Decadent peanut butter chocolate cookies have the most delicious chewy centers and crispy edges. 10 ingredients and 10 minutes prep time are all you need to make these indulgent treats.
In this post, I will show you detailed directions on how to replicate this easy chocolate peanut butter cookies recipe. Plus, I will even show you how important it is to bake cookies at the proper temperature.
Why These Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies Work
- They are rich, indulgent cookies that are perfect for all occasions.
- You only need 10 simple ingredients to throw a batch together.
- 10 minutes prep time is all you need.
- These peanut butter and chocolate cookies make your house smell heavenly.
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How To Make Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies
FIRST STEP: Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
SECOND STEP: In a large mixing bowl, using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, stir butter and white and brown sugar on medium speed just until combined about 1 minute.
THIRD STEP: Add eggs, vanilla, and peanut butter and stir to combine.
FOURTH STEP: Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt just until combined.
NOTE: If you measure the flour with cups please be aware that cups are not equal and never as accurate as an ounce or gram. Stop adding flour when the cookie dough is soft and very slightly sticky to touch. It should look like in the picture below.
FIFTH STEP: Fold in chocolate.
NOTE: Don't overmix at any step. The dough should be lightly sticky to touch.
SIXTH STEP: Scoop 24 balls of cookie dough and arrange 6-8 cookies on one baking sheet with about 2-3 inches space in-between. Lightly flatten with your fingers that the cookies are about 1 inch high.
Bake one sheet after another for about 11-13 minutes. Remove from oven when they look puffy and dry on top and are very lightly browned on the edges.
Let cool for about 5 minutes until they get firm enough to move them. Then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
The cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days.
Baker's Tips
- Always use high-quality chocolate when baking these cookies. You can either use chopped chocolate bars or chocolate chips or both.
- Only use creamy peanut butter. Crunchy, homemade or all-natural peanut butter causes them to become dry and brittle.
- Use melted butter, not soft butter so that the cookies properly spread.
- Make this chocolate peanut butter cookie recipe with fresh eggs for best results.
Substitutions
This is one of my go-to peanut butter and chocolate recipes, but there are still a few substitutions you can make if you want. Consider trying out any of the following:
- For even more of a punch of peanut butter flavor, use peanut butter chips instead of chocolate.
- Replace the chocolate with Reese's Peanut Butter cups.
- Substitute 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract for whole vanilla beans.
Frequently Asked Questions And Answers
Where Do You Bake Cookies In The Oven?
I have found the best way to bake these peanut butter chocolate cookies is to place them in the center of the oven. I also bake just one baking sheet at a time that the cookies bake evenly.
Why Didn't My Cookies Spread Out Enough?
The oven temperature is one of the top reasons why cookies don't spread properly. As you can see in the photos below both are the same cookies, but I want to point out how important the correct oven temperature is (it's best to use an oven thermometer).
My oven, for example, is always cooler than it should be and the higher and smaller cookie on the right is baked without my oven thermometer, and the oven was too cold. When the temperature isn't correct, then the cookies don't spread enough.
Side-by-side comparison from the side:
Side-by-side comparison from top down:
How Long Do These Peanut Butter And Chocolate Cookies Last And How To Store Them?
You should store these chocolate peanut butter cookies in an airtight container. They will last up to 4 days on the counter or in the pantry. it is necessary to make sure the cookies have cooled entirely before storing, otherwise, you will have condensation.
Can I Freeze These Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies?
Yes, you can freeze this chocolate peanut butter cookie recipe. Bake the cookies and allow them to cool all the way. Once they have cooled, place them in an airtight container and freeze. They will last around 3 months in the freezer.
To serve, just take them out and set them on the counter until they have thawed completely. This is one reason why this is one of my favorite peanut butter and chocolate recipes. You can bake them once and enjoy them for months.
If you make this Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies recipe leave a comment, rate it, and tag a photo #alsothecrumbsplease on Instagram! Would love to see your snap!
Check Out These Cookie Recipes
Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted (226g)
- 3/4 cup granulated white sugar (150g)
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed (100g)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 vanilla beans* (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter (250g)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled** (360g)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped or chips (350g)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). (Please use an oven thermometer for accurate heat. Watch side-by-side comparison what happens to your cookies if baked with too cold temperature in the blog post above.) Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, stir butter and sugars on medium speed just until combined about 1 minute.
- Add eggs, vanilla, and peanut butter and stir just to combine about 1 minute.
- Stir in flour**, baking powder, and salt just until combined about 1 minute. Fold in chocolate. Don't overmix at any step.
- Scoop 24 balls of cookie dough and arrange 6-8 cookies on one baking sheet with about 2-3 inches space in-between. Lightly flatten the cookies with your fingers that the cookies are about 1-inch high. Bake one sheet after another for about 11-13 minutes. Remove from oven when they look puffy and dry on top and are very lightly browned on the edges.
- Let cool for about 5 minutes until they get firm enough to move them. Then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and let cool completely. The cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days.
Video
Notes
- For even more of a punch of peanut butter flavor, use peanut butter chips instead of chocolate.
- Replace the chocolate with Reese's Peanut Butter cups.
- Substitute 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract for whole vanilla beans.
- Always use high-quality chocolate when baking these cookies.
- Only use creamy peanut butter. Crunchy, homemade or all-natural peanut butter causes them to become dry and brittle.
- Use melted butter, not soft butter so that the cookies properly spread.
- Make this chocolate peanut butter cookie recipe with fresh eggs for best results.
- Please use an oven thermometer for most satisfying results.
Too much flower even when spooned and leveled. Cookies were so dry, I threw them all away.
I made the cookies so often and never failed. I don't know what was going wrong, I'm sorry.
Does it matter what kind of peanut butter to use? Is natural peanut butter ok?
Hi Carole, I recommend to use just creamy peanut butter. I don't have good experiences with natural peanut butter because the cookies end up dry and crumbly. Hope that helps!
I just made these and they’re good but the cookies didn’t spread at all. They literally looked like I just scooped them out of the cookie scoop. I followed the recipe so I’m not sure what happened!
I’m sorry that you had troubles with the recipe. There could be a couple of reasons why the cookies didn't spread:
1. Too much of dry ingredients in the dough: Please make sure to spoon and level the flour in the measuring cup. A packed cup of flour is 1.5x of spooned and leveled flour. The more flour the drier the cookies. The best would be to use a kitchen scale.
2. Too little of wet ingredients: Did you use a large egg?
3. Butter quality. I made the experience that low budget butter leads to dry cookies which don’t spread. Always use high-quality butter for cookies.
4. Overmixing. Mix just until combined at every step. Overmixing can lead to cakey and dry cookies.
Did you watch the video? Did your cookie dough look like mine? It should be slightly sticky to touch before baking. If it looked like mine than it could be that the oven temperature is not accurate. I always use an oven thermometer because my oven is not accurate. Last but not least: Cookies baked on a silicon mat don't spread as much as on parchment paper.
Hopefully, that helps!
I am currently making the cookies but it says to use 2-3 tbsp of dough to make a cookie. Do you mean tsp? I did tbsp like in the recipe and it created quite large cookies that took almost double the amount of time to bake.
You should have ended up with 24 cookies as it stands in the servings. If you made bigger cookies, then yes they need to be baked slightly longer. I meant 2-3 tbsp of cookie dough but leveled tbsp not scooped. A cookie dough ball is about as big as an ice cream scoop. I always weigh my cookies and divide it through 24, this is the most accurate method. Hope that helps!
Jamieanne...Thank you so much. Now I have clarity. Hugs!!!
I love how many times you said “cookies” in this post!! Haha! Also, these cookies look absolutely out-of-this-world, so perfect, and my most favorite ever flavour combination!!
You are true, Jamieanne! It seems that I have a thing for the word cookie. I'm happy that you like them! Happy baking 🙂
Where do you go to school, Sabine, because I will sit through any class if you bring cookies--Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookies!--to share. You must be adored by all your classmates and the teacher must be doling out the "A+'s". How the heck do you find the time to be a professional baker and study so much? I'm amazed. Is this your last year for a graduate degree? I don't know how academics are structured in Austria, but if you ever need someone to start looking for a specific career area with your background here in the states, let me know. Unless of course, Zuckerburg or Google already scooped you up. OMG, chopped, melting chocolate...mmmmm.
I go to a university next to Vienna. I study Economic Psychology with specialization in marketing. I'm in the last year of a bachelor study. But I've already finished an MBA study before. Maybe I thought I have too much time in my life and should start again to study... No, kidding. The first graduate study was general management and economics. But I'm super interested in marketing, so I've been studying again. Actually, I think they all hate me because I never take something with me, although they request it a zillion times. 😉 Thank you so much, Amanda! If I need help I'll let you know! Have a great day!
I'm confused...is it milk OR chocolate or both?
Sorry, for confusing you! You need 2 cups of chocolate for the cookies. You can decide if you use milk (regular) or semi-sweet (dark) chocolate. Hopefully, that helps!
You're still confusing....I apologize, call me slow. The question was not answered. The question is do you use milk and chocolate or one or the other. Your recipe instructions read as if you can use one or the other. I realize the choices are per your taste...dark, milk chocolate as well as the type of milk, is your choice, I typically prefer a richer liquid. However, your instructions need clarification. (Just my thoughts) Be blessed.
Hi Juanita, I believe you may be confused as to why it appears there is liquid milk in the recipe where Sabine says to use “milk or semi-sweet chocolate”. She does not mean to use liquid milk! She simply means to use either “milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate”, whichever one you may prefer.
Maybe, Sabine, you should say in the ingredients to use “milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate”, rather than “milk or semi-sweet chocolate”! I once did the same in one of my recipes in my blog, and someone thought I meant liquid milk, rather than milk chocolate!
I hope this clarifies the recipe for you, Juanita, and sorry to hijack your comments, Sabine! ☺️????
Thank you so so much, Jamieanne, for clarifying! Yes, I will do that in the future, thanks for the tip! (:
I'm so sorry, Juanita, that I didn't make it clearer for you! Like Jamieanne said, I meant "milk chocolate" or "semi-sweet chocolate". There is no milk in the recipe. With milk chocolate, I mean the one like Milka from the sweetness and color, I guess this would be about 35% cocoa. The recipe needs 2 cups of any chocolate but no milk. The chocolate color (milk, dark, or also white) you can choose on your own. I write for every ingredient one line in the ingredients list so milk as a liquid would be one line and chocolate another one. Sorry for the misunderstanding!
Yes!! These sound right up my alley.
Thanks a lot! I would love to share my batch with you.