It’s no secret that I love peanut butter and in baking there’s something magical about adding peanut butter to recipes.
It just makes things better.
It makes baked goods moist, rich, and decadent in a going-to-stuff-my-face kind of way.
For the peanut butter allergy folks, you could most definitely use sunflower seed, almond, or cashew butter in these cookies.
I also adore oatmeal cookies.
Did you see my last cookie creation? Chewy, brown sugary oatmeal raisin cookies
When they are done right, I think that oatmeal-based cookies trump most other cookies.
Today’s cookies have oatmeal in them even though they don’t have much of an “oatmeal cookie taste”.
The peanut butter flavor is more dominant than oatmeal flavor.
When it comes down to it, though, I’ve really never met a cookie I didn’t like. Oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, molasses. They’re all good.
Except dry cookies. Those are not so good. Don’t break any baking rules and make them dry or overcooked. Or put nuts into baked goods. Blech.
So when I saw Jo-Anna of A Pretty Life in the Suburbs’ recipe for Cookies ‘n Creme Stuffed Oatmeal Cookies, she got my wheels turning for this month’s Secret Recipe Club recipe reveal, and it steered me in the direction of using oatmeal.
I’ve also been eyeing the Cooks Illustrated Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe that I’ve read rave reviews about. Ever since 2009. I based last week’s oatmeal raisin cookies from the melted butter technique they used.
Because really, you can do no wrong with melted butter and peanut butter combined with oatmeal and white chocolate.
At least not in my book.
I loved these cookies
And now it’s time to geek out with food science trivia which likely explains why I loved them.
It has to do with sugar ratios, melted butter, and eggs.
The Cooks Illustrated website compared their ‘new cookie’ (2009) vs. the classic Nestle Tollhouse cookie (1950s I’m guessing) in this little chart (source)
Sugar: by having a higher proportion of brown sugar to white sugar, you will get a chewier cookie. That’s a big bonus for me.
- TOLL HOUSE RECIPE: Equal Amounts Brown and White SugarA 1-1 ratio of brown to white sugar creates a cookie that’s neither crisp nor chewy.
- OUR RECIPE: More Brown Sugar Using more brown sugar than white makes for a chewier cookie.
Butter: By melting the butter you get a chewier cookie, less of a cakey cookie, and enhanced flavor. Yes please.
- TOLL HOUSE RECIPE: Creamed Solid Butter. Creaming butter creates a cakier texture in cookies.
- OUR RECIPE: Browned, Melted Butter. Melting butter contributes to chewiness; browning it enhances flavor.
Eggs: Reducing egg whites increases chewiness and reduces dryness. Score.
- TOLL HOUSE RECIPE: 2 Whole Eggs. Whole eggs contribute to a drier texture.
- OUR RECIPE: 1 Whole Egg, 1 Yolk. Eliminating one egg white also boosts chewiness.
Take that, Alton Brown. You’re not the only one who can geek out.
Another thing I loved about these cookies was that I didn’t have to use an electric mixer.
I did everything by hand and with one spoon. That’s the beauty of the microwave melted butter technique. You don’t need to whip or cream anything together. Just melt ‘n stir.
I am still pining away for that Kitchen Aid but so far the Mixer Fairy hasn’t paid me a visit yet.
Not being bothered to use any sort of mixer in this recipe was a nice bonus.
It’s nice having fewer dishes to do. Beaters, bowls, paddles. It all adds up. I hate doing dishes and do everything in my power to keep them to an absolute minimum.
I’d rather spend my time baking and cooking or sampling the raw dough eating the finished product than doing dishes.
And between me, Scott, and Little Miss Cookie Monster, we made quick work on these
Just typing this post and looking at these pictures makes me really want another one. Or three.
They are chewy, sweet, rich, and the peanut butter flavor is enhanced even more by the addition of peanut butter chips. I bet butterscotch chips would also be excellent in these, too.
The oatmeal makes them soft
And the white chocolate chips make them sweet
This wouldn’t be an “Averie dessert” if there wasn’t peanut butter in the recipe or white chocolate. <– Those two links showcase all my peanut butter recipes and all my white chocolate recipes in one place. I will be adding these cookies to both sections.
Have I convinced you to make these yet?
They’re a new favorite of mine.
They’ve earned a special place in my heart.
And in my stomach.
Pin This Recipe
Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies
Combining 3 favorite kinds of cookies into one so you don’t have to choose which to make – peanut butter, oatmeal, or white chocolate. Soft and chewy, with just enough texture from the oats and plenty of white chocolate in every bite. Fast, easy, no-mixer required recipe. One of my favorite cookies of all time!
