Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

These peanut butter chocolate chip cookies feature a crispy exterior with a perfectly-chewy and soft interior.

Update!! These cookies won the Pancake Princess’ peanut butter cookie bake-off! Her bake-offs (in case you did not know) are the stuff of legends. They are extremely competitive and I feel extremely honored to have a cooke that won!

My thing with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups goes way back. Like we’re talking childhood. Yes, back in the day I flirted with Nestle Crunch and Krackle bars (I do really dig the chocolate/”crispies” thing — see my recipe for crispies bars inspired by Oh Henry! bars for evidence of that). But my true love has always been the combo of peanut butter and chocolate. Not only did guests at my wedding receive mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups as a favor (and, no, they were not homemade), but to this day when I trick or treat with my children, I buy myself a bag of them to stuff in my purse as we walk. This way I can happily eat my favorite candy all Halloween night without getting into trouble with my kids for stealing their’s. (I’ve trained them well and a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup is kind of their most beloved treat, too).Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe | Jessie Sheehan Bakes

Of course, with all this Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup chatter, you’re probably wondering why this recipe is for cookies rather than buckeyes (homemade peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate — and, FYI, my favorite recipe for said balls is one that I would love to link and share with you, but I clipped it from an August 2009 issue of Gourmet and cannot find it anywhere on the web, which is very frustrating, as I consider myself the Nancy Drew of recipe sleuthing — but I digress.) The thing is my love/obsession with the peanut butter/chocolate combo extends way beyond candy. Like way. Thus, a peanut butter chocolate chip cookies recipe (deeply influenced, yes, by my favorite candy) was inevitable, particularly in light of my deep love of cookies (specifically cookies of the large, chewy, slightly crispy exterior/somewhat raw(ish) interior variety).Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe | Jessie Sheehan Bakes

Now, my go-to peanut butter chocolate cookie recipe for years was for “peanut blossoms” (a peanut butter cookie with a Hershey’s kiss stuck in the center), given to me (reluctantly) by my mother-in-law (basically the high priestess of the old-school dessert). Then I stumbled upon this Epicurious peanut butter cookie recipe and the large, chewy-ish cookies it produced won me over, even replacing peanut blossoms as my go-to PB cookie. And it remained my #1, until now, when the reality of a recipe collection without a cookie paying proper homage to my favorite candy finally sunk in. And so, in order to fill said void, I developed this peanut butter chocolate chip cookies recipe, influenced — inevitably/purposefully — by Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and the two recipes mentioned above (my cookie has milk chocolate chips, like the milk chocolate of the blossom’s kiss; and oil and egg yolks, like those found in the recipe from Gourmet). And yet these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies also have melted butter and bread flour because both contribute beautifully (and tastily) to a chewy cookie (as I wrote about in my chocolate chip cookie recipe). And lots of vanilla and salt and Skippy peanut butter cause all three kind of scream, “I need to be in your peanut butter cookie,” to me.Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Before Baking | Jessie Sheehan Bakes

And even though with the above mentioned ingredients in mind, my cookie recipe was essentially developed, I couldn’t let well enough alone, and had to do just the tiniest bit of additional research to confirm that there were no PB cookie secrets out there, just waiting to be discovered. I looked at this PB cookie recipe from Magnoila Bakery cause Smitten Kitchen said they were the best. And I looked at this ZoeBakes, from David Lebovitz cause it calls for melted butter, too. and at Joanne Chang’s peanut butter cookie and at Alice Medrich’s cause, ahh, why not? And, you know, I kind of came up empty-handed in the secret department. Until I found this: The PB cookie recipe from one of my most favorite NYC spots. The secret? Coating the cookie in a combo of sugar and salt before baking. I had tried just salt (too salty) and just sugar (not bad), but the combo? Totally amazers. There you have it. The journey that led me to create this cookie. Now, all I ask is that you make them, love them, and think of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups while you eat them.

