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A few weeks ago when my parents were in Kansas City for our extended family’s annual caroling night, I asked her if she would help me make a batch of peanut butter cookies. I had a normal recipe ready for us to try, when she suggested that we make the “easy” version – 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies.
Eh?
Somehow even after living in food blogger land for 3.5 years, and being a cookie lover all the longer, I had never heard of a recipe for 3 ingredient cookies! But she assured me that 1 cup pb, 1 cup sugar and 1 egg would do the trick. So we gave it a try. We mixed up the dough in literally less than a minute. And then she rolled, I forked, and these little guys were in the oven and baked in a snap.
Sure enough, they emerged as delicious little cookies!! Granted, they are definitely much crumblier than traditional peanut butter cookies. But the flavor is there, the look is pretty much identical, and sure enough they were just as irresistible to us cookie lovers as any yummy cookies. So if you are ever in a time crunch, or an ingredient crunch, or just want to try these little baking miracles for yourself, I highly recommend these 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies!
Quick, simple and delicious peanut butter cookies…made with just THREE ingredients!
Ingredients
Scale
1 cup peanut butter (crunchy or creamy)
1 cup sugar (plus extra for dipping if desired)
1 egg
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Using an electric mixer or a strong spoon, mix together the peanut butter, white sugar and egg until smooth.
Form dough into round tablespoon-fulls. Then roll in an extra bowl of sugar, if desired, to coat the outside of the dough ball. Place on the baking sheet at least 2 inches apart, and then use a fork to flatten and form a cross pattern.
Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, until the cookies are just slightly browned on the botton, being careful not to over-bake. Remove and let cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
these cookies came out amazing. only took a few minutes to whip up and they were gone faster than it took to make them and bake them .will definitely be saving this recipe
Has anyone tried making this with Nutella instead of peanut butter ? Not sure if it would work since Nutella has a thinner constituency than peanut butter but it sounds very delicious!
Christy Clarkson —
I was thinking of doing this, so i did! They turned out a bit flat but super delicious!1
I just made these with my 9 year old son. (I supervised, and rolled, he measured, mixed and cross hatched them.) They were super easy and delicious! We were both proud of his first time making cookies!
This is a great article and i have made this item after reading your article. Its the best peanut butter cookies ever made. I truly loved it. best pvc pipe cutter
Omg I loved them for me and my family! Only 3 ingredients- WOW! Very helpful for my gluten free family. Only problem was that I forgot my son was allergic to peanuts, so we had to take him to the emergency room … But still amazing nonetheless! 10/10 will bake again!! (P.S. Kevin said even though his left leg will never be able to work again, he did love the taste of them!)
I have been making cookies using a similar recipe- I add 1 tsp vanilla, and sometimes a handful of whole roasted peanuts (salted or honey-roasted, whatever I have on hand) especially if I use creamy peanut butter. The “batter” is much too gooey to roll into a ball. Do you use a medium egg instead of a large egg, or use refrigerated peanut butter? I use a hand whisk- would using an electric mixer fluff everything up a lot more, and make it roll-able? I also bake for about twice as long as your recipe calls for. Does baking longer make the cookies flatter? I spoon my goop in a 3 X 5 array on a cookie sheet, and they flatten to touch each other when done. By coincidence, I made some of my flat cookies just a day before this recipe came up in my email. My cookies always taste great, but I don’t know how to make them small and thick like in your photos.
I used Jif Crunchy, not very good results. Very crumbly dough, so I added a bit of creamy Jif. Waiting to see if that works better. Will use Kraft next time, I know this works well!
these cookies came out amazing. only took a few minutes to whip up and they were gone faster than it took to make them and bake them .will definitely be saving this recipe
★★★★★
I add vanilla extract every time and turns out so good. I agree don’t double the ingredients.
★★★★★
I tried these with Sunflower Butter & chocolate shavings…so delicious :) Thanks for the recipe! It was very to follow…which I need, lol
★★★
These are perfect! Simple, easy, and very tasty! Thanks
★★★★★
Has anyone tried making this with Nutella instead of peanut butter ? Not sure if it would work since Nutella has a thinner constituency than peanut butter but it sounds very delicious!
I was thinking of doing this, so i did! They turned out a bit flat but super delicious!1
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I added vanilla, flax, and cocoa powder… probably the best cookies ever.
★★★★★
Love these easy peanut Butter cookies yummy !!!
★★★★★
My great grandfather made these growing up an i still make them till this day
★★★★★
I just made these with my 9 year old son. (I supervised, and rolled, he measured, mixed and cross hatched them.) They were super easy and delicious! We were both proud of his first time making cookies!
This is a great article and i have made this item after reading your article. Its the best peanut butter cookies ever made. I truly loved it. best pvc pipe cutter
★★★★★
Omg I loved them for me and my family! Only 3 ingredients- WOW! Very helpful for my gluten free family. Only problem was that I forgot my son was allergic to peanuts, so we had to take him to the emergency room … But still amazing nonetheless! 10/10 will bake again!! (P.S. Kevin said even though his left leg will never be able to work again, he did love the taste of them!)
★★★★★
I have been making cookies using a similar recipe- I add 1 tsp vanilla, and sometimes a handful of whole roasted peanuts (salted or honey-roasted, whatever I have on hand) especially if I use creamy peanut butter. The “batter” is much too gooey to roll into a ball. Do you use a medium egg instead of a large egg, or use refrigerated peanut butter? I use a hand whisk- would using an electric mixer fluff everything up a lot more, and make it roll-able? I also bake for about twice as long as your recipe calls for. Does baking longer make the cookies flatter? I spoon my goop in a 3 X 5 array on a cookie sheet, and they flatten to touch each other when done. By coincidence, I made some of my flat cookies just a day before this recipe came up in my email. My cookies always taste great, but I don’t know how to make them small and thick like in your photos.
I used Jif Crunchy, not very good results. Very crumbly dough, so I added a bit of creamy Jif. Waiting to see if that works better. Will use Kraft next time, I know this works well!
Easy and quick to make. Love It.
★★★★★
Super easy and pretty good little moist (I am a crunchy cookie person) highly recommended
★★★★★
So amazing but I double the recipe and put just a smidge of flour in and vanilla extract and it comes out perfect each time. Thanks for the recipe.
★★★★★