The Store-Bought Secret To These Delicious 4-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut butter cookies don't need a mile-long ingredient list to be good. Some of the best versions keep things incredibly simple — just peanut butter, a little binder, and something to give them structure. That's where cake mix comes in. Out of all the boxed cake mix recipes floating around, this one might be the easiest.

Plenty of peanut butter cookie recipes stick to four ingredients, but cake mix takes the shortcut a step further. A pre-measured blend of flour, sugar, and leavening agents streamlines the entire baking process. No need to fuss over measuring dry ingredients — just mix one box of yellow cake mix, 1 cup of peanut butter, two eggs, and ½ cup of oil into a thick dough, and you're ready to bake. The result will be tender cookies with just the right amount of sweetness and a texture that leans slightly toward the cakier side.

Since this recipe keeps things simple, there's no extra prep work. Just scoop, press, and bake — no waiting around or unnecessary steps. It's a perfect recipe for those moments when a homemade treat sounds great but patience for precise measurements is running low.

The best thing about these cookies aside from how easy they are is how many ways you can tweak them. Yellow cake mix is the standard, but white cake mix gives them a milder, buttery taste, while chocolate creates a texture that lands somewhere between a cookie and a brownie. This is yet another ingredient that'll upgrade peanut butter cookies without making things complicated.

The four-ingredient recipe is all you need for pillowy, satisfying peanut butter cookies. Whether you choose to keep them simple or add toppings like a sprinkle of sugar or a quick fork press for a classic peanut butter cookie look, the result is the same: an easy batch of peanut butter cookies that require almost no effort. You can also freeze these cookies for up to 3 months. Just put them in a container, pop them in the freezer, thaw overnight before serving, and they're good to go. Whether you follow the original recipe or try different variations, this store-bought shortcut proves that sometimes, the easiest tricks are the tastiest.