The World’s Best Easy Peanut Butter Cookies are soft and chewy, and made with just 3 ingredients: peanut butter, brown sugar and egg. Devilishly moorish, these truly taste of peanut butter and you may never forgive me for introducing this to you!
3 ingredient desserts are handy emergency recipes, like Chocolate Covered Strawberries and Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars. Everybody loves them and they’re so quick to make!
Peanut Butter Cookies
Having dictated this recipe to 3 people at the dog park in the past week, and having had all 3 approach me afterwards with varying forms of love/hate gestures (“THIS is YOUR FAULT!” one lady wailed, showing me her stomach 😉 ), I decided I had better move this up the posting schedule.
3 ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies are not a new thing, certainly not my invention. I’ve no idea how long they’ve been around for, but what I do know is that every recipe I have seen calls for peanut butter, an egg and WHITE sugar.
It is quite amazing, how much difference it makes just switching white for brown sugar. While I’d never turn down a 3 ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies made with white sugar, they are quite crumbly and crisp. The texture is not really to my taste, and I do feel it’s one of those 3 ingredient recipes where you are compromising on quality quite a bit for the sake of convenience.
But use brown sugar instead… and wow! The difference is astonishing. The cookie is soft and chewy and it has more flavour too, that slight caramel-y flavour that brown sugar has.
Here’s my attempt to capture how chewy and soft these cookies are!
How to make Peanut Butter Cookies
Mix 1 cup peanut butter (the commercial spread stuff, not pure peanut butter), 1 cup brown sugar, 1 egg, flatten 1 tbsp balls on tray, bake 10 minutes at 350F / 180C.
Yes, it’s really that easy!
And here’s a peek into the inside. It’s not dense and gluey which one might expect because they are flourless.
Peanut butter lovers, this recipe is dangerous knowledge to have, especially because it’s so ridiculously simple to remember.
1, 1, 1, 10
1 cup peanut butter.
1 cup brown sugar.
1 egg.
Bake 10 minutes.
It’s stuck in your head now, isn’t it? Go, go! Go make these now! – Nagi x
For the Peanut Butter Obsessed
Peanut Butter Caramel Pie – dangerously easy, outrageously decadent
Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars – just 3 ingredients!
And for Cookie Monsters 🙋🏻♀️
Byron Bay copycat cookies – Choc Chunk, White Choc Macadamia and Chewy Choc Fudge
Watch how to make it
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World’s Best Easy Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup / 265 g peanut butter , smooth or crunchy – commercial spread, NOT pure peanut butter (I use Bega) (Note 1)
- 200 g/ 1 cup , packed, brown sugar (Note 2)
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Place ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine. It will be soft, too soft for scooping. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180C / 350F (standard) or 160C/320F (fan / convection).
- Line 2 trays with parchment paper.
- Place 1 tbsp scoops of the dough onto the trays (I use a cookie scoop) 5cm/2″ apart.
- Dip a large fork in a bowl of hot tap water (stops fork sticking to dough). Press down on the dough, then press 90 degrees the other way (watch video) so the cookie is 1 cm / 2/5″ thick. Re-dip fork in water as required.
- Put both trays in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, swapping the trays halfway through, or until light golden on the surface and golden on the edges. (Or longer if you want crisper cookies)
- Leave to cool on the tray. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 – 5 days.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
He was so focussed on the peanut butter cookie in my hand, he didn’t realise I left the other half on his head when I gave him a pat….. 😂 SO MEAN!!!!
Very good recipe. Super easy and my gluten free friends loved them. I thought they could use a pinch of salt to balance out the sweetness. I used Skippy creamy peanut butter and I made sure to weigh the flour and brown sugar. I also baked them for 12 mins instead of 10 because they weren’t really brown after 10 mins.
What flour?
what temp and what flour
There’s no flour in it. The temperature is in step 2. Read the recipe!
That’s great to hear Raquel! Thanks for leaving a review! N x
Nagi, I am probably missing the obvious, but I’m confused about how thick, in inches, the cookies should be. A good friend of mine just posted one of your videos (the rolls) on his facebook page. I had to laugh because I never would have dreamed he would be into cooking. I emailed him and told him I have a whole file on my hard drive devoted to your recipes. You have an awesome blog site.
He he what a compliment that your friend shared my recipe! It should be about 0.8cm / 1/3″ thick 🙂 N x
Can u use cashew butter?
Sorry I don’t think that will work Jennifer 🙂 N x
Hi joanne, I’m sorry to hear that. Did you use a packed cup of brown sugar? If not, there would be a too little sugar and that affects the cookies to hold together, I found (when I tried to reduce the sugar!)
I made these cookies this morning, they are cooling as I write this. The first batch came out really thin, I pushed them too much with the fork. Next batch are looking like yours in the picture, they taste yummy!!
Omg!!! how much easier can it be to make something so delicious I have company coming for coffee and Elderberrie pie and thought I would serve cookies as well. Hat a treat.
Thank you
Cathy
I’m so pleased you enjoyed this Cathy, thanks for letting me know! N x ❤️
Hi, Nagi, I read up and some recipes substitute honey for the sugar, do you think that will work? How much honey do you think I should put? Different recipes state different amounts, but I’ll feel much better hearing it from you. Your “taste” suits my family real well 😄 Thanks!