Ingredients
- 1/2 c unsalted butter
- 1/3 c creamy peanut butter
- 1 c light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 c granulated sugar
- 1 egg + 1 yolk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
- 1 c old fashioned whole oats
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 c white chocolate chips
- 1/2 c peanut butter chips (or use butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, toffee bits, raisins, nuts, seeds, etc.)
Instructions
- In a medium-sized microwave safe bowl, melt the butter and peanut butter together. Power on for 30 seconds, take out, stir. Repeat. Should take no more than about 90 seconds.
- Add the brown & white sugar to the melted butter & peanut butter mixture and stir. Set this is the freezer for a couple minutes.
- Remove from the freezer (or just wait for the mixture to come to room temp on it’s own) and add the egg + yolk (you just don’t want to add eggs to that hot mixture. We don’t want scrambled eggs here), add the vanilla extract, and stir.
- Then add the flour, oats, baking soda and stir. You should have cookie dough consistency dough and if you don’t, either add a touch more flour if it’s too wet or a touch more peanut butter if it’s too dry.
- Finally, add the white chocolate chips and peanut butter chips and stir.
- Roll or spoon out golf ball sized balls onto a cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. They spread but not tons.
- Bake at 325F for approximately 10-12 minutes. (I like very underdone and soft cookies so I baked for 10 minutes) The cookies will look pretty raw even at 12 minutes and that’s ok. Take them out and let the sit and cool well before eating.
adapted from my Oatmeal Raisin Cookies & Cooks Illustrated
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
24Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 204Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 27mgSodium: 63mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 1gSugar: 17gProtein: 3g
Oh my Goodness!!! These are delicious. I very seldom make a recipe “as is” (I usually have to doctor things up a bit) but I did with this recipe…except (LOL) I substituted gluten-free flour for the regular flour. They are so good. I gave 2 cookies to my neighbor without telling him they were GF and he devoured them both in a couple of bites. My mom and hubby loved them also. One of the few recipes I’ve tried that converts well to GF. Thank you. I pre scooped the remaining cookie dough and am freezing them; nothing like fresh warm cookies straight from the oven.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad they turned out great with GF flour no less!
Great recipe. I used a 1\2 cup crushed shredded wheat cereal as a stand in for chopped nuts. Cheaper and fewer calories. I used a small ice cream scoop and the recipe made 38 cookies. Not having to mess with an electric mixer is great.
Thanks for the five star review and glad they turned out great with your cereal substitution, too!
I agree this would have to be one of my very favorites. I made a double batch. I love all your recipes! I also made a double batch of your oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for my brother. It’s what he requested for his birthday. He’s going to love them. Thank you for all the wonderful recipes!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad that it’s one of your favorites! Glad you love all my recipes and are making double batches and doing lots of baking – even for your brother for his bday, how nice of you!
I realized about an hour ago that I needed to bring something to a cookie swap tonight, and I remembered that I’d bookmarked this recipe (via a post on another blog). 30 minutes start to finish with ingredients I already had in the house, and so yummy! Thanks so much Averie!
Glad they worked out great for you!
Do you think you could use cookie butter in place of peanut butter for these?? yum!
Possibly – you kist never know until you try what will happen!
These cookies are really great. I love the combo of oats, white chocolate and peanut butter. I knew that egg whites causes dryness, but I didn’t know this about creaming butter and brown sugar and white sugar ratio. Good to know! I love all cookies – crispy ones and chewy ones, but when I want chewy – I’d like to achieve chewy one :) Now I know the clue.
Averie, I LOVE this recipe. I’ve made it once as written, and once using 1 cup sugar + 1 tbsp molasses as a substitute for brown sugar. Both times came out perfect. Your recipes are always so well done. Sprinkle a bit of sea salt before baking and these cookies are my new favourite, too. Thanks for the consistently good recipes.Â
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you – both ways!
I’m a little excited about these. I have a husband and five kids (first three are boys!) and we play hard and eat cookies like it’s our job. I did add 1/2 tsp. Salt and all chocolate chips because that’s how we roll. Big fan of cooks illustrated and of your site! Thank you!
Thanks for being a fan and enjoy the cookies!
Absolutely love these cookies,my new fav.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad you love these cookies and that they’re your new fave!
Currently snowed in and bored out of my mind. Had everything on hand except for peanut butter chips, so I did 1 cup of white chocolate chips and didn’t substitute for anything else. They are perfect and delicious. Thank you!
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad it came out great for you! Stay warm!
