These bakery worthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are slightly crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside, and studded with gooey chocolate.
Why these are the best Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
When developing this recipe, I tested out three different recipes on the internet against my Peanut Butter Cookie recipe from about four years ago. My goal was a big, chewy bakery style Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.
I really, really enjoyed the recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction. Her version has the highest ratio of peanut butter, and hence the most peanut butter flavor.
I tested out several different variations with chocolate chips versus chopped chocolate, brown butter, more salt, less vanilla, etc.
I preferred the version with a little more salt and a little less vanilla. The exact amount of vanilla doesn’t make a huge difference, I just didn’t find it necessary to add more.
The brown butter was nice, but is totally optional in my opinion.
I enjoy the irregular shapes and texture of chopped bar chocolate compared to chocolate chips. At the same time, I think of chopped chocolate as “chips” in a way, which is why I kept the title as such.
The last tweak I made was to the temperature of the oven. Everyone’s oven is different, so I can’t say what’s optimal for everyone.
In my oven, I found that increasing the temperature to 375°F allowed these cookies to get sufficiently browned and crisp on the outside, while maintaining a good level of chew on the inside. When I baked these at 350F, I had to bake them for 17-18 minutes to get as brown as I like, and I found that they became dry and sandy in the middle.
I highly suggest to eat these while they’re warm so you can enjoy that gooey chocolate and superior texture.
Variations
- Brown butter. Swap out the regular softened butter for browned butter. Just make sure to cool the browned butter until it’s the same consistency as soft, room temperature butter.
- Salt on top. For an extra salty crunch, top these cookies with fleur de sel or maldon salt when they’re hot out of the oven.
- Add peanuts. Fold in some chopped, toasted, salted peanuts for additional texture and peanut flavor.
- Use a different chocolate. Go for milk chocolate or swap out bar chocolate for chocolate chips.
More cookie recipes
- Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Chocolate Dipped Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies
- Chocolate Peppermint Whoopie Pies
- Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons
- Linzer Cookies with Strawberry Rose Jam
- Lemon Lavendar Shortbread Cookies
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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: about 32 large cookies 1x
Description
These bakery worthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are slightly crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside with soft, gooey pools of chocolate.
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp kosher salt (½ teaspoon fine salt)
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 whole eggs
- 2 cups creamy peanut butter (not natural)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 12oz semisweet chocolate, plus more for topping, roughly chopped (or 1 ½ cups of semisweet chocolate chips)
Instructions
- Mix dry ingredients: Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
- Cream butter and sugars: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar over medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. You can also mix using a bowl and handheld beaters or a regular whisk.
- Add remaining wet ingredients: Add eggs, one at a time, and beat over medium speed until fully incorporated. Wipe down sides of bowl. Add peanut butter, and vanilla and beat until smooth.
- Add dry ingredients and chill: Add dry ingredients in 2 to 3 additions and mix over low speed. Add chocolate chips right before flour is fully incorporated and mix until just combined. Wipe down sides of bowl and fold in any remaining unmixed flour. Remove dough from bowl and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in fridge for 1-2 hours or until firm, yet pliable.*
- Heat oven and prep pans: Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats. Preheat oven to 375F.
- Bake: Scoop 3 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Arrange on baking sheet spaced 2 inches apart. Pat down to slightly flatten tops. Top with additional chocolate pieces, if desired. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely, but make sure to eat a warm cookie first! Enjoy.
Notes
You can also store the cookie dough in the fridge for up to 2-3 days before baking. Allow dough to soften slightly at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before baking. You can bake completely chilled dough but they will not spread much, so shape accordingly.
You can store unbaked cookie dough in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge for 1 to 2 days before baking.
You can also freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months and defrost at room temperature.
This recipe was adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 285
- Sugar: 19g
- Sodium: 152mg
- Fat: 18g
- Saturated Fat: 7g
- Unsaturated Fat: 11g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 29g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 6g
- Cholesterol: 27mg
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