Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
After baking and cooling, these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies become cakey and soft and they nearly melt in your mouth.
Based on a from long, long ago, I’ve been toodling around for quite some time with the concept to get, what is to me, the perfect peanut butter cookie.
And I finally think I’ve got it!

While I generally like to steal a cookie (or five) warm from the baking sheets, these cookies benefit greatly from cooling to room temperature (and are fantastic out of the freezer especially if you have the patience to let them sit on the counter for about 3 1/2 minutes – pure bliss).
After baking and cooling, the texture becomes cakey and soft and they nearly melt in your mouth with their peanut buttery sweetness.
I am surprised by how much I love these babies, since I am such a huge fan of my other favorites. My love for them cannot be denied. Simply consult my thighs for further evidence.
Peace out.
One Year Ago: Blue Cheese and Cheddar Scalloped Potatoes
Two Years Ago: Cookie Dough Truffles
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 g) butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups (510 g) smooth or chunky peanut butter
- 1 ½ cups (318 g) firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup (212 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ tablespoons milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups (355 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (340 g) chocolate chips, or a combination of peanut butter and chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl combine the butter and peanut butter and beat the mixture until it is light and fluffy (you can do this with a hand mixer or with an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment). Add the brown and white sugars and mix until well combined. Add the eggs and mix for 1-2 minutes, until the mixture is well combined and light in color. Add the milk and vanilla and mix. Add the dry ingredients and mix just briefly. While there are still large spots of flour, add the chocolate chips (or peanut butter chips or both) and mix until the flour is completely mixed in and the mixture is well combined. Let the cookie dough sit for 15 minutes before scooping onto the baking sheets. It will firm up as it sits.
- When ready to bake, scoop tablespoon-sized balls of dough onto silpat or parchment-lined baking sheets leaving about 1 to 2 inches in between the cookies to allow for spreading as they bake. Bake for 10-11 minutes, taking care not to overbake in the slightest! Leave the cookies on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes after baking before removing them to a cooling rack. This will help them set up and be firm enough to transfer without having them overbake in the oven. The cookies may look slightly underbaked but they will firm up as they cool. Resist the urge to eat them warm as they taste much better cooled.
- I pop baked and cooled cookies into the freezer (in a large tupperware or freezer-safe ziploc bag) and they taste great out of the freezer, especially if they are left to sit at room temperature for a few minutes.
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Recipe Source: My Kitchen Cafe
You do more baking than I do so I ask in case you know, what to do with a bag full of hideuos, huge, mottled, shaped like small boulders with the same consisistency, pears?
I’ve made these twice now. Once a full batch and just now a half a batch. They are perfect. I will never try or use another recipe again. They were a huge hit last time I made them – gave the recipe to at least 5 people. Thanks 🙂
Kelly & Mel…I’m really glad that you were talking about this. I am in the middle of making these for the first time, and my dough was definitely like Kelly’s…very greasy and crumbly. The first batch out of the oven tasted good, but definitely didn’t look like the photos. Mel, the next time you are making these, would you be willing to take some step-by-step photos and then post them?? THanks!
Kelly – either option might work, although I’d probably try decreasing the flour first. I first adapted this recipe when I lived at 6,000 feet and now that I live at sea level, too, I’ve found that I sometimes have to cut back a bit on the flour (living at high altitude, you sometimes have to add a couple tablespoons more flour to baking recipes). I hope it works for you because I want you to LOVE them!
I’m in the Northwest US, pretty much at sealevel. I’ll give it a try! I’m also wondering about using more milk?
Kelly – just out of curiosity what altitude to you live at (what kind of climate)? If your dough is that crumbly, decrease the flour by 1/4 cup and see how they fare.
I came to look back at the comments because BOTH times I’ve had these the dough turns out extremely crumbly, and I wondered if anyone else has the same complaint? The cookies turn out fine but putting them on the pan is frustrating as the dough is very greasy and falls apart so easily. Any suggestions, or am I just doing something wrong? I do LOVE the idea of peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips, but this recipe isn’t doing it for me so far… 🙁
Codes for Plndr – hmmm, I don’t think it would work to sub out all the peanut butter for nutella since their properties/ingredients are different but it would probably be worth an experiment to bring in a little nutella and see how it goes. Good luck!
Peanut butter is the best!! Can I make this with nutella?
I have been scanning past these cookies on your website for months. This morning when out of the blue I decided I must make cookies I turned to the cookie section here as always and stopped on these ones. I decided it was time to finally make them and boy am I glad I did. They have the most amazing texture and flavor. I LOVE THEM!
I made these cookies and they were delicious! Hubby approved too! Soft and chewy just the way I like. Stop your search, these are the best peanut butter cookies!
I made these cookies last night and they were a total hit! I must have made them smaller than I was supposed to, cause I got 7 dozen from them! Thanks so much for the great recipe, Mel!
Mel, I am so glad I found your site! I love cooking, and all your recipes I’ve seen so far look delicious.
