Soft and delicious, there’s almost nothing better than chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. These cookies have the perfect ratio of peanut butter to chocolate, mixing harmoniously with each chewy bite. Plus, they’re so quick to prepare you’ll want to keep this recipe close at hand.
This recipe is a variation of my mother’s recipe, which uses shortening and only baking soda instead of a combination with baking powder. I wanted to work out an option that tasted delicious with butter that didn’t dry out quickly. I also wanted these cookies to rise a bit more, with chocolate thrown in for good measure.
Why Choose Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies?
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- They offer a rich peanut butter flavor and a satisfying crunch from the chocolate chips.
- They can be enjoyed as a dessert, snack, or breakfast if you’re like me!
- You will find it so easy to prepare this recipe that even little ones can help.
Ingredient Notes
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- Butter: Use unsalted butter in this recipe for optimal flavor. The sodium content in salted butter varies from brand to brand, so using unsalted is the best way to ensure consistency in taste. If you only have salted butter on hand, omit the table salt.
- Peanut Butter: Avoid natural peanut butter that requires mixing in the oils when you open the jar. These will impart oils in uneven quantities in your batter and often lead to dry cookies. There are natural options that do not require mixing. Some options include the following from Jif, Skippy, and Teddie brands. (I do not make any commissions on any purchases of these products.)
- Flour: All-purpose flour is used in this recipe, but you can also use cake flour or pastry flour. This will result in a more delicate cookie with a finer crumb. If using cake or pastry flour instead of all-purpose flour, add 3 Tablespoons to the recipe. Note that this will alter the flavor of the cookies due to the lower gluten content, which could make them taste sweeter.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda: This recipe calls for a combination of the two, but if you’re out of baking soda–add another teaspoon of baking powder. If you’re out of baking powder, add 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda in addition to what the recipe calls for.
- Chocolate Chips: I use semisweet chocolate chips or a combination with white chocolate chips. Milk chocolate chips can also be used in this recipe.
Tips for Perfect Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
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- Use creamy peanut butter. This will ensure the dough is consistent throughout. In contrast, crunchy peanut butter may make mixing more challenging, leading to overmixing.
- Don’t overmix the dough. Gluten forms when flour and moisture are combined, and overmixing will result in a tough and dry cookie. You should still see streaks of flour when adding the chips, which will mix further as you fold the chips in.
- Chill the dough before baking. Chill the dough for 30 minutes to 1 hour for best results or until you can scoop it easily without sticking to your utensil. Adequate refrigeration time is needed to ensure the cookies maintain their shape when baked. Otherwise, they will spread into a flatter cookie.
- Use a cookie scoop. This will ensure the cookies are of a similar shape and size once baked. You can also use a Tablespoon to measure out each cookie.
- Watch for doneness. The edges of the cookies should be a light golden brown when removed from the oven. The tops should not be brown and may even look a little underdone. The cookies will finish baking as they cool in the pan.
- Tap the baking sheet once or twice on a solid surface when you remove the cookies from the oven. This will help set the cookies, allowing them to continue baking evenly as they cool in the pan.
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Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
These cookies have the perfect ratio of peanut butter to chocolate, mixing harmoniously with each chewy bite. Plus, they're so quick to prepare you'll want to keep this recipe close at hand.
Equipment
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Measuring Cups and Spoons
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Mixing Bowls
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Whisks
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Rubber Spatula
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Baking Sheet
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Parchment Paper optional
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Scale optional, use if weighing ingredients
Ingredients
- ⅔ Cup Creamy Peanut Butter 160g
- ½ Cup Unsalted Butter melted – 113g
- ½ Cup + 2 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar 130g
- ½ Cup Granulated Sugar 100g
- 1 Large Egg room temperature
- ½ Tsp Pure Vanilla Extract 2g
- 1 ½ Cups All-Purpose Flour 180g
- ¼ Tsp Baking Soda 1g
- ¼ Tsp Baking Powder 1g
- ¼ Tsp Table Salt 1.5g
- 1 ¼ Cups Chocolate Chips 225g
- Flaky Sea Salt or Granulated Sugar for Topping optional
Instructions
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Combine the peanut butter and melted butter in a large bowl and whisk until smooth and creamy. Add brown and granulated sugars and whisk until incorporated. Add the egg and vanilla to the same bowl and whisk well.⅔ Cup Creamy Peanut Butter, ½ Cup Unsalted Butter
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Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to a medium bowl and whisk to combine.1 ½ Cups All-Purpose Flour, ¼ Tsp Baking Soda, ¼ Tsp Baking Powder, ¼ Tsp Table Salt
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Pour the dry ingredients into the large bowl of wet ingredients in two batches. Stir the mixture after each batch with a rubber spatula until the flour is mostly incorporated. You should still see small streaks of flour after stirring in each batch.
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Add in chocolate chips and fold into the dough until just combined. Do not overmix (see note). Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.1 ¼ Cups Chocolate Chips
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Preheat your oven to 350°F / 176°C. Once the oven registers that it is preheated, wait 10 minutes to be sure it is fully up to temp. During this period, grab a large baking sheet and line it with parchment paper. Scoop 2 Tbsp of dough and arrange on the baking sheet, leaving 2" of space between each cookie.
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Using the tines of a fork, press a crosshatch pattern into each cookie. Don't flatten them too much in the process (see video).
Optional: Lightly sprinkle each cookie with flaky sea salt or granulated sugar for added texture and flavor to your finished product.
Flaky Sea Salt or Granulated Sugar for Topping -
Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges. Tap the pan once against a hard surface to settle the cookies when removed from the oven, and place the pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, place each cookie on the wire rack to continue cooling and settling (if you have not eaten them already). Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Video
Notes
Be careful not to overmix the dough when mixing the dry and wet ingredients or adding in the chocolate chips; doing so could add more air to the dough, which will cause the cookies to rise and fall flat in the oven. It could also increase gluten production, producing a dense, tough cookie. It may be tempting to thoroughly combine them so that the chocolate chips are uniform in the dough, but you can remedy this in a couple of ways:
- Balance each dough scoop with a mix of concentrated areas of lighter and heavier chocolate chips.
- Before baking the cookies in the oven, press some chocolate chips lightly into any scooped dough with a lighter concentration.
Please Note: Nutrition Facts are estimates only. These figures are calculated via a third-party application using a generic likeness of each ingredient. Nutritional content will vary based on actual brands and weights used for each ingredient and portion size.
Nutrition
Serving: 1CookieCalories: 269kcalCarbohydrates: 30gProtein: 4gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 103mgPotassium: 152mgFiber: 2gSugar: 19gVitamin A: 179IUCalcium: 27mgIron: 2mg
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