Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies — These are hands down the best peanut butter cookies I’ve ever made. Know that I don’t say that lightly! They’re melt-in-your mouth soft and chewy, and extremely moist! 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies averiecooks.com

BEST EVER Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’m not one to throw around labels like ‘The Best’ or ‘Best Of’ if I really don’t think something is. When people talk and every other thing is amazing, life-changing, or the best, I tend to not take them seriously.

But I can proudly say, these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies get my vote as “The Best” peanut butter cookies I’ve ever made.

They’re the easiest cookies you’ll ever make, with only six ingredients, and one of them is vanilla, which hardly counts. The recipe is naturally gluten-free because there’s no flour, and it’s one egg away from being vegan.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies averiecooks.com

Instead of granulated sugar, this peanut butter chocolate chip cookie recipe uses all brown sugar. Why? Because it helps baked goods stay moist and soft, and it adds greater depth of flavor than granulated sugar!

The cookie dough itself is as robustly peanut butter flavored as you can get. There’s no butter and no flour to take away any of the intensity of flavor. Just pure peanut butter intensity.

The edges have a bit of chewiness to them, the interior is so soft and tender, the peanut flavor is distinctly present, and chunks and rivers of dark chocolate ooze everywhere.

It’s hard to believe there’s no butter, no flour, and no granulated sugar in them. They’re my definition of the perfect cookie.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies averiecooks.com

Ingredients in Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Here’s what I used in these chocolate chip peanut butter cookies: 

  • Creamy peanut butter
  • Light brown sugar
  • Egg
  • Vanilla extract
  • Baking soda
  • Chocolate chips or chunks

A Note About the Amount of Vanilla Called For

I am a vanilla fiend and added it amply enough to matter — 1 tablespoon, to be exact. No more of this 1/2 teaspoon business!

However, if you’re one of those people who prefer less, go with less. I go with more.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies averiecooks.com

How to Make Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Making soft and chewy peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips is so easy! Just make sure you plan ahead, because the cookie dough MUST be chilled before baking it.

Here’s an overview of the recipe steps:

  1. Add the peanut butter and light brown sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. (Spraying the measuring cup with cooking spray will help it plop out easier.)
  2. To the peanut butter and brown sugar, add an egg, vanilla extract, and baking soda. Mix all the ingredients until well-combined.
  3. Add the chocolate and beat momentarily to incorporate.
  4. As tempting as it is to bake the cookies right away because the dough is just so good, it must be chilled for at least 2 hours before being baked for thicker, puffier cookies. 
  5. Using a medium-sized two-inch cookie scoop, form the dough mounds. This translates to almost 2 tablespoons of dough, or about 1.60-ounces by weight.
  6. Place the dough onto baking sheets about two inches apart, about 8 per tray. Prior to baking, flatten the mounds slightly. If your dough is very well-chilled, you can flatten them a bit more so they don’t stay mounded up in little puffballs while baking, just don’t over-flatten them.
  7. Bake at 350ºF oven for 8 to 10 minutes.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies averiecooks.com

A Note About the Bake Time

I recommend baking the cookies at the lower end of the bake time range. The cookies in the photos were baked for 8 minutes exactly, with the trays rotated once at the 4-minute mark.

The chocolate chip peanut butter cookies will look underdone at 8 minutes, but firm up as they cool. Let them cool on the baking trays for 5 to 10 minutes before moving them.

If you like crispy and crunchy peanut butter cookies, this probably isn’t the recipe for you since these are all about soft, chewy, and melty. But if you prefer slightly more well-done cookies, bake them for 9-ish minutes, maybe 10.

I would not bake them longer than 10 minutes or they’ll set up too firm and crunchy as they cool, and you’ll miss out on the ooey, gooey, melt-in-your mouth qualities, which are make these the best chocolate chip peanut butter cookies!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies averiecooks.com

Recipe FAQs

Can I Use Plain Peanut Butter Instead of honey roasted?

Of course! The honey roasted peanut butter makes for a slightly sweeter cookie than using regular peanut butter, and it’s a great contrast to the bittersweet dark chocolate. However, use what you have!

Can I Make This recipe using Natural Peanut Butter?

