Using this recipe, you’ll enjoy ultra-soft and thick bakery-style peanut butter chocolate chip cookies that are filled to the brim with chocolate chips. I make them with a whopping 2 cups of peanut butter, so you’re guaranteed mega flavor in every single bite.
I originally published this recipe in 2016 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and more helpful success tips.
One reader, Katelyn, says: “This is hands down my favorite cookie recipe of all time. I’ve baked and loved Sally’s recipes for years and this is my new favorite! I ate 3 at a time. 3 separate times. Then brought them to friends who also ate 3 apiece. Everyone agreed they were the best peanut butter cookies they’ve ever had. Highly recommend! ★★★★★”
You don’t have to go another day without experiencing what some bakers have called “one of my favorite recipes on this site (and in general)” and “the best cookies I’ve ever made.”
While there’s a recipe for classic peanut butter cookies in my Sally’s Cookie Addiction cookbook and I have my super-soft peanut butter cookies on this website, today’s cookies are EXTRA thick and absolutely loaded with peanut butter and chocolate chips. This IS peanut butter dessert perfection, after all.
These Bakery-Style Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Are:
- Huge—3 Tablespoons of dough per cookie
- Soft for days
- Crinkly & crackly on top
- Loaded with chocolate chips
- Thick & 100% irresistible
- Relatively quick—only 1 hour of chill time
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies: What Works & What Doesn’t
This is a simple recipe, and the same base dough as my white chocolate peanut butter cookies. When developing the recipe several years ago, I learned a couple tricks and am happy to share my findings:
- Embrace a creamy cookie dough. 1 cup of butter, 2 cups of peanut butter, and 2 eggs make for an extremely creamy cookie dough. Embrace it; you do not want to add more flour. When the dough hits the oven, peanut butter acts somewhat like a dry ingredient and gives the cookies structure.
- Chill the cookie dough. You might remember from my How to Prevent Cookies from Spreading page that chilling cookie dough is important. Luckily this dough is thick and stable, which means it doesn’t need hours in the refrigerator before baking. A quick 1 hour of chilling prevents the cookies from over-spreading. My brownie cookies (and the jazzed-up version—peanut butter-filled brownie cookies) have a super-quick chill time, too.
- Flatten the dough. Make sure you slightly flatten each cookie before baking, as this will help the cookies spread a bit in the oven. If you think about it, it’s a common step when making peanut butter cookies—you flatten those with a fork prior to baking. Here, you can just use the back of a spoon or your hands.
Grab These Ingredients:
Selecting the right ingredients is important, especially when it comes to peanut butter. This recipe calls for more peanut butter than any other recipe that makes an equivalent amount of dough. So without question, you’re guaranteed an intensely flavored cookie.
- Peanut butter: As mentioned, these cookies have—front and center—highly concentrated peanut butter flavor. To achieve this, use a commercial brand of creamy peanut butter like Jif or Skippy, the same I recommend for my peanut butter balls, big giant monster cookies, and peanut butter fudge puddles.Though it’s wonderful for eating and cooking, natural-style peanut butter isn’t ideal here. The cookies will be too crumbly and, depending on the brand, may even have an oily texture. Crunchy peanut butter produces the same crumbly results. If you want to use natural-style peanut butter in a cookie recipe, try these flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies instead.
- Room-temperature butter: Make sure your butter is cool to the touch. Here’s what room-temperature butter really means. You’ll it to properly cream the butter and sugar.
- More white sugar than brown: In these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, you’ll notice there’s more granulated sugar than brown sugar. When making basic chocolate chip cookies, I recommend using more brown sugar than white sugar because it produces a softer cookie. The addition of peanut butter already makes today’s cookies soft, and using more brown sugar made them EXTRA soft—to the point where they were falling apart. As a result, I learned it was simply too much of a good thing.
- Chocolate chips: Just like with peanut butter half moon cookies, the chocolate complements the intense peanut butter. I recommend semi-sweet chocolate chips because they add a balanced flavor, and just the right amount of sweetness.