Have you tried making the dough ahead of time? We will be visiting family for Thanksgiving and thought it would be awesome to make a big batch of dough ahead of time and bring it up with us so we could make cookies whenever we wanted at their house. Normally refrigerating the dough helps it keep from spreading during baking and makes them chewier but I’ve never tried it on a cookie recipe that didn’t call for refrigerating the dough on purpose. Can’t wait to try these!
This is an older recipe of mine and I have remade it https://www.averiecooks.com/2015/03/soft-and-chewy-peanut-butter-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies.html
Read steps 7 and 9 specifically in the directions for answers to your questions. But yes I do recommend chilling the dough and yes you can pre-make the dough and keep it in the fridge. Enjoy!
I just finish baking this recipe. Its AMAZINGLY delicious~ but then I made a change to the flour. I used
self-raising flour and custard flour . thanks for sharing. love Pinterest.Â
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you!
tollhouse oatmeal scotches have always been my favorite…until now!! OH MY GOSH how amazing!! And you don’t need a mixer -what! Is this real life?! Â I used butterscotch chips since I had some leftover from making your oatmeal cookie (chilling in the fridge now, along with your chocolate chip cookies). Can’t wait to try more of your recipes !Â
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad you’re on a cookie-making streak! Thanks for trying lots of my cookie recipes and great to hear you’re happy! And amen to no mixer recipes :)
I love reading your blog and this was the first recipe I made from your site because well, I love oatmeal cookies, white chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies! I made it as followed except I lowered the brown sugar to 3/4 cup and white sugar to 1/4 cup… still found it overpoweringly sweet. These cookies have amazing texture though! I would say it’s more like a peanut butter cookie than an oatmeal cookie.Â
Thanks for trying the recipe and since I made this, I have re-made and re-vamped the recipe (just posted this week!) slightly and this version is less sweet…slightly less sugar and also white chocolate is so inherently sweet on its own anyway, sweeter tasting than semi-sweet.
https://www.averiecooks.com/2015/03/soft-and-chewy-peanut-butter-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies.html
So yes, these cookies are for those with a sweet tooth :) And yes, more PB than Oatmeal, I would agree.
Best of three worlds! I sprinkled the tops with a tiny bit of flaky salt to contrast with the sweet. A keeper for sure, thank you! Finally a cookie me and the hubs both love.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you AND that it’s the best of 3 worlds for both you AND your hubs!
These rock! I skimmed the recipe before I went to the store, to make sure I had all the ingredients, but somehow I missed the peanut butter chips… I used semi sweet instead and loved it! I made a couple other changes… the only oats I had were quick oats, so I used them, and also added 1/2 t salt, as my husband is a huge fan of anything sweet-n-salty. Thanks for such a killer recipe!
Glad they worked out great and yes these cookies are one of my faves! I put them in my first cookbook and glad you guys really enjoyed them and good call on your little tweaks!
Hey, these cookies look amazing and I really want to try baking some but not sure how to go about the measurements as I’m from the UK and am used to the metric system. Any idea what the measurements are in grams? I have no idea how to weigh out cups… Thanks!
If you just google ‘conversion tools’ or how many grams is 1 cup – there are tons of results that will pop up.
Can natural peanut butter be used in lieu of what’s in the recipe? These look so good!
I wouldn’t because it could separate and for baking, I have better luck with Jif, Skippy, etc.
Loved reading this! I’m new to baking so very excited to make these, question, what would happen if you used salted butter instead of unsalted? Thanks
Nothing other that they’ll be saltier and I wouldn’t add any additional salt to the recipe. Brands of butter, and even from stick to stick, vary widely in how salty they are which is why I always use unsalted to control the salt in my sweets.
I just made these and they were amazing.
I followed most of the recipe, but used chunky peanut butter, and added a 1/2 cup of toasted almond slivers and flax seeds instead of the peanut butter chips.
Thanks for trying this (oldie) recipe but goodie! I love these cookies so much that I put them in my first cookbook. Yours sound great!
Just made these and let me tell you they are more than delicious! I used both semi sweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chips and I couldn’t stop eating them! I followed the recipe step by step and will definitely be making these again soon. Thanks for the recipe :)
Glad you enjoyed them and will make them again! Thanks for trying the recipe!
These were DELICIOUS! I don’t have peanut butter chips, so I just left them out rather than replace them with anything because I didn’t want anything complicating/overpowering the flavors you’ve already got going in these cookies. And I loved them! Yum! They were pretty sweet, though. Maybe next time I’ll use less sugar. Or maybe not. :D
These are some of my fave cookies ever and I put them in my first cookbook! Glad you loved them!