For my version, I used 1 cup Peanut Pan Creamy Honey Roasted Peanut Butter and I don’t advocate using natural or Homemade Peanut Butter.

As lovely as homemade peanut butter is for eating with a spoon, spreading on toast, or making pans of bars with, it lacks the structure that store-bought peanut butter has.

Because these cookies have no flour, which would lend structure, using peanut butter that’s oily, natural, and loose is going to result in cookies that are loose and may not bake up as thick. 

What’s the best peanut butter for cookies?

You could try using natural peanut butter — and I’ve seen some people have success with it — but I get much better results with commercial. Good old-fashioned Jif, Skippy, or Peter Pan are my recommendations. 

Can I Use Crunchy Peanut Butter Instead of Creamy?

I don’t care for nuts in cookies, generally speaking, and creamy peanut butter is the only way for me, but if you like little pebbles in your cookies, go with crunchy.Freshly baked peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies on a wooden surface.

Should I Use Chocolate Chunks or Chips? 

Use whichever you have on hand to make these accidentally gluten-free peanut butter chocolate chip cookies!

I like the darkness and slight bitterness of chopped chocolate, contrasted with the honey in the peanut butter, and with molasses that’s naturally found in brown sugar. Most semi-sweet chocolate chips are in the 50 to 55% range, and I relish the extra bump in dark chocolate intensity.

However, chocolate chips are definitely the easier and quicker option since you don’t have to chop them up before throwing into the dough. In short: use what you have!

Can I Add Other Mix-Ins? 

You probably can, but I’ve never tried it myself so I can’t say for sure. But I imagine substituting chopped nuts for part of the chocolate chunks would be fine. 

Can I Freeze Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies? 

Yes, pre-baked peanut butter chocolate chip cookies will keep in the freezer for up to 4 months.

Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.

Storage Instructions

These flourless peanut butter chocolate cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week. You can also freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months.

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4.45 from 210 votes

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

By Averie Sunshine
These peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are hands down the best I've ever made. Know that I don't say that lightly! They’re melt-in-your mouth soft and chewy, and extremely moist! 
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Chill Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 18 minutes
Servings: 16
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Ingredients  

  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter, I prefer creamy honey roasted; plain or crunchy may be used; do not use natural or homemade peanut butter – see below *
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 6 ounces semi-sweet, dark, or bittersweet chocolate, chopped (1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips may be substituted)

Instructions 

  • To the mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine peanut butter, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-combined and the sugar is fully incorporated and is mixture is no longer gritty or granular. Stop to scrape down the bowl as necessary.
  • Add the baking soda and beat to incorporate.
    Add the chocolate and beat to just incorporate; don’t overmix or the nice chocolate chunks will break down.
  • Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form two-tablespoon mounds. If chocolate is falling out of dough since there is an abundance, roll ball between palms to encourage it to stay in the dough.
  • Place mounds on a large plate, flatten mounds slightly, cover with plasticwrap, 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) and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until edges are set and tops are barely set, even if slightly underbaked in the center. Watch them very closely after 7 minutes and I recommend not baking longer than 10 minutes. Cookies firm up as they cool, and baking too long results in cookies that become too crisp and hard. The cookies in the photos were baked for 8 minutes, with trays rotated at the 4-minute mark, and have chewy edges with pillowy soft centers.
  • Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 to 10 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.

Notes

  • *Although natural peanut butter or homemade peanut butter may work, I recommend using storebought peanut butter like Jif, Skippy, Peter Pan or similar so that cookies bake up thicker and spread less. Using natural or homemade peanut butter tends to result in thinner and flatter cookies that are prone to spreading.
  • 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 in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 213kcal, Carbohydrates: 18g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 14g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g, Cholesterol: 12mg, Sodium: 166mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 12g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Did you know that I wrote a Peanut Butter Cookbook? It contains 100+ recipes that feature peanut butter as the key ingredient! 

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Monster Cookies - My recipe for classic monster cookies that are chock full of creamy peanut butter, oats, chocolate chips, and M&M's makes both kids and adults reach for just one more cookie! Fast, EASY, soft, perfectly chewy, and they'll become a family FAVORITE in no time! 

