These peanut butter filled brownie cookies are soft and fudge-like with a creamy peanut butter ripple swirled throughout. The brownie dough uses melted chocolate AND cocoa powder for extra chocolate flavor and the peanut butter filling requires just 2 ingredients. Warning: these are quite indulgent!
Sometimes you just need a cookie. Last month it was my mission to bake some sort of stuffed peanut butter/chocolate cookie creation. I have recipes for peanut butter stuffed brownies, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter fudge puddles, (and pb cup stuffed chocolate cookies in my cookbook) and questioned if this was really even necessary…
But then I came to my senses because (hello!?) a cookie is always necessary. The test batches garnered rave reviews, so I knew this recipe had to be published ASAP.
These Peanut Butter Filled Brownie Cookies Are:
- Sweet and chewy like a brownie
- Shiny and crackly on top
- Unapologetically rich and indulgent
- Filled and marbled with a soft peanut butter filling like the inside of peanut butter balls and peanut butter Easter eggs (so good!!)
One reader, Nancy, commented: “Wow! These cookies are amazing and totally worth the extra bit of time and effort. My daughter told me they are the best cookies I have ever made, and I may have to agree. They will definitely be on my cookie tray this Christmas. And I will most certainly be making them again before that. ★★★★★“
The full printable dessert recipe is below, but let me point out some things to know before you get started.
Peanut Butter Filling
The first thing you’re going to do is make the peanut butter filling using equal parts confectioners’ sugar and peanut butter. Stir them together (no need for a mixer) until combined and then roll into teaspoon-size balls as best you can. Like the filling from these cream cheese red velvet cookies (what a mouthful), the peanut butter filling must be extremely cold. Chill the peanut butter filling in the freezer for at least 1 hour as you make and chill the cookie dough.
- Can I use natural peanut butter? Yes. It doesn’t spread as much in the oven, so the cookies with natural peanut butter were a bit more lumpy, but still tasted great! I used creamy unsalted natural peanut butter that had been in the fridge, and it took a little bit more arm muscle and time to stir the confectioners’ sugar into it (compared with the conventional peanut butter), but it did smooth out—just keep at it.
- Can I use a peanut butter alternative? Yes. For nut-free alternatives, you can use Biscoff cookie butter or sunflower seed butter spread. My team and I have not tested this recipe with almond butter, but I don’t see any issue using that instead.
Brownie Cookie Dough Ingredients
Now that the peanut butter balls are in the freezer, you can start the brownie cookie dough. Have you ever made my brownie cookies before? They’re a hit whenever I make them and you might love them even more marbled with peanut butter. A few key ingredients you need include cocoa powder, brown & white sugars, eggs, room temperature butter, flour, espresso powder, and chocolate.
Espresso powder is optional for a deeper chocolate flavor. You can find it in the coffee aisle at the grocery store or online. If you don’t have it, just skip it.
Success Tip: Best Chocolate to Use
Since most of the cookie’s chocolate flavor comes from melted chocolate, do not cut corners. Use pure chocolate baking bars such as Ghirardelli (not affiliated, just love their chocolate). You can find them right next to the chocolate chips in the baking aisle. They’re typically sold in 4 ounce bars and you need 8 ounces for this recipe.
- I use and recommend semi-sweet chocolate, but you can use bittersweet or unsweetened chocolate for a much darker flavor. In the pictured cookies, I used 4 ounces semi-sweet and 4 ounces bittersweet.
The cookie dough is practically brownie batter, so it needs to chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour before you can shape it with the peanut butter filling. Very sticky before chilling:
Look how much it solidifies after 1 hour in the refrigerator. This is exactly what you want:
Let’s Shape These Peanut Butter Filled Brownie Cookies
The process starts similar to how we shape Nutella crinkle cookies. Using a Tablespoon measuring spoon, scoop out a heaping mound of the brownie cookie dough. It will be pretty hard after chilling, but will soften up in your hands as you roll it. (I don’t recommend using a cookie scoop for this dough because the dough is too hard and sticky. I tried it and my cookie scoop went on strike.) Now the exact marbling/shaping process:
- Roll the dough in your hands to make a ball and then press your thumb into the ball as if you were making a thumbprint cookie.
- Press a peanut butter ball into the indentation and break off a small piece of the brownie dough.
- Smush (yes, that’s the technical term) the piece of brownie cookie dough you’d taken away back on top of the peanut butter filling.
- Mold it all together as you reroll it into a ball. It will look a little marbled.
YOUR HANDS WILL GET MESSY in this process, fair warning.
Every cookie will look different, which only adds to their alluring charm. And by the way, you could totally use these cookies for cookie ice cream sandwiches!
3 Final Success Tips
- Don’t overthink the shaping step. The marbling/swirling doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, it’s fun that every single cookie looks different!
- Shape only a few at a time. The peanut butter filling softens up extremely quickly after you take it out of the freezer, and quickly becomes softer than the brownie cookie dough. I recommend taking about 6 peanut butter balls out of the freezer at a time, leaving the rest in the freezer while you’re shaping the first bunch.
