These soft chocolate and peanut butter flavored cookies will melt away in your mouth as you eat them. They need just 3 ingredients and don’t require any flour, eggs or dairy butter. The cookies store well and are great for gifting or making for an event.
I love meltaway cookies. They are easy to make and store well. And I love how they just melt in your mouth. This version combines two of my favorite flavors: chocolate and peanut butter.
Ingredients
- Peanut Butter
- Cocoa Powder
- Powdered Sugar
Peanut butter: Make sure to use natural peanut butter. You can use smooth or crunchy if you want some added texture, but it needs to be natural peanut butter. This means the ingredient list should not have any added oils and should just be peanuts and salt. If the ingredient list includes added oils, the cookie dough will not turn out right.
Cocoa powder: Use unsweetened cocoa powder. I used dutch process. I did not test with natural cocoa powder but I think it should also work. If you don’t want chocolate flavor, I have a version of these cookies that is just peanut butter flavored.
Powdered sugar: Powdered sugar is the key to the cookies working. They will not work with regular granular sugar because it will make the cookies grainy. I have only made this with store bought powdered sugar which has a little cornstarch added to it. It firms up the dough, provides sweetness for the cookies and also creates the meltaway sensation.
How to Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Meltaway Cookies
The peanut butter and cocoa powder are mixed together until uniform. The powdered sugar is then sifted in and mixed until a cookie dough forms. The cookie dough is then ready to be scooped up with a cookie scoop. I used a 2 tsp cookie scoop because these cookies are quite rich and very peanut buttery so I wanted to make them a little smaller.
The cookie dough balls go onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Gently smooth the surface of each dough ball. They are then ready to be baked. Once the cookies are cooled, dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Cookie Texture
These cookies are soft and melt in your mouth as you eat them. They are made mostly from peanut butter so you will taste a lot of peanut butter. They are lightly sweetened.
More Easy Cookies
- 2 Ingredient Brownie Cookies
- 3 Ingredient Butter Cookies
- 3 Ingredient Sugar Cookies
- Keto Meltaway Cookies
3 Ingredient Chocolate Peanut Butter Meltaway Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (242 g) unsweetened natural peanut butter
- 3 tbsp (21 g) unsweetened dutch process cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp (77 g) powdered sugar plus additional for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Add peanut butter and cocoa powder to a large mixing bowl. Mix until the cocoa powder is fully incorporated and the mixture is uniform in color.
- Sift in the powdered sugar. I recommend sifting it in because powdered sugar tends to get a little clumpy and you will not be able to break up the clumps once they are in the dough. Stir the powdered sugar into the dough until it is completely incorporated and a thick dough forms. You can taste the dough at this point and if you wish for more sweetness you can add another 1-2 tbsp of powdered sugar. If you want more chocolate flavor you can add another 1/2 to 1 tbsp of cocoa powder.
- Using a 2 tsp cookie scoop, scoop the dough and release onto the prepared cookie sheet, spacing dough balls one inch apart.
- Using your fingertips, lightly smooth just the surface of the cookie balls, but be careful not to flatten them.
- Place cookies in the oven and bake for about 11-12 minutes. The cookies won't change much in size, but they should look dry and baked rather than still wet dough. Let cookies cool completely and set before removing them from the cookie sheet. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Notes
- Make sure to use natural peanut butter. This means there are no added oils listed in the ingredients.
- I have only tested this with unsweetened dutch process cocoa powder. I think it should work with unsweetened natural cocoa powder but I have not tested it.
- I used store bought powdered sugar that has a little cornstarch added to it. If making your own powdered sugar, make sure you use a recipe that has cornstarch added.
- Uneaten cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days.
- Nutrition estimate does not include the powdered sugar dusted on top of the cookies.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
Love all these recipes, I make 3 different recipes
A week, very delicious, guilt free and fun to explore!!??
Oh, that makes our day! So glad you are loving the recipes.
I have not able and find powdered sugar with cornstarch. How many corn should we add to our recipe? Thank you.
Are you located in the US? Most brands at grocery stores have cornstarch included like Domino and C & H. If you are outside the US, you could order one of these brands on Amazon. We haven’t tried making our own powdered sugar with cornstarch, but the common ratio is 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon cornstarch. So for this recipe, you could adding 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch to your powdered sugar. Hope that helps!
very messy cookie to make.tastes good who doesnt like peanut butter and chocolate?my problem i used regular peanut butter so my bad!
Yes, try natural peanut butter next time!
I was excited to try this quick recipe, but it turned out taking longer than expected. The dough wasn’t thick so I ended up adding many more Tbsp of both cocoa and powdered sugar before it thickened enough. Even then I refrigerated the dough to harden it. Still it was runny.and did not keep its shape. Is it because I used natural macadamia butter instead of PB?
We haven’t tried it with macadamia nut butter, but that might be the problem. Macadamia nuts are usually a lot more oily than peanuts, so even if you use natural macadamia butter, the amount of oil might be more compared to peanut butter. That could cause the issue you experienced.
I make tasty treats for people who are not fortunate to afford it. Your recepies are quick and easy and not expensive. Thanks for helping me to help others… AMEN
Your comment made our day!
Hi. I’m very excited about trying your recipes but I do have a question -Since carob comes in so many forms can I exchange the carob equivalent for the. Chocolate in recipes with chocolate because I can’t use chocolate?
We haven’t tried carob – if it comes in a powdered form, it might work. Carob is usually a 1 to 1 sub for chocolate in most recipes. Let us know how it works for you!
These cookies look yummy. I appreciate the Keto style recipes that you offer! =)
Thank you! We hope you try them soon.
Found stirring the peanut butter easier if I microwaved it for 15 seconds or so I also added 1/3 cup of chocolate chips and folded those in after everything was mixed.
Thanks for sharing that!
Loving your recipes!! And, am sharing with friends
I’m so glad you are enjoying them!
Always looking for gluten free recipes for my daughter. Sorry to say I was not a fan of this one. At best, I would say it’s more of a candy (similar to a truffle) than a cookie. At worst, it pretty much like eating a spoonful of peanut butter. In defense of the recipe, I did use the peanut butter I had on hand so it was not unsweetened, natural peanut butter. Maybe that makes a difference but I doubt I’ll try again.
Using sweetened peanut butter is likely why you felt like these tasted more like candy. Sweetened peanut butter is not only sweeter but will definitely affect the texture of the cookie.
I like all the recipes and I am going to try to make it.
Let us know what you think!
Love you’re recipes. Do you have a recipe book available?
Kirby has written two books! 5 Minute Mug Cakes* and Dump Cakes from Scratch*
*These are affiliate links. Much like referral codes, this means I earn a small commission if you purchase a product I referred (at no extra charge to you).
I want to try these
We hope you do!
What brand of peanut butter do you use?
I used Kirkland natural peanut butter
? yummy thanks for all the great recipes Jen
You’re welcome!