Spectacular cookie! The texture is wonderful. When they first come out of the oven they look too puffy to be the chewy goodness that they become when they cool. They are good as is, but we opted to use all PB chips for the second batch and we liked those even more. My kids want to try with chocolate chips – we’ll see – I’m worried it will overpower the pb goodness. My husband says they taste like chewy nutter butters.
The only thing I did differently is dark brown sugar because I don’t have light brown. So feel free to make that substitution if you need to. You won’t be disappointed!
Glad you love them and I agree that “they taste like chewy nutter butters” – great analogy! Glad your tweaks with the chips & dark brown sugar worked out well!
I found these on Pinterest. Your recipes are always awesome and these cookies did not disappoint. Thanks for sharing your amazing skills and recipes :)
Thanks for the kind words, Gabby! Glad you enjoyed these and my other recipes, too!
ok thanks so much for responding … guess I need to go shopping first :) can’t wait to try them though!!
I just came across this recipe on Pinterest!! They look & sound amazing!! I would love to try these today but noticed I only have quick cooking oats … I’m sure they are different or recipes would just call for oats but do you think these would work? I hope so!
I haven’t tested it with quick oats (which behave more like flour than they do oats) so if you do try them, you’ll want to start with less than the amount called for in the recipe since they’ll dry out and bulk up your dough faster, more like flour.
Just made these, they were really easy and delicious. I appreciate the Science behind the chewy-ness of cookies. I will be keeping this in mind for my future recipes, thanks for sharing that.
* one thing I changed, I reduced the White chocolate to 1/3 cup (I don’t like them too sweet), and I added a generous pinch of salt with the soda.
Glad you had a chance to try them and loved them! Reducing the chocolate chips to suit one’s needs is an easy tweak and glad it worked for you!
wow these look amazing….not so healthy (so def a treat) but amazing! I cant wait to try them! I found your blog from haveanotherbiteplease.com!
I never think of cookies as ‘healthy’. I think of them as something I like and makes life much more fun :) Thanks for stopping by!
I am a new follower of your fantastic blog…and believe you to be the guru of all cookie-dom…really. Question..I live in France, and I wonder what “Type” of flour corresponds to bread flour in your must-be-made chocolate chip cookie recipe? Here..every flour is “typed” by number..”Type 45 to 65″ are generally considered the regular baking flours..whilst Type 110 is considered to be similar to Whole Wheat pastry flour…I want to do your recipe(s) justice..and I so love that you are an unabashed fan of white chocolate!..I thought I was the only one!!…Loving your detailed explanations…incredibly helpful and appreciated. I simply cannot tell you how your blog, writing, instructions and photography impress me!
Have a lovely weekend!
I don’t have any idea about the French system of flour numbering, but you’d want to use the flour that you’d use to make bread with. White bread that’s crusty, or like a baguette or a firm, chewy, roll.
Not a light, soft flour, which we’d call cake flour or pasty flour. And NOT wheat! That has low gluten, you want high gluten. Not anything labeled wheat, pastry flour, cake flour, soft flour; you want a ‘hard’ flour with as much gluten as you can get. Bright white :)
Thanks for the compliments on my blog, writing, recipes, etc! So appreciated!
And you know, if you can’t find ‘the right’ flour; just use what you’d always use to bake cookies with, but not wheat. Must be white!
just pulled these out of the oven…i’ve ate 2…made for the purpose of taking these on weekend family getaway with four other families…it is going to be really hard to SHare! they are so good…love that melted peanut butter taste!
They’re probably my fave cookie on my whole blog! I love that you made them (awesome choice!) and that you’re gobbling them up. It’s only Thursday. I don’t think they’re going to make it to the weekend :)
Is there anyway I could make these without the oats? I have everything but the oats and I’m too lazy to go to the store :) Could I just use more flour? Thanks!!
I’m sure you could add flour until you get a proper dough consistency; I love oats and the texture they provide and these cookies aren’t the same for me without them; but in theory, yes they will ‘work’ without oats and using more flour.
I made these yesterday, and they came out wonderful!
So glad to hear you had success!
WOWZA!!! These are good! Thanks for sharing. I added milk chocolate chips in addition to the white ones.
So glad you like them – they’re my fave cookie on my whole site! Glad you added some milk choc chips, too. The more the merrier!
I made these today for the first time! I found the directions very easy to follow! They were a bit too sweet for my taste. Next time i will use less sugar and less white chips. But overall they really are delicious. I love the combination of oatmeal and peanut butter!
Glad you tried them and yes, you can reduce the granulated sugar down slightly and reduce the amt of white choc chips without issue for next time. Glad you liked them – they are my fave cookie on my blog!
