Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

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These thick, sweet, soft, and chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies have the perfect texture — a thick, luscious center with slightly crisp edges. These cookies are loaded with chocolate in every bite!

For when plain peanut butter cookies just won’t do, add some chocolate chips! Or make Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies by replacing the chocolate chips with peanut butter chips. If you haven’t guessed yet, there are no limits to what I’ll try when it comes to cookies!

Image of the stacked Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Easy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

That’s right — easy cookies! No stand mixer or hand mixer is required. All you need is one large bowl and a whisk or wooden spoon.

These cookies are thick, soft, chewy, and the perfect blend of chocolate and peanut butter.

Process shots-- images of the butter, sugars, peanut butter, and vanilla and it all being mixed together

Variation Ideas

  • Make these cookies healthier by using honey and oats and reducing the sugar (which is what I do in these Healthy Breakfast Cookies!).
  • Try this recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies vegan-style! (Replace the honey with agave, use a vegan crispy rice cereal, and vegan chocolate for the drizzle.)
  • To make Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies without flour, try these flourless Monster Cookies.
  • To make Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, try these Trail Mix Cookies with peanuts and peanut butter chips!
  • OR make Chocolate Cookies with peanut butter chips.

Process shots of Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies-- images of the eggs, salt, baking soda, and flour being added and it all being mixed together

What Makes Cookies Soft And Moist?

The more moisture in cookies, the chewier and softer they will be. For a soft and moist cookie, you’ll need to use a recipe with a higher moisture content than typical. For this particular recipe, we achieve this by using two large eggs instead of just one, an entire cup of brown sugar (the added molasses has a 10% water composition), and a bit less flour.

To make these Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies chewy, soft, and perfectly moist, ever-so-slightly underbake. If you overbake these cookies, the taste and texture will be off. Because they firm up more as they cool, if overbaked they become harder and crisper as they cool.

Why Are My Peanut Butter Cookies Gritty?

A likely suspect is old or hard brown sugar. If there are clumps of sugar in the dough, it won’t dissolve completely during mixing or baking– which results in a gritty texture.

Gritty cookies can also result from not chilling the dough long enough or adding the sugars into hot melted butter. Let the melted butter cool to room temperature before adding in the sugars.

While the recipe is intended to be simple, follow mixing instructions precisely for the best results.

Process shots-- images of the chocolate chips being added and the dough being rolled into balls, and it all being baked

How To Make Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

  1. Use room temperature eggs. This ensures the eggs disperse more evenly into the batter, giving these cookies a lighter texture (the eggs trap air). 
  2. Add eggs one at a time. Each egg should be thoroughly mixed in before adding the next egg. This allows the eggs to be evenly mixed in AND allows the eggs to emulsify with the fats (the butter and peanut butter in this recipe).

How To Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

  1. Bake on a Silpat liner. These cookies come out best when baked on a silicone liner — they bake evenly and the bottoms won’t get too crispy. (Parchment paper is the next best thing!)
  2. Use a food scale if you have one. A food scale ensures the right amount of flour (measuring flour can wildly vary from person to person!). It also makes sure you’ve got even-sized cookie dough balls (and evenly baked cookies). If you simply eyeball the portions, you may end up with some overbaked cookies while other cookies aren’t fully baked due to the inconsistent cookie dough ball sizes. 
  3. Bake at 325 degrees F (162°C). Most of my cookie recipes bake at 350 degrees F (176°C), but these cookies are best at 325 (162°C). The temperature is an easy thing to miss, and it makes a big difference in the softness of these cookies.

Image of the stacked Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

STORAGE

Storage And Freezing

These cookies store well at room temperature (in an airtight container) for 3-4 days. Baked cookies freeze okay, but it’s even better to freeze the dough!

To do so: Drop the cookie dough balls on a large sheet pan and freeze until solid. Once solid, transfer the frozen cookie dough balls to an airtight container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. To bake: Bake these cookies straight from the freezer. There is no need to thaw, but you may need to add a few extra minutes to the baking time. Bake the cookies until the edges are set, and the center is still soft.