- Clean-ish hands. Wipe or wash your hands clean after you shape a few cookies. Once your hands are really messy, the dough becomes unworkable. I usually shape 6, freshen up my hands, shape another 6, etc.
See Your Peanut Butter Filled Brownie Cookies!
Many readers tried this recipe as part of a baking challenge! Feel free to email or share your recipe photos with us on social media. 🙂
Print
Peanut Butter Filled Brownie Cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes (includes chilling)
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 24 cookies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Take rich and chewy brownie cookies to the next level with a creamy peanut butter swirl! Both the peanut butter filling and cookie dough must chill before shaping. Review shaping success tips above the recipe.
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Filling
- 1/2 cup (125g) creamy peanut butter (see Note)
- 1/2 cup (60g) confectioners’ sugar
Cookie Dough
- 8 ounces (226g) semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (2 standard 4-ounce bars of baking chocolate)
- 3/4 cup (94g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/4 cup (21g) natural unsweetened or dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 5 Tablespoons (71g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Make the peanut butter filling: In a small bowl, mix the peanut butter and confectioners’ sugar together until combined and smooth. You can just use a spoon for this. Mixture is thick, yet soft. With a teaspoon, scoop out a spoonful of peanut butter mixture (about 6g), and roll into a ball. Place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, plate, or tray. Repeat with remaining mixture until you have 24 peanut butter balls. Loosely cover and freeze for at least 1 hour and up to 1 day. (I usually just freeze them for a little over 1 hour, which is the amount of time it takes to make and chill the brownie cookie dough.)
- Make the brownie cookie dough: Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or use the microwave. Microwave in 20-second increments, stirring after each until completely melted. Set aside to slightly cool.
- Meanwhile, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside. In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the eggs and vanilla extract, and beat on high speed for 2 full minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl, then beat on high for 1 more minute. Pour in the slightly cooled melted chocolate and mix on medium-high speed for 2 full minutes. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and beat on low speed until combined.
- Cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour. If chilling for longer, allow the cookie dough to sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before rolling and shaping in step 6.
- After chilling, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Shape the cookies: The peanut butter filling softens up extremely quickly after you take it out of the freezer. I recommend taking about 6 peanut butter balls out of the freezer at a time, leaving the rest in the freezer while you’re shaping the first bunch. Using a sturdy tablespoon, scoop out a heaping spoonful of the cookie dough and roll into a ball, about 1.5 Tablespoons/30g/1 ounce of dough each. The dough will be quite stiff. Make an indentation with your thumb, and place a frozen peanut butter ball in the indentation. Pinch off a piece of the brownie cookie dough and press it on top of the peanut butter filling, and then roll the whole thing together into a smooth ball. Feel free to pull off pieces of brownie dough to expose more peanut butter and then re-roll together; peanut butter can also be hidden inside the cookie dough if you don’t want a marbled look. Repeat with remaining cookie dough and peanut butter balls. (Warning: your hands get messy in this step!)
- Place dough balls 3 inches apart on the baking sheets and bake for 12-13 minutes or until the edges appear set. The centers will be quite soft, but will set up as the cookies cool.
- Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: 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. Cookies won’t spread as much if dough balls were frozen, so about halfway through bake-time, gently press down on the baking cookies with a spoon to help get them to spread. Learn some of my best practices for How to Freeze Cookie Dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Double Boiler | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Cooling Rack
- Peanut Butter: At the time of publication, there is a recall on Jif peanut butters. Please consider researching the recall information and use another brand of peanut butter in this recipe. We tested it with Skippy Creamy, Justin’s Natural Creamy, and Wegmans brand Natural Creamy. If using natural and the oil has separated to the top of the jar, make sure you stir it well before measuring. Room temperature peanut butter is easiest to mix. I do not recommend crunchy peanut butter because it doesn’t mix very easily with the confectioners’ sugar.
- Peanut Butter Alternatives: For a nut-free alternative, you can use Biscoff cookie butter or sunflower seed butter spread. My team and I have not tested this recipe with almond butter, but I don’t see any issue using that instead!
- Chocolate: Use pure chocolate baking bars. You can find them right next to the chocolate chips in the baking aisle. They are sold in 4 ounce bars, so you’ll need 2. I use and recommend semi-sweet chocolate, but you can use bittersweet or unsweetened chocolate (or a combination of any) for a darker chocolate flavor.
- Espresso Powder: Espresso powder deepens the chocolate flavor. You can find it in the coffee aisle at the grocery store or online. You can skip it or use 2 teaspoons of instant coffee powder instead.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I really enjoyed these cookies. Once I was able to get myself to focus, I found these really easy to make. To make things go quicker, I scooped out the 24 balls of cookie dough after chilling it. This meant I could make more of an assembly line. I’m looking forward to trying these with sunflower butter.