One reader, Paige, says: “What is this magic? I was a little hesitant this whole process…. two cups of peanut butter? Three-tablespoon-sized cookies? No way! But this works and the cookies are incredible. ★★★★★“
You can even replace some of the chocolate chips with peanuts, which makes for a wonderfully chunky cookie with extra peanut flavor. You can also roll the balls of dough in granulated sugar (before slightly flattening them) for some sparkle, just like these peanut butter blossoms.
I also have a recipe for unapologetically big and fat peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that boast the same great flavor, and have the added chew from oats.
Use a commercial brand of processed creamy peanut butter like Jif or Skippy. Though it’s wonderful for eating and cooking, natural-style peanut butter won’t do this dough any favors. The cookies will be too crumbly and, depending on the brand, may even have an oily texture.
I don’t recommend crunchy peanut butter in these cookies because, like natural-style, it produces a crumbly cookie. Feel free to swap some chocolate chips for peanuts to achieve that crunchy peanut butter texture.
You may have over-baked them. Bake just until the edges are set; the centers will still look quite soft. Give them at least 10 minutes to cool on the baking sheets before transferring to a cooling rack.
More Favorite Cookie Recipes
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Soft & Thick Monster Cookies
- Sugar Cookies
- Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- Peanut Butter Snickerdoodles
Bakery-Style Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 32 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These big bakery-style peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are super thick, ultra-soft, and filled with chocolate chips. It’s best to use creamy peanut butter, and be sure to chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour before baking.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/2 cups (313g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 cups (500g) creamy peanut butter*
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups (360g) semi-sweet chocolate chips*
- optional: 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and both sugars together on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the eggs and beat on high until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the peanut butter and vanilla, then beat on high until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. With the mixer running on low speed, add the chocolate chips. Dough will be thick and soft.
- Cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour and up to 3 days. If chilling for longer than a few hours, though, allow the dough to sit out at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling and baking because the dough will be quite hard and the cookies may not spread that much.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) Set aside.
- Scoop cookie dough into large balls, about 3 Tablespoons of dough per cookie (about 60g, it’s a lot!), and, if desired, roll the balls in granulated sugar. Coating in sugar is optional. Place 8 balls onto the cookie sheets. Gently press down on each ball to *slightly* flatten.
- Bake each batch for 14–15 minutes, or until the edges appear set and lightly browned on the sides. The centers will still look very soft.
- Cool cookies for 10 minutes on the baking sheet. During this time, I like to press a few more chocolate chips into the tops of the warm cookies. (This is optional and only for looks.) Transfer to wire rack to cool completely. The cookies will slightly deflate as they cool.
- Cover leftover cookies tightly and store at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Allow to come to room temperature, then continue with step 5. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Here’s how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Cooling Rack
- Can I Halve this Recipe? Yes, absolutely. Halve the recipe by halving all of the ingredients. The instructions remain the same.
- Peanut Butter: It’s best to use a commercial, processed brand of peanut butter like Jif creamy or Skippy creamy. I do not suggest using natural-style, oily peanut butter. Avoid using crunchy peanut butter because it makes the cookies extra crumbly.
- Chocolate Chips: You can replace 1/2 cup (about 90g) of the chocolate chips with chopped peanuts for extra peanut flavor.
- Check out my top 5 cookie tips before beginning. It includes how to prevent cookies from over-spreading and why room-temperature ingredients make a difference.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I had the same issue with the other reviews of the cookies being crumbly. I was supposed to bring these to a party and am not sure if I can. I weighed literally everything, even the butter. I underbaked future batches too. Very very very crumbly. Also agree that the dough was tastier than the cookie! I love Sally’s but would never make these again
Dry mix and cookies crumbled. A real disappointment on thus recipe
I’m forlorn about these, especially since I used the good butter and chocolate chips. But these cookies were stubborn: refused to spread, dry, and crumbly. I made them exactly, although I’m starting to wonder if, like baking bread, the flour needs to adjusted depending on where you live/how humid things happen to be.
