These 3-Ingredient ‘Lazy Cookie’ Recipes Require Zero Work, but They’ll Absolutely Shine at Your Next Holiday Event (2024)

These 3-Ingredient ‘Lazy Cookie’ Recipes Require Zero Work, but They’ll Absolutely Shine at Your Next Holiday Event (1)

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?

6 lazy cookies for your next holiday gathering

These 3-Ingredient ‘Lazy Cookie’ Recipes Require Zero Work, but They’ll Absolutely Shine at Your Next Holiday Event (3)

These 3-Ingredient ‘Lazy Cookie’ Recipes Require Zero Work, but They’ll Absolutely Shine at Your Next Holiday Event (4)

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

These 3-Ingredient ‘Lazy Cookie’ Recipes Require Zero Work, but They’ll Absolutely Shine at Your Next Holiday Event (5)

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

These 3-Ingredient ‘Lazy Cookie’ Recipes Require Zero Work, but They’ll Absolutely Shine at Your Next Holiday Event (7)

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

These 3-Ingredient ‘Lazy Cookie’ Recipes Require Zero Work, but They’ll Absolutely Shine at Your Next Holiday Event (8)

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

These 3-Ingredient ‘Lazy Cookie’ Recipes Require Zero Work, but They’ll Absolutely Shine at Your Next Holiday Event (9)

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:

These 3-Ingredient ‘Lazy Cookie’ Recipes Require Zero Work, but They’ll Absolutely Shine at Your Next Holiday Event (2024)

FAQs

What are 3 factors that cause a cookie to be crisp? ›

The ingredients you use and how you shape your cookies both play an important role in whether your cookies turn out crispy or chewy. The type of flour and sugar you use, if your cookie dough contains eggs, and whether you use melted or softened butter all factor into the crispy-chewy equation, too.

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What are the 4 basic dry ingredients that are mainly used when baking cookies? ›

While there may be countless variations, each cookie at the core has four ingredients – butter, sugar, flour & eggs. The proportions of ingredients and the methods of mixing are what define our cookies. Dough spreads – Inside the hot oven, the butter starts to melt and the dough gradually starts to spread out.

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What makes cookies light and airy group of answer choices? ›

As the steam gets hotter, it teams up with gases produced by the leaveners, expanding those air pockets. That expansion causes the cookies to puff and rise in the oven, creating an airy, cakey texture.

Why do my cookies never spread in the oven? ›

Too Much Flour

This may seem counterintuitive—after all, isn't flour a key ingredient in baking? Yes, but if you add too much flour, your cookies won't spread as they bake. Too much flour causes the dough to become dry and crumbly, which prevents it from flattening out during baking.

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What produces crispness in cookies? ›

Sugar: Using white sugar or corn syrup in a cookie produces a crisp end product. Corn syrup also browns more readily than some other sugars. Egg: Recipes without egg will yield a flatter, crisper cookie with more spread. Eggs provide moisture for steam which leavens the cookie dough.

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What keeps cookies crisp? ›

Summer, though welcomed for the sun and fun, also brings humidity that makes your cookies limp -- not so fun. Keep those cookies crisp by storing them in an airtight container. Some people toss a piece of bread in with the cookies to help absorb any excess moisture.

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What factors contribute to the crispness of biscuits cookies? ›

List 5 factors that contribute to crispness in cookies.

Low proportion of liquid in the mix.
High sugar and fat content.
Baking long enough to evaporate most of the moisture.
Small size or thin shape.
Proper storage (cookies stored in the fridge will absorb moisture)

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