Use Leftover Peanut Butter In One Of These Tasty Recipes:

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

5 from 2 votes
These thick, sweet, soft, & chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies have the perfect texture -- a thick and luscious center with slightly crisp edges. These cookies are loaded with chocolate in every bite!
Print Recipe

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

5 from 2 votes
These thick, sweet, soft, & chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies have the perfect texture -- a thick and luscious center with slightly crisp edges. These cookies are loaded with chocolate in every bite!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Chilling Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 40 -42 cookies
Chelsea Lords
Calories 169kcal
Cost $4.21

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, melted (this is 16 tbsp. or 2 sticks)
  • 1 cup (light or dark) brown sugar, lightly packed Note 1
  • 1 cup white granulated sugar
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter Note 2
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda Note 3
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2-1/3 cups white all-purpose flour Note 4
  • 2 cups chocolate chips (milk or semi-sweet -- whichever you prefer)

Instructions

  • PREP: Line a large baking sheet with a silicone liner (or parchment paper) and set aside.
  • COOKIE DOUGH: In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the butter until it’s melted. Set aside to cool back to room temperature (hot butter will melt sugars and cause greasy cookies). Once at room temperature, use a spatula to scrape every bit of butter into a large bowl and add in the brown sugar and white sugar. Mix with a large whisk until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute.
  • COOKIE DOUGH CONT.: Add in the peanut butter and vanilla extract. Mix until combined. Add in one egg. Mix until ingredients are incorporated and then add in the second egg. Again, mix until the ingredients are incorporated. Add in the baking soda and salt and mix until just incorporated. Add in the flour and again mix until just incorporated. Don't overmix. Finally, fold in the chocolate chips.
  • CHILL: Cover the dough and chill for 30 minutes, up to 1 hour -- See Note 5. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Scoop the cookie dough and roll into large balls that are each a packed 2 tablespoons (40 grams) in size (See Note 6). Roll balls that are taller rather than wider. Place dough balls on the lined cookie sheet -- 6 cookies at a time leaving ample room (2-inches) in between the cookies. If dough balls have gotten too warm from rolling, pop the tray of cookies in the freezer for 10 minutes.
  • BAKE: Bake for 8-14 minutes. Ever-so-slightly underbaking the cookies will keep them soft and chewy. (They also bake a bit more on the cookie sheet when removed from the oven). (See Note 7 for troubleshooting.) Be careful to not over-bake these cookies!
  • COOL: Remove the cookies and if desired, press some extra chocolate chips into the tops of the cookies. Allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing them to a cooling rack.

Video

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Brown sugar: Make sure the sugar is very fresh and very soft! Hard brown sugar won't mix/bake up properly.
Note 2: Peanut butter: We love and highly recommend Skippy® Creamy Peanut Butter best in these cookies (not sponsored). We don't recommend a natural peanut butter that needs stirring.
Note 3: Baking soda: See if baking soda is fresh by using this quick test! If baking soda is at all clumpy, press through a fine-mesh sieve first.
Note 4: Flour: Measuring flour can wildly vary from person to person and is usually the culprit for cookies not working out. If you have a food scale, use that instead of measuring cups. 310 grams is perfect for this recipe!
Note 5: Chilling: The dough is best chilled for 30 minutes to an hour and after that, it begins to dry out and become crumbly-- making it hard to roll into balls. If you need to chill longer, just roll out the cookie dough balls and place them on a parchment paper-covered plate. Cover tightly and chill for up to 24 hours.
Note 6: Cookie dough ball size: Cookies work best when they're 2 tablespoons in size. While you may want smaller or bigger cookies, know that the texture is not the same. The "sweet spot" for this recipe is 2 packed tablespoons (40 grams) of dough. 
Note 7: Trouble-shooting: If the cookies aren't spreading at all, it's likely there was too much flour added or the dough was overchilled. Pull out of the oven and bang the tray on the counter a few times to get cookies to spread out a bit more. If cookies are spreading too much, it's likely too little flour, old baking agents, or dough was not properly chilled. Right out of the oven and working quickly, press the edges inwards with a metal spatula.

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 169kcal | Carbohydrates: 22.2g | Protein: 2.8g | Fat: 10.6g | Cholesterol: 11.6mg | Sodium: 28.3mg | Fiber: 1.2g | Sugar: 16.1g

We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed.

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