What I should have done is realize the cookie dough was crumbly and added some milk to help it be more cohesive. Easy fix. Instead I toyed with every batch I baked to see what the magic time and method would be. I stumbled upon 10 min having flattened the cookies quite a bit, making sure they’re room-temp. This yielded a better bake, softer cookie, and I salvaged what I could.
So, do my cookies all have a unique look? Yes. Was it a total loss? No. But in general, I still love almost all of Sally’s recipes and will continue to use them. Except this one lol.
Sally,
I have used the peanut butter chocolate chip cookie recipe before and they turned out great. This time I followed the recipe again but the dough was really dry and crumbly. And cookies are dry. What could I have done differently ?
Hi Rita, did you use a different brand or type of peanut butter? Natural peanut butters will yield drier and crumblier cookies. Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to measure your flour too, as too much flour can also make the dough dry and crumbly. Hope this helps for next time!
Mine turned out very dry and crumbly. I have a lot of cookie baking experience, so not sure what went wrong. I spooned and leveled the flour and did not overbake.
These were divine! Sally, your recipes never disappoint, and this one is no exception! They were flavorful, moist, and irresistible
I’ve made this 4 times. This time I baked the next day, and they turned out awesome…in the fridge overnight maybe be a good thing…
These are literally the very best cookies I’ve not only ever made but also ever had! I have been designated to bring these at all family functions.
Question, can I bake these as a dozen HUGE cookies? I haven’t quite figured that out yet
Hi Cyn, you can certainly use this dough to make larger cookies. We’re unsure of the exact bake time, so keep a close eye on them. We’re glad this is a favorite for you!
Cookies were dry as chalk! I don’t have a stand or electric hand mixer, but whipped the dough until very creamy and otherwise followed the recipe and advice to a T – advice?
Hi Juliet, How did you measure your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to measure your flour, to ensure you don’t add too much, which can result in dry, crumbly cookies. Over-baking can also cause them to become dry and crumbly, so you can try reducing the bake time by just a minute for next time. Hope this helps!
Mine were dry also; come to find out I just pulled 2-1/2 c out of flour canister. went back and measured with scale, those 2-1/2 c equaled 404g. Will use scale going forward.
Honestly not great at all. So many better recipes out there, this was disappointing.
I wonder, does it matter which brown sugar is used here? I made the cookies with dark brown sugar, and I found the peanut flavour to be a bit subdued. But dark brown sugar has more molasses than light, and the peanut butter itself also has molasses. That’s a fair amount of molasses, which may explain the mild peanut flavour I got.
Hi Tony, we’ve always made these with light brown sugar.
Two different times are given for baking the cookies . I will go with 10 minutes and see how they are.
Hi Melonie, Bake each batch for 14–15 minutes, or until the edges appear set and lightly browned on the sides. The centers will still look very soft.
Cool cookies for 10 minutes on the baking sheet.
I normally love all Sally’s recipes – but I just really did not like these cookies. I didn’t like the way they looked after baking and didn’t feel they were sweet enough – just kind of blah. I used kerry gold butter, quality ingredients, weighed my ingredients and followed recipe to a T. Tried different baking times and wasn’t happy with any of the bakes whether baked longer or shorter – texture just wasn’t great. My husband said they were good – but he also doesn’t like overly sweet cookies and loves peanut butter. Will not make again.
Any suggestions for baking these at 7300 ft.?
Hi Audrey, We wish we could help, but we have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Husband said they are super delicious!!!!! Thank You! Will be anxious to hear how my grandson enjoys them too. I know they are good because I sampled them! Great recipe!
I made these, oh my gosh they were good! I ended up with 42 cookies, instead of 32 cookies as the recipe said. Thanks for this recipe, I will make again.
I would love to try this recipe but I absolutely do not like peanut butter at all…especially with cookies or cakes. Sorry… Can I replace it with something else? Like almond butter? Any other nut butter? Please help. Thanks.
