Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Like a cookie and peanut butter cup had a delicious baby.
Texture: Thick, soft, slightly chewy, with the perfect amount of peanut butter without getting stuck to the roof of your mouth.
Ease: There’s some extra prep and assembly, but this recipe is truly fun to make.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: Move over Crumbl, these bakery-style cookies will have your friends begging for more.
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If you’re looking for a knock-your-socks-off cookie recipe, you’ve found it. Just read what my photographer texted me mid-shoot:
“My husband says the cookies are ‘the best thing he’s ever eaten.’”
Sometimes recipe ideas come to me in a daydream. I was working on my Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe and caught a glimpse of my Nutella Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies. You can quickly see where my mind went.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that I think in terms of cookie flavors, since I did publish a cookbook on cookie baking. Somehow, I’ve never grown tired of dreaming up new cookie recipes.
For this recipe, I experimented with freezing scoops of peanut butter mixed with powdered sugar (a similar filling to my homemade Peanut Butter Cup recipe). While the scoops froze, I made the dough.
I experimented with a few different techniques for wrapping the dough around the frozen peanut butter scoops. First, I wrapped the dough fully, so the filling would be a surprise inside.
Ultimately, I decided to leave some of the peanut butter peeking out so the cookies would be marbled with the contrasting peanut butter interior. Not only did they look beautiful, but they whet your appetite for chocolate + peanut butter goodness.
If you’re curious about the science behind baking and learning some new cookie tips, keep reading.
Sprinkle of Science
Ingredient Notes
The Peanut Butter:
- This recipe was successfully tested with well-stirred natural peanut butter (Kirkland) as well as conventional peanut butter (Skippy).
- Scoop dollops of peanut butter and freeze them while preparing the dough.
- Natural peanut butter will give a bolder peanut butter flavor, but the scoops of peanut butter will be stickier than conventional peanut butter.
- If your scoops get sticky while handling, just return to the freezer to re-solidify.
The Cocoa Powder:
- I opted for natural cocoa powder in this recipe, which creates more chewiness and complements the peanut butter flavor in the most delightfully nostalgic way.
- To avoid dry cookies, weigh your cocoa powder (and flour!) if possible. If not, spoon and level the cocoa into your measuring cup to avoid compacting too much extra cocoa, which will dry out your cookies.
- Learn more about the differences between natural vs. Dutch-processed cocoa here.
Bake at 400°F for Thick Cookies!
Most cookies are baked at 350°F, but not this recipe. Baking slightly bigger scoops (3 tablespoons) of dough at a higher temperature creates ultra-thick cookies. I learned this method from Levain cookies in NYC. The higher temperature sets the exterior of the cookie before it can spread much, allowing the inside to remain soft and fudgy.
Storage & Freezing Notes
Baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
To freeze, place the pre-portioned, already-chilled scoops of cookie dough in an airtight container and freeze for up to 1 month. Bake from frozen at 380°F for 10 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and bang on the counter a few times, then put back in the oven for an additional minute. This will help the cookies to spread appropriately and showcase the peanut butter interior.
More Cookie Recipes You’ll Love:
- Double Chocolate Cookies
- Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Strawberry Swirl Cookies
- Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies
More Chocolate Recipes You’ll Love:
Peanut Butter Stuffed Chocolate Cookies
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Ingredients
For the peanut butter filling:
- 3/4 cup (203 grams) creamy peanut butter
- 6 tablespoons (47 grams) powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the cookie dough:
- 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (200 grams) light brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (143 grams) all-purpose flour*
- 2/3 cup (57 grams) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup (170 grams) semisweet chocolate chips, plus more for garnish
- Flaky sea salt, for finishing, optional
Instructions
Prepare the filling:
- In a medium bowl, use a stiff spatula to vigorously stir the peanut butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla until well combined.
- Using a small 1-tablespoon scoop, drop the mixture by thirteen scoops onto a small parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Freeze for at least one hour while you prepare the dough.
Prepare the cookie dough:
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, microwave the butter in 20-second bursts until melted. Whisk in the brown sugar. Let cool until just warm.
- Whisk in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract until completely smooth and combined. With a rubber spatula, stir in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Fold in the chocolate chips with a rubber spatula. Cover and chill for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. This higher temperature helps create thick cookies.
- Using a large spring-loaded scoop, drop 3-tablespoon balls of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Flatten each ball of dough and place a peanut butter ball in the center. Cover in the dough, leaving some peanut butter peeking out. Flatten slightly. Dot generously (more than you think!) with additional chocolate chips.
- If the peanut butter balls become too warm at any point, return to the freezer and return the cookie dough to the fridge until firm enough to handle.
- Bake for about 8 minutes or until just set. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle each cookie with sea salt. 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 2011 (!) and updated in 2025 with a complete recipe overhaul and new photos. Photography by Jess Gaertner.
I saw these cookies on Facebook and had to try them. I love making sweet treats for family and friends and these were a huge hit! The chocolate cookie paired with the sweet peanut butter ball were a perfect combination. I’ve made these several times and will always have these in the freezer (the dough balls freeze beautifully) so we can literally have them anytime.
PS- handle the heat always has amazing recipes!
Thanks so much for the great review, Tina! We’re thrilled to hear how much you loved the cookies 🙂
Deliciously rich. I didn’t bother adding extra choc chips for decorating and made smaller cookies – 17 from the batch – and they were a perfect size.
I was suspicious of the short 8 minute cooking time but resisted temptation to cook longer and was rewarded with perfectly baked cookies.
Thanks for an excellent recipe!
Can natural peanut butter be used? The kind that seperates an you have to stir it first.
Yep, our team tested that! See Tessa’s notes above the recipe here. Let us know what you think when you give the recipe a try!
These cookies are amazing! Freezing the peanut butter ball gives a nice bite of pb in the center of the cookie. It doesn’t melt and “disappear” into the chocolate. Brilliant!
Can crunchy pb be used?
We haven’t tried that for the filling, but I’d imagine it’d work ok! Please let us know how it goes if you give it a try.
Followed the recipe exact…….I had to freeze the cookies before baking since I had an appt. When I got home, took them out, baked them….my oven is awful so I had to add about 5 extra minutes. But they turned out perfect. The got five stars from all my kiddos….thanks for sharing! I have a feeling they will be requested quite a bit!