Recently someone asked me why I loved the combination so much and I was taken aback slightly. My first thought was “well why wouldn’t I love this magic duo?” Then I realized that I’ve loved the flavors together since before I could remember. Since childhood two of my favorite foods have been chocolate and peanut butter, so it only makes sense that I absolutely adore them combined!
I’m actually surprised I’m not utterly sick of either of these flavors, let alone enjoying them together. I literally eat peanut butter everyday. I eat chocolate ALMOST everyday (like probably 360 days out of 365). And yet I’m still obsessed with the two, which is good for you because it leads me to share recipes like these Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.
These cookies are ridiculously big, thick, and chewy yet soft and have just amazing flavor. They are 1000% perfect with a glass of cold milk. Best part? You don’t even need a stand mixer to make these, they’re so easy. Check out the notes below because I’ve tried to answer all your questions and give you a perfect understanding of how the recipe works.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Tips
How to Make CHEWY Cookies
The recipe is adapted from my Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies, a recipe I worked very hard to perfect. The high ratio of brown sugar and the extra egg yolk help contribute a rich, chewy, and thick texture with lots of flavor.
Be sure to measure your flour correctly (by weighing or with the spoon and level method) to avoid creating cakey, dense, or tough cookies that don’t spread.
If you don’t measure your flour correctly, YOU COULD END UP WITH CRUMBLY DOUGH!
Please follow the recipe as written, I craft my recipes carefully so you can have the best results possible!
The Best Peanut Butter for Baking
For best results, use a standard commercial brand of creamy peanut butter. I used Skippy for this recipe. Avoid any “natural” peanut butters where the oil separates. The dough won’t come together nicely if you don’t use commercial peanut butter with an added oil.
Size and Shape
These are large cookies, just the way I like ’em! I used my beloved OXO large cookie scoop to make these babies which is a 3-tablespoon sized scoop. You can make smaller 2 tablespoon-sized balls of dough and shave off about 2 minutes from the baking time, if you’d like.
The peanut butter in cookie recipes does prevent normal spreading. After you shape the dough into balls, flatten the balls well with the palm of your hand. This will encourage them to spread more while they bake. Don’t forget this!
Baking Perfect Cookies
I ALWAYS use a heavy duty unlined aluminum half sheet pan for baking cookies. Never use dark colored pans to bake cookies, they tend to overly brown or even burn the bottoms of the cookies. Additionally, I always use parchment paper for baking cookies. I find silicone baking mats produce less of a crunchy exterior crust and are just one extra thing to clean.
Chilling the Dough and Making Ahead
For best results, chill the dough overnight in the fridge. Why on earth would I recommend you delay your cookie satisfaction?
Well chilling chocolate chip cookie dough is very similar to marinating meat – things just get so much better. The texture becomes chewier and thicker and the flavor intensifies. If you don’t have time, no worries. You can bake the dough off after it’s made.
To freeze: I like to scoop my dough balls out, freeze them until solid, then remove them to a ziptop bag to store in the freezer. You can defrost the dough overnight in the fridge, or for an hour or so at room temperature before baking. You can bake from frozen, but note that with this recipe the cookies won’t spread as much.
Get all of my tips for freezing cookie dough here.
Literally some of the best cookies I’ve ever made. They look and taste like they’re straight out of a bakery and the dough was so easy to work with!
SO thrilled to hear that, Katie!! Glad you loved this recipe 🙂 Happy baking!!
Tried this recipe today and they turned out great. I love the texture of the cookie and that it didn’t melt down to a crispy circle. I didn’t have time to refrigerate so I put my mixing bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill and it worked.
Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Melody! That’s so wonderful to hear, and I’m so glad you found a trick that works for you 🙂 Happy baking 🙂
Does it make any difference if you use light brown sugar instead of the dark brown sugar in the recipe? What is the differnce?
Hi Deb! It actually does make a difference if you use light vs. dark brown sugar! The difference between light and dark brown sugar is the amount of molasses in the sugar. Dark brown sugar contains almost twice as as much molasses as light brown sugar, which means that dark brown sugar gives baked goods a richer, deeper, more caramel-y, butterscotch-y flavor. The amount of molasses contained in the sugars also means they will contribute a different level of moisture to a recipe. My recommendation is to stick with the recipe as written the first time, and if you wish to experiment from there the next time, go for it, and adjust accordingly moving forward! I hope that answers your question! Happy baking 🙂
My grand-daughter and I mixed up 2 batches of this recipe yesterday and after chilling overnight, I baked them this afternoon. We made the first batch just as your recipe is supposed to be made. The second batch we substituted 1 cup of Mini-Chocolate chips and 1 cup of baking Mini-M & M’s. Both batches turned out great. The only other thing I changed was I used Jif Creamy Peanut butter and I used a smaller cookie scoop and baked for 10 minutes instead of 12 minutes. They are a big hit and my daughter wanted the recipe as soon as she ate one. My husband had one and then sneaked a second one even though he is diabetic. I had to hide the rest from him. I will be making these more often.
