It doesn’t get much simpler than this: 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies With Brown Sugar. Having a sweet tooth can be tough, and sometimes you’re just not in the mood to bake a cake or make a pie. But that doesn’t mean you should kick yourself out of the kitchen – no way! These cookies are just as delicious as they are easy, and we’ll prove it.
The Best Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies use only peanut butter, brown sugar, and an egg. That’s it. Chocolate chips are a great addition but are totally optional.
Probably just an oversight on this one. Send a kind message to the blogger. When they read that and immediately change the recipe, they will perish.
When I first read a recipe for flourless peanut butter cookies, I had that same reaction. In case you are unfamiliar, the recipe calls for combining peanut butter, an egg, and sugar. I’m done now.
Seems off, doesn’t it?
I was very certain the recipe wouldn’t work the first time I tried to make it. In fact, I believe that was my intention when I created the recipe. “Let’s find out what the commotion is all about!” I mean, come on, sugar, an egg, and peanut butter? My instincts as a baker tell me that the egg provides structure, while the peanut butter adds richness. The sugar, though, baffled me. Sugar is a liquefier in baking. That implies that it becomes liquid when it becomes hot. If a recipe has too much sugar, cookies may spread uncontrollably.
I genuinely believed that I would have peanut butter puddles on my baking sheet if there had been no flour to keep the sugar in control.
As soon as I assembled everything in my bowl and swirled it, the first surprise struck. The dough appeared to be dough. Although it may have been a touch softer than typical cookie dough, it scooped out easily and retained the typical fork impressions well.
I turned on the oven light while the first pan baked, fully expecting to see puddles. That never took place. The egg worked its magic, slightly raising the dough and binding everything together.
The cookies appeared flawless once they had cooled. I ate something. Oh my! They had the most intense peanut butter flavor of any cookies I’ve ever had. They were soft with just the right amount of edge crunch to give the impression that you were eating a cookie rather than a power bar.
But I wasn’t content.
Even though I enjoyed the cookies, I really wanted to adore them. Granulated sugar was used in one cup of the formula I followed. As a result, the peanut butter cookies were extremely sugary. Granulated sugar lacks flavor and merely adds sweetness, so I chose to replace it with dark brown sugar. I reasoned that the peanut butter would go well with a hint of molasses flavor.
Next, I chose natural crunchy peanut butter rather than creamy because I adore crunch. Since I prefer crunchy to creamy. This one is obviously just a personal preference. However, I do urge you to use organic peanut butter. Traditional peanut butter contains fat, typically of the shortening variety, which gives the cookies a curiously oily, almost plastic-like texture. I added chocolate chips to half the recipe just for fun. You probably don’t need me to tell you that peanut butter and chocolate go great together. You are reading a food blog, after all. As you are aware.
I got exactly what I wanted in the cookies. Crunchy, delicious, and bursting with peanut flavor
If you enjoy peanut butter, put this dish on your list of things to try. So excellent. And how I wish it tasted this nice to be proven incorrect all the time.
3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
3 Ingredients Peanut Butter Cookies are so easy-to-make! Use crunchy natural peanut butter and brown sugar for the best results.
Servings 24 cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup natural peanut butter, crunchy or creamy (see note)
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips, optional
- granulated sugar, optional
Instructions
- Place the oven rack in the middle. Set oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Put parchment paper on two baking sheets with rims. In a medium mixing basin, combine the peanut butter, sugar, and egg (see oven note). If using, stir in the chocolate chips. Give the dough 10 minutes to rest. (This action is crucial. (Do not omit it.)
- Approximately one tablespoon of dough at a time, drop onto baking sheets.
- With the tines of a fork, lightly press the cookie tops to create a crosshatch pattern. Granulated sugar may optionally be lightly sprinkled on top.
- For 12 minutes, bake the cookies until they are golden brown. Give cookies five minutes to cool on the pan. Then move to a wire rack to completely cool. Store for up to four days in a sealed container on the counter.
3 INGREDIENT PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE RECIPE
yield: 20 cookies
prep time: 5 mins
work time: 5 mins
bake time: 16 mins
Ingredients
For the 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
- 1 ¾ cups tightly packed (13.15 ounces or 373 grams) dark OR light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 (16-ounce) jar peanut butter (around 1 ¾ cups, 16 ounces or 454 grams)
Instructions
For the 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
- Make the cookie dough. Whisk the eggs and brown sugar together in a medium bowl until well mixed. Stir in the peanut butter after adding it. Place plastic wrap over the bowl and place in the fridge for an hour.
- Take the chilled dough out of the fridge after one hour. To split out the cookie dough into balls, use a 3-tablespoon scoop, and arrange the balls in close rows on a sheet pan. Freeze for at least 15 minutes with a loosely covered plastic wrap cover.
- Prepare your oven and pans. Prepare your oven while the cookies are in the freezer. Set a rack in the middle of the oven and heat it to 350 degrees. Use parchment paper to line two half-sheet pans.
- Take the frozen dough out of the freezer after 15 minutes. On the prepared sheet pans, space them at least 3 inches apart.