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Please note: I have only made the recipe as written, and cannot give advice or predict what will happen if you change something. If you have a question regarding changing, altering, or making substitutions to the recipe, please check out the FAQ page for more info.

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Comments

  1. I just want to come back and leave another comment and tell you that I`ve probably made these about 20 times and people constantly ask for them and cannot resist. Even if they do not typically like peanut butter these are like krytonite! So delicious! nom nom!

    1. I’m so glad to hear that you’ve made them at least 20 times and everyone always wants the recipe and that they can’t resist! That’s so awesome to hear and thanks for sharing that! (and for sharing cookies with your friends & fam!) :)

  2. Just made these and hubby scarfed them down so I’d say they were a success! I used Santa Cruz Organic creamy PB. I got nervous when my batter started to get crumbly not creamy after mixing and I know you recommend Jif but I just refuse to eat that stuff! I ended up adding about 3 TBSP grass fed unsalted butter and the batter became creamy again! I baked right away and they held a nice round shape with a gooey center! Sooo good! I’m going to try sucanat in place of brown sugar next time as a little experiment (and since I read the coconut sugar didn’t yield the best results!).

  3. These work out just fine when I use homemade PB. I refuse to use the stuff with all the oils and sugars in it(eeww). I have found that it works even better when you go to a store that has that handy little machine. It is magic! You put your tub under the spout, and yummy peanut butter comes out. From my experience, this pb works much better for baking then the stuff you blend at home.

    I made these today for tailgating, and the turned out awesome.

    1. Glad to hear you have great luck with natural PB and that you made them for tailgating and they turned out great! Lucky friends you have!

  4. I love peanut butter!! And chocolate! And well vanilla too. These look like something I could handle. Thank you for sharing your beautiful recipes!

  5. Hi, I saw this recipe and just had to try them. However, they did not work out for me and I’m not sure why as I followed the recipe.
    The ‘dough’ I ended up with was really heavy and sticky almost like treacle. I carried on as I’ve never baked anything with just PB and no flour. Anyway they came out the oven flat and a hard kind of chewy (hard to explain)!
    The only thing that I did different was I used reduced fat PB…could that really make such a difference?

    1. Yes reduced fat PB does make THAT MUCH of a difference which is why you can never substitute it in baking recipes unless the author specifically says it will work; most times it will not, and in this recipe where everything is riding on the PB, that’s what went wrong. There was not enough fat present to keep them chewy.

    2. Hello,

      These have a great flavour, HOWEVER, like the poster above me, they did not turn out as pictured. My batter was very “sticky” and “gooey” like caramel. I could not form them into balls of dough, as the texture was not dough-like at all. When the cookies were backed, they were extremely flat — they were also chewy like caramel squares. I am not sure what went wrong. The peanut butter I used is called “compliments balance peanut butter” — the brown sugar was dark brown rather than light brown (I’m not sure if this had an effect). Do you have any insight as to why my cookies turned out an odd texture and not like they are supposed to? Again, the flavour is real nice, but I wish they were more like an actual cookie.

      1. “compliments balance peanut butter” sounds like a lite or not full-fat peanut butter. Use something like Jif, Skippy or just a generic storebrand peanut butter, but it has to be full fat. If you use reduced fat or ‘imitation’ peanut butters that are diet spreads, the cookies won’t turn out. They make everything sticky and gooey. Dark brown sugar has more moisture in it than light brown, which could have also added to the sticky and gooey situation.

    1. I am not sure how peanut butter, sugar and chocolate is the worst recipe – sorry you didn’t like them. I happen to love all those things!

  6. I tried these again today (since like the person above I couldn’t stand failing with a recipe that you claim is “so easy!”) and just like the first time, the more I beat, the greasier they became! I used jiff and creamed for 10 minutes. I am not even going to bother adding the other ingredients since I don’t want to waste them. So disappointed! Oh well, I have other recipes that work.

    On a lighter note, I made your pumpkin spice cookies and they were to die for! Turned out really well and I love how soft they are. :)

    1. I am sorry they didn’t work for you. Honestly I don’t know why 90% of people love-love-love these cookies and they have no issues and then 10% run into snags. I never have ever had a problem and I’ve made them probably…75 times? Or more? At least 1x/month for 5 years.

