Photo: Stocksy/Julie Rideout
‘Tis the season to dust off your oven and sharpen your baking skills to show some love to the least-used appliance in your kitchen.
Seriously: If embarking on an ambitious baking adventure sounds like anything but soothing, and the task of making a bunch of sparkly spritzes or candy cane-coated sugar cookies for an upcoming cookie exchange, potluck, or Christmas-y co*cktail party is hanging over your head, we hear you. Between the gift shopping, card writing, present wrapping, the end-of-year rush at work, and an exhausting social calendar, who has time to bake hundreds of festively-frosted gingerbread cookies?
Fortunately, not all baked good recipes are overly complicated or time-consuming. We’ve gathered several three-ingredient cookie recipes for making the ultimate intimidating-free “lazy cookies” to satisfy your sweet tooth (and cookie swap) without totally turning your world upside down. Think tasty treats like flourless chocolate cookies and pepperminty thin mints that will be the hit of any holiday gathering.
6 lazy cookies for your next holiday gathering
1. Banana Oatmeal Cookies
Although these banana oatmeal cookies by The Simple Veganista may look like cookies, upon the first bite, you’ll quickly realize that they taste more like your favorite homemade banana bread recipe. This three-ingredient recipe is made with hearty oats, rich chocolate chips, and is naturally sweetened with ripe mashed bananas. And if you’re feeling up for it, you can jazz up the recipe with add-ons like cinnamon, vanilla extract, shredded coconut, and dried fruit.
Get the recipe: Three-Ingredient Banana Oatmeal Cookies
2. Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
It seems like most things in life are better with an extra side of peanut butter (PB&J, fluffernutter, peanut sauce…the list goes on). And this easy vegan peanut butter cookie recipe by The Conscious Plant Kitchen is one more reason to love this nut butter even more. To make it, all you have to do is combine peanut butter, oat flour, and maple syrup until creamy, roll into evenly-sized balls, and bake away. Seriously, it’s that easy.
Get the recipe: 3-Ingredient Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
3. Flourless Chocolate Cookies
One way to instantly put a smile on your face and liven the mood when you’re feeling a bit cranky is to make these three-ingredient flourless chocolate cookies by Kirbie’s Cravings: They truly taste like decadent brownie batter in cookie form. They’re also free of some common allergens (including flour, butter, and oil) but get all of their rich flavors from longevity-boosting, unsweetened cocoa powder, powdered sugar, and egg whites. The key to making these lazy cookies to perfection is to use (and only use) Dutch-processed cocoa powder, which is much richer and less bitter in taste than other varieties.
Get the recipe: 3-Ingredient Flourless Chocolate Cookies
4. No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookies
One bowl, five minutes, and three ingredients are all you need to make these no-bake peanut butter cookies by Minimalist Baker that come together in the blink of an eye. They’re made with fiber-rich Medjool dates, gluten-free rolled oats, and peanut butter, with the option to add ingredients like sea salt, cacao powder, and maple syrup. Plus, if your oven is currently stuffed with too many pots and pans, you won’t need to rush over to clear it all out the start preheating. That’s because this recipe requires no baking whatsoever. Problem solved.
Get the recipe: 3-Ingredient No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookies
5. Peanut Butter Pumpkin Dog Treats
If your furry friend is also drooling at the thought of these delicious cookie recipes, it might be time to make your four-legged bestie a special something, too. These peanut butter pumpkin dog treats by Minimalist Baker feature peanut butter, canned pumpkin purée, and oat flour. Frankly, they’re so good you might be tempted to sneak one or two from their treat jar (don’t worry, we won’t tell!).
Get the recipe: Easy Peanut Butter Pumpkin Dog Treats
6. Oreo Thin Mints
Combine two of your favorite childhood treats, Oreos and Thin Mints, in one delectable dessert. For this no-bake oreo thin mints recipe by The Comfort of Cooking, all you have to do is coat Oreos in peppermint-flavored chocolate for a crunchy, sweet, and refreshing cookie recipe that’s definitely the easiest on this list to make.
Get the recipe: 3-Ingredient Oreo Thin Mints
Hungry for more? These vegan chocolate chip cookies might hit the spot:
