Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies — Soft and chewy chocolate cookies packed with peanut butter and oozing with dark chocolate chips AND peanut butter chips!
Chocolate Cookies with Peanut Butter Chips
If you think the world’s most perfect food pairing is chocolate and peanut butter, you’re in for a real treat. These cookies combine chocolate and peanut butter, twice. You can never have too much.
There’s dark chocolate chunks and cocoa powder, with peanut butter chips and peanut butter. They’re soft, chewy, gooey, and oh yes, full of chocolate and peanut butter.
I’ve used cornstarch in these cookies, and in about 20 other cookie recipes. It helps create softbatch-style cookies that are soft, moist, and supple, without turning cakey.
They’re soft and chewy chocolate cookies, more so than they are peanut butter cookies. They’re dark, rich, and aren’t overly sweet.
They’re loaded with add-ins and texture in every bite. The glistening dark chocolate chunks, along with the chocolate-peanut butter dough, make for a very intense chocolate experience.
The peanut butter chips amplify the peanut butter flavor, and add a pop of sweetness, balancing the robust chocolate flavor.
Peanut butter and chocolate lovers, you’ve met your match.
What’s in Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies?
To make these chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips and chocolate chunks, you’ll need:
- Egg
- Peanut butter
- Unsalted butter
- Light brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Cocoa powder
- Cornstarch
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Dark chocolate
- Peanut butter chips
How to Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
These peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies are easy to make by creaming together peanut butter, butter, sugars, an egg, and vanilla. Fold in flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and baking soda, before folding in the add-ins.
Scoop the cookie dough into balls, then chill for at least 2 hours before baking.
Once the dough has chilled, bake until the edges have set and the tops are just beginning to set, even if cookies appear undercooked, pale, and glossy in the center.
Do I Have to Chill Cookie Dough?
For this recipe, yes! Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.
Can I Use Natural Peanut Butter?
No, do not use homemade or natural peanut butter. Both are too runny and the cookies could spread.
How to Store These Cookies
These chocolate peanut butter chip cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 4 months.
Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
Tips for Making Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
I chopped and used a Trader Joe’s 72% Pound Plus Bar. A tip before you start chopping is to put a piece of parchment on your cutting board and chop on that.
You can easily slide the chopped chocolate right into the mixing bowl, and there’s no ground-in chocolate on your cutting board, making cleanup a breeze. I recycle the parchment and tuck it in with the remainder of the chocolate bar, and I’m already set up for next time.
If you you want to use semi-sweet chocolate chips you can, but they don’t melt and ooze as much as chopped chocolate does.
Don’t overbake, which is easy to do with dark cookies. They’ll fool you and will look raw, all the way up to the point they’re overdone and crunchy. They’ll look glossy, shiny, and not appear done when you pull them, but firm up, dry out, and de-gloss as they cool, even more so than non-chocolate cookies.
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Dark Chocolate Chunk and Peanut Butter Chip Chocolate Cookies
Soft and chewy chocolate cookies packed with peanut butter and oozing with dark chocolate chips AND peanut butter chips!
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter*
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened natural or Dutch-process cocoa powder (I used Trader Joe’s)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips may be substituted)
- 1/2 cup peanut butter chips
Instructions
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large bowl and electric hand mixer), cream together the first 6 ingredients (through vanilla) on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, cocoa, cornstarch, baking soda, optional salt, and mix on low speed until just incorporated, about 1 minute; don’t overmix.
- Add the chocolate, peanut butter chips, and blend until just incorporated.
- Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop or your hands, form heaping two-tablespoon mounds (I made 17). After scooping the dough into mounds, I lightly rolled the dough mounds in my hands to make sure they were compacted. Dough may be slightly crumbly but holds together when squeezed. Place mounds on a large plate, and flatten them slightly.
- Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray. Place mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet).
- Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set, even if cookies appear undercooked, pale, and glossy in the center. They firm up as they cool. (The cookies shown in the photos were baked with dough that had been chilled overnight, allowed to come to room temp for 15 minutes, and were baked for 8 minutes. They have slightly chewy edges with soft, pillowy centers).
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.
Notes
*Peanut butter: Do not use homemade or natural peanut butter; it’s too runny and the cookies could spread.
Storage: Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 4 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
17Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 269Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 26mgSodium: 157mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 3gSugar: 14gProtein: 6g
More Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies:
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies – There’s NO Flour, NO Butter, and NO White sugar used! Soft, chewy and oozing with dark chocolate. Crazy good!
Triple Peanut Butter Cookie Pie — This fast and easy cookie pie has peanut butter worked in three different ways. If you’re a peanut butter lover, this pie is for you!
Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Chip Cookies – Super soft, perfectly chewy, BROWNED BUTTER cookies that are LOADED with two kinds of chips!! An EASY one-bowl, no-mixer recipe for irresistibly DELISH cookies!!
Frosted Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies — Easy, soft, and chewy cookies that are full of rich peanut butter flavor!! The frosting is light, fluffy, AMAZING, and my new favorite! You’ll want to eat it by the spoonful!!
Peanut Butter Cowboy Cookies — The cookies are like Peanut Butter Cookies crossed with Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, plus shredded coconut.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Turtle Cookies — Biting down through the chocolate-peanut butter cookie dough, and getting a taste of the Turtles with the crunchy pecans and gooey caramel, combined with the salted caramel drizzle is magical!
Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies — 3 favorite cookies combined into 1 so you don’t have to choose!! Easy, no-mixer recipe, and always a hit!
Peanut Butter Comfort, my cookbook featuring 100+ Peanut Butter Recipes
Was wondering if I could use a semi sweet bar of baking chocolate? Like Baker’s Brand? Instead of chocolate chips? TIA
I wrote this in the ingredients so yes you can do that with a dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate bar: “4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips may be substituted”
This sounds really delcious. Gonna give this recipe a go. Tjhanks for sharing.
Simon
I’ve been making my husband a variety of cookies the past month, and these have been his favorite! We can’t get over the flavor and texture. He rarely asks for repeat recipes, but he has asked for this one multiple times! Love it! Can’t wait to try the quadruple chocolate recipe you just posted and compare.
Thanks for trying these & glad your hubs loves them enough to have a repeat recipe! That’s a high compliment! And yes, try the new choc ones I made. They are incredible!!! I think I even like those better, but it’s a hard call b/c these have PB :)
LMK what you guys think!
Loving the light background on these cookie shots!
I just made these, and they are FABULOUS. so thick and rich and melty. they look exactly like yours do in the picture, which doesn’t often happen with recipes. lovely, lovely recipe, especially for peanut butter fanatics.
Oh I am so glad you made them, loved them, and they turned out just like my pics. I agree that that doesn’t always happen on recipes I try on other blogs, cookbooks, etc so I love hearing that they turned out perfectly for you! :)
Ohhhh…I knew these would be sooo good–I had to use some serious restraint to not eat all the dough before I baked them. This was a great choice for birthday cookies–Jon loved them (and guessed correctly that this was one of your recipes)! PB and chocolate is his favorite and these deliver on both counts. My list of favorite cookies from your blog keeps getting longer, and this is definitely a great one!!
I’m so glad you guys loved these! And happy bday to him!!! When you were hell bent on making them, I was secretly worried inside – not because I didn’t think you’d like them, but because I was worried if they’d live up to ‘bday cake’ status. Well, I guess I didn’t need to worry then since it sounds like they were a big hit :) And yes, I do remember this dough being super yummy! Thanks for trying these Paula & glad they’re a new fave!
THIS IS EXACTLY EVERYTHING I WANT AND NEED IN MY LIFE!!!!
I’m sitting here at my desk at work and all I can think about is these cookies! Ah, daydreaming about peanut butter and chocolate. I’ll take that over deskwork any day. :)
Glad you’re daydreaming about PB & choc. A girl after my own heart!
I’m melting into a pool of chocolate and peanut butter bliss right now Averie. I just had some granola with the two flavors paired together and now I could use one of these bad boys. They look so ultra soft and fudgy. And how perfect – I just bought a pound plus bar yesterday from TJs (as well as some cowboy caviar… of course!). Love these!
I love that we have similar TJs lists, Cowboy Cav & Pound Plus Bars. The essentials :) Thanks for the compliments on these, Sally!
I will happily slip into a PB and Chocolate coma with a batch of these they look so good and thanks for the tip about using cornstarch I shall definitely give it a go.
they look yummy!
I can never have enough chocolate and peanut butter in my life! I love how gooey that melty chocolate mars these cookies look! I wish I had a few with my coffee this morning! Pinning :-)
Thanks for the pin! :)
Thank you for that tip about chopping chocolate! So simple and so useful :) I always buy the Pound Plus bars, too.
glad you caught that one! It’s a big mess-saver :)
OMG these are going straight onto my ‘to bake’ list!
awesome :)
Av these photos really should have “scratch & sniff” can you work on adding that feature to your blog?
thanks!
;-)
These cookies look amazing Averie! I’m on this diet but I keep seeing cookies everywhere and I can’t resist!!
Yes please! Chocolate + PB has been on my mind and in my kitchen lots lately. So good! Cornstarch makes for the best cookies! Pinning!
Having just recently made a peanut butter chocolate cheesecake, I’m on a total PB and chocolate kick (but then again I’m pretty sure I’m always in the middle of one). These look so tasty and decadent- definitely a must try!
Ohhh emmm geeee Averie these look WAY too decadent and amazing for my tiny stomach right now! I love chocolate chunks AND peanut butter, so this is a scary combination! And you kill me with the additional photos of other recipes afterwards ;) I have a feeling you’ll be the one to blame for any New Years weight-loss resolutions failures haha :P
xo
Nat
http://nataliemint.com
These look incredible! They defiantly remind me of a Reese’s Pieces except this one looks like it will melt in your mouth more! Looks great!
OMG! I am in a cookie trance! COOOKIES! They are totally my weakness. And I agree, you can never go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter. Especially dark chocolate!
These could get me in trouble! Oh my, these cookies look mouthwatering!
Drooling… Love peanut butter and chocolate so these are the top of any list for me. Love how thick they appear. Love a good thick soft cookie :)
I definitely need to try these. Peanut butter and chocolate is a favorite. And that drippy chocolate. Swoon!
You get me with your melty chocolate photos every time Averie! They look incredible! Nothing better than a giant stack of cookies.
They look like fudge!!!! LOVE them.
I made your Thick and Soft Chocolate PB Cookies recently and just loved how thick and chewy (and chocolately!) they were. I just restocked the pantry with loads of peanut butter – I think this would be a fab recipe to break into my stash :)
Thanks for trying those cookies and if I do say so, these are better b/c they have PB :) So, you have something to look forward to if you try these!
I’m having a major weakness for chocolate and peanut butter today so I’ll consider these a blessing :)
I bought the ingredients for your dark chocolate/pb stuffed pb cups but haven’t had a chance to make them yet … now I want to go buy pb chips … stop the madness! Wait, don’t stop it, keep it coming!!!!!!!
LOL and enjoy those stuffed cups (or these!)
These are some of my most favorite photos of yours! I love how thick these cookies are and, of course, the peanut butter and chocolate. I am such a sucker for pb chips! These look out of this world, Averie, the perfect way to use peanut butter and chocolate!
Thanks for saying they’re some of your fave photos! Appreciated :)
Goodness, these babies look decadent! Love the peanut butter chips :)
Yes, yes, yes!!! I can’t believe that are still able to come up with new and interesting ideas for pb and chocolate cookies! Everytime you post another one, I’m like….this has to be it. There isn’t another take or twist on this and then…BAM. You come up with another.
Some days I wonder that myself. Seriously. I am going to be posting more savory recipes in the upcoming weeks for this very reason. I need to give my brain time to come up with some more combos for sweets that I haven’t already done :)
*drool* I want that in my belly :(
I have finals to study for, but making these looks much more delicious. ;)
LOL and good luck with your studying…enjoy that granola :)
You can never have too much chocolate and PB – love these cookies!
Just like with all your soft cookie recipes, I am easily obsessed! Nothing beats a warm and gooey soft chocolate cookie in my opinion and I love that you used the chopped chocolate to get the gooey-ness!
Yeah it’s a must for that melty factor!
I just drooled looking at these pictures. There is no better combination than chocolate and peanut butter (twice).
Double chocolate and peanut butter? Oh my! Thanks for the tip on chopping chocolate. I’ll keep it in mind :)
Yes, peanut butter and chocolate has got to the one of the very best pairings there is! Not much can be it!
These cookies are just over the top and insanely good looking! That melted dark chocolate oozing out everywhere is how all cookies should look. I also love that these look so moist and that can be really hard to achieve when cocoa powder is added. Pinned of course!
“these look so moist and that can be really hard to achieve when cocoa powder is added” – glad I am not the only one who feels that way! I love my cookies (and anything) supremely moist (and underbaked) and even when I TRY to underbake things with cocoa powder, I either bake it ‘normally’ or overbake. It’s like cocoa powder just sucks the moisture out of anything and you just have to be so careful with baking times or with how much flour you’re adding. Such a balancing act for me! And thanks for the pin!
Extra chocolate + extra peanut butter = EXTRA perfect. You’ve done it again, Averie! Stellar recipe.
Happy weekend to you!
Happy weekend to you, too, Liz! :)
Double chocolate and PB–swoon!! I love the melty chopped chocolate–and the flavor would seem much like a Reese’s in cookie form. Jon’s birthday is next week and choc-PB is his favorite….he might get birthday cookies instead of cake this year!
You’re up way too early on a ‘lazy’ Saturday morning (I’m just still up working) but these would be better than most cakes I think L) And yes, great call that they’re like a Reese’s in cookie form. More chocolaty than peanut buttery, though. And happy early bday to him!
Avery, these cookies are little masterpieces! The melted chocolate makes me want to lick my fingers and I bet the taste reminds one of snickers. Whoever invented peanut butter chips must be a genius – too sad they didn’t make it to Europe yet!
Hershey’s Chocolate/Reese’s makes them here. http://www.thehersheycompany.com/brands/baking-pieces/reeses-peanut-butter-chips.aspx
As well as Trader Joe’s now has their own PB chips. Sorry they don’t have them where you are. There really is nothing like it! Hopefully you can try them sometime!
I DOOOOOO AGREE! World’s best pairing. Rivaled only by bread and butter. Eek. Not sure I could pick a winner. These look delectable.
I will go with choc & pb all day long over bread and butter. If I’m having empty calories, they may as well be chocolate/pb ones. Haha! :)