One of the reasons I love making peanut butter cookies is because of how easy they are. With this recipe for 3-ingredient peanut butter cookies, the process is as easy as it can get!
You just have to love cookies where you get perfect results from minimal effort. Most recipes online (and probably from our friends and family) require a handful of pantry ingredients and a bowl, and are out of the oven in less than 15 minutes.
This recipe only needs 3 ingredients! I think this will become your next favorite recipe since it’s especially handy when you crave a delicious cookie but don’t want to invest a lot of time.
How To Make 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
Honestly, what is there to say? Just cream the eggs and brown sugar until you have a fluffy mixture, stir in the peanut butter, and that’s it!
With that said, make sure you chill the batter before you shape it into cookies and bake them. The chilling time will help the cookies hold their shape better, too!
If you don’t chill your batter, you will end up with thin cookies. It won’t have an impact on their flavor, they’ll be just too big and too thin.
Brown Sugar Vs White Sugar
Brown sugar, white sugar… what is the difference? They are both sweet but have a slight flavor and give different properties to baked goods.
White sugar will give your cookies a crispier finish, while brown sugar provides chewier, softer, and moister cookies. This is definitely preferable as the cookies will stay fresh for more time and will not dry out.
In addition, brown sugar cookies will have an almost caramelized flavor to them thanks to how the sugar processes while baking!
How To Choose The Best Ingredients
- Peanut Butter. Use smooth peanut butter for the best results. Chunky peanut butter will be, well, too chunky and the dough will fall apart.
- It is best to avoid natural peanut butter as most do not contain any salt, which means the cookies tend to spread more and come out slightly crispier — the saltiness is also very important as it balances out the sweetness of the brown sugar!
- Brown Sugar. Brown sugar is preferred thanks to its sweetness and consistency, but it also helps the cookies to brown as the sugar caramelizes!
- Eggs. Use fresh eggs — this is a must. To check the freshness of the eggs, place them in a bowl filled with water. Fresh eggs will always sink. Don’t use eggs that float to the top!
- If you want to make these cookies vegan, you can use whip up a flax egg substitute instead of a plain egg.
How To Make 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
This is an easy enough process, but here is how to do it:
- Start by placing eggs and sugar into a bowl. Mix using an electric hand mixer until you have a fluffy mixture.
- Add in the peanut butter and stir until the mixture comes together. It will look weird at first, but it will come together to create a rich and dense mixture.
- Once you have the dough ready, cover it with plastic wrap and place it in a freezer for 15-20 minutes. This chilling period is important to help the cookies hold their shape while baking.
- Scoop the chilled dough and shape it into balls. Place the balls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper — make sure you leave 2 inches of space between each cookie, as they will spread.
- Press each ball with a fork to flatten them as desired and make a crisscross pattern.
- Bake the cookies for 8 minutes. As they will be soft after baking, let them cool completely before removing them from the baking sheet.
3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies With Brown Sugar
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 8 minutes
Servings: 24 cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup brown sugar
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
3. Cream peanut butter and egg until you have a fluffy mixture. You can use an electric hand mixer if you have one.
4. Fold in peanut butter and stir until you have a firm dough.
5. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.
6. Shape the dough into 24 balls. Place 6 balls on each cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches between each ball. Flatten them with a fork, creating a crisscross pattern.
7. Bake the cookies for exactly 8 minutes.
8. Cool the cookies on a baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer onto the wire rack.
9. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.
10. Serve as desired.
Notes
- Customize your peanut butter cookies by adding some chocolate chips, vanilla extract, or a sprinkle of sea salt on top.
- Do not use crunchy peanut butter. I did try using crunchy peanut butter, but sadly the texture is too crumbly — stick with smooth peanut butter, or at least peanut butter made from ground peanuts and salt.
- Do not overbake the cookies — only cook the cookies for 8 minutes. If the edges start to turn golden, you know they are done. The cookies will firm up as they cool, so even if you feel they are too soft, do not bake any further. As they cool, they will become perfect!
- The best way to store peanut butter cookies is in an airtight container. They will easily last for 5 days. To keep them soft for longer, add a slice of bread into the container with cookies.
3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies With Brown Sugar
You just have to love cookies where you get perfect results from minimal effort. With this recipe for 3-ingredient peanut butter cookies, the process is as easy as it can get!
Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup brown sugar
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
3. Cream peanut butter and egg until you have a fluffy mixture. You can use an electric hand mixer if you have one.
4. Fold in peanut butter and stir until you have a firm dough.
5. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.
6. Shape the dough into 24 balls. Place 6 balls on each cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches between each ball. Flatten them with a fork, creating a crisscross pattern.
7. Bake the cookies for exactly 8 minutes.
8. Cool the cookies on a baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer onto the wire rack.
9. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.
10. Serve as desired.
Notes
Customize your peanut butter cookies by adding some chocolate chips, vanilla extract, or a sprinkle of sea salt on top.
Do not use crunchy peanut butter. I did try using crunchy peanut butter, but sadly the texture is too crumbly — stick with smooth peanut butter, or at least peanut butter made from ground peanuts and salt.
Do not overbake the cookies — only cook the cookies for 8 minutes. If the edges start to turn golden, you know they are done. The cookies will firm up as they cool, so even if you feel they are too soft, do not bake any further. As they cool, they will become perfect!
