Three ingredients, a few minutes, and one bowl are all you need for flavorful, warm 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies! You will absolutely love how easy and tasty these flourless peanut butter cookies are.

5 peanut butter cookies piled on a piece of parchment paper

This recipe is a little bit of a miracle! First because it has so few ingredients, and second because it’s so DELICIOUS! Just 3 simple things create the most wonderful, comforting, classic 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies you’ll ever try. They’re naturally flourless and free of gluten and dairy, so it’s a perfect treat for friends with dairy or wheat allergies!

We also love that this is an easy peanut butter cookie recipe that little kids can help with. The ingredients and measurements are simple and forgiving, it only requires one bowl, and no mixer is needed!

Peanut Butter, brown Sugar and and egg on a wood board

Ingredients in 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

You know the last day before you make a trip to the grocery store, when the kitchen feels pretty empty but you’re still craving something sweet and homemade? That’s when this recipe swoops in to save the day! You only need 3 things, and it’s so simple that you can probably memorize it right away:

1 cup of peanut butter - We liked using all-natural peanut butter! Many recipes suggest using a more processed brand, but we had great success with natural. Smooth peanut butter from a newly opened jar works best!
½ cup light brown sugar - The molasses in brown sugar gives amazing flavor to these cookies, making it a better option than white granulated sugar! Most recipes call for a whole cup of white sugar, we think ½ cup gives these peanut butter cookies just the right sweetness.
1 egg

Mix it all together, shape the dough into balls, and flatten them with a fork in a criss-cross pattern. That’s it!

peanut butter cookie dough in balls on a baking sheet — peanut butter cookie dough

Nut-Free 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

To make a nut-free peanut butter cookie, substitute sunflower butter for the peanut butter. You could also easily use cashew or almond butter if that’s what you have in the pantry!

baking sheet with peanut butter cookie dough balls

We did a little experimenting with our pan of cookies! We had to see just what would make the best peanut butter cookies.

We made a couple with chocolate chips on top
Some got a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar
A few got a sprinkle of sugar
We left some rolled into balls, not flattened
We left some without toppings and flattened them into a traditional peanut butter cookie shape

The best one? Surprisingly, the plain ones that stayed in a ball! They had the best, moist texture that we really enjoyed. Of course, you can’t go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter, but the plain cookies really let the peanut butter flavor shine and in our opinion they were the best ones.

Overhead view of 3-ingredient peanut butter cookies

How Long to Bake 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

Be sure NOT to over-bake the cookies! Take them out of the oven before they turn golden. Remember that they’ll bake for a little bit on the pan, and you want the middles to remain soft.

How to Store Peanut Butter Cookies

Keep any leftover homemade peanut butter cookies in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 5 days. You could also pop them in the freezer for a delicious frozen cookie treat!

More Peanut Butter Recipes

5 peanut butter cookies piled on a piece of parchment paper and more cookie son the background

DID YOU LIKE OUR PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE RECIPE?