      I think you OVER-creamed your PB. It’s so hard to tell what people’s mixing bowls, ingredients, etc. look like b/c I am not there so can’t say, but 10 mins sounds too long and like the oil/PB were separating. I would still finish the recipe (don’t add the chocolate) – all you’re out is 1 egg and 1 c sugar and some baking soda – form balls, and CHILL the dough for 24 hours. Then bake.

      Glad to hear you loved the pumpkin spice cookies! Yes, super soft and I love them as well.

    2. P.S. I just went in and edited the post and provided a “Troubleshooting Tips” section that may be helpful to you. It’s right underneath the ‘recipe card’ portion of the post.

  7. Hi! I made these yesterday but they didn’t work for me…I’m thinking I didn’t cream the PB and brown sugar well enough? I don’t have an electric stand or hand mixer, so my friends and I took turns creaming the crap outta it (or so we thought :() for 13 minutes? The texture looked like creamed butter and sugar–is that right? or is it supposed to be batter-looking smooth? I refridgerated them overnight and then baked them in the morning for 8 minutes and they flattened :( This happened when I made the nutella cookies too..should I maybe just use an electric mixer next time? Oh, and I used dark brown sugar for the batch; I made two batches, the first one with my school’s PB+light brown sugar and the second one with (low fat?) PB+dark brown sugar..the school one came out okay, but it tasted gritty. Any tips? Thank you so much! Your blog is my favorite food blog ever!!

    1. Gritty tasting – there’s no telling what’s in the lowfat PB (probably something that adds fiber, i.e. grit) and there’s a creaming issue, too, I suspect.

      Same with these first cookies. It sounds like you enjoy baking but your lack of a mixer is really handicapping you. I suggest going to buy one – even Target or similar has very inexpensive hand mixers which is better than what you have now – nothing. So yes use an electric mixer and make sure your baking soda is fresh. And when you put the balls on the tray, they should look like domed golf balls, very domed with height.

  8. These look incredible. I tried to make them this afternoon with no luck (the dough turned pebbly, never smooth, even after about 10 min in the stand mixer). When I tried a batch anyway (I hate to waste ingredients!), they didn’t puff at all and leaked oil everywhere :(. Wish I knew what went wrong, but I’ll just have to try again and hope for better results! Can’t wait to actually try one :)

    1. It sounds like the dough never really came together. I am not sure why it didn’t combine. You’re just combining PB with sugar and an egg. Not hard, right! I would suggest either mixing by hand, with a mixer or doing WHATEVER it is you need to do to get the dough to combine; maybe switch brands of PB. I have used Jif, Skippy, and about 10 different generic storebrands, Target, Ralph’s, Albertson’s, etc. and never have an issue. Baking doesn’t always go off without a hitch the first time but hundreds of people make these with success so I know your time will come too!

      1. I made them again, because I couldn’t go to bed with a failure on my hands, and they came together this time. I think that the first time around, I actually overmixed, and the oil began to separate out. I bake a lot, too, so I switched up the instructions just a little bit (creamed the PB and sugar first, before adding the egg and vanilla), to be more like other cookies recipes I’ve used. Not sure if that was what did it, or if the stars just aligned this time, but they were very good. Thanks for a great recipe!

      2. Well I am so glad to hear you didn’t go to bed with a fail (that’s like going to bed mad!) Ha!

        Creaming the PB + sugar, THEN adding the egg and vanilla, glad that seemed to do the trick. More like traditional baking. I have honestly made these cookies hundreds of times and never noticed any difference doing it your way and have another recipe similar to this where I indicate to do it like that; but have since just combined all the steps into one, and it has always worked for me. But I will make mention of this for the rare few who write in with issues.

        Also the fact that you could have possibly overbeat the PB and the oil was coming out & separating – another interesting observation. 99% of people don’t cream properly or beat it sufficiently but it sounds like you went the other direction and that was compounding the problems.

        Glad everything all worked out – and thanks for the field report because this is helpful for me to hear. This is my most popular recipe by pageviews, viewed many thousands of times daily, and so I know your info will help others!