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5 from 10 votes

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

These peanut butter chocolate chip cookies feature a crispy exterior with a perfectly-chewy and soft interior.
Recipe Author Jessie Sheehan
Course Dessert
Cuisine Cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 cups (260 grams) bread flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/4 tsp kosher salt iI'm a salt-aholic; if you're not, you can use less
  • 3/4 to 1 cup (about 170 grams) milk chocolate chips
  • 1 1/2 sticks (168 grams) unsalted butter melted
  • 1 1/4 cup (250 grams) light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar plus more for rolling your cookies in prior to baking
  • 1/4 cup (49 grams) vegetable oil any neutral oil, NOT extra virgin
  • 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 yolks
  • 3/4 cup (202 grams) 2 Tbsp Skippy peanut butter (or any PB you like that is not of the "natural" variety)
  • Maldon sea salt for sprinkling before baking

Instructions

  • Combine the flour, baking soda and powder, and salt in a medium-large bowl and whisk to fully incorporate the ingredients. Add the chocolate and whisk again. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars on medium to medium high speed until fully incorporated and lightened in color, about 3 to 5 minutes, scraping the bowl, as needed.
  • Add the oil and vanilla and beat until incorporated, another minute or two, again, scraping as needed. On low speed, add the egg and yolks all at once and mix until just combined, scraping as needed. Add the peanut butter and mix until just combined, again.
  • With the mixer still on low, add the dry ingredients and chocolate chips all at once, and mix until only some of the flour is incorporated into the wet batter (less than a minute). Turn off the machine and continue mixing by hand with a rubber spatula.
  • Scoop the dough using a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop (or a 1/4 cup dry measuring cup) and place the scooped dough on a parchment lined baking sheet. cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours (or even 72).
  • When you are ready to bake your cookies, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Roll your scooped dough in granulated sugar, and sprinkle the tops with Maldon sea salt. Place the cookies on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake the cookies for exactly 12 minutes, rotating after 6.
  • Place the cookie sheet on a cooling rack and lightly press each cookie with a spatula to flatten. let cool and enjoy. Cookies will keep at room temp tightly covered for up to 3 days or up to a month frozen.

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49 replies on “Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies”

the recipe calls for 1 1/2 sticks of butter which is the equivalent of 3/4 of a cup of butter, or 12 tablespoons or 6 ounces.

I definitely want to try this, but can you provide exact gram measurements for the flour & sugar? I find that how much I actually scoop from a flour bag will vary significantly depending on the way I scoop!

Also, for the PB, you say 3/4 cup 2 Tbsp, I assume that means 3/4 cup plus an added 2 Tbsp?

hi! so a cup of flour for me is 130 grams and a cup of sugar is 200 grams. hope this helps! and yup re: the PB measurement!!! hope you make the recipe and hope you are pleased with the results!!!

I’m wondering if this dough is supposed to be extremely loose? It came out so wet and pourable for me that I panicked and added some more flour, which might have been a mistake. I guess we’ll see what happens after it chills.

Shoot. It is not supposed to be super thin. How much butter did U use? I know someone else was confused by 3/4 cup butter – which is a stick and a half.

1st timer here…..heard about u from Zoes email & like the idea of easy peasy/less dishes recipes. I only buy/have natural peanut butter….would love for bakers to have recipes that can use this pls. looking forward to discovering/trying your recipes

So glad you learned about me from Zoe! She is one of my all time faves. you can use natural as long as it is smooth (like doesn’t have a lot of oil sitting on top) – does that work for you?

oh, cool, thnx. then why do recipes always say to not use natural PBs? why not just say “stirred thoroughly”?

sometimes even when you stir the stuff that naturally has a ton of oil on top, it is still a super loose PB – like a truly pourable situation. and the recipes that say do not use natural are written for a pb that is truly a solid (like skippy).

gotcha, thnx Jessie 👍🏼 1 more thing….wld love for your website to have the option for me to save your recipes that i want to try to a recipe box/folder. otherwise i forget…🤷🏼‍♀️

& 1 more 1 more thing….🤪 i’d love to see a category in your recipes for “One Bowl” Beauties. that wld be the main ones i’d wanna try

5 stars
Holy crap. These are so amazing. I’m with you: salt is a good thing. I used Diamond in the sugar roll and a little sprinkle. The best ever. You definitely are the true peanut butter cookie winner!!

