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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.
If you’re a cookie-a-holic like me, you’ll love making cookies that’ll rival your favorite bakery (just like these!) with my second cookbook, The Ultimate Cookie Handbook: Your Guide to Baking Perfect Cookies Every Time – now available on Amazon!
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 Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes:
See ALL of my chocolate chip cookie recipes & cookie baking tips here!
-
2 1/2
cups
(318 grams) 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
-
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
-
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
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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.
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Dough may be a little loose and slightly crumbly. If it's unbearably crumbly, that's likely due to discrepancies among brands of peanut butter. 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.
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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.
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Bake for 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
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Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
*Be sure to measure your flour correctly or you may end up with super crumbly dough and dry cookies.
**If using natural peanut butter, it must be VERY well stirred until completely smooth. Natural peanut butter will create a stronger peanut butter flavor.
This recipe was originally published in 2014 and has been updated with recipe improvements and new photos. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
I have made this recipe and it is outstanding. I do have a question. I also made the Peanut Butter Reeses and Chocolate chip cookies which I also love. I’ve been searching through the website for the recipe .because I can’t find my copy of it. Can you tell me where I can find it. It was the one I received in a Baking School segment.
Sweet Regards,
Linda Butler
Hi Linda! Is it these Giant Reese’s Pieces Chocolate Chip Cookies you’re looking for? Let me know if that’s not the one, and I’ll try to help you find it 🙂
Amazing recipe! Wonderful cookies! A family favorite!
These Are an absolute favorite. Do the cookies freeze well? I need to bake 6 dozen a week in advance but not sure if they freeze good or if they will still taste just as good.
Hi Joanna! We haven’t tried freezing the baked cookies, only the dough! Check out Tessa’s tips for this in the pink tip box, above the recipes! I would recommend making all your batches of dough, following Tessa’s instructions to freeze, then bake them off the day before or morning of your event. I hope that helps! 🙂
Amazingly delicious and decadent! This is now my go-to cookie recipe. I made these last night and this is one of the very best cookies I’ve ever eaten. The recipe is easy to follow, clean-up is minimal, and your preparation tips make all the difference. If ingredients are good quality and weighed, it seems foolproof: I substituted light brown sugar in place of dark; I was also 20g short on the brown sugar so I used extra granulated sugar. The cookies turned out beautifully. I can’t wait to try your other recipes!
Absolutely delicious! Made them for a family get together and every single person raved about them. I followed the recipe exactly except I mistakenly grabbed milk chocolate chips instead of semi sweet they were still over the top yummy but that did make them super sweet. I will definitely make these again and again. Excellent recipe!
Made these today with my niece (3 yrs). Very good! We used Guittard 63% extra dark chocolate baking chips and skippy peanut butter. Let the dough rest in the fridge for 1.5 hrs, rolled them out and then stuck them in the freezer on the tray while the oven preheated. Baked about 13 mins. She loves them and so do I. Thanks for the recipe!
Soooo good. I make made these for my friend’s birthday and everyone loves them. The cookies came out really thicc and they’re the perfect amount of soft and crispy.
Awesome recipe but they go down so easy. I do not recommend this if you are in any way trying to lose weight. AMAZING and super simple to make..
Thanks so much for sharing..
My two girls, ages 5 & 8, can make these cookies by themselves with the use of a digital scale (and a mom who separates the egg yolk!). Thanks for such a simple, delicious, foolproof recipe!
My son and I baked these cookies and they were delicious! Save this to favorites ❤️
Can I use 1 cup of Bread flour and 1 1/12 cups of All- Purpose flour in this recipe ? What do you think of 1 cup of chocolate chips and 1 cup of peanut butter chips ?
Hi Joseph! While we haven’t specifically tested that flour combination out ourselves, that should work just fine for slightly chewier, denser cookies that spread less when baked. The chocolate chips/peanut butter chips will also be perfectly fine, too! Let us know how you like these 🙂
These absolutely did not work for us. We measured and used Skippy peanut butter as well and the dough was crumbly. It was just OK when we balled it, it stuck together but we couldn’t push to flatten or they would fall apart. Once cooked, the texture was meh and the flavor was lacking. It just tastes like sugar and sweet without actual flavor. I usually follow my own recipes for cookies but wanted to try something new so followed this to a T. Recipe seems hot or miss. Won’t be making again
Hi Katie! Oh no, I’m sorry to hear that you did not enjoy these cookies! It sounds like something may have gone wrong in the process if these weren’t peanut butter-y and delicious! You dough sounds very crumbly and dry, which makes me think there may have been too much flour in your dough. How do you measure your ingredients? By volume (using cups), or by weight (using a digital kitchen scale)? When measuring by volume, it’s so easy to mis-measure flour/sugar/etc and throw off the entire chemistry of a recipe. Tessa talks about how to best measure ingredients to ensure accuracy every time, in this article here! I hope you try these cookies again, Katie – they really are delcious! Happy baking 🙂
I made these and the whole family liked them. They were not overly sweet. Easy to make. Would use this recipe again.
