3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

4.72 from 60 votes

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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!

A peanut butter cookie being dunked in milk.
This is an easy cookie recipe for kids!

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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.

A pan full of peanut butter cookies and a glass of milk.

Make these simple dessert treat in just 20 minutes!

Ingredients and notes

A mixing bowl of peanut butter, sugar, egg.
Peanut Butter Cookies – Easy as 1-2-3!

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!

Mixing the ingredients and baking the cookies.

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.

A cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and some cookies on it.

5. After 12 minutes, remove the cookies from the oven and allow to rest on baking sheet for at least two more minutes.

12 peanut butter cookies on a cooling rack.

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.

A stack of cookies on a cooling rack.

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!

2 young boys mixing ingredients for a cookie recipe.
Do your kids like to help out in the kitchen? This easy cookie recipe for kids is one of the best ways to get them interested in baking.

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

Can I make these ahead of time?

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.

Can I freeze these cookies?

You can freeze these cookies for up to 3 months. Just thaw them out to room temperature before serving.

Make This Irresistible Quick Dessert

Summary of 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies.
Dan from Platter Talk standing in the kitchen.
Dan

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3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

4.72 from 60 votes
These 3-ingredient cookies are ideal for teaching kids how to bake. Featuring simple ingredients, this awesome recipe is pure heaven for peanut butter lovers, young and old!
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 20 minutes
Yield: 12 servings

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

To Make Them Crispy
  • Follow the directions and baking times as we outline above.
 
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 Them Chewy 
  • Press them a little thinner with the drinking glass, before marking them with the fork.

Nutrition

Calories: 196kcal, Carbohydrates: 20g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 11g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 13mg, Sodium: 104mg, Potassium: 144mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 18g, Vitamin A: 20IU, Calcium: 11mg, Iron: 0.5mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Tried this recipe?Mention @plattertalk or tag #plattertalk!
Updated from the Original post created on February 9, 2016.

Meet the Platter Talk Guys

Dan & Scott split their time between Wisconsin and Southwest Florida and are dads to six boys. Good food runs through their veins, and they love showing others how to cook easy recipes.

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91 Comments

  1. 4 stars
    We baked these last night,they were delicious but too sweet. I would definitely cut back on the sugar the next time. Great recipe though.

  2. The best peanut butter cookie I have ever had! I substituted with brown sugar for a more chewy experience.

    1. Thanks so much for the feedback! We hope you find many more enjoyable recipes here on Platter Talk!

  3. 5 stars
    What sorcery is this!!!! That’s all you need to make cookies???? What a fun project this would be with kids!!! Brilliant!

  4. 5 stars
    I’ve made cookies like this before and I’m always amazed at how easy they are! This is my go-to when I don’t have a lot in the pantry but I’m craving fresh cookies!

  5. Haha, I know exactly what you mean. I have four kids and they loooooove cookies and to make them too! This recipe will be perfect for them, easy tasty and only 3 ingredients!!

    1. I just made these, and they are yummy. But my husband is diabetic so I’m wondering if I could use Stevia instead of sugar.

      1. Hi Sharon, we have not tried this. But generally, you need 18-24 packets of Stevia for one cup of sugar. Let us know how this works for you.