I did get some dark brown sugar before baking the two batches I mentioned above. I am wondering if you use light brown sugar can you add some molasses and how much would you add?
Hi Deb! Great question – yes, you actually can add molasses to light brown or even white sugar, to make DIY dark brown sugar! Tessa recommends adding 2-3 Tablespoons of molasses per cup of white sugar. I’d probably start with 1 Tablespoon of molasses if you’re adding it to a cup of light brown sugar, and you can always add a little more to taste. Adding molasses is essentially adding extra liquid to the recipe, so it can alter the texture slightly, but it shouldn’t make much of a difference for these cookies. Happy baking! 🙂
Hi Deb! Yay!! I’m so happy your granddaughter, daughter and husband loved these cookies so much! 🙂
Absolutely love the way these cookies turned out! I find that PB cookies can be chalky, dry and overbearing with the PB flavor – not these. These cookies turned out perfect. Just a beautiful balance of PB and chocolate. Thank you so much for this recipe. I had to leave a rating.
Hi Kathy! I’m so happy to hear you loved these cookies! Thank you for letting us know! Happy baking 🙂
The cookies turned out good, but they don’t have enough peanut butter flavor for my taste. I’m still looking for a good peanut butter cookie recipe, but I might have to just develop my own, using what I learned from the Ultimate Cookie Handbook.
Hi Margaret! I’m sorry these cookies didn’t pack enough peanut butter punch for your liking! If you have not previously tried Tessa’s Giant Reese’s Pieces Chocolate Chip Cookies, I highly recommend trying those! There is a more pronounced peanut butter flavour in those cookies, and they also contain Reese’s Pieces, so there’s an even bigger peanut butter flavour from those, too 🙂 I hope that helps your quest! Happy baking 🙂
This recipe is pretty good.
I am new to the baking scene I started out with some easier cookies I am a 54 yr old male who could cook but never tried baking until about 3 months ago last night I stepped out these cookies were so good I used Skippy peanut butter my favorite and they were great even got the thumbs up from mom the 12 min cook time is perfect just a really good recipe that produces very good cookies thank you I will be making more
So happy to hear how much you loved this recipe, Mark! Thanks for taking the time to let us know, we appreciate hearing from you! 🙂
I followed the recipe exactly and used the same exact peanut butter, but my cookies came out very crumbly and weird-looking. My dough was also very crumbly even after using 2 tablespoons of milk. What should I do next time?
Sorry to hear that, Caroline! What kind of peanut butter did you use? Also, do you use a digital scale to measure your ingredients? Typically when dough is crumbly, it’s due to too much flour being added. Check out our tips in the pink box above the recipe, and please let us know how it goes if you try this recipe again!
It’s the second time I’ve made this now. Simply the best. Thanks for the recipe.
So happy you love this recipe, thanks for the comment!
So soft, chewy, and amazing flavor!
Made these humongous cookies now they’re cooling off I only made one batch yet instead of two out of it but I saved the other batch for later.
Good, not great.
Made just as the recipe suggested, incl refrigerator overnight, except I used chunky peanut butter (who wouldn’t, if chunky is your preference?) and I used a mix of milk and dark chocolate chunks.
Would chunky peanut butter work as well?
Hi Julie! We haven’t tried that, but other readers have with success 🙂
These were delicious!! I am wondering if anyone has made these using a dairy free butter substitute- in the stick form? A friend has a dairy allergy and I am always looking for a fun treat.
I’m not sure on that, but let us know how it goes if you experiment! For a tested dairy-free cookie recipe, you might be interested in our Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies 🙂
Dang. I got my wife to make this recipe, and I helped where I could… but wow. Seriously awesome cookies! They disappeared overnight lol. Thanks for this easy to follow recipe, no problems here!
So happy you loved them!
My husband has been asking for peanut butter cookies. Google led me to this recipe. My husband proclaimed that these aren’t just the best peanut butter cookies he has ever had, they are now his favorite cookies ever. I guess I’ll be making them again =)
The only changes I made, based on the other reviews, are that I used approximately 1 cup of peanut butter (instead of 3/4 cup) and 1 cup of chocolate chips (instead of 2 cups). I think my cookies are slightly smaller than the recipe’s and I baked them for 10 minutes. I live at around 6,000 feet and did not make any adjustments for elevation.
Wow, the ultimate compliment! So happy your adjustments worked perfectly, and we appreciate hearing how it went at high altitude! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment 🙂
Anyone need half a jar of Skippy PB? These cookies taste good, but overall, meh. Weighed the flour, weighed the sugar. Refrigerated the dough overnight. Per instructions, used Skippy PB, which is not a product I would normally buy. Despite all that, when I tried to scoop ithe dough, it was too dry, so I had to add some milk (used 2 T as suggested). Still on the crumbly side, yet the dough is so greasy that it won’t hold the chocolate chips, and they fall out if they’re not completely surrounded by dough, so if they’re at the edge of the cookie, the edges end up very ragged looking. Oh, and use the stand mixer, it’s a lot easier. Not likely to make these again – I think I’ll stick with Madeleines.
