Since giving up palm oil — it makes my son sick — I’ve had to get creative in the kitchen. Making peanut butter cookies with 3 ingredients is so simple. If you’ve ever made homemade cookies from scratch, you know some recipes are easier than others. These are the fastest and easiest cookies to make!
Part of the problem for me is always dragging out all the ingredients. Making cookies with just three ingredients — peanut butter, one egg, and sugar — these are a cinch to make. Cleanup is easy.
Peanut butter cookies are a classic. Everyone loves them, and this recipe makes it possible to whip some up with ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen. I always choose palm oil free peanut butter by reading labels. Also avoid peanut butters with mono- and diglycerides because they are usually made from palm oil.
Learn how to make peanut butter cookies with 3 ingredients including my tips.
Peanut Butter Cookies 3 Ingredients
These peanut butter cookies are delicious. They are a little bit soft and a little bit chewy and crispy. With just 5 minutes to prep and another 12 minutes to bake, you can enjoy them as a snack or dessert anytime.
In my house, I can’t rely on already-baked cookies because so many of them contain palm oil. Making homemade peanut butter cookies means I don’t have to.
Follow these step-by-step directions to make 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies. You’ll be amazed at how tasty they are and how easy it is.
Read ingredient labels before buying Skippy Peanut Butter. This one does not contain palm oil but contains other oils. Cookies will be softer and chewier than using pb with peanuts and salt alone.
3 ingredient peanut butter cookies using peanut butter with only peanuts in salt will yield crispy cookies
What You Need to Make 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
- 1 cup peanut butter
- ¾ cup white sugar
- 1 large egg, beaten
This recipe makes 16 – 18 cookies, depending on the size you make them. It’s easy to double this recipe if you have enough of each ingredient. If you are looking for a low sugar peanut butter cookie, see my recipe for sugar free peanut butter cookies.
How to Make 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the peanut butter, sugar, and egg. It’s best to use a hand mixer but you can use either a spoon or an electric mixer. You want to batter to be very creamy and smooth.
- If you are adding chocolate chips, raisins, etc. mix them into the dough.
- Scoop out a teaspoon of cookie dough and roll it in a ball. Place it on the baking sheet and flatten with the back of a fork so that you get a criss-cross pattern (harder to do with Skippy Peanut Butter because of the extra oils). You can also press down with a spoon or your fingers.
- Space the cookies an inch or two apart — about 12 on a standard cookie sheet.
- Place in the preheated oven and bake for 12 minutes. (Check after 10 minutes. Oven times vary.)
- Remove from oven and let cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Note: Peanut butter is not always easy to clean up. I use a ⅓ cup measuring cup and fill it three times so it’s less / easier to clean than using a one cup measuring cup.
You can make them thin or thicker, depending on how much you flatten the dough
Pro Tips for Using Real Peanut Butter
When baking with peanut butter that contains just peanuts and salt, it’s best to use a hand mixer. Peanut butter like this is natural in the truest sense of the word. It will ONLY contain just peanuts or peanuts and salt.
When you see peanut butter with a “no stir” label, this means extra oils are added. Most times, this is palm oil and/or mono- & diglycerides. These are what give peanut butter the no stir / easy-to-stir consistency. These types have extra oils added in.
When you buy palm oil free peanut butter (and thank you for doing so), it is harder to stir — but worth it for a higher-quality product. It will contain just peanuts with no added ingredients and chemicals. These peanut butter cookies will turn out a little bit harder. If you like making criss-crosses with a fork, it’s easy to do. You can also add an extra egg when using this peanuts-only peanut butter.
For a softer cookie, and one that’s easy to stir but is still palm oil free, you can use Skippy Peanut Butter. Read labels to be sure you buy the right one. (It doesn’t say Natural on it.) Ingredients are Roasted Peanuts, Sugar, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Cottonseed, Soybean and Rapeseed Oil) to Prevent Separation, Salt.
When I make peanut butter cookies 3 ingredients with Skippy palm oil free peanut butter, they are more moist and harder to make a crisscross pattern on. They are soft and chewy after baking.
Easy peanut butter cookies recipe
Peanut Butter Cookies 3 Ingredients Recipe
Using these three ingredients, you can have soft, chewy, crispy cookies in less than 30 minutes. You can also add to them if you want. There’s a lot you can do with this base recipe.
You can add in chocolate chips, walnuts, cinnamon, or anything add-in you want. You can add ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, an extra egg, or ½ teaspoon vanilla extract. The real beauty of this recipe is its versatility. They are scrumptious as is but easy to modify.
Try making these cookies with different nut butters. Make this recipe your own, and it will become a family favorite.
Homemade Peanut Butter Cookies
We avoid palm oil in my house because my son has a palm oil allergy and palm oil intolerance. I’m so glad there are peanut butter companies who still make truly natural peanut butter with just peanuts and salt because so many products contain palm oil because it’s cheap.
There are very few cookies without palm oil available in stores. I can’t think of one peanut butter cookie or cookie dough. The great news is it’s easy to make peanut butter 3 ingredient cookies at home.
Baking with Peanut Butter
I love baking with peanut butter because of the extra protein. I also like that cookie recipes with peanut butter don’t always rely on flour. I’m also gluten free, so peanut butter cookies are an easy-to-make, go-to dessert. Another pb cookie recipe my family enjoys are peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.
Do you love all things peanut butter? Try this peanut butter sauce. It’s great on ice cream and breakfast foods like pancakes and waffles. Enjoy it for lunch with this peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It sounds silly to need a recipe for this, doesn’t it? I show how you can make it palm oil free. Then top off your day with a peanut butter milkshake.
While this recipe doesn’t contain flour, you shouldn’t eat this cookie dough raw because of the egg. Here’s how to make edible cookie dough for one.
If you make this recipe for 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies, please let me know how it went. I love reading Comments. It’s awesome to bake cookies at home.
Peanut Butter Cookies 3 Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- ¾ cup white sugar
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper or grease pan.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the peanut butter, sugar, and egg. You can use either a spoon or an electric mixer. You want to batter to be very creamy and smooth.
- Scoop out a teaspoon of batter and roll it in a ball. Place it on the baking sheet and flatten with the back of a spoon or a fork for a criss cross pattern.
- Continue with the remaining batter, spacing the cookies 2 inches apart.
- When oven is preheated, place inside and bake for 10 - 12 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool on baking sheet then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.