- Bake the cookies. Bake one pan at a time for 16 minutes while keeping the other in the fridge, or until the rims are set but the middle are still gooey. The sides and bottoms of the cookies should feel hard to the touch after 20 minutes of cooling on the pan with a wire rack. Repetition is required with the remaining dough balls.
- Serve and store. At room temperature or heated, serve. The cookies can be kept for up to three days at room temperature in an airtight container.
3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe Troubleshooting and FAQ
FAQ: 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookie Technique
Why do you need to chill the peanut butter cookie dough twice?
Okay, technically, the cookie dough doesn’t need to be chilled twice. The first chilling time, during which the dough is chilled in the refrigerator, can be skipped if you used ordinary processed peanut butter to make the cookies. Instead, you can freeze the dough for only 15 minutes while preheating the oven. The cookies keep their shape in the oven better when they have been frozen before baking.
However, you’ll probably need to chill the dough for at least an hour before scooping them if you used natural nut butter. Natural nut butter results in a softer, more pliable dough that crumbles when scooped.
How do you make this a small batch 3 ingredient peanut butter cookie recipe?
There are two ways to create a small batch of this three ingredient peanut butter cookie recipe.
The first step is to prepare the cookie dough according to the recipe’s directions before scooping it into cookies. Bake as many as you’d like right away, then freeze the remainder for later baking. See the details on how to do it further down.
The second step entails halving the recipe’s ingredient proportions. This produces 10 cookies with peanut butter (as opposed to 20). Unfortunately, the peanut butter doesn’t divide equally if you prefer using cup/volume measures. Instead, use a digital scale to weigh the peanut butter and measure it by weight. Below are the ingredient amounts for the half batch:
- ¾ cup plus 2 Tablespoons tightly packed (6.5 ounces or 184 grams) brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup plus 2 Tablespoons (8 ounces or 227 grams) peanut butter
You’ll also need to cut the vanilla extract back to 14 teaspoon if you’re preparing these “bakery-style” (see below).
FAQ: 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookie Add-Ins
How do you make these 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies bakery-style?
It’s time to admit that the original Ovenly recipe didn’t call for just three ingredients. To make it “bakery-style,” they substitute two more ingredients: vanilla flavor, and flaky sea salt. It’s delicious, I’ve tried it.
After combining the brown sugar and eggs, stir in 12 teaspoon pure vanilla essence to make these cookies seem bakery-style. For a nuttier flavor, you may also add 12 tsp almond extract (particularly if you’re using almond butter!). Scoop the cookie dough into balls, and then sprinkle flaky sea salt on top of each. It’s up to you how much you want to use!
Be aware that Ovenly shapes its cookies with a larger cookie dough scoop as well. The Bake Time for the recipe should be increased to 20 to 22 minutes if you decide to take this course. Additionally, instead of getting 20 cookies, you’ll get 12 huge cookies.
Can you add chocolate chips to these 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies?
Yes! Many of my Instagram fans gave these cookies a chocolate chip addition, and the results were fantastic. To this recipe, I would add up to 1 (12-ounce) bag of chocolate chips. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate chips after combining the sugar, eggs, and peanut butter. In addition, you can use chocolate that has been roughly chopped into pieces that are between 1/4 and 1 1/2 inches long.
FAQ: 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookie Storage
Can you freeze 3 ingredient peanut butter cookie dough?
Yes! As directed, chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Using the cookie dough scoop, separate the chilled dough into cookie dough balls and arrange them on a sheet pan. With the cookie dough balls still on the pan, loosely cover the sheet pan with plastic wrap and place it in the freezer for at least an hour to get solid. Transfer to a zip-top bag after it becomes solid, then freeze for up to three months.
The cookie dough balls don’t need to be thawed before baking! Baking from frozen is possible. Simply arrange the cookie dough balls on a sheet pan that has been lined, spacing them out by at least 3 inches, and bake for 20 to 22 minutes.
Can you freeze the baked 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies?
Yes! Squeeze out every last bit of air from a zip-top bag before adding the cookies inside. For up to three months, freeze. To eat, defrost in the refrigerator over night and serve chilled, or reheat in the microwave for a little period of time.
Best 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe Tips
Best Technique Tips
- The recipe directs you to mix the eggs, brown sugar, and peanut butter together before adding the peanut butter. Don’t pour everything in at once; if you do, it could be challenging to ensure that the ingredients are properly combining. It will initially appear that there is an excessive amount of brown sugar and insufficient eggs to moisten everything. Not to worry! Continually press the whisk against the side of the bowl to help break up any clumps as you whisk. I’ll make it all work out. Add the peanut butter and continue pounding once it has been smoothed.
- To shape my cookies, I used this 3-tablespoon cookie dough scoop. Technically, this will yield 20 cookies, but if you use a rubber spatula to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl, you’ll have enough dough for one more cookie (for a total of 21 cookies).
Best Baking Tip
- One pan at a time is how I prefer to bake the cookies. This, in my opinion, ensures that none of the cookies have overly scorched bottoms or uncooked centers. You can, however, bake two sheet pans at once to save time. A rack should be placed in the upper third of the oven, and a second rack should be placed in the lower third. Halfway through the bake time, switch the locations of a pan on each rack.