3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

Next time you have a craving for peanut butter cookies, try these old-fashioned simple 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies. You won’t believe how easy (and totally delicious) they are. And, I bet you have all the ingredients on-hand right now!

Cookies sitting on a wire rack with a small bowl of peanut butter and a small bowl of sugar.

You Can’t Go Wrong With Old Trusty

As you know, I have a cookie obsession. And because of that, there’s a lot of cookie bakin’ going on at my house. All. The. Time. Almost every day I’m working on something.

One cookie sitting in a bowl of sugar with a bowl of peanut butter next to it.

But when it comes to baking a cookie treat for my family, I almost always resort to old trusty. These 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies are just that, an old, trusted, often-baked recipe that produces the perfect soft, crunchy, chewy, and completely delicious peanut butter cookies in literally, no time at all.

Cookies stacked up on a green plate.

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The 3 Ingredients You’ll Need

  • Your favorite peanut butter
  • Sugar
  • An egg

It’s hard to believe that’s all you need to have a soft, chewy, bursting with peanut butter flavor (and did I mention, gluten-free?) batch of cookies, but really, that’s it.

Step-by-step Photos

An egg, sugar, and peanut butter sitting in ramekins.

How to Make These 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

  1. In a medium bowl, combine the peanut butter, sugar, and egg and mix until smooth.
  2. Then, using a 1.5 TBS cookie scoop, scoop them onto a lined baking sheet.
  3. Use a fork to gently press down on the top of each cookie in a criss-cross pattern.
  4. Generously sprinkle the tops of each cookie with sugar (which is optional, but I mean why wouldn’t you?).
  5. Then, just throw them in the oven and bake for 10 minutes (not literally, of course – please don’t throw the cookies. That will most certainly end up being a big mess and you’ll end up with no cookies…and no-one wants that!).
A cookie scoop laying on a baking sheet with cookies scooped out and a fork laying on a cookie sheet showing the cross pattern in the top of the cookies.

A Note about the Dough

This cookie dough is pretty sticky, so be mindful when you’re pressing the tops down with the fork. It’ll likely stick to the top of the cookie and you’ll need to gently hold onto each cookie to remove the fork. This is totally normal.

Cookie sitting on a green plate, one with a bite out of the top of it.

Fun Variations of 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

  • Add 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and 1/4 tsp sea salt to the dough to enhance the favor of the cookies.
  • Drizzle the tops of the cookies with chocolate or white chocolate.
  • Or dip the cookies in your favorite variety of melted chocolate.
  • Substitute half crunchy peanut butter for added texture.
A stack of cookies on a green plate, one with a bite out of it showing the texture of the cookie.

Questions About This Recipe

These cookies don’t brown much, so it’s really hard to tell. Usually right about 10 minutes in, they’ll be slightly puffy and that’s when you’ll want to pull them out.

You definitely don’t want to over-bake these cookies, they get very dry and crumbly and aren’t nearly as good; I would err on the side of under-baking them.

Yes! This recipe is great for doubling, but keep in mind the cookies are best in the first few days, so if you have a lot leftover, make sure to freeze them.

I find that regular peanut butter works best in this recipe because of the consistency, but I have used Jif Natural with great success.

Cookies sitting on a wire rack with a small bowl of peanut butter and a small bowl of sugar.

3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

By: Kristine Underwood
An easy recipe for 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies. The cookies come out crispy, chewy, and full of peanut butter flavor.
5 from 16 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Sweets & Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 22 cookies
Calories 106 kcal

ingredients
 
 

  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • Extra sugar for sprinkling (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • In a medium bowl, combine peanut butter, sugar, and egg and stir until smooth.
    1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg
  • Using a 1.5 TBS cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto cookie sheets 2 inches apart.
  • Using the back of a fork, gently press down on the top of each cookie in a criss-cross pattern to flatten them out.
  • Generously sprinkle the tops of each cookie with sugar.
  • Bake for 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through.
  • Let cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes prior to transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
  • Store in an airtight container for 3-5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Notes

These cookies don’t really brown, so be careful not to over-bake them. They’ll be very dry and crumbly if over-baked.
Make sure to read the cookie baking tips to get answers to common questions about baking cookies.
 

Nutrition

Serving: 1 cookieCalories: 106kcalCarbohydrates: 11.4gProtein: 3.2gFat: 6.1gSaturated Fat: 1.3gSodium: 57mgFiber: 0.7gSugar: 10.2g
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Recipe Rating




28 Comments

  1. I love how easy and simple these cookies are! Peanut butter is one of my favorite ingredients to bake with.5 stars

    1. Thank you so much Diana! I totally agree, simple peanut butter cookies for the win!

  2. Yum! I can see why you keep coming back to these. So delicious and easy! They would be a huge hit with my family.5 stars

    1. Thank you so much Tara! They are such a great quick treat! 🙂

  3. I love peanut butter cookies and these look PERFECT! Can’t wait to try your recipe.5 stars

    1. Right, Edyta? They’re pretty amazing, I hope you like them!

  4. I also love that the ingredients for these are in the pantry 100% of the time. These make a great little packable nibble. I may surprise my husband with some today!5 stars

    1. Oh my gosh, yes Jeni! You could whip them up on a whim! I hope you love them! 🙂

  5. Simple easy and delicious – that’s how I like it. My kids love peanut butter and these look perfect.5 stars

  6. YUM! These cookies look so good! I love how easy it is to make them ♥5 stars

  7. I remember making 3 ingredient PB cookies growing up. One of my first baking memories. 🙂 These cookies are so simple, but so delicious! I always have these ingredients in my pantry too; I need to whip these up soon.5 stars

    1. Oh my gosh, Marie – me too! They were always a go-to for my mom because they were easy and we ALWAYS had the ingredients in the pantry!

    1. Aw thank you Bintu, I do hope you guys have fun and enjoy them!

  8. These look so scrummy! Absolutely love the guidance photos too, thanks so much for sharing!!5 stars

    1. Oh 100% Helen! Coffee and cookies are the perfect combination!

  9. Christine Z says:

    My granddaughter and I just made these peanut butter cookies. They are delicious! We were snowed in and I didn’t think I had ingredients to make anything. Then I got your email. We always have these 3 ingredients. I did add a little vanilla and a little salt. They are delicious! Thank you, Kristine! We had cookies and milk on a snowy day.5 stars

    1. Hi Christine! I was just reading your email too! I’m so glad – that’s probably the thing I love the most about this recipe, I literally always have the ingredients! I’m so glad you two enjoyed them and that you were able to have homemade cookies on a snowy day! I’m kind of jealous of your snow, it’s already 80 degrees here! Sending love! XO

  10. Can you micro wave this cookie. We love these but my son has no oven to cook them or do you have any suggestions for a micro wave cookie5 stars

  11. Angela M Young says:

    Also do I like the simplex of your recipes and the flavoring is unbelievably exactly what it should be.5 stars

  12. Does Walmart have cookie baking sheets?

    1. Hi Irene! They sure do, in the kitchen and bakeware section. I usually buy the plain aluminum Nordic Ware baking sheets – they’re my favorite! Happy baking!