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Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Tons of nutty peanut butter flavor perfectly complemented by the sweet brown sugar and toffee bits.
Texture: Thick, chewy, with crisp edges and soft centers.
Ease: One bowl, melted-butter method with no mixer, no chilling, and no difficult ingredients.
Why you’ll love this recipe: These cookies take no time to bring together, but your friends will think you went to a fancy bakery!
Oh am I excited to share these Peanut Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies with you!
They are ultra thick, chewy, soft in the center, but loaded with melty chocolate and crunchy toffee.
You will not believe how easy these are to make! And although the dough only takes about 15-20 minutes to prep, you can chill the dough scoops to make in advance if you prefer.
I tested this recipe with store-bought and my famous Homemade Toffee Bits and I must say, homemade turns these cookies into something extremely special. That involves extra time and energy, but you can make the toffee bits in advance to space out the work.
Recipe Ingredients
Peanut Butter: I use a well-stirred natural creamy peanut butter, like Kirkland, for the boldest flavor. You can use a conventional brand like Jif or Skippy, but the cookies will be sweeter with a milder peanut flavor.
Butter: It’s melted in this recipe, so no need to wait for it to come to room temperature or to lug out your electric mixer. If using salted butter, omit the salt from the dry ingredients.
Sugars: Brown sugar, preferably dark brown, adds moisture and a butterscotch flavor that complements the toffee. Granulated sugar helps the cookies spread just enough.
Toffee Bits: Homemade is 100% worth the extra step, one full batch is enough for this recipe (with a few bites for you to sample ;)). Store-bought Heath brand toffee bits also work as a shortcut, but the taste and texture will of course be different.
Chocolate Chips: I recommend sticking to semisweet to balance the sweetness of these cookies. My favorite is Ghirardelli.
How to Make Peanut Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies (Step by Step)
Prepare cookie dough. It should look thick and slightly greasy.
Add chocolate & toffee. Use a stiff spatula to stir together.
Combine. Don’t worry if the mix-ins don’t incorporate perfectly.
Scoop into 3-tablespoon portions, pressing the mix-ins to adhere.
Bake at 350°F for 12 minutes. If using homemade toffee, immediately run a round cookie cutter around the edges of the cookies to re-shape into perfect circles.
Cool for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely before serving or storing.
Storage & Make ahead
Make Ahead: Chill the dough scoops for up to 48 hours before baking. Your cookies will be more flavorful and thicker.
- You can also freeze the dough scoops (with toppings) in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen at 330°F, adding 2-3 extra minutes to the baking time. If they turn out too thick, bang the baking pan against a heat-safe work surface a few times as soon as you remove from the oven. Immediately use a cookie cutter slightly larger than the cookies to gently swirl any misshapen cookies into perfect circles. Learn more about freezing cookie dough here.
Room Temperature: Store the baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. If you use homemade toffee bits, the cookies get softer as they sit, which is a bonus!
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Ingredients
- 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (270 grams) creamy natural peanut butter*, very well stirred
- 1 cup (200 grams) packed brown sugar, preferably dark brown
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 1/4 cups (286 grams) all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon milk, any kind
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (255 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
- 8 ounces (240 grams) toffee bits, Heath brand or homemade**
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave butter in 20-second bursts until melted. Add the peanut butter and stir until well combined. Add in the sugars and whisk together. Set aside to cool until just warm.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- To the cooled butter mixture, add the eggs, milk, and vanilla and whisk very well until thoroughly combined. Add the flour mixture and stir with a sturdy spatula until combined. Reserving about a quarter of each for topping the dough scoops, stir in the chocolate chips and toffee. The dough will be thick and slightly greasy, don’t worry if not all the mix-ins incorporate perfectly.
- Using a large spring-loaded cookie scoop, form the dough into 3-tablespoon rounds. Press reserved chocolate chips and toffee bits firmly onto the tops of each scoop.
- For a softer cookie, bake about 12 minutes, or until lightly browned at the edges. For a crispier cookie, bake about 14 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.
- If using homemade toffee, immediately run a round cookie cutter around the edges of the cookies to re-shape into perfect circles. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before removing them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Store cookies in an airtight container for up to two days. The longer they sit, the softer they’ll become.
Notes
More Recipes You’ll Love:
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Peanut Butter Toffee Chocolate Chunk Bars
- Peanut Butter Stuffed Chocolate Cookies
Photos by Joanie Simon.
These cookies are good, not great. This recipe makes a huge batch, so you may want to consider halving it. The toffee was fun to make and turned out great. Honestly, though, I did not think it added enough to these cookies to make it worth the time. This same toffee in regular chocolate chip cookies is definitely worth the time.
This recipe was so yummy, everyone in the fam absolutely loved them!!
I garneshed a few of them with butterscoth chocolet chips and it added an extra buttery flavor which was so fun.
Thank you so much for shareing!! This recipe made my week and helped me get my baking hours in.
Ooo great addition!
Absolutely perfect cookie recipe, it reminds me so much of something my mother in law had made for years around Christmas, but she has since passed and lost with her passing was those cookie recipes. It is a nice nostalgic taste that me and my husband will treasure, for sure.
Oh, I love this so much ❤️ I’m so glad you found a little piece of those memories in this recipe, and that you and your husband can enjoy that familiar taste again. Thank you for sharing this with us!
I made these and they were fabulous! I subbed in King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure Flour and they were perfect (I was taking them for a group dessert where some folks are GF). I did use JIF Peanut Butter, Guittard Chocolate Chips and my own Home made English Toffee Crumbs (the toffee crumbs have almonds, pecans and chocolate topping) that I keep in the freezer for using for all sorts of baking recipes. This one goes on repeat for GF options as well as Gluten options!
Yum, your cookies look amazing! Thanks so much for sharing your substitutions. Glad they worked perfectly!
I just made these tonight and they are phenomenal! I measured them out at 63g each and it made 24 cookies. I baked them for 15 minutes and they are soft, thick, and perfect. I did use natural peanut butter and the peanut taste is perfect. Also made the homemade toffee (which I make for your brown butter toffee chocolate chip cookies) and it made them even better, of course. Thank you for another amazing recipe.
So happy you loved them, Michelle! 🙂
Could you use butter flavor crisco instead of butter?
Hi! I wouldn’t recommend it since it would change the flavor and texture of the cookies. Stick with butter for the best results! 🙂
Can these be made without the peanut butter? Are there any adjustments that need to be made?
Hi! The peanut butter is an important part of this recipe for flavor, texture, and structure, so I wouldn’t recommend leaving it out. Removing a full cup would require quite a bit of testing to get the texture right! If you’re not a fan of peanut butter or can’t have it, I’d recommend trying our Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies instead! 🙂
Thank you, Emily. Much appreciated.
Can this be made as a bar cookie?
We haven’t tested this recipe in bar form so I can’t say for sure what adjustments would be needed, but we do have a Peanut Butter Toffee Chocolate Chunk Bar recipe already on the site if you’re interested! 🙂