Peanut butter and chocolate lovers rejoice! I’ve combined at least 3 delicious cookies into 1 mouthwatering recipe with my big fat peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Consider yourself warned: these cookies are exploding with flavor, unapologetically thick, and hopelessly irresistible. They’re guaranteed to satisfy almost every cookie craving.
A cookie to end all cookies, these big fat peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are a mouthful. I was inspired to try these decadent treats after seeing the cover of my cookbook, Sally’s Cookie Addiction, for the first time. The glorious monster cookies gracing the book cover are loaded with M&Ms and can be found in Chapter 2 and have recently been added to my website.
This recipe, however, skips those rainbow candies and focuses instead on a flavor relationship like no other. Chocolate chips and peanut butter. It’s a match made in cookie heaven! In this recipe, we’re combining that perfect pairing with textured oats to achieve the thickest, richest, and most satisfying cookie.
Tell Me About These Big Fat Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Texture: Loaded with so many delicious add-ins, these cookies have chewy edges, soft centers, and are unbelievably thick. (I’m always shocked by how thick they turn out.) If you want to go even bigger and thicker, try these big fat dark chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies next!
- Flavor: Ordinary chocolate chip cookies are buttery sweet on their own, but the peanut butter-chocolate pairing here brings a delicious decadence to these cookies. If this flavor pairing is a favorite, be sure to add these peanut butter chocolate cookies to your list, too.
- Ease: Simple to make, the dough comes together in just minutes using a few staple pantry add-ins like old-fashioned oats and peanut butter. Make them for same-day snacking or prepare them ahead of a special occasion (see Note).
- Time: This dough can be prepped and chilled in under an hour. 20 minutes in the refrigerator (the same amount of time we chill dough for brownie cookies) helps the oats soak up some moisture and prevents the cookie from overspreading.
If you love these cookies but don’t have oats, try these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies instead. If you love these cookies but need a gluten free dessert recipe, try these flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies or flourless monster cookies instead. We’ve got all the bases covered!
One reader, Dyna, says: “Hands down the BEST cookie recipe I have ever made, and I’ve made a lot of cookies… All the extra notes and suggestions too were spot on. Following those tips made for a beautiful, delectable cookie!”
Recipe Testing: What Works & What Doesn’t
- The weight of peanut butter. This cookie dough is adapted from my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. The addition of peanut butter here, however, can weigh down the dough. To counter this, I add baking powder for lift.
- A spreading solution. When testing the recipe, I found the cookies weren’t spreading enough. I decided to swap the quantities of granulated sugar and brown sugar. Granulated sugar—dry and thin—helps increase cookie spread. Brown sugar—moist and thick—keeps cookies compact. Increasing the granulated sugar makes all the difference in this dough for the perfect spread. You won’t even miss that extra brown sugar flavor because the peanut butter is our front-runner.
- Fewer oats + more chocolate. When testing, I originally had a higher quantity of oats in the cookies. I decided to reduce that amount to make room for more chocolate chips. Can you blame me?
Choosing the Right Ingredients:
Peanut butter. Though natural-style peanut butter is my #1 choice for eating and snacking, I recommend using non-natural peanut butter for this particular cookie recipe. Natural peanut butter can be used in my regular peanut butter cookies (though the cookies are a little crumblier than intended), but it’s not ideal for today’s recipe. Instead, use Jif or Skippy. You can use creamy or crunchy, but I prefer creamy peanut butter as crunchy can make the cookies taste a little dry. You need 1 cup of peanut butter for this recipe.
Room-temperature butter. Like my basic soft chocolate chip cookies, the base of today’s oatmeal cookie recipe is creamed room-temperature butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. You can’t cream butter and sugar together if the butter is too warm or too cold. (It usually spells disaster for your cookies!) Room temperature butter is about 65°F (18°C). It’s cool and slightly firm to touch, not warm or slippery. I recommend placing your butter on the counter for 1 hour prior to beginning the recipe to achieve ideal “room temperature” butter. If you don’t have an hour, here is my trick to soften butter quickly. You need 1 cup of butter for this cookie dough.
Whole oats: To ensure the cookies spread nicely and do not dry out, be sure to use whole oats and not quick oats. Quick oats are cut finer, and will soak up more moisture in the dough.
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
After you prepare the peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies dough, chill it for 20 minutes in the refrigerator. After chilling, it’s time to scoop the dough and bake the cookies. Each cookie uses 2 Tablespoons of dough which is about the same size as these regular chocolate chip cookies. Arrange the cookie dough balls 3 inches apart on your baking sheet. These cookies are large, so I use a medium cookie scoop and overflow it with dough (since the medium only holds 1.5 Tablespoons.)
More Quick Cookie Recipes
- Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwiches
- Mini M&M Cookies
- Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Brownie Cookies
- Shortbread Cookies
Big Fat Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
- Yield: 32 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Big fat peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are easy, thick, and exploding with peanut butter, oats, and chocolate chips to satisfy your cookie cravings.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup (240g) creamy peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups (170g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats
- 2 and 1/2 cups (450g) semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus more for topping if desired
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat on medium-high speed until creamed, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, peanut butter, and vanilla and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. With the mixer running on low speed, add the oats. Once combined, beat in the chocolate chips. Dough will be thick and sticky. Cover and chill the dough for at least 20 minutes in the refrigerator (and up to 4 days). If chilling for longer than 1 hour, allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling and baking because the dough will be quite hard.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Scoop balls of dough, 2 Tablespoons of dough per cookie, and arrange 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 12-14 minutes until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. While the cookies are still warm, I like to press a few more chocolate chips into the tops—this is only for looks!
