Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Chocolate and peanut butter has been my favorite sweet combination since before I can remember! I am obsessed!
Texture: Thick, chewy, soft, melty, and wonderful.
Ease: Very simple.
Pros: Perfect PB chocolate chip cookies.
Cons: None!
Would I make this again? Oh yeah. I’ve always got a batch of these portioned into dough balls sitting in my freezer ready to be baked off whenever the craving strikes.
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These Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are one of my absolute favorite desserts on the planet.
If you read Handle the Heat regularly, you likely know I adore the combination of chocolate and peanut butter.
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 continuing to enjoy them together. I literally eat peanut butter every day. Same for chocolate. 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 thick and chewy, yet soft, and have just amazing peanut butter flavor. They are 1000% perfect with a glass of cold milk.
The best part? You don’t even need a stand mixer to make this peanut butter chocolate chip cookie recipe, they’re so easy.
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Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
How to Make CHEWY Cookies & Not Dry Peanut Butter Cookies!
- The high ratio of brown sugar and the extra egg yolk in this recipe help contribute a rich, chewy, and thick texture with lots of flavor.
- Be sure to measure your flour correctly (by weighing with a digital scale, or with the spoon and level method) to avoid creating cakey, dense, or tough cookies that don’t spread.
- Measuring your dry ingredients accurately is one of the best ways to improve your baking.
- If You Don’t Measure Your Flour Correctly, YOU COULD END UP WITH CRUMBLY DOUGH and dry, hard cookies lacking in flavor. Just check out the image below, showing the difference between correctly and incorrectly measured chocolate chip cookies.
The Best Peanut Butter for Baking
- This recipe has been successfully tested with conventional peanut butter (Skippy) AND natural peanut butter, with reservations.
- Check out my peanut butter experiment here.
- Only use natural peanut butter if it’s VERY well stirred to be completely smooth and cohesive with no oily or dry bits.
- When it’s very smooth, natural peanut butter will yield a much more bold peanut butter flavor!
Which Chocolate Chips for Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies?
I prefer the taste of semi-sweet chocolate chips in these cookies, but you could also use the same amount of milk chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, or chocolate chunks. Feel free to substitute peanut butter chips for some of the chocolate chips, if you wish!
Cookie Size and Shape
- These are large chocolate chip peanut butter cookies, just the way I like ’em!
- I use my large 3-Tablespoon cookie scoop to form these cookie dough balls.
- You can use the medium cookie scoop to make 1.5 tablespoon-sized balls of dough, if you prefer. Just shave off about 2 minutes from the baking time.
- Peanut butter in cookie recipes prevents normal spreading, so that’s why we are flattening the balls well with the palm of your hand before baking. This will encourage them to spread more while they bake.
What Type of Baking Sheet for Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies?
- I ALWAYS use an unlined aluminum half-sheet pan for baking 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.
- Never use dark-colored pans to bake cookies, as they tend to overly brown or even burn the bottoms of the cookies.
Do I Need to Chill Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough?
For best results, chill the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie dough overnight in a large bowl in the fridge. Here’s why:
- 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.
How to Make Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Ahead
Make the cookie dough as instructed and portion out the dough balls using a cookie scoop. Place the dough balls in a single layer on a baking sheet, freeze them until solid, then remove them to a freezer bag to store in the freezer. Defrost the dough overnight in the fridge, or for an hour or so at room temperature before baking (less if your kitchen is warm). 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.
More Cookie Recipes You’ll Love:
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies
- Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
- S’mores Cookies
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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups (318 grams) bleached all-purpose flour, measured correctly*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup (202 grams) creamy peanut butter**
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (200 grams) packed dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups (340 grams) semi sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large heat-safe bowl, microwave the butter until melted. Vigorously stir the peanut butter into the hot butter until well combined. Stir in the granulated sugar and brown sugar until well combined. Add the eggs and yolk, one at a time, stirring well after each addition. Add in the vanilla. Gradually stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Dough may be loose and slightly crumbly. It will not appear like normal chocolate chip cookie dough. If it's unbearably crumbly, that's likely due to discrepancies among brands of peanut butter and if you used unbleached flour. Add 2 tablespoons milk if that's the case.
- OPTIONAL: If time permits, cover the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours but no more than 72 hours. Let the dough sit at room temperature just until it is soft enough to scoop.
- Divide the dough into 3-tablespoon sized balls using a spring-loaded cookie scoop and drop onto prepared baking sheets. Flatten dough slightly into disc shapes with your palms. Dot each disc with a few extra chocolate chips for picture-perfect cookies.
- Bake for 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
- Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Recipe Notes
This recipe was originally published in 2014 and has been updated with recipe improvements and new photos. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
Absolutely delicious. Followed the recipe exactly but did use my stand mixer. So easy! Best cookies I have ever made.
Can you omit the sugar and replace it with honey or maple?
We haven’t tried that, though sugar does more than just sweeten! I’d recommend baking the recipe first as written before making any adjustments so you have something to compare it to.
Absolutely the best cookies I have ever made. My 27 y/o is coming home tonight and I don’t think these will last long. These are definite keepers!
Quite literally the best cookies I’ve ever had. Period. Absolutely amazing flavor, perfectly chewy..they’re honestly a bakery level cookie. These are my new go to cookie. Completely blown away
Hi Shannon! Wow, thanks so much for the comment – we’re so thrilled to hear that you loved these cookies so much!! Happy baking 🙂
This is a really awesome Recipe. I have made this recipe almost 10 times now and it’s been less then 3 months since I found it.
Woohoo! So glad you enjoy these cookies so much, Elizabeth!
I’ve made this recipe twice, and it’s great, but that is too many chocolate chips, 1 cup is enough.
Why preheat oven when the dough needs to be refrigerated for 24 hrs?
Hi Jacee! As mentioned in the recipe, the 24-hour chill period is optional, and only suggested if time permits (for the reasons mentioned in the tip box, above the recipe). Let us know what you think of these cookies once you have given them a try 🙂
Amazing cookie! I substituted 1 cup of the flour with Almond flour and used dark chocolate chips. Baked 11 minutes not 12. This recipe is going in my cookbook!
Followed your recipe exactly except, accidently dropped the third egg in whole! Cookies turned out a beautiful golden brown and soft inside. A great recipe and delicious cookies.
I used a mixer for the flour mix to peanut butter combo and hand rolled dark chocolate chips into each cookie before flattening and adding more on top. The chocolate chips didn’t fully melt like I was hoping, although it does look similar to the picture. Is there a way I can ensure the chocolate chips melt inside the cookie for a more marble color? Otherwise pretty good turnout, must add more choco chips.
Hi Cynthia! Chocolate chips actually contain ingredients to prevent them from fully melting and ensure they hold their shapes! Feel free to experiment with using a finely chopped block of chocolate instead of all or some of the chocolate chips, as the fine pieces will melt better and may produce a result closer to what you’re hoping for. I hope that helps 🙂
I followed the recipe exactly but added PB chips as my 9 year old requested. The batter had an oily sheen. I used Jiffy Natural PB. I thought these were good, but my son says he likes the Betty Crocker PB cookies better. I think the Betty Crocker recipe had more PB flavor. I’ve been making this for years, but thought I would try a new recipe.
Amazing cookies!!