Air Fryer Peanut Butter Cookies

Air Fryer Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut butter lovers, get ready! Peanut butter cookies are wonderfully easy to make a treat that brings the flavor we love from peanut butter into a dessert dish everybody can enjoy. And you can even make them in your air fryer? Let’s talk about these delightful treats you can easily make as a snack or for gatherings.

We often find ourselves with sudden food cravings, especially when it comes to sweets. Eating cookies can be nostalgic for your childhood or hit the spot after a long day. Making a quick batch of peanut butter cookies in your air fryer can satisfy that sudden craving in little to no time, and there’s less wait time than with an oven.

Air Fryer Peanut Butter Cookies

Can I Make Cookies in an Air Fryer?

It’s not only possible to make different kinds of cookies in your air fryer, but it actually can be much easier than using an oven. You will have a smaller yield due to less space in an air fryer, but overall, cookies can be just as great with this tool. We use an air fryer today because it can be easier and faster.

How Do I Prevent Sticking?

Just like with any other method of baking, you can use some methods to keep the cookies from sticking. This recipe calls for parchment paper since it can easily withstand high temperatures and works well. Still, you can also use aluminum foil if you’re careful not to cover any important air fryer parts.

Why Make Cookies?

Why make cookies first if you just want peanut butter and don’t mind something even simpler like toast with peanut butter or just a spoonful of the stuff? Well, because there’s so much, you can do with them! Cookies can stay safe to eat for a long time, can be had on their own or with other treats, and more.

Do I Preheat My Air Fryer?

No! This is the biggest difference between the air fryer and the oven; you don’t have to preheat when it comes to making cookies in the air fryer, as you will notice in the recipe. You can just make the cookie dough, form it into balls, place it in the air fryer, and turn it on. It’s very simple and faster than waiting for oven preheat times.

What Do I Need?

This recipe is extremely simple for that ease of use whenever you’re craving peanut butter or a nice treat, which is why you will need very little to make it. All you need are three ingredients for the cookie dough: peanut butter, sugar, and egg-your air fryer, a fork, and some parchment paper to reduce sticking.

Do I Have to Refrigerate the Dough?

Short answer, yes. Our recipe calls for letting the dough sit in the fridge for 30 minutes, which can be pretty annoying if you just want cookies right away. But the step is there for a reason. Since the dough has so few ingredients and air fryers heat things differently, not chilling the dough will lead to crumbly and too wide cookies.

Why Rest Cookies After?

You’ve probably seen the phrase rest or let sit for __ minutes in your cookie recipes dozens of times, but why is it there? Giving cookies some time to sit and cool prevents you from burning yourself trying to enjoy them and can be pertinent to getting the best cookies possible. It helps keep these particular ones from crumbling.

What if my Air Fryer is Different?

If you can’t fit the 4-6 cookies that my air fryer could hold, just do what fits best for your specific shape and size tool. As long as you leave space for spreading, it’ll be fine. If your air fryer doesn’t have the temperature, just do your closest temperature. Thankfully this recipe has room for some differences in air fryers.

This recipe can give you a great late-night snack or base for a decadent treat (like a cookie ice cream sundae) that uses only a few ingredients you typically will have at home and your air fryer. You can adjust the recipe for your own needs, and it won’t be ruined if your air fryer isn’t quite the same as mine. Now you can follow the recipe below to make your own delightful air fryer peanut butter cookies!

Air Fryer Peanut Butter Cookies

Air Fryer Peanut Butter Cookies

Skip the oven and have homemade peanut butter cookies in 8 minutes. Lightly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. A sweet and decadently rich peanut butter treat.
Prep Time 13 minutes
Cook Time 1 minute
Chill Time 30 minutes
Course Appetizer, Dessert, Snack
Servings 18 Cookies

Equipment

  • 1 Air Fryer
  • 2 Parchment Paper
  • 3 Fork

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
  • ¾ Cup Sugar
  • 1 Large Egg

Instructions
 

  • Combine all three ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Mix until fully combined.
  • Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
  • Using a 1 ½-inch cookies scoop, or heaping tablespoon, scoop the dough onto parchment paper.
  • Using a fork, press the cookie flat, first one direction, then again from the opposite direction to make a crosshatch pattern on top.
  • Line the bottom of your air fryer with parchment paper. Be sure to not have extra parchment paper running up the side of the air fryer or it will get caught by the air and fold over the cookies.
  • Place as many cookies in your air fryer that will fit, while giving each cookie a half inch space. I was able to do about 4-6 at a time.
  • Set your air fryer at 370 degrees and cook them for 4 minutes before letting them rest in the air fryer for 4 minutes.
  • Repeat until you’ve used up your batter. Enjoy!

Notes

  • You mustn’t skip the chilling step. The air fryer will spread the cookies and be crumbly more than the oven. The chilling step keeps them from spreading too much and keeps them from being a crumbly mess when leaving the air fryer.
  • It’s also very important to not touch the cookies until they’ve been set for a minimum of 4 minutes. This allows them to set up and not fall apart when removed from the air fryer.
  • I like to shape the parchment paper to the bottom of my air fryer, then pull it out and prepare my cookies on it. This way, I can just set the parchment paper back inside without setting one cookie at a time inside the air fryer.
  • Each air fryer is a different shape. Mine allowed for 4-6 cookies at a time, but your shape might not allow that many, and it may allow for more. Just be sure to give enough space for the cookies to spread a bit, and you’ll be good to go.
  • Putting more or fewer cookies doesn’t require adjusting the cooking time or rest time.
  • This cookie dough is very sticky, so it’s best to not get your hands involved in the scoping process and stick to a scoop or spoon.
  • Each air fryer has various cooking settings. If your air fryer doesn’t have a 370-degree setting, choose the closest step under it instead of over it.