3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
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These 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies are soft, chewy & filled with big peanut butter flavor. They taste just as delicious as classic peanut butter cookies – only they take way less effort to make.
***This recipe was originally posted in 2018 and updated August 27, 2020 with new photos and recipe tips.***
Did you know you can make extra soft, super addictive peanut butter cookies with only 3 ingredients? It’s true. All you need is peanut butter, sugar & 1 egg – and you end up with delicious peanut butter cookies every time. They’re chewy, never greasy, and have a delicious salty-sweet flavor. These 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies are pretty magical.
I’ve definitely made my fair share of peanut butter cookies here on Just So Tasty – peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, no-bake peanut butter cookies, oatmeal peanut butter cookies…. But sometimes I’m craving peanut butter cookies and I can’t be bothered to use much effort. And when you’re short on time or short on ingredients – then this is the perfect recipe.
How to Make 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
These cookies seriously could not be easier to make. Here’s what you’ll need:
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
You can experiment a little with the amount of sugar if you like. Feel free to use up to 1 cup of sugar, but I wouldn’t recommend using less than 3/4 cup. If you use less than 3/4 cup sugar – I find the cookies can get too thin.
Place all the ingredients in a bowl, then stir them together. You can easily do this by hand using a spoon, whisk, or spatula – or beat it with an electric mixer. The batter will look a little grainy, but don’t worry. You won’t have grainy cookies.
Then form the dough into balls about 1 tablespoon each, place on a lined cookie sheet, and press down the tops using a lightly greased fork. Here’s what mine looked like:
Then the cookies are ready to bake. They’ll take about 8 minutes at 350F, or until the tops look set. You can roll them in sugar before baking if you like, or even sprinkle a little coarse salt or chopped peanuts right on the top right after they get out of the oven. If you prefer thicker cookies, feel free to place the dough balls in the fridge for 15-30 minutes before baking.
Note: When I made these cookies in Canada, they were a little thinner. Since moving to Australia, I find the peanut butter is a little thicker and the cookies, therefore, end up thicker. Peanut butter varieties and brands can differ and therefore lead to a slightly different consistency with your cookies.
Questions, Tips & Substitutions
- I recommend using smooth, classic peanut butter – such as Skippy, Jiff or Kraft. Natural peanut butter is a little more temperamental. I typically don’t use it in baking. If you only have natural peanut butter on hand, be sure to give it a very good stir first before measuring.
- Can you use crunchy peanut butter? Absolutely.
- This recipe also works with most varieties of nut butter – almond and sun butter work well. I recommend using a nut butter that is stabilized – ie it shouldn’t have oil at the top. Make sure to give it a good stir before measuring.
- For the sugar, it can be substituted with brown sugar or palm sugar. Do not substitute the sugar with honey, agave or maple syrup – your cookies will be too thin.
- Feel free to use anywhere between 3/4 and 1 cup of sugar for sweeter cookies.
- My cookies spread thin – what went wrong? If your cookies were too thin, next time form the dough into balls, press them down using a fork, and then place them in the fridge for 30 minutes before baking. Different brands and varieties of peanut butter (especially in different countries) can have slightly different consistencies and therefore lead to cookies that are a little thinner or a little thicker.
These 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies are such a delicious treat that couldn’t be easier to make. No mixer, 3 ingredients, under 30 minutes, and zero fuss. You’re sooooo close to extra soft & chewy peanut butter cookies. Plus, they’re the perfect easy recipe if you’re baking for someone who’s gluten-free.
For more peanut butter cookies, try these other favorites:
- No Bake Peanut Butter Cookies
- Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
Equipment
- cookie tray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper or baking mats.
- In a medium bowl stir together the peanut butter, egg and sugar until smooth. This can be done by hand or with an electric mixxer.
- For the dough into balls about 1 tablespoon in size.
- Place 2 inches apart on the lined cookie sheets and lightly press the top of each cookie down with a fork.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the tops look set.
Notes
- I do not recommend using natural or homemade peanut butter. Smooth, American-style peanut butter such as Skippy, Jiff or Kraft work perfectly. Crunchy peanut butter is ok.
- Feel free to use 1 cup sugar for sweeter cookies. White sugar can be substituted with brown sugar for a more caramel flavor or palm sugar. Do not substitute sugar with honey, agave or maple syrup.
- If the cookies spread too thin, pop the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes first. In some countries, the consistency of peanut butter can be a little different and can cause the cookies to be too thin or too thick. Unfortunately, I cannot test the recipe with every variety and brand of peanut butter.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- Nutrition information is an estimate only. It is based on 1 cookie, assuming the recipe yields 18 equal-sized cookies.
Great Recipe!
Thanks for sharing 💖
Ok so I did a double batch of this cookies loved the fact of haveing little ingredients to make as i wanted something quick to snack on as i made the first set of cookies I realy liked them only that they were hard when done how ever they were still very good and to only do them with no measuring cups for the peanut butter and sugar it still turned out great to the point of my mother telling me I had to make a second batch any way thanks for the recipe will for sure be making more of this cookies
I Love how easy and tasty this recipe is. I made them for the Mom’s in my family. I wrapped them up pretty and I just know they are gonna love them too!😘Happy Mother’s Day😘♥️
Can you add oatmeal muffins
Thanks for the suggestion – I don’t currently have a good oatmeal muffin recipe, so I will definitely add it to my list of recipes to test & try.
Can you use Splenda sugar instead of white granulated sugar?
To be honest, I’m not overly familiar with baking with splenda – so I’m not sure of the results. If you end up trying it, please let me know how it goes!
I used this recipe but he center of the cookie seemed to be kind of doughy and not fully baked. And I baked them for like 15 min because they wouldn’t “bake properly”. Did I do anything wrong?
Hi Elle,
My guess is that your cookies were larger or thicker than mine and therefore required a longer baking time.
What do you do if you don’t have parchment paper?
You could line the cookie sheets with a silicone baking mat if you have one, or leave the sheets unlined if your cookie sheets are non-stick and aren’t too dirty
My favorite go-to recipe. I buy a small jar of PB from the $tree that is just the right size and use brown sugar and stick Hersheys kisses on top when cooked. Just wanted to let you know step#3 says for instead of forM. I’m in no way the grammar police but just wanted to let you know this before I’m off to make a batch of these 🙂
How long do I cook these for?
I’m really sorry – somehow the recipe card at the bottom of the post with all of the details got deleted. I’ve updated it now with the baking instructions, etc.
What temp. Do you bake them on?
Hi Sandra,
I’m really sorry – somehow the recipe card at the bottom of the post with all of the particular details got erased/deleted. I’ve updated it now with bake time, temperature, etc.