Super rich but so good! Milk is a necessity. Will definitely be making these again soon!
Delicious cookies! Dare I say better than a peanut butter cup!
I made these for my mom who is a huge peanut butter and chocolate lover. She liked them so much she said she’d rather have them than the usual chocolate cake I make for her birthday every year! I doubled the recipe and froze half the batch.
Great recipe and always good instructions.
These were very tasty! I had to stop myself after two, but I wanted to eat them all! They were husband and 4 year old approved, too! Great recipe!
These cookies came out great! I used Biscoff Cookie Butter in place of the peanut butter because I’m allergic to nuts. They were delicious! My whole family loved them, and they disappeared very quickly! I’ll have to make another batch 🙂
Ooh, these are so good. Just the right mixture of peanut butter and chocolate. They are also fun to make.
Theses are so good!
I didn’t think they were ready, so I used my judgement and overcooked them. Made a second & really trusted the directions (even though the cookies didn’t look nearly done) and they were perfect!!!
Lesson – Trust Sally & Don’t overthink it!
These cookies are delicious! Love the chocolate and peanut together. I wanted to make these because they look so good, just wasn’t super excited about all the steps. (Have a toddler and 1 yo that yell at me if I take too long doing anything not involving them.)
But making them was quicker than I thought it would be, so that was really nice. Thanks for the great recipe!
These cookies are amazing! Cookies aren’t my go-to recipe choice, but these were a perfect combination of fudgy chocolate and salty peanut butter. They turned out perfect and were a bit hit with friends.
I really enjoyed making these cookies and they are so delish!! Love this flavour combo!
When I bit into one, my eyes rolled back! Deliciously balanced combo of peanut butter and chocolate with an almost silky smooth texture. The word that comes to mind for these cookies is “luscious.” Quick tip: for a less lumpy cookie, mix the PB balls into the dough balls thoroughly. I did this by rolling the dough around the ball first (it will look like a buckeye), then splitting the ball apart, turning the pieces a little, and rolling it back together. It’s a simple step that makes a difference!
Oh my goodness, yum!! I’m such a chocolate and peanut butter addict so these were perfect for me. Can’t wait to make these soon for a party!
These are the best!! So chewy and perfect balance of brownie to peanutbutter!
My family loved these cookies. They are a bit more work with the chilling and freezing, but great for special occasions.
I made these and they are amazing. They do take some time, but would make them again. Mine did not look like Sally’s but it does not matter. Taste beats presentation!!
This was a great recipe to make! My mom and I did this together and had so much fun. We made the brownie cookie dough and peanut butter filling one day, then marbled the dough and baked the cookies the next. We kept the brownie dough in the fridge and the peanut butter filling in the freezer overnight and just let them sit on the counter until workable and it turned out fantastic. The cookies were very rich and fudgy and did not last long. Will be making them again!
These were so rich and delicious! My family and I could not stop eating them. I’d never made a brownie cookie before, but now I’m glad I have because this is definitely going to be made again soon!
This recipe looks wonderful, but this time I opted for Sally’s Banana Cream Pie. How can you go wrong with either recipe? Thanks!
I made these for a friend’s birthday party. They were a big hit! I saw everyone going back for another, and commenting on how tasty they were. My boyfriend and I also had fun rolling the brownie and the peanut butter parts together. Cheers, and thank you!~
as always Sally’s tips and notes are spot on! Loved this months challenge although my cookies didn’t spread or marbled as much as photo. I used 92% chocolate as well as espresso so the cookies were perfect and not too sweet.
These chocolate peanut butter cookies were so good! I will definitely be making them again. I doubled the recipe for a little party we were having, and I think I either made my peanut butter balls too big or the chocolate balls too small because I ended up with a few only-chocolate cookies. But they were delicious too! Thank you!
These cookies are tasty! They didn’t marble as much as I would have liked, but think with additional practice they will. I didn’t see the note about cleaning your hands frequently — I found it very hard to work with the dough after a while. Will definitely make these again!
These cookies are perfect!! Love the combination of chocolate and peanut butter!!
I loved this recipe! I decided to double it to take the cookies to a baby shower and almost immediately regretted the amount of work I committed to for the evening. It was worth it. One tip: instead of rolling the peanut butter and freezing the individual balls, I spread the mixture on a small baking sheet and then cut it into squares after freezing. Since it softens as you work with it, you don’t need to pre-shape it.
These cookies are super easy to make, they taste delicious, and they are so beautiful! I love the gooey peanut butter surprise inside!
This is a great cookie! The brownie flavor is delicious with great texture. The peanut butter filling is the perfect compliment. I made the peanut butter filing the day before baking and let the balls freeze overnight. It worked very well. My cookies were more like peanut butter surprise cookies as the filling really didn’t show through after baking. Next time I may expose more filling prior to baking. Great mixed into vanilla ice cream!
Will definitely make these again.! Delicious recipe.
Great recipe! Don’t forget the glass of milk.