Wonderful to hear that, Leeann!!
I’m not sure how people are getting bad results from this recipe. I found this recipe a while back and have been using it ever since. These are the best peanut butter cookies I’ve found yet. Delicious and easy!
Yayyy! That’s so great to hear, Sarah! So glad you love this recipe so much 🙂
Awesome cookie! Great directions and tips!
So excited to hear that!! 🙂
hello there! do you have tips on trying to convert a chocolate chip cookie into a PB chocolate chip cookie and vice versa?
Hi there! That is not something that’s simple or easy to do without a lot of experimenting. I have several peanut butter cookie recipes, and tons of chocolate chip cookie recipes on my site. I would begin by looking at the recipes thoroughly and make a batch of each as written, and then begin your experiments from there, making careful note of each thing you altered with each batch, and everything you liked and didn’t like in each batch. I recommend this chocolate chip cookie recipe, and this peanut butter cookie recipe. Good luck 🙂
Ever since I found your recipe, I make these cookies nearly every other week. I have never been able to make a peanut butter cookie that has a deeply rich peanut butter flavor. These cookies have solved that problem. I mix them totally by hand! Absolutely, the best cookie I have ever eaten! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
So excited to hear that you love these cookies so much, Monica!!!
Made dough exactly to specifications except I did not chill overnight. Dough was VERY greasy/wet-ish. 12 minutes at 350 the middle of each cookie was definitely raw. Either needs higher temp, more time, or less than 3tbs scoop size. I ended up cooking for about 21 mins.
Hi Jon! Hmm, it definitely sounds like something went a little awry here! I have a couple thoughts as to what may have gone wrong:
– How do you measure your ingredients? By volume (using cups), or by weight (using a digital kitchen scale)? It’s so easy to add extra flour/sugar/etc to a recipe and throw off the entire chemistry of a recipe if measuring by volume. Tessa talks about how to best measure ingredients to ensure accuracy every time, in this article here!
– Your oven might be running a little hot. Do you have an oven thermometer to check that? Check out Tessa’s article here about ovens, full of tips!!
– I also want to check what type of peanut butter you used? Natural peanut butters can mess with the dough’s structure, and can produce a strange texture. We recommend Jiffy peanut butter for this recipe.
I hope something here helps! If not, please feel free to reach back out to us – we are always more than happy to help!! Happy baking
Oh my word!!! Best cookies ever!! I can truly say in all honesty that I think these are the best cookies I’ve ever made. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe! I made them exactly as stipulated and it was quick and easy. I know these will become a firm favourite in my home.
Blessings from South Africa!
So excited to hear that you loved these cookies so much, Tamsyn!!
Hi Linda, just wondering how many calories are in each cookie thanks!
Fiona
Hi Fiona! Here at Handle the Heat, we don’t count calories! We firmly believe that dessert should be an indulgence. You should be able to find a calorie counter online to assist with this, though! 🙂
Hi Wendy! I’m sorry to hear these cookies did not turn out as you’d hoped. As long as your butter/peanut butter mixture isn’t hot, and just warm, it won’t cook your eggs!
In case you’re interested in troubleshooting at all, I have a couple of ideas as to what may have gone wrong here. Are you weighing your ingredients, or measuring by volume? Weighing vs. measuring by volume can have a huge impact on your baked goods. It’s so easy to over or under-measure ingredients, especially flour, when measuring by volume – which can take cookies from delicious, to bland and crumbly before they even hit the oven! Tessa talks about how to measure ingredients for best results in this article here.
Another issue could be your leavening agents may not be fresh. If your baking powder and/or soda are not fresh, this can impact the cookie’s ability to rise, and result in cookie puddles or cookie bricks! Tessa shows you how to test for leavener freshness in this article here!
Lastly, I wonder if you possibly used smaller eggs than we recommend? Large eggs should weigh approximately 56 grams in shell, or 50 grams out of the shell. The eggs plus egg yolk in this recipe, combined with the butter and peanut butter, should be sufficient to make this dough moist and not crumbly. If your eggs were medium or smaller, it’s more likely that this dough would have seemed crumbly, and therefore seemed like it needed more liquid. The addition of the milk may have also contributed to the strange crumbly consistency!
I hope something here helps! If not, please feel free to reach back out to us – we are always more than happy to help!! I hope you give this recipe another try sometime – these really are delicious cookies! Happy baking
They were horrible !