I’m a huge peanut butter and chocolate lover, and these cookies may be the best I’ve ever had. Thank you!! Can’t wait to try your other recipes! 🙂
I found your recipe earlier when I was doing a search for a good recipe — I read the reviews and thought it was odd that so many posted before even trying them — well — I just baked 5 dozen and as suggested — waited to try them — and I have to say — they are truly AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have found the PERFECT peanut butter cookie and am officially declaring that I have absolutely no need to EVER eat another peanut butter cup as long as I live!!!!!!!!!!! — :)))
Don’t know how I haven’t declared my love for these cookies before because they are amazing! Thanks for sharing!
Kelly . . . our son is allergic to nuts too. Quite a change for me since I too LOVED peanut butter. Try Sunbutter (it’s made from sunflower seeds). It is a total replacement for peanut butter (you can use it in sandwiches, cooking, etc.) and pretty much tastes just like it. When I first tried it I wasn’t convinced, but it just took a slight taste adjustment and now I adore it. Our kids love it too. Can’t wait to try these! They look delish! FYI, you can get Sunbutter on Amazon or Sunbutter.com. Good luck!!
these were awesome!!! Even my husband who only requests “1” type of cookie said they were really good! My kids said they could eat them all day long… and they did (I might have too)! It totally ruined my diet! But thanks for sharing!
Just a tip for those of your with peanut allergies, there is a great product out called PEABUTTER, made from ground golden peas (the crop variety not the garden variety), it makes for a great substitution without the allergy fears! Maybe just a little more sugar if you’re wanting. I have also made these with PEABUTTER and CAROB for daycare to avoid the nut and dairy allergies.
These are the best cookies, EVER. Just made them and they’re amazing. Thank you so much. 😀
Thanks, Melissa!
These have become a family favorite. Our dilemma with cookie recipes is that they usually make too many cookies for our family – so they either get eaten too quickly (bad) or go to waste (way worse). We could share, but I am not generous enough to let these cookies leave my presence. Our only other solution (because I refuse to halve cookie recipes) is to try freezing the leftovers, but thawed cookies are never as good as the real thing.
We discovered with this recipe that the cookies are amazing fresh, so to remedy our over-production problem, we roll the dough into about 1/4 cup balls, and freeze the balls. We cook the frozen balls for about 14 minutes – they turn out perfectly, and we get 2 or 3 fresh cookies every night rather than 30 cookies all at once. They freeze very well, and if we ever have company over, it is nice to be able to bake “fresh” cookies on-the-spot.
Thanks for helping us find our “perfect cookie!”
Smith Familia – thanks for including your tips on freezing the balls of dough – great idea!
I just made these today. Oh!! Sooooo good! My husband said they might possibly be the BEST cookie EVER!!! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
Sarah – wow, that’s high praise from your husband. Awesome!
Since you mentioned that they’re a great freezer cookie I made homemade ice cream sandwiches out of some of them. I just put a thick layer of natural vanilla ice cream in the middle, wrapped them in plastic wrap and put them all in a freezer bag. They were amazing! Detrimental to losing “baby weight,” but amazing.
Hillary – divine suggestion. Divine.
Melanie, I need a little help. I got a recipe for a vanilla chip, oatmeal cranberry cookie. It’s tasty, but a little dry, and cakey. I’m looking for a moist more chewy texture with the same amazing ingredient combo. Any ideas? More margarine vs butter, another egg? HELP.
Brandi – if I were you, I’d find a great oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe (like this one) and sub out the chocolate chips for the vanilla chips and throw in the cranberries. Those particular cookies I linked to are soft and chewy and would be a perfect vehicle for your ingredients. Incidentally, a standby ratio for classic, chewy cookies is 1 cup butter, between 1 1/2 cups to 2 cups sugar (more brown sugar means a chewier cookie), 2 eggs, and between 4-5 cups dry (could be a combo of flour, oatmeal, coconut, etc.). If you see a similar ratio in a cookie recipe, it should be a clue that it will be a chewy, soft cookie. Hope that helps!
I made these today, and they are delicious! I’m not sure what I did differently, but mine didn’t spread out at all.
Audrey – glad you liked this recipe!
I have been wanting PB&J cookies for a while now, but couldn’t find the right PB cookie. So I tried with these and they turned out great. I used the back of a measuring spoon to make an indention on the top and filled it with grape jelly, then baked as directed. They are so yummy.
Sonya – what a clever baker you are! I bet these were great transformed into peanut butter and jelly cookies. I love that idea!
Jessica – oooh, I bet these were over-the-top with dark chocolate chips. You are my hero for using them.
My youngest daughter wanted to make cookies this weekend, found this recipe and they are WONDERFUL!!!!!!! Best ever…used Hersheys Special Dark chips.
Your cookies are lovely! That light swirl design just makes them all the more irresistible. Plus, I’m also always looking for different way of ‘tweaking’ peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies. I can’t wait to try this! :~)
They are in the oven right now but I don’t think they’re going to make 4-5 dozen because my kids and I can’t stop eating the dough! So yummy!!! Thanks for one more fabulous recipe.
