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
Thanks for the recipes, I will be trying some of the cookie recipes, I will gladly let you know how they turn out.
You mentioned that you cut back on the oats to make room for the chocolate chips. If I skip the chocolate chips should I adjust the oats or leave them the same?
Hi Veronica! You can make these without the chocolate chips without any other changes.
Your recipes are the absolute best! I don’t use any others for baking.
Best cookies I have ever made!! Hands down! Definitely put a few extra chocolate chips on top after baking. And then a little flaky salt takes it to the next level. You won’t be sorry! I only had all natural peanut butter and they still turned out perfect. Remember not to overcook. Thanks again Sally!
This is so good. Thank you so much.
Sorry! I didn’t like the texture…way too soft and crumbly, even with the 20 minute fridge time. They fell apart when I put them on a tray. Good flavor, though.
I love this recipe and have made it several times. Realized I didnt have any oats so grabbed a box of musili cereal. Turned out really good. Thanks so much for all your wonderful inspirational recipes.
Absolutely loved this recipe. What would you suggest for attempting to make it egg free? (We have a party coming up with allergens!)
Hi Helen! So glad you loved them. We have never tested this recipe with an egg substitute, but let us know if you try anything. If you are interested, here are all of our egg free baking recipes.
Hi! I’m planning to make this recipe this week. How big is the cookie after baking?
Hi Sarah, we haven’t measured them to say for certain. They’re probably about 3 inches in diameter.
Can I use brown sugar instead of the granulated?
Hi Amy, We don’t recommend using all brown sugar. Granulated sugar helps increase cookie spread. Brown sugar keeps cookies compact. Using the listed ratio of granulated and brown sugars makes all the difference in this dough for the perfect spread.
These cookies are so delicious. I’m so glad I was able to get the recipe!!!
Instead of butter can I use Crisco, or vegetable substitute butter????Made it with dates instead of chocolate chips for a try and delicious, but not as good as the chocolate chips. The price of chocolate has more than doubled in Canada if you can find it.
Hi Russlyn, we do not recommend shortening, but you can try a plant-based butter instead (although we haven’t tested this ourselves and are unsure of the exact results). Glad you enjoyed the cookies!
Did you change something? I’ve been making these for months and now, the last 2 batches have flattened out completely despite chilling the dough in the fridge as usual. I added in some extra flour into this current batch and it looks like it’ll be better. I’m following the metric, weight measurements. Thanks!
Hi Tzivi, we haven’t changed anything in the recipe. Have you changed any of the ingredient brands by chance? Or has your kitchen been warmer? Make sure your baking powder and baking soda are fresh, too, for optimum rise. Let us know if we can help troubleshoot further!
This recipe worked out great as cookie bars! I made the dough as per the recipe but didn’t have time to chill the dough and bake as cookies so I spread it in a 9×13” pan lined with parchment and baked for 30 minutes. They are amazing as bars!
Yum! I am going to try this 🙂
Love this recipe!! Easy to make and delicious!
I browned the butter for these and added 35g of room-temperature sour cream to account for the water that evaporated from the butter. Also replaced 1/3 of the chocolate chips with peanut butter chips. Sumptuous.
Can I substitute the chocolate chips for raisins?
Hi Rachel, Yes definitely. Enjoy!
These are best cookies!!! Easy to make and always a crowd pleaser!
Thank you for your wonderful recipes, they are clear and easy to follow, and always so good.
I recently made these cookies and they are flavorful, thick and absolutely delicious! We have enjoyed them. However, the peanut butter flavor is not as strong as we like and there are a few too many chocolate chips. Would the whole magical chemistry of the recipe change if I increased the peanut butter by 1/4 cup and decreased the chocolate chips by 1/4 cup?
Hi Joyce! You certainly can try, but the results may change. You could try replacing some of the chocolate chips with chopped peanuts or peanut butter chips. Let us know what you try!
I will try the peanut butter chips. Did not know they existed. I’ll add that as one more thing I’ve learned from your site. Thanks for great cookie recipes!
Amazing cookies! I have made them a number of times, and they are perfect each time. Adding chocolate chips to the top of the cookie after baking, takes this recipe off the charts. No changes to the recipe – my husband always takes two, one for each hand!
Favourite cookies ever! Used all natural crunchy PB instead and halved the chocolate chips (that’s all I had unfortunately) but still turned out amazing!!!
This is a great recipe! I’ve made this recipe several times and everyone LOVES these cookies and request the recipe. (Hey, I did the same when my sister-in-law made them.) It’s a nice variation on traditional chocolate-chip cookies. Personally, I like them MORE than traditional chocolate-chip cookies!
Well, Sal. I gotta hand it to ya. This is one fine cookie. It’s delicious and picture perfect. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
I don’t understand why you wouldn’t use natural peanut butter. Jif and Peter Pan, for example, are full of sugar and additives. I won’t even buy those. I cut the butter down to 1 and 3/4 cup and used 3/4 well mixed natural creamy peanut butter (Costco). I used 1 cup dark brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar. I also used 1 bag of dark chocolate chips, which is 10 oz. The cookies are perfect and delicious!
Costco has literally one less gram of sugar per serving than Jif. Fear -mongering pseudoscience is kind of outdated. Read a label. Hope you enjoyed paying twice as much for your natural peanut butter (it was probably made by Jif ).
There is no need on this friendly and educational site to be mean. Really unnecessary:(
The sugar content may be similar, but using a natural peanut butter avoids the use of hydrogenated oil (ie Crisco) mixed in with peanuts. Crisco is definitely not good eats in my book, but your mileage may vary. Plus, it’s nice to have options!
The family and I used these with vanilla ice cream to make cookie sandwiches tonight. They were yummy! The oats and peanut butter make them a hefty cookie. I felt quite full after eating haha! I’d use mini chocolate chips next time so a bite wouldn’t be overpowered by full size chocolate chips so the peanut butter can shine through more.
This is possibly the best cookie I’ve ever baked and eaten. I’ve made them a few times now and they always come out perfect. I’ve frozen the balls and baked them from frozen for about 15 minutes. PERFECT.
I love this website. The recipes are wonderful. I made the Big fat peanut butter chocolate chip cookies today. They are awesome. Came out perfect.
Can these cookies be made gluten free with GF flour?
Hi RoseAnne, We haven’t tested them with gluten-free flour, but many of our readers have had success. Let us know if you try!
Very tasty cookie! I will make them again!!
Top fan favorite among my friends and family. Followed the recipe and they turned out great. This is a delicious cookie. The oatmeal gives the cookie a nice chew and the chocolate and peanut butter combo is delicious. This is my top requested cookie!
Do these freeze well after cooking?
Hi Julie, baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months.