Hi Jill! I’m sorry to hear these cookies did not turn out as you’d hoped. In case you’re interested in troubleshooting at all, I have a couple of ideas as to what may have gone wrong here. Are you weighing your ingredients, or measuring by volume? Weighing vs. measuring by volume can have a huge impact on your baked goods. It’s so easy to over or under-measure ingredients, especially flour, when measuring by volume – which can take cookies from delicious to bland before they even hit the oven! Tessa talks about how to measure ingredients for best results in this article here.
Another issue could be your leavening agents may not be fresh. If your baking powder or soda are not fresh, this can impact the cookie’s ability to rise, and result in cookie puddles or cookie bricks! Tessa shows you how to test for leavener freshness in this article here!
How long did you cream your butter and sugars together for, and how warm your butter was at this time? Both have a huge impact on a cookie’s outcome. Have a look at this article, where Tessa discusses both and the repercussions on the resulting baked goods!
I also want to check what type of peanut butter you used? Natural peanut butters can mess with the dough’s structure, and can produce a crumbly or strange texture. We recommend Jiffy peanut butter for this recipe.
I hope something here helps! If not, please feel free to reach back out to us – we are always more than happy to help!! Happy baking
They turned out beautiful and tasty !
Yay!! So happy to hear that, Rebekah!!
My favorite cookies EVER!!!!!!
Yay!! That makes us sooo happy to hear!!!
The recipe was very clear and easy to follow. I adjusted the recipe a little bit because I didn’t have brown sugar and I wanted to use less sugar, since I have family members with type 2 diabetes. So I used just one cup of white sugar. I also left the dough in the fridge for 1.5 hours.
The result was a good cookie, I liked that it didn’t really spread on the baking tray, but my cookies were more cake-y than chewy. I assume this is due to not using brown sugar, but otherwise I will probably try this recipe again, but with chunky peanut butter because I’d like an added crunch.
Hi there! I’m glad to hear you found this recipe clear and easy to follow, even if it didn’t turn out as it should by eliminating some of the sugar! While I completely understand your need to reduce the sugar content in such recipes, we really recommend sticking with the quantity of sugar in any recipe, as-written, for many reasons. Sugar doesn’t just sweeten baked goods; it moistens, provides tender structure, assists with gluten formation, extends the shelf-life (meaning it will be fresh and moist longer), and assists in creating a taller and lighter finished product – just to name a few things! Dark brown sugar brings even more moistness, due to its extra molasses content, and that molasses also brings acid, which helps activate the leaveners! Reducing the sugar content in a recipe doesn’t just lower sweetness; it messes with the recipe’s chemistry and creates a totally different baked good. I hope you will try this recipe again as-written, and hopefully you will find these cookies are as delicious as you originally hoped! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions – we are always happy to help 🙂
for a thick and soft cookie, they’re pretty good, although a little bit TOO sweet, and a very mild peanut flavor (hence 4 stars instead of 5)
just don’t think that they’re chewy (bc that’s what i was expecting and i was surprised lol)
Hi Alex! I’m glad you enjoyed these cookies, even if they did not turn out as you’d hoped. In case you’re interested in troubleshooting at all, I have a couple of ideas as to what may have gone wrong here. Are you weighing your ingredients, or measuring by volume? Weighing vs. measuring by volume can have a huge impact on your baked goods, and this may be the cause of these seeming a little too sweet for your preferences. Tessa talks about how to measure ingredients for best results in this article here. I also want to check what type of peanut butter you used? Natural peanut butters can mess with the dough’s structure, and can produce a crumbly or strange texture.
If you just wish to try a different peanut butter cookie recipe, I highly recommend trying out Tessa’s Giant Reese’s Pieces Chocolate Chip Cookies! There is a more pronounced peanut butter flavor in those cookies, and they also contain Reese’s Pieces, so there’s an even bigger peanut butter punch from those, too! I hope this helps! Happy baking
Just wondering if the cookie dough or baked cookies freeze well?
Hi Betsy! Yes, you can absolutely freeze the cookie dough! We like to scoop the 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. Check out this article for all of Tessa’s tips on freezing cookie dough here! As for freezing baked cookies, it may work to wrap them in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container in the freezer – but we haven’t tried that ourselves, so I can’t say for sure! I would definitely recommend freezing the dough and baking some off whenever you fancy, rather than freezing the baked ones, for best results 🙂 I hope that helps! Happy baking!!
Made this. Directions were very good.
However, not much flavor, didn’t care for texture.
Wi)l definitely not make these again.