Katie – glad you loved the cookies (and the dough!).
No doubt about it…I would eat all of these cookies! The sound great and look perfect.
Well, I’m sitting here trying to not eat cookies while they are just fresh from the oven. So, I’m eating the dough instead – it’s yummy! I’ll have to let you know how the cookies are after they have cooled. But, based on the dough I’m sure they will be awesome 🙂
Melissa – did you like the cookies?? I hope they tasted as good as the dough…
yum pb and chocolate are always a winner in my book. these cookies look delicious!
Just curious, do you typically use semi-sewwt or milk chocolate in your cookies?
Lisa – I always use semisweet.
Hey, totally random, but what kind of camera do you have?
Sue – I use a Nikon D90.
Just wondering if you would considering posting the nutritional information on your recipes.
Cat – I occasionally get requests for this but right now I’m not planning on adding the nutritional information. I haven’t found a truly reliable method/site to use plus I’m just plain out of time when it comes to adding it. I figure if readers really want to know, they can find a nutritional site and plug in the info and give it their best shot. Also, I have to be perfectly honest, sometimes I’d rather not know what it all calculates out to be, you know what I mean?
After linking to the other cookies, which linked me further to other cookies, I am wondering just what exactly IS your favorite cookie???
Laurel – well, you’ve found me out. I have a major problem declaring every cookie my favorite. If you had to pin me down, I’d probably stick to the one I declared my favorite a while ago, the chocolate chip coconut oatmeal cookies, but then again, I do seem to find new favorites all the time!
I have these babies in the oven as we speak…can’t wait to feast on them. I don’t even like peanut butter but these look so awesome I’m diving in. Thanks for the freezing tip…With only one child making a huge batch of cookies is not so practical and I’m making my neighbors fat!
Thanks Mel…LURVE your recipes! When Phemomenon and I get together we almost always mention recipes of yours we have tried and love!
Natalie – thanks for the sweet comment. I hope you like the cookies and tell Holly I said hi next time you chat. I’m a little jealous I can’t hang out with the both of you!
Yummy these look fabulous!
Your recipes are divine, and your posts always crack me up. Thanks so much for sharing these with us!
🙁 We found out earlier this year that our 2 year old is allergic to peanuts, so no peanut butter chocolate chip cookies for me. I love them, but it is so hard to find a good one, even harder than regular chocolate chip. Either they are not peanut buttery enough, or often, way overcooked and cripy/crumbly. Are you sure you can’t move next door to me so you can make these for me – I could sneak over and eat them, and then wash my hands and brush my teeth before I come home.
Kelly – ugh, peanut allergies are scary! I’m sorry you have to be so careful but it is obviously worth it for your 2-year old’s sake. Listen, sister, I promise that if I ever move next door to you (uh, where do you live??) I’d make these cookies for you and make you eat them in quarantine before going home. Until then, I’ll eat a couple in your honor.
Just made these! The best ever!! Thanks for doing all the hard work of finding these fabulous recipes for the rest of us!!
Thanks, Gail! What a quick review. I’m thrilled you liked them.
Mmm that sounds delicious! I love chocolate chip cookies, and I love chocolate and peanut butter combo… Sounds like the perfect mix! 😉
I have been torturing myself looking at all of your food postings. I am on a diet of sorts and want to make everything, particularly those that would fit in the “treat” or “dessert” category. These cookies today didn’t help the situation.
I left a comment about your recent frosting posting. I take it back. I tried making the cake again with my own frosting. After thinking it over, yours is subtle and better. You are the food queen!
Kristi – you are so nice. I’m not sure I’m really the queen…more like the evil stepmother or something like that.
Oh snap. Like I needed one more delicious treat tempting me to make it?!! Curse you Mel. Curse you. I cannot resist a cookie out of the freezer.
These look divine, and I will try them out soon. However, do I have to use parchment or silpat-lined baking sheets? I’ve never done this before; what’s the benefit of using them vs. a greased (or ungreased) baking sheet? Obviously I’m not as much of a great cook as you are. 🙂
Kellie – no, you don’t necessarily need a lined baking pan, especially if you are used to lightly greasing yours. The advantages are a no-fuss, nonstick surface and easy cleanup. However, if you usually lightly grease your baking sheets, that should work just as well here.
OK, these just moved up my “must make” list — I think my kids would love these for an after-school snack today (if they last that long)!!!!!!!!
I love peanut butter cookies and I love the addition of chocolate chips to them!!
These look so soft and gooey and chewey all at the same time. I have been looking for THE PB cookie recipe too, going to trythis for sure! I like the way they bake up, I can’t explain….like butter in a margerine tub???…they look very fancy and cool all at the same time.
yum! i usually don’t think that peanut butter cookies are peanut buttery enough for me but these look like they have enough in the recipe!
Those cookie look perfect! And are my favorite flavor combination ever.