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Allow to come to room temperature then continue with step 4. 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. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Peanut Butter: Use a non-natural peanut butter like Jif creamy or Skippy creamy. I do not suggest using natural style or oily peanut butter as both produce crumbly, fragile, and sandy tasting cookies. (Try this recipe for flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies if you want to use natural!) Crunchy peanut butter is OK, but I find the cookies taste a little dry with it.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Im not sure what I did wrong, but these cookies were a little thin and flat compared to the picture. It was pretty warm when I made them, and when I creamed the butter, it was very soft and smooth. Not sure if that was it. Would love your feedback! They are delicious, just not as pictured. Want to try again and get it right! Thanks so much.
Hi Lynda, Here are our best tips for preventing cookies from spreading!
I bake these cookies all the time but I use nut butter instead of peanut butter and they turn out fantastic every time. I use the Costco nut butter.
peanut buttery goodness, will be making on repeat
Made these cookies and they are yummy. Even my kids enjoyed them and they often dislike anything oatmeal. Great recipe will make again.
I LOVE these cookies along with all Sally’s recipes I’ve tried. I have a jar of chocolate peanut butter in the pantry. Have you ever tried it in these?
Hi Susie, we haven’t tried that, but don’t see why it wouldn’t be great in these cookies. If you try it, please report back!
I tried this recipe after a friend shares a batch she made. They were amazing, and so were mine, but mine were much flatter, not as thick as hers. I followed the recipe, what could have gone wrong?
Hi Megan, here are our best tips to prevent cookies from spreading. Hope this helps for your next batch!
I made this cookie today and it came out fabulous.
I have recently started using Sally’s recipes and I have to say they are foolproof so if you’re a newbie, you can trust your brakes will come out absolutely perfect every time.
Thanks for sharing your amazing recipes with us.
So good! I just made these, and they are delicious. They will definitely be on my regular cookie rotation.
amazing
Best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever! Can I put protein powder into these cookies? If yes, how much?
Thanks.
Hi Pamela, so glad you enjoy them! We haven’t tested adding protein powder to these cookies.
You’ve done it again, Sally. Another great recipe from you! So glad I found you and your recipes. I, too, made these smaller to share with some elderly neighbors but oh so yummy regardless of size. I also appreciate your recommendations on baking tools. You are spot on girl!!
Just made these yesterday. I was so excited when I seen this recipe because it really is a toss up between peanut butter or oatmeal being my favorite cookie. Chocolate chips are just a bonus. I think chopped nuts would be good. I did use quick oats as that’s what I had on hand. It was missing the saltiness so next time I will use salted butter. Also although sweet enough I would cut granulated sugar and add more brown sugar. Overall a great cookie and it’s a recipe I’d use again.
Can you use peanut butter powder in muffins or cookies? I’m looking for ways to use up some PB powder…thanks!
Hi Jody, we’ve never tried adding peanut butter powder to these cookies. It would take some testing but let us know if you try anything!
Excellent balance of my favorite flavors! Perfect cookie texture with an outside crunch and a chewy center. Grandkids loved the extra large size!
These are great. I made them smaller, ~1T size. getting 60 from a little over half the dough. And I was happy to freeze the rest for later. I love having cookie dough ready to go when I need it. Another great recipe from Sally. Yum!
These cookies are amazing!! I can’t get enough. About to make my second batch!
LOVE THIS! I mean peanut butter and chocolate?? So delicious. Everyone in my family are enjoying them.
I may try dark chocolate chips next time as they are my favorite.
Really good. My new favorite peanut butter cookie recipe.
Hello! What type of salt do you use for your cookie recipe, regular table salt? I typically use diamond crystal salt and I wonder if I would need to use more given the difference between the two.
Hi Janet! All our recipes use table salt unless otherwise noted.
I love these cookies! I love the flavor combination, the texture, and that it makes such a large batch of cookies!
I love your recipes, but find I need to cut sugar substantially. These cookies were far too sweet for me. I wasn’t able to enjoy them. Sharing this only for those, like me, that may need to cut back on the sugar. I normally cut by at least 1/4 of what’s called for.
I used 1 cup of brown sugar. 1 cup of sugar was plenty IMO with the chocolate chips and sugar in the non- natural peanut butter.
I used just one cup of brown sugar; no white sugar. The chocolate chips and Jif peanut butter contains sugar so that was enough sugar for our tastes.
These cookies are my absolute favorite!! Third time making this recipe, they’re just so darn delicious.
WOW, what a delicious cookie! 🙂
Hello,
Can you use quick oats?
Hi Jennifer, quick oats are more powdery and can dry out the cookies. We recommend sticking with whole oats for best results.
I use McCann’s Irish oatmeal and absolutely love them!
These were phenomenal! Thick, chewy and delicious.
Unquestionably the best chocolate chip (+ PB, oatmeal) I’ve ever made. Thick, chewy, just right sweetness. Easy to make . Might add some chopped peanuts as well next time.
These are delicious! I added 1 cup of dried cranberries and they were great!
These are one of my favorite cookies. Everytime my grandsons come up north to visit we bake and they always want these cookies.
Hello, I’m wondering if this batter did well in the freezer?
Hi Oona, Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Read our tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
These are the most delicious and satisfying cookies Ever!
Been in my cookies recipe repertoire for years!
Hello from India!
This is your third recipe that’s been a hit with our crowd (the chocolate chip and banana bread was a awesome). I got about 48 cookies out of this and its perfect. Used chunky peanut butter instead of smooth and a little less sugar and less chocolate chips. Making columns instead of cookie balls resulted in much thicker cookies as advised. It was a surefire hit. Can you recommend any desserts or eggless versions for lacto-vegetarians. Vegan desserts are too dry and we’re totally fine with dairy!
Hi Shubhangi, we’re so happy to read this! We have an entire section of egg free baking recipes if you’d like to browse. Thank you for trusting our recipes!