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
Yikes! You weren’t kidding about the size of these cookies! They’re massive! I also had no issues making them. I was relieved that they held together with the first bite. I was just expecting the taste to be a bit . . . more. The peanut flavour is more subtle than I was hoping. But I think it’s supposed to be like that. The peanut butter is added to the butter and sugar, then the flour is added, so the peanut flavour definitely won’t be as strong as, say, a peanut butter cup. All in all, a good cookie. I was thinking of making them again, only I would replace half of the chocolate chips with peanut butter chips. A fun experiment to see if that amps up the peanut flavour.
Been a very long time fan, love all of your recipes I’ve tried. Recently I’ve been experiencing issues with your page. With all of the pop ups& ads I can’t even see the recipe on a normal phone. It literally freezes the page. It cuts off my music do to video ads and the jump to recipe button no longer works. I have tried everything on my end with no luck. I bake alot and use your recipes alot but this is becoming such an issue. Wanted to bring it to your attention to see if anything can be done or if you were even aware. Hopefully these issues can be fixed.
Hi Brittany, I want to give you an update. Since the new site design elements went live on Feb 13, we have made some layout changes to the ads that display. The amount has been decreased and placements have been shifted around so the page doesn’t jump as much anymore. (There were some issues with the coding for a couple weeks last month.) I appreciate your feedback and hope you find the experience a little easier now!
I believe that chocolate and peanut butter should be their own food group. Followed this recipe mostly. Used half chunky peanut butter and half smooth because that is what I had in the cabinet. Instead of rolling them in white sugar I rolled them in Turbinado Sugar and it added a great crunch. Will keep this recipe and make it again. THANK YOU.
These were amazing!! The sugar and butter mixture didn’t cream very well but still delicous! Definitely will make again! A great mix of sweet, salty and nutty!
I make your oatmeal chocolate chip cookies often! They are always a huge hit! Recently I’ve been staying away from oatmeal…so wanted another of your recipes, and found this one! I always omit the white sugar and sub gluten free flour. I subbed almond butter! 1 cup (by mistake) not 2. They are in the oven…
So far so good! Smell awesome…I love cookies right out of the oven… omg so good! I think I’ll role in the white sugar for the next batch! Thanks so much!!
These are so DELICIOUS! I followed the recipe exactly and even measured each ingredient with my food scale. They came out perfectly! They actually taste like they are from the bakery!
I only had a hand mixer, so thank goodness I never threw away my dough hook attachments. These turned out great! DO NOT DISREGARD that oily peanut butter will add the crumble effect…. and watch your cook times closely. Under is better than over here. Absolutely love this recipe!
I thought these tasted good but I followed the recipe to the T, using the creamy Jiff and chilling the dough. Unfortunately, they were super crumbly, like a sand castle. I wanted to take these to work but I just can’t. After looking at other peanut butter cookie recipes I see that most of them only have 1 cup peanut butter. I’m wondering if the 2 cups this recipe calls for is the issue. Anyhow, I’m glad it worked well for others.
Hi Marie, I’m happy to help troubleshoot. 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!
I baked these because I hadn’t eaten a peanut butter choc chip cookies before , but these were so good, they’re now my favourite cookie flavour ever. I’m baking them again however I.only have chunky peanut butter in the house. What do you suggest I do to keep yhe batter from crumbling too much?
Hi Dove, We don’t recommend crunchy peanut butter in these cookies because it will always produce a crumbly cookie. It’s best to wait until you can get creamy peanut butter.
Well, I’ve finally found the Sally’s baking addiction recipe that was a flop for me. I used jif and the cookie does have amazing flavor! For me, it was the texture. It’s just really soft. Really soft. And a little crumbly. I like me a more chewy peanut butter cookie. But they weren’t terrible. I guess I just wasn’t ready for the texture and got surprised!
I love this recipe!! I will say my cookies turned out to be more flakey than anticipated. It may have been because I used 50% normal peanut butter and then 50% organic! Sadly, I’d use a different recipe next time 🙁
These are THE best cookies I have ever made…and I bake a lot. Besting the battery for 2 minutes is (I believe) the secret to amazing results in Sally’s recipes. I didn’t read about not using natural peanut butter before I made these so they are a little crumbly but still delicious. I made them for a friend’s bday and I’m sure he’ll love them. Thank you for another hit, Sally
Almost changed my mind bout making recipe because neg reviews I’m glad I did not pivot!! No changes. made Wally’s house brand ingredients.
amazing! Thank you sally!
Amazing cookies! I like peanut butter but I’ve never liked peanut butter cookies. These were amazing. Like, the whole family coming home and going straight for the cookie jar amazing. I made the first batch with big cookies as directed, then a second batch with only half the size cookies (30grams) and cooked them 2
Minutes less. Amazing. So delicious!
These are definitely a favorite in my house too! I wondered if you could use peanut butter powder peanut butter (that you mix with water to make creamy peanut butter) to make these cookies instead of traditional peanut butter in a jar? Thanks for your awesome recipes and all of your help!