Hi Aleksandra, we haven’t tested it these cookies with almond butter, so aren’t sure of the result. Almond Butter and other nut butters like sunflower seed or pumpkin seed butter tend to be more of the natural-style and could cause the cookies to be too crumbly and may even have an oily texture. If you’re not a peanut butter fan, these Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies might be a better choice for you.
Thank you very much for your answer. I will try Almond Butter cookies that you suggested, and for my peanut butter lovers at home I will do this Peanut Butter.
Delicious. Soft wonderful texture. I did not roll in sugar, maybe next time.
Try using peanut butter chips instead of chocolate!
you mentioned adding more brown sugar than white so what would be the combination then? 1 cup brown sugar and 3/4 c white? And can I use dark brown sugar instead of light?
Hi Jackie, In these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, you’ll notice there’s more granulated sugar (1 cup) than brown sugar (3/4 cup). While we do recommend using more brown sugar than white sugar in many cookie recipes (like chocolate chip cookies) because it produces a softer cookie, the addition of peanut butter already makes today’s cookies soft, and using more brown sugar made them EXTRA soft—to the point where they were falling apart. So for these particular cookies, stick with more granulated sugar than brown sugar for best results.
Love this recipe!! I put a Hershey kiss on top and it feels like a full chocolate chip peanut butter blossom.
Tasty. I used KerryGold butter, cheaper type peanut butter and weighed the flour. The cookies did not spread hardly at all. You have to roll into a ball and then use a flat bottom glass to evenly squish down. They are good though and mine were not crumbly.
Amazing!! I have been trying to replicate a recipe from a local bakery and these are about as close as I can get. I used about ⅔ creamy and ⅓ crunchy peanut butter and it worked very well. I had no issues with cookies falling apart except if I tried to remove from the baking sheet too soon. Let your butter and eggs come to room temperature, weigh ingredients and don’t over mix. Make these and you won’t be sorry!!
3.5 stars… Love the peanut butter and chocolate combo, so decided to give these a try. Read through all the comments first and saw a lot of reports of crumbly cookies. Measured by pouring flour and even used a little less flour than what was asked. My cookies also came out crumbly-they crumbled easy in my hands when I took a bite. I followed the recipe and comments to a T, so I’m unclear what I missed. Overall, the flavor is outstanding as I’m a PB and chocolate fanatic. Just wish it weren’t so crumbly.
you baking instructions are good except wayyyyyyy to much sugar , especially if people come over and they are diabetic!!
I put 1/2 cup of white, 1/2 cup of brown sugar,, the chocolate chips have enough sugar also ,, i use natural peanut butter, so no sugar in it ,, sheesh cut back on the sugar save a life , they won’t know the difference!!
I made these with half the sugar and roughly 1 tbsp scoop per cookie. Bake time was roughly 12min at 170 degrees. They hold together well after cooling and taste perfect!
Horrible recipe. I planned to use these as part of a birthday gift, but they did not turn out. The cook time was far too long and the first pan had dark bottoms. The cookies did not spread at all. They were too crumbly, falling apart in storage. This was an expensive mistake of a recipe. I will never use this site again.
Hi Thom, sorry these didn’t turn out for you, we’re happy to help. If the cookies didn’t spread and were too crumbly, there was likely too much flour in the cookie dough. How did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
These cookies are so delicious! I followed the recipe exactly. They are very thick and have a wonderful peanut butter flavor. There is just enough chocolate to balance it out. My family gave me many compliments! I will definitely be making these again!
Ever add bacon to this recipe? Peanut butter chips?
Good recipe! Thank You!
Hi Dr Dave, we haven’t tried bacon here! You could certainly try peanut butter chips.
These are so, so good. As much as I would love a giant cookie like this, I cut the portions way down (about a rounded teaspoon) and get about 60 small cookies to the batch. I bake for 8 to 9 minutes when the dough is fresh, 11 minutes if frozen. Thank you, Sally!
These cookies are the best cookies I’ve ever had. I followed the recipe exactly as instructed. Sally is the go to cookie master. I will not use another Baker! My husband grabbed the whole cookie sheet and took off with it into another room