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5 Ingredients or Fewer

3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

by:
June  7, 2021
3.6
33 Ratings
Photo by Rocky Luten. Prop Stylist: Amanda Widis. Food Stylist: Anna Billingskog.
  • Prep time 10 minutes
  • Cook time 20 minutes
  • makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies
Author Notes

3-ingredient peanut butter cookies are an internet sensation, and for good reason. The basic template—just creamy peanut butter, granulated or brown sugar, and eggs—yields a flourless wonder that defies all odds: cakey edges with a fudgy-gooey middle. This recipe draws inspiration from such simplicity, but makes a couple defiant swaps along the way. Instead of sweetened peanut butter, we’re using unsweetened for more nuance (more intrigue!). And instead of sugar, we’re dumping in a whole jar of jam, be it peach, apricot, or something similarly orange-ish and subtle. This accomplishes a lot: Sweetness, yes. Also fruitiness and tanginess and chewiness. Also-also? It means you can make cookies without using a single measuring cup, measuring spoon, or scale. How about that? —Emma Laperruque

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Ingredients
  • 1 (16-ounce) jar unsweetened peanut butter
  • 1 (13-ounce) jar apricot or peach jam
  • 2 large eggs
  • Flaky salt (optional)
Directions
  1. Heat the oven to 350°F and line 2 sheet pans with a silicone mat or parchment. Add the peanut butter and jam to a bowl. Stir until combined. Crack in the eggs and stir again. Scoop the dough in heaping tablespoons onto the prepared pans, spacing each cookie a couple inches apart. Sprinkle with salt if you’d like. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until bouncy to the touch, browned on the bottom, and starting to crack on the top. Remove from the oven, wait a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
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This Recipe is Featured In:

No-Measure Peanut Butter Cookies. But How?

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Emma was the food editor at Food52. She created the award-winning column, Big Little Recipes, and turned it into a cookbook in 2021. These days, she's a senior editor at Bon Appétit, leading digital cooking coverage. Say hello on Instagram at @emmalaperruque.

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38 Reviews

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Regina September 27, 2024
I was really excited about these cookies because I bought a nice jar of bonne manan apricot raspberry preserves to make this and some creamy organic peanut butter that we love. The batter was delicious so I was hopeful! I had a few spoonfuls! Then I read the reviews. Unfortunately, they were right. the bottoms burnt a little even though I took them out five minutes early ( while reading reviews) and they were on a silicone mat with the oven on center rack. The batter tasted way better then the finished cookies :(
Faith July 5, 2024
Sounded interesting so I tried it. Not for me. Too “jammy”. When they started to brown they were still way too gooey in the center.
Levie June 14, 2023
Wanted to give this recipe a go....I love it!!! Not too sweet and not bland either. I used Jif Natural Cream PB, Smuckers Apricot Preserves, and eggs. I baked them only for 15 mins. They turned our perfect. I even had enough dough leftover to make a small mug cake, which I microwaved for 1 minute. Yum! Thank you for the great recipe!❤️
Lollyd June 18, 2022
I made these cookie and they were awful! DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY! The cookies went straight to the trash can.
Aditi May 30, 2022
Made this with natural crunchy peanut butter (without salt and sugar) and orange marmalade. I did cheat and add a little brown sugar (~2 tbsp), some salt, and almond extract in the batter because so many reviews spoke about them being bland. I also had to add some rice flour and chilled the batter because it was so loose and wouldn't otherwise form cookies. As it is, they came out like puddles, not balls. They turned out pretty tasty, but the texture was a little odd, as some reviewers noted - sort of bouncy/rubbery, with a shiny top. I guess they were okay as an experiment, but I probably prefer PB cookies with flour.
Suzy March 10, 2022
You really need to use good peanut butter. A peanut butter that really tastes like peanut butter. Some do not. Also, I found they got better as the days went on. The jam flavor comes out more and the texture improves. I even froze some and they got even better also, after thawing.They just don't taste so great right out of the oven. I love them. I'm going to try the recipe with sugar free jam and see if I can make a low-carb version.
Cathryn L. January 13, 2022
Made them to take nextdoor to a neighbor’s visiting grandchild. SO glad I tasted them first. Awful! My question is: how can I use them for something else? I cannot bring myself to just throw them away. Seriously - ideas anyone? I thought about mixing into a pie crust but the only recipe I see online uses only 1/4 cup of PB.
monika December 1, 2021
My hubbie and I love this recipe, such a quick easy Saturday morning treat with coffee! We use Almond instead of Peanut Butter and Blueberry or Marmalade jam.
Thank you for this, we make them regularly!
iamann September 22, 2021
Made these last night. Sorry to say, but these are the worst cookies I ever made. Had to throw them out. Biggest waste of ingredients ever.
Slim E. May 20, 2021
These are good IF you don't add two eggs. First time made exactly as written and they were cakey, bland and weirdly textured. Not very chewy and it was so weird how there was no flavor even with a all that salty peanut butter. (Used Smuckers Natural and Apricot Jam)

IF YOU MAKE IT ADD ONE EGG! Then you will get a chewy, more flavorful cookie. I hate to write this review, but the recipe definitely needs work. Also 325-235 is more ideal than 350 IMO, less burning on bottom.

