Easy 2 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies (No Flour or Eggs!)
This magical recipe for extremely simple 2 ingredient peanut butter cookies comes together with only 2 ingredients — no flour, butter, or eggs! They’re so easy, you’ll have to stop yourself from making them for every occasion.
Why you want this recipe:
- classic peanut butter cookies – just like Grandma used to make!
- perfect after-school snack
- you probably have everything in your cupboard right now
- minimal ingredients
- easy preparation
- no fancy equipment required
- So. Dang. Good!
Why does this work?
Peanut butter is a natural leavener so you don’t eggs, baking powder, or baking soda to make these cookies come out light. The salt and sugar already in peanut butter flavor the cookies. And finally, the high fat content keeps these cookies tender and moist.
The powdered sugar acts as a binder, holding the cookie together. It also keeps the peanut butter from drying out while baking, so you end up with a chewier, softer cookie.
Isn’t kitchen chemistry cool?
What kind of peanut butter should I use?
You might be asking yourself “What is the best peanut butter to use for this recipe?” Look no further than this breakdown!
Natural vs Regular Peanut Butter
Natural peanut butter is made from just peanuts and salt. Regular peanut butter contains other ingredients, like preservatives and sugar.
The major difference in terms of these cookies is that natural peanut butter tends to separate. Make sure that you have stirred it really, really well before you measure it out, or it might mess with the texture of the cookies!
Creamy vs Crunchy
Crunchy peanut butter can be used in this recipe. It adds a fun little crunch. I prefer the smoother consistency of cookies made with creamy peanut butter, but feel free to play around and find what your family likes. You can even try a combination of peanut butter – half chunky peanut butter, half creamy!
Other Nut Butters
You can use other nut butters in this recipe like almond butter or sunflower seed butter, but you will need to watch the consistency of your cookie dough. If you use something that is less creamy, you’ll need to cut the powdered sugar so that your cookies still stay soft and chewy!
Other Classic Cookies
How to Make 2 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
Step 1 | Mix Your Ingredients and Preheat
Start by preheating your oven to 350°. In a medium bowl, you’re going to mix your peanut butter and powdered sugar. This comes together so easily, there’s no need for an electric mixer. A good old-fashioned wooden spoon will do the trick!
Step 2 | Chill
Your cookie dough consistency will probably be a bit sticky at this point, unless. you live in a really dry climate. In order to get it to firm up enough to roll into balls, you’ll need to chill it for at least a half an hour in the fridge.
Step 3 | Roll
Before you get to rolling, you’ll want to either grease or line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner. Now you’re going to roll your dough into small balls. You’re shooting for about 1 inch. You can use a cookie scoop to get your cookies perfectly even, if that makes you happy! Once you’ve got your dough rolled, place your balls of dough on your prepared baking sheet.
Step 4 | Flatten
What would this classic cookie be without that cross-hatch look on the top? To get it, you’ll take the back of the fork and press it firmly into the top of the cookies. This should flatten your cookie dough ball. Then, you can repeat to create a criss-cross pattern. Now it’s really looking like an actual peanut butter cookie!
Step 5 | Bake
In the cookies go! You’ll cook them in your preheated oven until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. Depending on your oven, this will be between 10-12 minutes. These cookies are soft, but you do want them cooked enough to set up. Those edges are your clue — they’re going to look more done than the rest of the cookie!
Step 6 | Cool and Enjoy!
Let your cookies continue to develop on the baking tray for 5 minutes or so so that they firm up, then move them to a cooling rack. You can enjoy your delicious cookies warm or fully cooled! The hot cookies are pretty soft and fragile, but get more cookie-like the longer they cool. I like to add flaky salt as a finish. That extra bit of salt really sets off the perfect amount of sweetness from the peanut butter and powdered sugar!
Different Variations
You can dress these simple 2 ingredient peanut butter cookies up in a number of ways. Here are a few of my family’s favorites:
- Chocolate Chips – Peanut butter and chocolate are always a winning combination! You can add a 1/2 cup of semisweet chocolate chips to this recipe before baking to make delicious peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.
- Pure Maple Syrup – For a healthier version, you can omit the powdered sugar and use maple syrup instead. Your dough will be significantly stickier. Big Man’s World has a fantastic recipe that covers how to work with this dough.
- Chocolate Drizzle – Adding a drizzle of chocolate on top of the cooled cookies is an easy way to elevate these simple 2-ingredient cookies.
- Sugar Free (And Keto Friendly!) – These cookies can be made without any sugar at all! Replace the sugar with an egg for a savory treat that is perfect for those on a sugar-free or keto diet. Kirbie Cravings has all the details on how to make this version of easy peanut butter cookies.
Storing, Freezing, and Thawing
Storing
To store your leftover cookies (if you have any, and that’s a big if!), you can place them in an airtight container on the counter for up to a week.
Freezing
These cookies freeze really well. You can place them in an airtight, freezer-safe bag and put them in the freezer for up to three months.
Thawing
For best results, remove the cookies the night before you want to eat them and leave them on the counter in their freezer bag to thaw.
FAQs
This recipe does make a very soft cookie that is pretty fragile. If you’d like your cookie to have more structure, you can add an egg to the recipe.
Nothing! This recipe is highly variable depending on your climate. You may have just existed in a place with moisture in the air! My favorite trick for dealing with this is just to put a little powdered sugar on my hands before rolling the dough. You might also need to put some on your fork before pressing it into the tops of the cookies so that the tines don’t stick and ruin your cookie’s *aesthetic.*
Please check the post for notes on substitutions, particularly the “What kind of peanut butter should I use?” and ” Different Variations” sections. If you are interested in a substitution we have not covered there, either use our Contact Us form or leave a comment below and we’ll get back to you!
Other 2 and 3 Ingredient Desserts
Easy 2 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup peanut butter
- ½ cup powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Mix ingredients together in mixing bowl until they form a dough.1 cup peanut butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
- Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.
- Roll dough into 1 inch ball. Use powdered sugar on your hands if the dough is sticky.
- Press the back of a fork into the top for the cookies to flatten the dough and create a crisscross shape.
- Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until the cookie edges are golden brown.
- Allow cookies to cool, then enjoy!