Hi Scotty! I’m sorry to hear these cookies did not turn out as you’d hoped. In case you’re interested in troubleshooting at all, I have a couple of ideas as to what may have gone wrong here. Are you weighing your ingredients, or measuring by volume? Weighing vs. measuring by volume can have a huge impact on your baked goods. Tessa talks about how to measure ingredients for best results in this article here. I also want to check what type of peanut butter you used? Natural peanut butters can mess with the dough’s structure, and can produce a crumbly or strange texture. Alternatively, if you just wish to try a different recipe, I highly recommend trying out Tessa’s Giant Reese’s Pieces Chocolate Chip Cookies! There is a more pronounced peanut butter flavor in those cookies, and they also contain Reese’s Pieces, so there’s an even bigger peanut butter punch from those, too! I hope this helps! Happy baking
I made these gluten free and they came out spectacular! Followed the directions to a T (except of course the flour) and my family and I were not disappointed. I also used chunky Skippy and two types of chips. Definitely making these again.
Yay! I’m so glad these were delicious, Sue – and even with your gluten-free substitution!
I made the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies this weekend and they were the best Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies I’ve ever made. They were so thick and chewy, just like the picture in Tessa’s Book and on line. I do however have a question. Before I purchased the book, I printed the recipe above. When looking at the recipe in the book vs the one on your website I noticed two discrepancies. The book recipe does not say anything about chilling the dough nor does it say to slightly flatten your scooped out dough before baking. However the recipe above says to chill the dough and flatten the scooped balls before baking. I followed the book and as I said they were delicious (I ate way too many, LOL!) Just out of curiosity, is there a reason why they are different recipes and which would you recommend?
Sweet Regards, Linda Butler
Hi Linda! I’m so happy to hear that you love this peanut butter cookie recipe so much! Regarding your question about the differences between the blog version and printed version of the recipe, it’s simply that we can update the online version easily, and we cannot so easily update the printed cookbook version! After further testing, we determined that pressing the cookies down slightly made for a better texture once baked, and we did include this in the second edition of the cookbook! Your copy must be from our first printing run, and therefore it was prior to this decision! As for the chilling question, it is not entirely necessary with this particular recipe (although Tessa does recommend it for most cookie recipes – read why here!) so it was missed in the cookbook as it was determined to be an optional step. We do prefer them after a chilling period, though! I hope that helps and answers your questions! 🙂
These cookies are amazing!!! Everyone loved them.
Yay! We love hearing that, Wei!! 🙂
I loved this recipe so much . It’s really awesome
Thank you so much for the recipe. Cookies are delicious. I love how they have dark brown sugar in as this gave them such a rich toffee flavour. I used crunchy peanut butter which gave them little pieces of peanut throughout. I also used dark, milk and white chocolate chunks (chopped some chocolate bars). I rolled the dough into balls then froze them for 30 minutes which worked a charm. I then cooked 9 and ziplock bagged the rest in the freezer for another time (just as well or we would have eaten them all!) My family all loved them especially my little ones! Highly recommend and will make these again!
Yay!! So happy these were a hit with your whole family, Louise!!
Hello! My dough is currently in the fridge and I plan to mail these cookies to friends nationwide this week- do you think they’ll be okay? I always wrap my cookies tight with seran wrap to keep them safe! ◡̈
Hi Ahlam! These cookies will stay fresh and delicious for about three days. If you bake them the morning you plan to mail them, then (once cooled completely) wrap them very thoroughly in plastic wrap (and maybe even a zip-top bag or an airtight container around that, too, for extra protection from the elements!), you will hopefully still have delicious cookies at the other end of their journey! I can’t guarantee they will still be perfect, of course, as we have not tried this, but hopefully they will still taste great! I hope that helps! Happy baking 🙂
These are ridiculous cookies. My new favorite peanut butter recipe. Many thanks for weighted measurements! Can you do this for the eggs too? I keep bantam chickens, and they lay eggs that are 30 grams to 45 grams in size. I can roughly estimate 2 to 3 eggs to every 1 “large” supermarket egg but weights would help. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
Hi Sarah! I’m so excited you loved these cookies! Large eggs in the USA are typically around 50 grams. I hope that helps! 🙂
amazing!!!! I used MaraNatha natural organic peanut butter and baked right after mixing.. OH MY… so so good.. AND i used a scale to measure… didnt realize how much measuring make a difference. i measured it like i always did then put that amount on the scale and was WAY OVER… from now on i am using grams… i recently am making sour dough bread using bakers measurements and will follow suit with recipes from now on… big difference. THANKS great recipe to take to my father in law.. he loves PB cookies.
Hi Julie Ann! I’m so happy you and your father-in-law loved these peanut butter cookies – and SO thrilled you love weighing to measure!! Isn’t it crazy the difference it makes!?
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 🙂
Followed the recipe exactly, used Jiff creamy peanut butter. They are good, but like a previous comment they didn’t have enough peanut butter flavor. Thanks!
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 🙂
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.