Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Like a dream come true for my peanut butter + chocolate-loving heart.
Texture: Thick, chewy, chunky, and soft.
Ease: SO easy! This is a great recipe for beginner bakers and seasoned bakers alike.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: This recipe is one of my all-time favorite cookies, and I’m sure any PB lovers out there will feel the same!!
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Obsessed with chocolate + peanut butter? Giant Reese’s Pieces Chocolate Chip Cookies are made for you!
These cookies contain an obscene amount of peanut butter and the best mix-ins you could ask for: chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and Reese’s Pieces.
Their large size, soft and chewy texture, and mouthwatering appearance make these cookies look like they came out of a bakery display case.
Struggling with Flat or Dry Cookies?
My free guide shows you how to fix texture problems and bake cookies you’ll love.
They’re slightly crispy at the edges, soft and chewy throughout, with oozing bits of chocolate and PB in each bite. Heaven!
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Giant Reese’s Pieces Chocolate Chip Cookies
What Type of Peanut Butter for Giant Reese’s Pieces Chocolate Chip Cookies?
I typically use a conventional creamy PB here, like Skippy. Natural peanut butter works great here, too, and will actually impart a stronger PB flavor – just be sure to stir it very well before using, so there are no oily pockets or dry bits. If using natural peanut butter, I like Kirkland Organic.
How to Avoid Dry Cookies
Be sure to measure your ingredients correctly, particularly the flour. Too much flour will create cakey, dry, dense, or tough cookies that don’t spread.
Measuring accurately is one of the best ways to improve your baking. Use a digital kitchen scale for best results (and fewer dishes!). If you don’t have one, use the spoon and level method.
What Type of Baking Sheet is Best?
I highly recommend using an aluminum half-sheet pan lined with parchment paper for baking cookies.
Never use dark-colored pans to bake cookies, as they tend to overly brown or even burn the bottoms of the cookies. Check out my experiments with baking pans in my Best (and WORST) Baking Pans post here.
How to Shape Giant Peanut Butter Cookies
To shape Giant Reese’s Pieces Chocolate Chip Cookies, roll the dough into 1/4-cup size balls using a 1/4-cup (aka 4-tablespoon) cookie scoop, then flatten slightly before baking (to encourage spread).
The result is a cookie as big as your hand with the perfect thickness!
Can I Make These Giant Reese’s Pieces Chocolate Chip Cookies Smaller?
Sure! If you’d like to make regular-sized cookies instead, roll the dough into 2-tablespoon-sized balls using a medium-sized cookie scoop and bake for about 10 to 12 minutes.
Do I Need to Chill This Cookie Dough?
No, you don’t have to. Baking straight away will yield delicious cookies.
If you have time, however, I do recommend chilling the Giant Reese’s Pieces Chocolate Chip Cookie dough overnight, covered well in the fridge. Here’s why:
- Chilling cookie dough is very similar to marinating meat – things just get so much better!
- The texture becomes chewier and thicker, and the flavor intensifies.
- Learn more about Why You Should Chill Your Cookie Dough here.
How to Store Giant Reese’s Pieces Chocolate Chip Cookies
Store cooled cookies at room temperature inside an airtight container for three days. Store with a tortilla to keep the cookies soft longer.
How to Make Reese’s Pieces Cookies Ahead of Time
To freeze this cookie dough, portion and flatten slightly, place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and freeze until solid. Transfer the solid cookie dough discs to an airtight container and freeze for up to 6 weeks. Get my tips on how to freeze cookie dough, and how to bake from frozen, here.
More Delicious Cookie Recipes:
Giant Reese’s Pieces Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Ingredients
- 3 cups (381 grams) all-purpose flour*,
measured correctly - 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
- 1/2 cup (135 grams) creamy peanut butter**
- 1 cup (200 grams) packed light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (170 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup (170 grams) peanut butter chips
- 1 cup (170 grams) Reese’s Pieces
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until very well combined, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla and beat until combined.
- On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture and beat until just combined. Add the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and Reese’s Pieces and beat until just combined. You may need to do this by hand with a spatula if your mixer isn’t strong enough.
- Roll the dough into 1/4-cup balls and place on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten the dough balls into 1/2-inch thick disks.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the cookies are light golden brown at the edges. Place the baking sheets on cooling racks and let cool completely. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Recipe Notes
The Ultimate Cookie Handbook
Learn the sweet SCIENCE of cookie baking in a fun, visual way to customize your own recipes frustration-free. Plus, my best 50+ homemade cookies!
This post was originally published in 2013 and has been updated with additional recipe tips. Photos by Jess Larson.
These cookies are gorgeous! The texture looks perfect. I can’t wait to make these! I read the comment about freezing the dough balls…I love doing that too! It makes it so easy to have a few freshly baked cookies anytime you want. So happy to have found your site!
These cookies look fanfreakingtastic!
I am reading The Fault in Our Stars right now. I am already so upset by it. I’m hoping for a happy ending but not holding my breath.
You had me at thick, chewy, chunky and soft! These look so fabulous!
These look incredible! I need them in my life!!
WOW – so thick and chewey and delicious looking, I have some reece’s lovers in my family who I know will LOVE these
Now those are some cookies! I love how they’re so big and studded with all of those tasty tidbits. I’m crazy about peanut butter and chocolate, so I know I’ll be wild about these. I think freezing half of the cookie dough balls is a fabulous idea. That would keep me from eating a half dozen a day, I think!
These look soooooooooo good!
These look to. die. for. I love chocolate & PB together too. I will have to try these next time I’m in the mood for cookies!
I don’t know if this is a silly question, but since I cook for only myself, I don’t like making a huge batch of cookies for just me. I know that I can freeze cookies after they are baked. However, I would prefer to freeze a dough and then either slice and bake as I would want a cookie, or in this case use a ball for a freshly baked cookie. Do you think this would be a good recipe for freezing? If not, are there other ones that you could recommend from your recipe collection? Thanks!
I definitely froze at least half of the balls of dough from this recipe. Most cookie dough recipes can be frozen just before they’re baked. I like to stick all the balls of dough I want to freeze on a small parchment lined baking sheet inside the freezer and freeze until the dough balls are hard. Then I’ll remove the dough balls to a resealable plastic bag. This way the dough doesn’t become stuck together in the freezer. Defrost at room temperature and bake per the recipe directions – you may need to add a minute or two to the baking time if the dough is still cold.
These look so soft and I love reeses pieces! I want to make these today!
these cookies look SO SO soft! they’re my FAVORITE type of cookie and you adorned them with my favorite candy 🙂 looking awesome, Tessa!!