5 stars
These are Very good. I did not scale back the salt amount and thefloavour was perfect. I also went with the extra sugar at the end to roll them in, and I would recommend to not skip this either. These cookies turned out soft, tenter, with a fine crisp around the exterior. I did go againt the recommened brand of peanut butter and chose what I had, which was the natural brand Adam’s peanut butter. I stired the smooth peanut butter **very** well to not add in exess oil, and I would say it worked out just fine. I was brought here to this recipe, by the Pancake Princess and I am so glad I chose this one. I’ll be making it again and again.

yay!!! love erika so much (the pancake princess) and so glad she is the reason you came to my site!!! i developed an even easier version of these for my latest cookbook, Snackable Bakes. if you are interested, check it out online . . .

Jessie, this PB cookie is the Pancake Princess Bake Off top PB cookie on the Internet! Congratulations to the max!! You need to add that accolade to your header. One request, can you add in the grams or make a geeky button to take the grams people to a grams version of this recipe?

yes! i know and you are right!! i need to do that. and yes!! i will add the grams – thank you for the suggestion.

hi joelle. i added the grams and i also added a sentence or two about the pancake princess! thanks for the suggestion.

I would love to make a “peanut butter and jelly” thumbprint cookie using this recipe. Of course I’d be omitting the chocolate chips (although I do love pb and chocolate, I’ve got a massive amount of homemade strawberry jam that I need to start using up) but I’m wondering – do you think I should try pulling the cookies out mid bake and put the jam in, or wait until the cookies are finished to make a dent and put a dollop of jam? I’d like the jam to cook a little bit (I love that slightly chewy texture jam gets when you cook it) but I do not want to ruin the cookie. I realize you may not have tested making PB&J cookies, but I wondered if maybe you’d done chocolate pb thumb print cookies with kisses using this recipe and had any insight to share! OR if any other users have used this recipe to make PB&J cookies?

great idea! and i cant wait to hear how they turn out – i like to put the jam into the cookie before i bake them when i make thumbprint cookies and i would try that maybe with two or three of the cookies and see what you think? and then try 2 or 3 putting the jam halfway through? i think you’ll just have to do some experimenting.

5 stars
These are so good! 💗

I used Milka chocolate chopped into little cubes and it was perfect. It’s a brand of creamy milk chocolate that has a touch of hazelnut so it was really nice, I used the extra cocoa version.

I also only had salted butter so I reduced the salt to 1/3-3/4 tsp and it was very salty but good. Like a Reese’s.

Ty for the great recipe!

Hey Jessie—I am making these for the first time, and I am not a baker! What is the consistency of the cookie dough supposed to look like? And does chilling it help firm it up in the fridge? Thank you:)

It looks like regular cookie dough? It can be scooped and keeps it shape? The chilling helps the texture – chewy centers and crispy edges.

5 stars
OH MY GOODNESS these are amazing! Thank you for this fantastic recipe. I followed it with one small substitution-I used half milk choc chips and half peanut butter chips bc I had some to use up. I used 50 grams of dough per cookie and got 24 cookies. These are big, thick, gorgeous bakery style cookies and the texture is perfection. My only problem is that I want to eat all of them! I chilled the dough overnight bc I needed to bake them to take on a road trip but I want to try them with a longer rest in the fridge to see if the flavor deepens even more. I also may try with browned butter bc that always makes things taste great.

Haha that is awesome. Update: I took these to a weekend away with friends and they were a huge hit. The flaky salt on top takes them to the next level of delicious. Will 100% be making again but not until I have a place to take them so I won’t eat the whole batch. 🙂

Hello. Can you please clarify the peanut butter amount? I did 202 grams but that is way over 2 tbsp of akippy peanut butter so I’m afraid it’s way too much now.

3/4 cup (202 grams) 2 Tbsp Skippy peanut butter (or any PB you like that is not of the “natural” variety)

Thanks,
Michelle

Hi. 202 grams is the weight of 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsps peanut butter. Does that make sense? It’s like a generous 3/4 cup . . .

5 stars
I also came to this recipe from the Pancake Princess PB cookie bakeoff and it’s definitely a winner! I didn’t have bread flour so used AP and they were still chewy and delicious. Definitely don’t skip the flaky salt because that really takes them over the top! 😋

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