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Easy 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies stacked four high on cream plate beside linen napkin, soft golden light
Luna Hossain

3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

Thick, soft-centered peanut butter cookies made with just peanut butter, sugar, and egg — naturally gluten-free, naturally dairy-free, no flour, no butter, no mixer, ready in 22 minutes.
~125 kcal | Fat: ~7g | Carbs: ~14g | Sugar: ~13g | Protein: ~4g | Sodium: ~60mg
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 22 minutes
Servings: 20 cookies
Course: Cookies
Cuisine: American
Calories: 125
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • For the Cookies:
  • - 1 cup 258g creamy commercial peanut butter, such as Jif or Skippy — not natural peanut butter where the oil separates
  • - 1 cup 200g plain white granulated cane sugar
  • - 1 large egg approximately 50g without shell, room temperature
  • For Rolling:
  • - 2 tablespoons 25g plain white granulated cane sugar

Equipment

  • Required:
  • Large mixing bowl
  • Sturdy silicone spatula
  • Light-colored aluminum half-sheet baking pan (18x13 inch / 46x33cm)
  • Unbleached parchment paper
  • Standard fork (for the crosshatch press)
  • Medium cookie scoop (2 tablespoon / 30ml capacity) — or a kitchen scale for portioning
  • Small shallow bowl for the rolling sugar
  • Wire cooling rack
  • Strongly recommended:
  • Kitchen scale (for gram-weight accuracy)
  • Optional:
  • Oven thermometer (most home ovens run 15–25°F / 8–14°C off from the dial — an oven thermometer confirms your actual baking temperature)

Method
 

  1. Position your oven rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 350°F (175°C) — allow a full 15 minutes for preheating. Line a light-colored aluminum half-sheet baking pan with unbleached parchment paper and set aside. Pour 2 tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar into a small shallow bowl for rolling.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup (258g) creamy commercial peanut butter, 1 cup (200g) plain white granulated cane sugar, and 1 large room-temperature egg. Stir with a sturdy silicone spatula in wide circular strokes from the bottom of the bowl upward — approximately 40 to 50 strokes — until the dough is thick, smooth, and uniform with no sugar streaks or dry patches remaining.
  3. Using a medium cookie scoop (2 tablespoon / 30ml capacity), portion the dough into 20 balls of approximately 25g each. Roll each ball between your palms until smooth, then roll in the shallow bowl of granulated sugar until the entire surface is evenly coated.
  4. Place the sugar-coated dough balls on the prepared baking sheet, spacing at least 2 inches (5cm) apart — no more than 12 per pan. Press a crosshatch pattern into each ball using the tines of a fork: press firmly down, then rotate the fork 90 degrees and press again, flattening each ball to approximately ½ inch (1.2cm) thickness.
  5. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 10 to 12 minutes, starting to check at 10 minutes. Pull the pan when the edges are set and deep golden and the centers look just barely done — the cookies will appear slightly underdone in the center when they come out. Do not wait for the centers to look fully set in the oven.
  6. Leave the cookies on the hot pan for exactly 5 minutes — do not move them. This carryover rest finishes setting the egg proteins in the base. After 5 minutes, transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool completely — approximately 10 more minutes — before stacking or storing.

Notes

- Peanut butter: creamy commercial only — Jif, Skippy, or equivalent. Natural peanut butter lacks emulsifiers and causes cookies to spread flat or crumble.
- Sugar: plain white granulated cane sugar only. Coconut sugar, raw sugar, and brown sugar change dough consistency and surface texture.
- Egg: large egg, room temperature. Pull from fridge 30 minutes ahead, or warm in water 10 minutes.
- No mixer needed: large mixing bowl and silicone spatula only.
- No chilling required: dough goes straight from bowl to oven.
- Weigh ingredients: 258g peanut butter, 200g sugar, 50g egg for best accuracy.
- Scaling: double uses 2 cups (516g) PB, 2 cups (400g) sugar, 2 large eggs. Same bake time. Bake in separate batches.
- Storage: hard-sided lidded container, parchment between layers, room temperature up to 5 days. Do not refrigerate.
- Freeze baked: wrap individually, freeze up to 2 months. Thaw on rack 30–45 minutes — do not thaw in wrapper.
- Freeze unbaked: freeze sugar-rolled balls on parchment sheet until solid, then bag. Bake from frozen at 350°F (175°C) for 13–14 minutes.
- High altitude: reduce bake time by 1 minute. Pull at 9–11 minutes.
- High humidity: roll dough in sugar immediately before baking — do not roll ahead and let sit.
- Allergens: contains peanuts and eggs. Naturally gluten-free and dairy-free. Check peanut butter label for cross-contamination.
- Tip: bake one test cookie first to calibrate your oven before committing the full batch.