Overall, even with modifications, I personally wouldn't make again. I was really looking forward to this recipe as it looked so amazing but personally I would just make the Ovenly recipe. Interesting concept though, and with mods it is a solid cookie. Maybe some salt on top and 2 tsp vanilla in the batter!

Bea April 24, 2021
Hi, I just made your cookies. 16 oz Jif PB, 13 oz Smuckers Strawberry preserves. 2 eggs well beaten then added. 325’ because of the dark pan for 17 mins. A touch of salt flakes.Perfect texture and a medium gold bottom. Thank you!
Starmade March 26, 2021
Used regular store brand crunchy pb and marmalade, cut quantities using 1 egg, 8 oz pb and about 4 oz jam. Will make again. These quantities made 22 tasty cookies after 17 min. Next time will lower oven temp a bit.
Starmade March 26, 2021
For reference pb was Jif and Kroger brand combo. Cookies did not spread.
Ji P. March 20, 2021
batter was so loose i had to put it in piping bag. two large egg maybe was too much as when baked i can actually taste egg which is throwing off what could be a great flavor combo. with some tweak... less egg, maybe a little bit of flour could be much better.
Natalie B. March 4, 2021
I normally am a big food 52 fan. These looked great... But very disappointing. They don't really taste like peanut butter, I don't get much of any flavor at all, and I did add flaky sea salt on the top. I used Bon Marie apricot jam, and natural unsweetened peanut butter. The bottom rack burned, I took them out at 20 minutes at a 350° oven, the top rack was fine though. This recipe seemed too good to be true, so it was.
Crispin March 2, 2021
Just a thought from the sidelines, seeing from the comments that people's cookies are coming out pretty differently—"unsweetened peanut butter" is a pretty broad category! In my experience, the texture and consistency of unsweetened peanut butter varies a lot from brand to brand. Some are drippier, some are firmer, some are grainier, and some are creamier in the way that a Jif-type peanut butter is. I wonder if different peanut butters are producing different results. What brand/texture was the recipe tested with?
Marilyn March 1, 2021
I usually like Food 52 recipes, but the 3-Ingredient Penanut Butter Cookies is a big exception. For the first time ever, I threw away the whole cooked batch! The flavor was odd and horrible, it browned/burnt quickly on bottom but stayed uncooked in middle. An unfortunate waste of good ingredients.
Emma L. March 1, 2021
Hi Marilyn, I'm so sorry to hear that! While I'm not sure what might've gone wrong with the burnt bottoms, we have lots and lots of cookies on the site, and I hope you'll find another batch that you love: https://food52.com/recipes/search?tag=cookie,test-kitchen-approved&o=newest
Juneaucat1 March 2, 2021
I had the same problem, just threw away the whole batch. The other disappointment was that they spread, a lot, becoming totally flat during the cooking process. I'm not sure how they stayed so rounded in the instructional video, but maybe a step of chilling the dough before cooking would help? No matter though, I won't be making these again.
Natalie B. March 4, 2021
This happened to me too! Well only the bottom tray burned but it was a very disappointing recipe, and the ingredients cost me about $18.
caly February 24, 2021
Just amazing how a 3 ingredient recipe takes 3 pages to print! That is ridiculous.
Meggeymay February 27, 2021
And your point is...???
Sharon R. February 28, 2021
Did you click on the Print button on the recipe page (just below the main picture) or did you choose print from your computer's menu? If you choose print from the recipe page it's just one page.
Rachael D. February 22, 2021
Wow. This was amazing! Used parchment, flipped halfway, cooked for 23 mins, Justin’s honey PB and Bonne Maman apricot. Cannot recommend this recipe enough. Thanks, Emma!
Franca February 22, 2021
I made these with orange marmalade, and crunchy peanut butter. I added a teaspoon of ginger, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and a pinch of nutmeg, and sea salt sprinkled on top. I baked two racks of cookies at 325 convection for 25 minutes. The cook and texture was perfect. All that being said, I do find them kind of one note. They are a great base though, and the possibilites are endless.
Kbz4946 February 20, 2021
Just made these using orange marmalade... Pretty good. They are moist. I wonder if honey can be used instead of jam?