Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

These Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies have a slightly crisp exterior and a deliciously buttery soft middle. The addition of chocolate chips makes them the ULTIMATE cookie.

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Every single time my kids see me pulling out my stand mixer, their little faces light up and they ask me what I’m baking. Then they ask if they can help – no matter what it is. This Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is perfect for baking with those happy kiddos.

There is perhaps no greater combination than peanut butter and chocolate. They were made to be together. And they are back in action in these amazing cookies. This cookie recipe has the perfect amount of peanut butter flavor with the addition of chocolate chips.

I just made these. WOW. It doesn’t get better than that. The second batch is still cooling. I made these to thank a thoughtful neighbor, but now I’m not sure I can part with any amount of them. Thanks for this recipe!

How to Make Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies follow the same pattern that I start with to make all my great cookie recipes.

Mix together the dry ingredients. In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Cream together the butter and sugar. In the base of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl with a shandy mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy.
Beat in the peanut butter.
Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Beat in each egg, one at a time, and then add the vanilla. Be sure to scrape down the bowl as necessary.
Add the dry ingredients into the wet. Add all of the flour mixture, turn the mixer on low. As soon as it is combined enough to turn the mixer up, turn it high until the flour is just combined.
Stir in the chocolate chips. The scoop the cookies and place them on a parchment lined rimed baking sheet.
Bake and enjoy!

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Making cookies is not hard, but there are a few important tips to make things go smooth.

Make sure your ingredients are fresh. This recipe uses baking soda and baking powder. Make sure both are fresh. Add baking soda to vinegar and baking powder to water. They should start bubbling right away in the liquid. In general, both should be replaced every six moths.
Measure your flour correctly. Read more on how to do this below.
Use room temperature butter. The butter should be cold to the touch. You should be able to easily dent it, but not push your finger all the way through. A quick way to bring butter to room temperature is to cut it into one inch pieces and leave it on the counter for 30 minutes.
Bring your eggs to room temperature. To achieve room temperature eggs, place them right from the refrigerator to a bowl of luke warm water for five minutes.
Use a cookie scoop. This will ensure that all of your cookies are uniform and cook evenly. You can see my favorite cookie scoop linked below.

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Measuring Flour

When baking, measuring your flour correctly is key. A common mistake is to use the measuring cup to scoop the flour from the container. But in doing this, you can add as much as 25% more flour than you intended. This can result in cookies that don’t spread or are too dry.

The following steps will ensure properly measured flour.

Whisk the flour in the container that you keep it in or the bag it came in.
Use a spoon to scoop the flour into a dry measuring cup. (Do not use a liquid measuring cup – the kind that is glass with the different levels marked on the side.)
Level the flour off with the flat edge of a spatula.

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Freezing the Dough

This dough is perfect for freezing. Shape the dough into balls and flatten them slightly.and freeze them. Freeze for 1 hour on a wax paper lined plate before transferring to an air tight container. This is called flash freezing and will keep the dough balls from sticking to each other.

The dough can be baked right from the freezer. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees before removing from the freezer. Then bake for 12 to 14 minutes.

Storing Peanut Butter Cookies

These cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Additionally, these cookies can be frozen and kept in the freezer for up to three months. Freeze them in an air tight container in layers.

These cookies have only been tested as written. If you want to test them with gluten free flour, I suggest making them with a flour mix that is meant to replace all purpose flour one for one.

Without being in your kitchen, it’s hard for me to know exactly what happened. Two things typically prevent cookies from spreading. The first is when butter isn’t room temperature. The second is when flour isn’t measured correctly. Both of these are addressed in detail in the post above.

These have only been tested with creamy peanut butter. If you would like that peanut crunch to these, I suggest using creamy butter and adding in some finely chopped peanuts in them.

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If you are in the baking mood, bake up some other great cookie recipes!

Peanut Butter Cookies
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Sugar Cookies
M&M Cookies

If you make this great cookie recipe or any of my other recipes, make sure to leave me a comment to let me know what you think!

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Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 eggs room temperature
2 tsps vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips I used milk chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare baking pans with parchment paper or silicon baking mats .
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In a large stand mixer or using a large bowl and hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Then beat in the peanut butter until combined, scrapping down the sides as needed. Beat in the eggs one at a time, and then beat in the vanilla.
With the mixer on low, add the flour. As soon as you are able, turn the mixer up high just until the flour is combined.
Scrape down the sides of the mixer and then using a spatula gently fold in the chocolate chips.
Using a medium scoop make 1 inch balls out of the dough (about 1 1/2 TBSPs worth) and space them out 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
Bake for 12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are just golden brown, rotate the pan halfway through baking. Leave on the baking sheet for three minutes after baking and then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely before storing in an air tight container for up to four days.

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