3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
on Aug 11, 2019, Updated May 13, 2023
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3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies are perfect for young and not-so-young alike. If you’re learning how to bake, these classic peanut butter cookies are an ideal place to start.
Or maybe you’re just learning how to dunk cookies, which comes more naturally to some than others. Remember: Practice makes perfect. Either way, this is one of our most popular peanut butter recipes!
About these
I’m declaring this easy peanut butter cookie recipe to be a miracle. They are filled with peanut butter flavor and simple enough for a kid to make. And you only need three ingredients! No wonder these flourless peanut butter cookies are Peter Pan’s favorite cookie for dunking. He’s a smart guy!
New to baking? Learn how to make cookies from our own in-house professional chef, CIA-trained Chef Kat.
Make these simple dessert treat in just 20 minutes!
Ingredients and notes
For the Peanut Butter – Use your favorite commercial peanut butter. Creamy or crunchy peanut butter both work for this easy cookie recipe. It’s a matter of personal preference and for me; I like a little crunch!
For best results, do not use natural peanut butter for this recipe. This makes the cookies crumbly and they won’t turn out well.
For the Sugar Use white or turbinado sugar like we do in this version. Many readers have reported using 1/2 the sugar the recipe with great results.
For the Egg: Use an extra-large egg for this recipe, if you have some.
Expert Baking Tip: When baking cookies, it is always best to use a room temperature egg. This will allow the cookies to bake more evenly. Follow this link to learn how to quickly get eggs to room temperature!
How to make them
(Full directions in the recipe card below.)
The best peanut butter cookies are also the easiest to make. These great cookies will prove my point!
1. Start by mixing all three ingredients in a large bowl. Use a stand mixer or an electric mixer if you have one for less work.
- Stir until smooth.
2. Use a cookie scoop to place 1-inch cookie dough balls onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
3. Use a drinking glass to flatten the cookies a bit and then make a hash mark (cross-hatch pattern) with the tines of a fork.
4. Bake at 350°F in a pre-heated oven for 12 minutes.
5. After 12 minutes, remove the cookies from the oven and allow to rest on baking sheet for at least two more minutes.
6. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely.
Variations and Substitutions
To Make These Crispy – Follow the directions and baking times as shown in the recipe below.
To Make Them Soft – Reduce baking time to 9 or 10 minutes. Press them only lightly with the drinking glass, before marking them with a fork (they will be thicker).
To Make Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies – Press them a little thinner with the drinking glass before marking them with the fork.
This peanut butter cookie recipe can make crispy, chewy, or soft peanut butter cookies.
As with all recipes, add some extra ingredients to these homemade peanut butter cookies and make these your own!
- Add some chocolate chips to the mix.
- Frost these with some decadent Nutella.
- Take a small scoop of vanilla ice cream and make a sandwich cookie.
- Substitute chunky peanut butter for the creamy type. (I like the extra crunch in every bite!)
- We like to add a little vanilla, as shown in the recipe video.
You can use brown sugar to give these an extra golden brown finish!
An easy cookie recipe for kids
With just three ingredients, these peanut butter cookies are a good way to teach kids how to bake.
We’ve featured our boys in many recipes for kids in the past. Some of them include:
They are great cooks and bakers, and two of our six boys are thinking they want to go into the culinary field. No big surprise here.
This is such an easy peanut butter cookie recipe for kids; it seems like a natural choice for whenever they are in the mood to bake, which is pretty often!
Similar recipes
Here are a few of our other favorite easy cookies recipes that our kids love:
Common recipe questions
Yes, these are great make-ahead cookies. Keeping in line with the “3” theme going on here, you can put make this recipe up to 3 days ahead of time and store in an airtight container until ready to dunk.
You can freeze these cookies for up to 3 months. Just thaw them out to room temperature before serving.
Make This Irresistible Quick Dessert
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3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Stir the ingredients together until smooth.
- Scoop onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. (Roll into 1″ balls with your hands, if you do not have a scoop.)
- Press down with the back of a fork and then press again from the opposite direction, to form the criss-cross pattern on top
- Bake for 12 minutes and allow to rest on baking sheet, 1 to 2 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
Video
Notes
- Follow the directions and baking times as we outline above.
- Reduce baking time to 9 or 10 minutes.
- Press them only lightly with the drinking glass, before marking them with a fork (they will be thicker).
- Press them a little thinner with the drinking glass, before marking them with the fork.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I love simple and nothing beats these! So easy to throw together for impromptu gatherings or parties but they also freeze well.
These are great! I have made them for years. If you want less sugar you can use 1/2 cup instead of a whole cup.
I have a three year old that is always helping me cook, and has helped before he could talk. We may have to try this one.
My three year old loved this. It was too sticky to mush with a fork, so I gave him a lid and he had so much fun. Eating from the peanut butter jar is a bonus in his book.
I have made these for years. They are delicious and make great gifts. I make these exactly as the recipe says. But I make them into 1 inch balls and bake for 15 minutes. When they come out of the oven I immediately gently push an unwrapped hersheys kiss into the middle. I wait about 5 minutes after that before I transfer to a flat plate. Cool and enjoy!
Everything is better with a Hershey’s kiss! Sounds like you took this easy cookie recipe and brought it to an even higher level; thanks so much for the great feedback.
I’ve been making these fo a couple of years. Always very easy. I put thumbprint in the middle and put a little jelly in when they come out.
Mary, what a fun and delicious addition to these easy peanut butter cookies! Do you deliver?
I made these tonight and they’re a huge hit! I’ve made many peanut butter cookie recipes, these are by far the winners! I changed the recipe a little however, given that many people said they were sweet enough.
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of flour
Thank you for the fantastic recipe.
Thank you for the fantastic comments and feedback! I love your incorporation of brown sugar; a perfect match for this easy peanut butter recipe.
I just tried it. Absolutely Amazing!!! Thank you❤
We’re so happy that you loved this easy peanut butter cookie recipe. Thank for the feedback and thank you for reading Platter Talk!
OMG…. these are SO incredibly easy, and aaaabsolutely delicious!! I doubled the recipe, but only used 1/3 cup sugar, total. And that was more than sufficient! *2 eggs, 2 cups PB, 1/3C sugar*… also decided to add dark chocolate chunks to the batter… WOW!! I’ve also added Nutella in the bbn past, drizzled on top. It’s a hit EVERY time!!!
Thanks for the great comments, Vanessa! We love the idea of Nutella in this easy peanut butter cookie recipe!
Sounds so good. Thank you.
Oh my gosh!!! I just made these and they are amazing! Mine came out a little flatter and chewy with crispy edges but I love them. And so easy!
Catherine, thanks for the comments and we are thrilled to hear that you enjoyed this easy recipe for peanut butter cookies! Sounds like they turned out great!