I’ve made a couple of batches and so has Mary Dodd. If you can’t find peanut butter in our local supermarket, blame us!

I'm not sure where this cookie came from or who made it first (if you know, please pipe up because I'd love to thank them), but the OG version seems to have had 1 cup of peanut butter, a variable amount of sugar and 1 egg. It was easy to mix, scoop, crisscross and bake - the kind of recipe that you could put together on the spur of the moment and, after the first time, without a recipe. It was gluten-free and, if you used flax eggs, could be vegan, too.

From what I can tell, the cookie made an appearance in Gourmet Magazine around the year 2009. Although I did find a commenter who said she’d been making the cookie since 1975! Today, if you Google "three ingredient peanut butter cookie," you'll find more than 100,000 search results for this internet-famous cookie.

To be honest, I didn’t like them on first bite and I didn’t really understand why everyone else did. And so, in the name of research, and out of respect for everyone who loved these cookies, I ate another. Then another. I kept taking bites and looking at the cookie as though it would speak to me and reveal all. I nibbled and munched some more and then giggled when I realized that all signs pointed to an irrefutable conclusion: I did like this cookie!

It was the texture that had slowed me down. These cookies are foolers - while they look like other peanut butter cookies you know, especially the crisscrosses, they don’t really feel like others. The texture’s not sandy, but crumbly (in an interesting way); it’s not crisp, even though the edges are firmer than the centers. It took me no time to get used to the taste – that was the easy part: If you love peanut butter, you’ll love this cookie. With so few ingredients, peanut butter is what you get first and it’s the lingering flavor as well.

Since I’m a nonstop tinkerer, I played with the recipe a bit. I cut the amount of sugar from what I think was the original 1-cup measurement. I also mixed it up, using some brown sugar, so traditional with peanut butter cookies, along with the granulated sugar. I tried the cookies with turbinado sugar, sometimes called raw sugar (I used 1/2 cup turbinado and 1/4 cup granulated), but the texture was too crumbly for me (again, you may like it that way). I kind of liked that the raw sugar remained a little grainy – again, a feature that’s not for everyone.

And, because I saw a couple of recipes that included baking soda, I tried that too, but it didn’t seem necessary.

I added spice and vanilla and rolled the cookies around in sugar the way I do my other peanut butter cookies. I sprinkled some with flaky salt. Of course, I added chocolate. And I had a little fun with the shape – I scooped some of the cookies (and they kept their shape in the oven), crisscrossed some and smushed some. And, know what? I liked them every which way.

Open the pantry, get out the peanut butter and I’ll see you back here on Friday for a fun cake.

PS: Thank you Great Jones for the colorful cooling rack.

Adapted from everyone and everywhere

The peanut butter: You’ll get the best texture if you use traditional peanut butter – as usual, I used Skippy and Mary Dodd, who tested the recipe with me, used JIF (some things never change). You can use “natural” peanut butter, preferably one that you don’t have to stir, but it increases the crumbliness. Also, I think these are nicest with salted p-butter. I haven’t tried it, but friends tell me that the cookies work well with almond butter – next on my to-do list.

The sugar: I like the cookie with 3/4 cup sugar, but you could increase the sugar to 1 cup (I think that that was the original amount) and I think you’d be fine with 1/2 cup, if that’s your preference. You could use all granulated sugar, if you wanted to. And, as I said, I tested a batch using turbinado (raw) and granulated sugar - they were fine, but I preferred the brown sugar and granulated sugar combo.

The spice: I love pairing nutmeg with peanuts, but like cardamom, it’s a pretty particular flavor. Cinnamon is a great choice with peanuts, and a combination of spices could be nice. Which spice and how much of it is really up to you.

The egg: Once again, I haven’t tried this, but my tour in the ether turned up people who’d made vegan versions of this recipe by using flax eggs.

The chocolate: I guess I could have tagged the chocolate optional, but it’s really nice in these cookies. I chopped up bar chocolate, as I usually do – I chopped a mix of chunklets and bits – but chips would be good here (and very small pieces would be good for the crisscrosses). And, in a departure from my usual, I opted for milk chocolate – it’s lovely with peanut butter and spice. Again, baker’s choice.

Makes about 20 cookies

Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Working in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (alternatively, you can work in a large bowl with a sturdy hand mixer or with a spatula and a sturdy arm), beat the peanut butter, the two sugars and the spice on medium speed for about 2 minutes, until well blended. Beat in the egg and vanilla and continue to mix until the dough comes together – it’s an odd dough, kind of clumpy, not really moist, but it will pull together. Mix in the chocolate. Reach into the bowl and press the dough into a ball with your hands. Again, because it’s dryish and clumpy, it won’t be perfect – you just want to compact it a little.

Using a medium-size cookie scoop (one that holds about 1 1/2 tablespoons) or a spoon, scoop out dough and place the balls of dough about 1 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheets.

If you want to make crisscross cookies, shape the scoops of dough into balls, roll each ball around in the sugar to coat and return the balls to the sheet. Dip the tines of a fork into the sugar and press the fork down into the dough (cracking is inevitable and fine); repeat to form a cross.

If you want to make ball cookies or smush cookies, shape each portion of dough into a ball, roll each ball in sugar and return the balls to the baking sheet.

Just before baking, top each cookie sparingly with flaky salt, if you’d like.

Bake one sheet at a time.

For crisscrosses, bake the cookies 11 to 12 minutes, and then let them rest on the baking sheet for 2 minutes – they’re soft and have to gather themselves before you gently transfer them to a rack to cool.

For ball cookies, bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, let them rest 2 minutes and then transfer them to a rack to cool.

For smush cookies, bake for 5 minutes and then give each cookie a smart little smack with a spatula. A metal spatula is best for this, as is a quick slap – you don’t want the dough to stick to the spatula. And don’t be too hard on the cookies – you just want to flatten them a bit. Bake for another 7 to 8 minutes, let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 2 minutes and then gently transfer them to a rack to cool.

Repeat with the second baking sheet.

STORING: Wrapped well, the cookies will keep for about 3 days at room temperature.

PLAYING AROUND: I think you could sprinkle the tops with chopped peanuts (or, if you chopped the nuts really fine, even add them to the dough in place of the chocolate). I think you could play with the spices, of course, and you might even come up with another shape. What do you think? What would you like to try?

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