Vegan 3-ingredient peanut butter cookies that are incredibly easy to make and use common pantry staples. They also have no egg, no refined sugar, no dairy, are gluten-free and keto-friendly, just like my almond flour shortbread cookies!

Lots of 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies on a decorative plate.

Why you’ll love these cookies

DIFFICULTY: These vegan 3-ingredient peanut butter cookies come together in one bowl. You can make them in less than 30 minutes!

TASTE/TEXTURE: These cookies are rich and ‘buttery’ as they use almond flour and a higher ratio of liquid ingredients compared to other recipes. They melt in your mouth and are more delicate than typical chocolate chip cookies as they’re high in peanut butter.

Alternatively, if you want to make peanut butter cookies with vegan butter, check out my classic vegan peanut butter cookies.

3 ingredients to make peanut butter cookies

Flatlay of 3 ingredients for cookies.

The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Notes about the ingredients

Smooth natural peanut butter. I used creamy peanut butter which has no additives and is made of only roasted peanuts and a pinch of salt. The cookies will also work with processed peanut butter.

Almond flour adds moisture which makes the cookies feel rich and ‘buttery’. You may use other flour such as oat flour or fine white rice flour, however, they make the cookies drier and crumblier.

Maple syrup as our sweetener and partial binder. I don’t recommend replacing it with granulated sugar as they won’t bind the ingredients.

Normally, 3-ingredient peanut butter cookies rely on eggs. However, with the addition of maple syrup (to help bind the ingredients) and almond flour (which adds fat and richness), you can make peanut butter cookies with no egg!

Step-by-step: How to make peanut butter cookies

Simply add the 3 ingredients to a bowl and mix until combined. I recommend using a sturdy wooden spoon as the cookie dough is thick!

Initially, the cookie dough will be very soft and feel like a very thick paste. However, the mixture will quickly thicken up and have the consistency of soft and tacky cookie dough.

The more moist and tacky your cookie dough, the less crumbly your final cookies will be!

Two image collage of 3 ingredients in mixing bowl and final soft cookie dough.

Use clean hands (or a small ice cream scoop) to roll the soft cookie dough into balls. The cookie dough may look too soft to handle, but it will still work!

To get 20 cookies, each ball of cookie dough should weigh around 24 grams… if you don’t eat any of the raw cookie dough (which is delicious so I will not judge)!

Place the cookie dough balls on a lined baking/cookie sheet then gently flatten them with a fork. You can make them as thin or thick as you like! The dough may stick a little to the fork, but with a bit of patience (and gravity), this step is easy.

I could fit all of my cookies on 2 cookie sheets. The cookies don’t spread much in the oven so you can place them 1 inch (2 cm) apart.

Two image collage of smooth peanut butter cookie dough balls and with fork pressing down each ball to make criss cross pattern.

Baking these 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies

If you’d like your cookies to have crisp edges and a soft chewy center, I recommend baking them for around 10 minutes. For cookies that are crisp throughout, bake them for around 15 minutes.

These vegan peanut butter cookies are ready when they start to change in color. They will be very soft when you take them out of the oven. However, they will continue baking on the baking tray and will firm up a lot!

If you love peanut butter desserts, check out my vegan peanut butter chocolate muffins or peanut butter jam pie!

Flatlay of peanut butter cookies emphasising criss cross pattern..

Expert Tips

Can I add anything else to these vegan 3-ingredient peanut butter cookies?

This recipe is super versatile! To the cookie dough, you can also add:
– vegan chocolate chips
– vanilla extract
– spices, such as cinnamon

You can also dip the cookies in chocolate and sprinkle them with crushed peanuts or flaked salt (pictured below)! Or make them into thumbprint peanut butter jelly cookies.

Can I use almond butter (or another nut butter) for these cookies?

I haven’t tested this recipe with other types of nut butter but readers have told me it works! Remember that peanut butter is a little more oily than other nut butter so any variations may be drier.

Stack of peanut butter cookies with bite taken out of one cookie revealing texture.
Almond flour shortbread stacked on a plate. The cookies are half dipped in chocolate with a sprinkle of pistachios and dried rose petals.

Almond Flour Shortbread Cookies (3 ingredients)
Close up of one chocolate chip cookie with gooey chocolate chunks and flaky sea salt sprinkled on top.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Peanut butter cookies in single layer on wire rack with peanuts, peanut butter and brown tea towel on the side.

Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

Vegan Almond Cookies

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Lots of 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies on a decorative plate.
4.97 from 55 reviews

3-ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies (no egg + vegan)

Yield: 20 small cookies
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Author: Anthea
Vegan 3-ingredient peanut butter cookies that are incredibly easy to make and use common pantry staples. They have no egg, no refined sugar, no dairy, are gluten-free and keto-friendly.
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Ingredients

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Preparing the cookies:

  • Add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix until combined. Allow the mixture to sit for around 2 minutes to thicken up. The final cookie dough should have the consistency of a soft and slightly tacky paste that is thick enough to roll into balls. (note 2)
  • Using clean and damp hands or a small cookie scoop, divide the cookie dough into around 20 balls (~24g each). Place the balls on the lined baking trays.
  • Use a fork to flatten each ball and mark each cookie with a criss-cross pattern. You can make them as thin/thick as you like! Alternatively, you can just flatten each ball with the palm of your hand.

Baking and storing the cookies:

  • Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes or until the edges are very slightly golden brown. Cookies baked for less time will be soft and chewy whereas cookies baked for longer will be crisp throughout.
  • Allow the cookies to completely cool on the baking tray. Initially, the cookies will be very soft but will firm up a lot as they cool.
  • For the best texture, enjoy the cookies on the day of baking either warm or at room temperature. Alternatively, store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 days, in the fridge for 2 weeks or up to 2 months in the freezer.

Notes

  1. For the best results, I recommend using the grams measurements. Alternatively, use the spoon and level method to measure the flour where you fluff up the flour in the container, use a spoon to add it to a measuring cup and level it off with a knife. Using a measuring cup to scoop the flour out of the container will pack it in the measuring cup and make the cookies crumblier. 
    Instead of using almond flour, I’ve had success with using 100g oat flour OR 50g fine white rice flour. After you mix your cookie dough, let it sit for a few minutes as it will thicken up. I prefer the cookies with almond flour as they’re less dry and crumbly. I haven’t tested this recipe with any other flour.
  2. The softer your cookie dough, the richer and more ‘buttery’ your final cookies will be. If you’d like softer cookies, feel free to add 1-2 tablespoons of peanut butter or maple syrup. If you’d like drier cookies, add 1-2 tablespoons of almond flour. 
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1 cookie, Calories: 125kcal, Carbohydrates: 8g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 9g, Sodium: 54mg, Potassium: 83mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 5g, Calcium: 26mg, Iron: 0.5mg
Did you Make this Recipe?Rate it & leave your feedback in the comments section below, or tag @rainbownourishments on Instagram and hashtag #rainbownourishments!

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