Hi Lisa, we haven’t tested it that way, but wouldn’t recommend using peanut butter powder mixed with water, as that will give you a very different texture.
Thank you. They’re perfect as is, I won’t change a thing! If I get daring maybe I’ll test it out on a half batch and let you know how they turn out. Thanks again!
I tweaked the recipe a bit! I used almost a cup of chocolate chips and almost a cup of reecees pieces! I also browned the butter. Lastly, I did not measure out 3 tablespoons per 1 dough ball! I used about 2 tablespoons! I also had to bake the cookies an extra 4 minutes. The cookies turned out delicious ! So peanut buttery and soft! I def will make these again!
I decided to try this cookie recipe rather than my old tired and true one. They were kind of meh. Would have liked them to have a stronger peanut butter flavour and they flattened out. The batter was actually better than the baked cookies.
These cookies are so delicious. The recipe turned out perfectly. Thank you for always coming up with the best recipes.
I was disappointed with this recipe. My husband loves peanut butter cookies and I was very excited to make it. I followed it precisely however as others have mentioned the cookie although it looks nice and solid it came apart as you try to take a bite. Also for me personally it lacked flavor and the size it calls for it’s just too much.
The cookies ended up crumbling and I used creamy skippy peanut butter :/ still very delicious but I prefer a cookie that stays together for the kids as well.
Can I use peter pan peanut butter ? Why is it these recipes always call for jif or Skippy ? There are other brands of peanut butter. I am going to use peter pan peanut butter, and hope for the best.
Hello ! I took a chance and used “Peter Pan” peanut butter and these cookies were the best chocolate chip cookies ever loved the crunch from the great value rice crisps.
Yes!
Silly question, but can I use this recipes without the peanut butter by using butter instead? I love your recipes but can’t find a simple bakery style chocolate chip recipe on your site.
Hi Lisa, butter isn’t a good swap for peanut butter here. Have you tried our chewy chocolate chip cookies? They’re a reader favorite. Or these Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies might be a hit! Let us know if you give either of these a try.
I weighed my ingredients for this recipe. These are very soft, melt in your mouth cookies. I’m not quite use to the texture, but my fiance really enjoys them. The flavor is wonderful, but the texture is totally a preference thing!!
So delicious!!!! Made these chocolate chips cookies peanut butter cookies tonight and they were out of this world!!! I even took a batch to my parents and my mom asked for your recipe because my dad loved them so much! Sorry other commenters had issues with the texture? I thought they were absolutely perfect. Thank you Sally for another wonderful recipe. Can’t wait to try another one of your baking recipes.
These were the absolute best cookies ever. You definetly have to weigh everything but they turn out perfectly. I need more recipes like this one. Bakery sized, and so soft. What do you recommend?
I made these last night. I must have added too much flour, they were very dry and crumbly. The flavor is there though.
Thank you for giving them a try, Jeanette! 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.
My daughter and I made these cookies tonight and they were so delicious! We did use all natural peanut butter and they turned out perfectly! This will be a family favourite for sure!
Hello! I want to make this with Nutella instead of peanut butter. How should I adjust the recipe?
Hi Stephanie, here’s our Nutella chocolate chip cookies recipe – enjoy!
First off, thank you so much for all your great recipes, I use alot of them on repeat! However, this will not be one of them. I followed recipe exactly, including carefully scooping and measuring the flour. I did not go by weight because there was no weight posted in the recipe. In Canada we have KRAFT commercial creamy peanut butter and that’s what I used. I mixed ingredients the alloted times as per the recipe instructions and once the 1 hr chilling process was over, I baked for 14mins. They looked great but like a lot of other comments, they were mealy and incredibly, there was hardly any peanut butter flavour, considering I used 2 cups! Unfortunately these just aren’t good and my husband, who will eat just about anything lol doesn’t want anymore than the one he ate 🙁 In the garbage they will go.
Hi Tracey, I wonder if something went wrong or if something was missed or over/under-measured? Because they should have a strong peanut butter flavor. There are weights included in this recipe, with the exception of the ingredients using teaspoons.
I made this recipe EXACTLY the way you have it. Mine did not come out soft however they are the best companion to a cold glass of milk. They remind me of shortbread cookies , which I love. I used 1 cup of butter and the two cups of creamy peanut butter and I think that’s why they were more on the shortbread side. Non the less, it’s not a deterrent in my household. Any suggestions as to why this happened? Thank you for the recipe. It’s still very delicious.
Mine came out the same way and not in a good way! I followed the recipe to a T but they still taste bleh and too thick and crumbly. Why is that? I’ve made the recipe twice incase something was incorrect but they came out the same. I love other recipe of yours and would appreciate any help!?
Hi Margot, I’m happy to help troubleshoot. What kind of peanut butter did you use for these? And how did you measure your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to ensure the flour isn’t over-measured, which can dry out the 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!
I had to come on here and say how fantastic this recipe is! These cookies are fantastic and the recipe is so detailed, honestly a joy to make and even better when everyone at the party loves the big, chewy delicious cookies! Thank you!