Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are the BEST peanut butter chocolate chip cookies! They’re baked to perfection with lightly crisp and chewy edges with a tender and soft center. By using mini chocolate chips, there’s just the right amount of chocolate and peanut butter cookie in every bite!

What makes these the BEST peanut butter chocolate chip cookies?

I have so many feelings about these peanut butter cookies, starting with the fact that they are just so dang GOOD! I find that so many peanut butter cookies tend to be dry and crumbly, but not these.

The edges are lightly crisp and chewy, the center is soft and tender, and there are melty chocolate chips scattered throughout.

These cookies also have a rich peanut butter flavor, using a hefty 1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter. Using this in equal parts butter makes these cookies extra rich and bakery-worthy.

Last but not least, they’re BIG and not just for appearance. For lack of better words, bigger cookies bake better. The larger the cookie, the longer it takes for the oven heat to reach the center. This creates a super tender and slightly underdone center that is so soft and delicious.

How to make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

I hope you don’t turn down this peanut butter chocolate chip cookie recipe when you see that the dough has to chill overnight. It’s the secret to achieving that super soft peanut butter cookie texture! Here’s how it works:

1. Fat – These chocolate chip peanut butter cookies have a high amount of butter to flour. This excess of fat is what creates a super tender and soft texture.
2. Hydration – BUT, because of these contents, the cookies cannot bake right away. If they did, they’d melt and spread way too much. By chilling the dough overnight, this gives the dry ingredients a chance to fully hydrate. Meaning, it will absorb the water and fat in the cookie to give it a stronger structure when baking.
3. Flavor – You can think of the dough as lemonade concentrate. The less water the mix has, the stronger the lemonade flavor. The same goes for the dough. As the flour hydrates, the flavor becomes stronger and stronger due to the fact that the cookie dough is essentially drying out. This creates a concentration of flavor that allows the peanut butter to really stand out.

As I mentioned before, another key component is the size of the cookies. Using a large 2 oz cookie scoop helps further that soft and tender texture of these peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips.

The larger the cookie, the longer it takes for the oven heat to reach the center. This creates a slightly underdone center which leaves the cookie with a super tender center.

You might be wondering…won’t the cookie be raw in the middle? Nope! By pulling the cookies when they’re slightly underdone, the residual heat OUTSIDE of the oven will help settle and bake through the cookies as they cool. Once they’re at room temperature, the center sets and becomes super soft.

Prepping the peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough

The way the cookies are scooped can completely change how they turn out. If rolled into smooth balls, they’ll bake with a completely different texture on top. If flattened, the center will bake faster to create a thinner and crispier cookie. It’s very important to follow the prep instructions on a recipe in order to get the best outcome.

For these cookies, and for most of my cookie recipes, I don’t fuss with the dough too much. Using a large 2 oz cookie scoop, scoop the cookies out onto a small cookie sheet in order to prep for chilling. The cookie dough should be left in the same shape as the scoop – like a large dome.

When scooping, don’t roll the dough or manipulate it in any way. Just scoop and move on. Using a scooper gives that rippled texture which creates those yummy wrinkles on top of these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.

To make these cookies extra special and bakery-worthy, dot the tops with extra chocolate chips before chilling the dough. They’ll be picture perfect once baked.

The best type of peanut butter for baking

For most peanut butter cookie recipes, choose a creamy peanut butter like Jif or Skippy. It gives that classic peanut texture and almost always yields the same outcome.

Natural peanut butters often separate where the oil floats to the top of the jar. Nut butters like this are difficult to bake cookies with because they can cause cookies to spread too thin.

When in doubt, always go with the standard creamy peanut butter when baking peanut butter cookies.

Can the cookie dough be frozen?

Once the dough has been scooped and chilled overnight, the cookie dough balls can be placed in a freezer storage bag. They’ll keep for about 6-9 months.

To bake, allow the cookie dough to thaw for about an hour. Then bake as instructed, possibly adding on another minute or two if needed.

For more of the BEST cookie recipes, check out my:

• Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies
• BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Pan-Banging Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
• Monster Cookies
• BEST M&M Cookies
• Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Perfect Peanut Butter Cookies
• Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

Make sure to tag me @butternutbakery on Instagram if you make these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. I love seeing my recipes come to life in YOUR kitchen! To pin this recipe and save it for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, the buttons above or below this post, or on any of the photos above. Happy baking!

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