Super yummy! I made them exactly as the recipe states (except for chilling them overnight because I couldn’t wait that long for cookies), and they turned out great. I used Jif Creamy PB, and Ghiradelli 60% cocoa chocolate chips. Thank you for the great recipe!
Amazing. I have never made better cookies. 10/10.
So happy to hear that!
It has been a LONG time since I have mixed cookie dough by hand, quieter than the mixer, and refreshing.
These are EXCELLENT and this recipe will be added to my regular rotation.
LOVE the measurement by weight.
I used Adam’s Crunchy Peanutbutter because that’s what we have.
There’s something special about mixing dough by hand for sure! So happy you loved this recipe, thanks for the comment!
I made these last night, I scooped the balls and stuck them in the freezer for 10 minutes and they were awesome!!!
Happy you enjoyed your cookies, Kate!
These are the BEST peanut butter cookies I have ever made! Somehow I’ve spent 49 years without a clue about how to properly measure flour. Thanks for the pro-tip!
So happy to hear that, Sarah!
I’ve never been a fan of peanut butter cookies but this recipe changed my mind. They’re amazing!!!
I deliberately was looking for a PEANUT BUTTER cookie. We followed the recipe exactly and none of us can taste the peanut butter at all. It’s a good cookie, but I’m very disappointed that all the extra work resulted in “peanut butter” cookies that have no taste of peanut butter.
I have made these cookies more times than I can count. LOVE this recipe, thank you for changing my life.
Yay! So happy to hear how much you love this recipe!
Yowza, these are so good! One of the rare cookies that is actually better cold than fresh out of the oven – the peanut butter flavor comes out more as the cookie chills. I chilled my dough for a few hours rather than overnight and they still turned out great.
I agree with a few of the other comments about the amount of chocolate chips – I think when I make these again, I’ll only add ~1-1.5 cups to the dough, then I’ll just stick extra on top of the cookie as needed. I still had a lot of chips in the bottom of the bowl as I was mixing that didn’t get incorporated. I’ll also consider adding some peanut butter chips. 🙂
I was concerned that the dough was too thick and that I was overmixing (I wasn’t using an electric mixer), but luckily I didn’t. I had to mix with my hands for a bit to get all the wet and dry ingredients combined, but it got the job done!
Thanks so much for your feedback, Lauren!
Hello. I’m a very old man (age 79) and I love baking for my grandchildren, so I made this recipe exactly as directed–I even used parchment paper on the baking sheets! Exact size, too–I have a #24 scoop which is exactly 3 tablespoons, I put 3 extra chocolate chips on each cookie–and it made 27 cookies. My daughter and her three kids (ages about 10 and 11) came to my house for their regular bi-weekly “after school cookies at Grandpa’s house” event yesterday. The kids liked the cookies very much and the cookies were just as you said they would be. Our only negative comment: the chocolate flavor dominated and rather obscured the peanut butter flavor. I think next time I’ll use just one cup (6 ounces) of chocolate chips in order for more of the peanut butter taste to be enjoyed more fully.
I have a lot more comments on this recipe, in addition to some suggestions for you, but I won’t bother your readers with all of that. If you are interested in my “other comments,” please send me a separate email to use for that purpose. I think you will enjoy hearing from me, as all of it is affirmative and perhaps helpful.
I’m so glad to hear everyone enjoyed the cookies! After-school cookies at Grandpa’s sounds like so much fun, and such a great way to make wonderful memories 🙂 Feel free to swap out some (or all) of the chocolate chips for peanut butter chips instead if you’d like to really amp up the peanut butter flavor! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment, we appreciate the feedback!
Thanks for your answer! I’ve been thinking, and I think the next time i make these, I will use only 1 cup of chocolate chips..AND..omit the vanilla entirely. I think the vanilla contributes to “muting” the flavor of the peanut butter. Standard peanut butter cookies don’t normally call for vanilla at all.
I made these, absolutely love them. I upped the peanut butter amount to about 300g based on reviews plus I only had half the amount of choc chips on hand. I actually used a natural peanut butter against your recommendation (mayvers dark roast crunchy) again because it was all I had, and it turned out fine, mixture wasn’t all crumbly. Thought to let you know. Thanks for a great recipe!
So happy your cookies turned out perfectly! Thanks so much for your feedback 🙂
Hi again Tessa!
Yes, I have set you up as a bookmarked site because I have learned to trust that you know what you are talking about! Raving reviews from me about you and your site!
My question is about cookie sizes and their actual weights. How many grams on average, because cookies have different ingredients I’m sure) would be in a 1, 2 or 3 tablespoon cookie? I’m finding that I am weighing everything these days!
Lauryl
Hi Lauryl! Great question! We haven’t experimented with weighing each cookie made in our scoops, but you are correct in that each type of cookie would weigh differently depending on the ingredients used. I did some quick research and found an article you might be interested in: http://www.bakersbrigade.com/cookie-scoop-sizes-explained/. It’s an older article, but it might help with your question!