I made this recipe over the weekend and just LOVED these cookies! I posted on my blog this week: http://kendallandkeith.blogspot.com/2012/10/peanut-butter-oatmeal-white-chocolate.html
Thanks for sharing! It’s our new favorite cookie :)
I love them so much too! They’re probably my fave cookie on my whole site & glad they were a hit with you, too!
These are the best cookies I have ever made. I read your “science” behind the making of these and I thought it was so interesting. I’ve always said that baking is like chemistry class, and you’ve found an amazing experiment! Thank you for this recipe!
I love comments like this – thank you for making them and glad you had such phenomenal success with them! I love it when that happens and glad you enjoy my food science in the post!
WOW! Used this recipe to make cookies for a friend and it was super simple to follow! The thing I liked most was it didn’t call for a big amount of any ingredients but it made a ton of cookies. I think I got around 30 average-sized cookies. I had to use Nutella since I ran out of PB, but with this recipe you have wiggle room to play around. Next time I might do an almond butter and add some orange zest. Great post, love your stuff!
This is the highest praise you could give me: doesn’t call for a ton of ingredients, makes plenty, there’s wiggle room, super simple to follow and they were a hit. You have just touched on 100% of my goals when I post recipes – thank you so much for the feedback! Glad you made them & loved them. This recipes happens to be in a three-way tie for my fave cookie recipe of all time, ever. I love them too!
Made these Averie!!! Used butterscotch chips. My bf brought them to work and they disappeared! Posting about them next week! Have a great Saturday! Hugs, Sally
Your pictures are so amazing. I could taste that cookie just from the pics.
thanks!
did you see my latest cookies?
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2012/01/deep-dish-chocolate-chip-cookies-with-pb-cups-pb-mms.html
I gave these a go tonight. They are really yummy but sadly I overbaked mine =( Totally my fault… we recently moved and I am getting used to a new oven plus cooking with gas instead of electric. I should have taken your suggestion for a more underdone cookie though since that is how I like mine as well. At any rate, they are still pretty yummy and I can’t wait to make another batch and work on getting the perfect time for them in my oven.
I hate new ovens…I have moved 10 times in 10 years and every time I just about get used to one, we move. And with cookies, things can go from under to over baked in literally 90-120 seconds so just stand in front of it next time..and good luck.
Thanks for the field report.
These are probably my fave cookie on my blog so I hope you try again to perfect your oven temp b/c it will be worth it.
Ok, this recipe is amazing!! I just made it and I’m thrilled for a perfect cookie recipe… I used crunchy peanut butter which added a little bit of nuts but not too much. Thanks for a winner!
I am glad you like them! Thanks for the field report back on things!
Averie, thank you!! I have to tell you that I made a batch of pumpkin oatmeal cookies yesterday that were a disaster (not your recipe ofcourse!). They looked fine but tasted awful (and they’re now in a bag for the seagulls!). Well I made YOURS today and I was in heaven! I was so excited about not having to whip out my electric mixture – a first! I absolutely loved the texture of this cookie – nice & chewy but moist at the same time. Instead of peanut butter chips I used dried cranberries (craisins) along with the white chips and they were fabulous. Keep up the great work girl :) On a diff. topic…I went out and bought a donut pan from Bed Bath last week. Love it! O.k. and one more thing, I was lucky enough to be in a town with a Trader Joe’s and picked up some sunflower seed butter – good stuff!
so glad to hear these were a success and that you got the results you were looking for!
I bet craisins would be awesome with the white choc chips. sounds great.
I hate it when I make other people’s recipes and they are flop. At least the seagulls will be happy.
Donut pan…I broke my in this weekend, stay tuned and glad you love SFSButter too!
Just got done making these. Omg they are delicious :) i didnt have any peanut butter chips, so i used some reeses pieces, mini and regular sized ones. Very fall-ish :)
Even my hubby likes these and he rarely likes any of my homemade cookies!
you’re the second person this afternoon who has told me they loved these. THANK YOU! for the field report and thanks for LMK you made them. And yes, reeses pieces would be spectacular in them…or really any kind of chips, butterscotch, toffee bits, white, milk, PB, you name it :) And you made mini ones…cute!
I loved the look of these cookies (simple ingreients, easy prep-work, no nuts), so I had to make them (less the white chocolate, ’cause it doesn’t live in my house). I’ve got to say: big win! They were extra easy to make (especially the clean up part thanks to the two dish prep), and they are so good! I haven’t even let them cool yet, and already I’m not sure any of them are going to make it into work with me.
Thanks for the great snack; I’m sure I’ll be making these again soon.
Glad that they were a hit! :)
These cookies look great girl! Thanks for sharing the link with me today :)