Hi Judith! I haven’t tried it but my instinct says it will make the batter too soft and it won’t hold together. I would love to know if you try it! 🙂 N x
Do you think mashed banana would work as a replacement for the egg? Or egg replacer? My daughter can’t have eggs.
Sorry Lisa, it needs to be egg 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi
I just made a double batch of these peanut butter cookies and they are sooooo yummy. So quick and easy. I love it!!! Thank you.
Dozer is so darned cute! Love the look on his face in this photo.
That’s so great to hear Liz! So happy to hear you enjoyed this – N x
What do you mean by “swapping the racks halfway through “?
Hi Joanie! Sorry, minor typo, I mean switch the trays i.e. move the tray on the lower rack to the top and the top one to the lower rack 🙂
Hi Nagi, I have organic peanut butter which is made just from peanuts and has no other ingredients in it. Will the cookies still work it. Thanks for the great recipes! Had a bday party for my kids yesterday made both your mexican corn salad and cowboy rice salad, they were a hit!
Hi Bess, I’m sorry I don’t know if it will work because “normal” peanut butter has oil, sugar and salt in it too. Thank you for the question though, I will update the recipe to specify this. I’m so glad the corn salad and rice salad were enjoyed! N x
I made them. Nagi they are delish and nice and chewy. Making stashes incase Irma hits Florida as it’s not looking good. But we’re due.
Cookie for Dozer and ((hugs)). Forget cream cheese, these are perfect. Your so good! Happy weekend.
Oh Sandy! I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you that Irma doesn’t hit 😥 N x
Nagi! Thank you for introducing these peanut butter cookies ! I can’t believe they are only three ingredients.
Brown sugar has more flavor than white sugar. That’s a great idea!
I will make these and will come back here to tell you how we liked them!
Hi Nagi,
I made these cookies the very same day I received your email and they were so easy and to die for!!! I did add 1/3 cup of milk chocolate chips because I love the combo of peanut butter and chocolate together and they were fantastic! So soft and chewy and nothing like the hard crumbly peanut butter cookies of my childhood (which were not my preference). I will definitely make these again. Thanks for another great recipe!
YOU MADE THEM ALREADY??!! 😂 I love hearing that, thanks so much Alana! Love the you added choc chips into this – YUM x a million 🙂 N xx
Dozer ha ha ha 😆 i don’t think I’ve ever seen a dog more fixated on food! and I can’t believe these cookies are only 3 ingredients! they look crazy good !
These seriously are incredible! You’ve gotta try them!!
Have you thought about using Nutella instead of peanut butter? just an idea. or maybe both and have a swirled 4 ingredient peanut/choco cookie.
Hi Robert! It doesn’t work with Nutella unfortunately 🙂 Needs to be peanut butter. Though with Nutella, I make one with Nutella + almond meal + egg, that works!
The recipe is simple but there is some technique involved in its preparation, making it a tad more complicated than I first expected. Regardless, this recipe has been ingrained in my head thanks to you.
Hi Karl! Wow, you’ve tried it already? Whoot! Out of curiosity, which part did you find a bit difficult?? Did you see the video?? N xx
Hi Nagi! I love your recipes!!! We think a lot alike….simple, everyday ingredients and not too many things to wash!
Also I’m Japanese/American….3rd generation but didn’t get too much Japanese food, except rice and okazu (I think that’s how you’d spell it ;D) practically every night for dinner….because my Mother lost her mother when she was about 7 and it was her Dad that raised her. Anyway long story short I also love your Japanese dishes….don’t tell your Mother ( I do get her blogs too) but her’s tend to be really involved and it’s too much for me. Also if I can’t find the ingredients at the grocery store, I’m out of luck ;( So my question is ;D can you freeze the cookies?
Okazu???? Is that the sprinkle stuff you put on rice with hot water – Ochazuke? (Have no idea how to spell it!). I haven’t tried freezing them but I’m confident they will be fine. I will update the recipe if I test it out or if another reader shares their feedback on freezing them! N xx
Alllllll i can think is, they are gluten free, there for they are ‘practically’ health food. Haha! 🙂
BA HA HA! GF = “healthy” – love that thinking! 😉 N xx
I like a little chocolate with my peanut butter, I may try adding chocolate chips. Let me know if this is a bad idea from a baking perspective!
Not at all! Just make sure they are the chips that will hold their form when baked, not the melting kind 🙂 YUM!
Nagi, Nagi, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO DOZER?? Would love him to bite your bum…..will stay away from cookies but if I was around corner would steal some of yours.!! Melb will be having bad weather day after day so here comes soup, ham bone and pile of Veges , anything do not want flu, aches and pains. Nagi who is your internet provider? Over here Telstra and Optus are holding iron fist over customers .had only small problem last week but on home line can Not get any mobile ph. Calls, need tradesman NO, NO, not working. Have good W/ end and Please be good…!
You’re right, I DO deserve a nip on the bum for what I did to him here – ba ha ha!!! 😉 N xx