These peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are packed with nutty peanut butter, warm vanilla and brown sugar, and pools of melty dark chocolate. They’ve got golden, buttery-crisp edges, soft and chewy centers, and a perfect pop of crunchy salt on top.
Why I love it:
If you’ve been here a while, you know I have a thing for cookies with crispy edges and chewy, gooey centers. I’ve developed versions with tahini, miso, coconut, pumpkin, double chocolate—basically every twist on the classic. But somehow, I skipped over the most nostalgic chocolate pairing of them all: peanut butter.
The thing is, traditional peanut butter cookies never did it for me. Too soft, too flat, too bland. So I started with my go-to chocolate chip cookie base and worked peanut butter into the dough. And just like that, we ended up with the winner of all winners.
These lean more chocolate chip cookie than peanut butter cookie—just the way I like it. The distinction might sound subtle, but it makes all the difference. You get the crispy-chewy texture you crave, with a deep, nutty richness woven through every bite.
They’re everything: golden edges, chewy centers, melty chocolate, warm vanilla, and that irresistible peanut butter flavor that blooms as they cool. And don’t skip the flaky salt—it’s the kind of finishing touch that makes you reach for just one more (and then one more after that…).
peanut butter chocolate chip cookie ingredients:
- all-purpose flour
- baking soda
- baking powder
- kosher salt
- butter
- granulated sugar
- brown sugar
- creamy peanut butter
- egg
- vanilla extract
- bittersweet chocolate chips
how to make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies:
- Cream butter, peanut butter, both sugars, and salt until light and fluffy.
- Mix in egg and vanilla.
- Mix in dry ingredients, then stir in chocolate chips.
- Bake for about 14 minutes, tapping the pan 2- 3 times in the last 4 minutes of bake time to deflate the cookies.
- Swirl a round cookie cutter quickly around the outside of each cookie until perfectly round.
- Sprinkle with flaky salt and enjoy!
Tips for the best peanut butter chocolate chip cookies:
Standard peanut butter: Use standard, commercial peanut butter (like Skippy or Jif). These peanut butters have emulsifiers that keep them thick and creamy without stirring. In cookies, this will translate into a consistent flavor and deliciously chewy texture. Natural peanut butter in this recipe will make a greasy, thin cookie that is more fragile.
Use good chocolate: I love Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips SO MUCH. They’re smooth and rich and melt into gorgeous layers of melty chocolate.
No chilling needed: I love these cookies because you make the dough and toss them right into the oven. But, if you wanted to make them ahead, you can! Just tack on a few extra minutes of bake time if the dough is cold.
Bang the pan: I learned this technique from Sarah K-- it’s a way to make gorgeous, rippled bakery style cookies. Beyond rippling, though, I pan bang now for the texture. Tapping the pan a few times at the end of baking will deflate the cookies and help them spread out so you get buttery crisp edges and soft centers.
Underbake just a touch: the cookies will be golden on the edges but will still feel very soft and almost underdone in the center. That’s what we want! As they cool, they’ll become perfectly chewy and soft.
make ahead options:
- Scoop and freeze the dough on a sheet pan until firm, then transfer to a zip top bag for up to 3 months.
- You can also refrigerate the chilled dough for up to 2 days before baking.
more chocolate chip cookie recipes to try:
coconut chocolate chip cookies
pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
salted double dark chocolate cookies
Printpeanut butter chocolate chip cookies
These peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are packed with nutty peanut butter, warm vanilla and brown sugar, and pools of melty dark chocolate. They’ve got those golden, buttery-crisp edges, soft and chewy centers, and a perfect pop of crunchy salt on top.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 18
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Mixer
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups minus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ½ cup (8 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter (not natural peanut butter)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ¾ tsp kosher salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 6 oz bittersweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk to combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter, peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar, and salt until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed. Mix in egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and slowly mix until just combined. Slowly mix in chocolate chips.
- Scoop dough into 1 ½-oz (3 tablespoons) balls and arrange on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Space 5 dough balls out on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet to allow for spreading.
- Sprinkle flaky salt on the surface and bake for 13- 14 minutes. After 8 minutes, lift the baking sheet a few inches up and firmly tap it down against the oven rack to collapse the cookies. Repeat banging and deflating cookies 2 more times in the remaining bake time. Cookies are done when the edges are lightly golden but the centers are still very soft.
- Remove from the oven and use a round cookie cutter, only slightly larger than the diameter of the baked cookies, and gently but quickly swirl it around the outside of each cookie until perfectly round.
- Let cool 10 minutes on the sheet pan, then transfer to a cooling rack. Cookies will firm up as they cool.
Notes
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 253
- Sugar: 14g
- Sodium: 151mg
- Fat: 14g
- Saturated Fat: 7g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5.9g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 28g
- Fiber: 2.3g
- Protein: 4.7g
- Cholesterol: 24mg
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