Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies — These are hands down the best peanut butter cookies I’ve ever made. Know that I don’t say that lightly! They’re melt-in-your mouth soft and chewy, and extremely moist!
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BEST EVER Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
I’m not one to throw around labels like ‘The Best’ or ‘Best Of’ if I really don’t think something is. When people talk and every other thing is amazing, life-changing, or the best, I tend to not take them seriously.
But I can proudly say, these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies get my vote as “The Best” peanut butter cookies I’ve ever made.
They’re the easiest cookies you’ll ever make, with only six ingredients, and one of them is vanilla, which hardly counts. The recipe is naturally gluten-free because there’s no flour, and it’s one egg away from being vegan.
Instead of granulated sugar, this peanut butter chocolate chip cookie recipe uses all brown sugar. Why? Because it helps baked goods stay moist and soft, and it adds greater depth of flavor than granulated sugar!
The cookie dough itself is as robustly peanut butter flavored as you can get. There’s no butter and no flour to take away any of the intensity of flavor. Just pure peanut butter intensity.
The edges have a bit of chewiness to them, the interior is so soft and tender, the peanut flavor is distinctly present, and chunks and rivers of dark chocolate ooze everywhere.
It’s hard to believe there’s no butter, no flour, and no granulated sugar in them. They’re my definition of the perfect cookie.
Ingredients in Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Here’s what I used in these chocolate chip peanut butter cookies:
- Creamy peanut butter
- Light brown sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Baking soda
- Chocolate chips or chunks
A Note About the Amount of Vanilla Called For
I am a vanilla fiend and added it amply enough to matter — 1 tablespoon, to be exact. No more of this 1/2 teaspoon business!
However, if you’re one of those people who prefer less, go with less. I go with more.
How to Make Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Making soft and chewy peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips is so easy! Just make sure you plan ahead, because the cookie dough MUST be chilled before baking it.
Here’s an overview of the recipe steps:
- Add the peanut butter and light brown sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. (Spraying the measuring cup with cooking spray will help it plop out easier.)
- To the peanut butter and brown sugar, add an egg, vanilla extract, and baking soda. Mix all the ingredients until well-combined.
- Add the chocolate and beat momentarily to incorporate.
- As tempting as it is to bake the cookies right away because the dough is just so good, it must be chilled for at least 2 hours before being baked for thicker, puffier cookies.
- Using a medium-sized two-inch cookie scoop, form the dough mounds. This translates to almost 2 tablespoons of dough, or about 1.60-ounces by weight.
- Place the dough onto baking sheets about two inches apart, about 8 per tray. Prior to baking, flatten the mounds slightly. If your dough is very well-chilled, you can flatten them a bit more so they don’t stay mounded up in little puffballs while baking, just don’t over-flatten them.
- Bake at 350ºF oven for 8 to 10 minutes.
A Note About the Bake Time
I recommend baking the cookies at the lower end of the bake time range. The cookies in the photos were baked for 8 minutes exactly, with the trays rotated once at the 4-minute mark.
The chocolate chip peanut butter cookies will look underdone at 8 minutes, but firm up as they cool. Let them cool on the baking trays for 5 to 10 minutes before moving them.
If you like crispy and crunchy peanut butter cookies, this probably isn’t the recipe for you since these are all about soft, chewy, and melty. But if you prefer slightly more well-done cookies, bake them for 9-ish minutes, maybe 10.
I would not bake them longer than 10 minutes or they’ll set up too firm and crunchy as they cool, and you’ll miss out on the ooey, gooey, melt-in-your mouth qualities, which are make these the best chocolate chip peanut butter cookies!
Recipe FAQs
Of course! The honey roasted peanut butter makes for a slightly sweeter cookie than using regular peanut butter, and it’s a great contrast to the bittersweet dark chocolate. However, use what you have!
For my version, I used 1 cup Peanut Pan Creamy Honey Roasted Peanut Butter and I don’t advocate using natural or Homemade Peanut Butter.
As lovely as homemade peanut butter is for eating with a spoon, spreading on toast, or making pans of bars with, it lacks the structure that store-bought peanut butter has.
Because these cookies have no flour, which would lend structure, using peanut butter that’s oily, natural, and loose is going to result in cookies that are loose and may not bake up as thick.
You could try using natural peanut butter — and I’ve seen some people have success with it — but I get much better results with commercial. Good old-fashioned Jif, Skippy, or Peter Pan are my recommendations.
I don’t care for nuts in cookies, generally speaking, and creamy peanut butter is the only way for me, but if you like little pebbles in your cookies, go with crunchy.
Use whichever you have on hand to make these accidentally gluten-free peanut butter chocolate chip cookies!
I like the darkness and slight bitterness of chopped chocolate, contrasted with the honey in the peanut butter, and with molasses that’s naturally found in brown sugar. Most semi-sweet chocolate chips are in the 50 to 55% range, and I relish the extra bump in dark chocolate intensity.
However, chocolate chips are definitely the easier and quicker option since you don’t have to chop them up before throwing into the dough. In short: use what you have!
You probably can, but I’ve never tried it myself so I can’t say for sure. But I imagine substituting chopped nuts for part of the chocolate chunks would be fine.
Yes, pre-baked peanut butter chocolate chip cookies will keep in the freezer for up to 4 months.
Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
Storage Instructions
These flourless peanut butter chocolate cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week. You can also freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months.
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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter, I prefer creamy honey roasted; plain or crunchy may be used; do not use natural or homemade peanut butter – see below *
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 6 ounces semi-sweet, dark, or bittersweet chocolate, chopped (1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips may be substituted)
Instructions
- To the mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine peanut butter, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-combined and the sugar is fully incorporated and is mixture is no longer gritty or granular. Stop to scrape down the bowl as necessary.
- Add the baking soda and beat to incorporate.
Add the chocolate and beat to just incorporate; don’t overmix or the nice chocolate chunks will break down. - Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form two-tablespoon mounds. If chocolate is falling out of dough since there is an abundance, roll ball between palms to encourage it to stay in the dough.
- Place mounds on a large plate, flatten mounds slightly, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray.
- Place mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet) and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until edges are set and tops are barely set, even if slightly underbaked in the center. Watch them very closely after 7 minutes and I recommend not baking longer than 10 minutes. Cookies firm up as they cool, and baking too long results in cookies that become too crisp and hard. The cookies in the photos were baked for 8 minutes, with trays rotated at the 4-minute mark, and have chewy edges with pillowy soft centers.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 to 10 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.
Notes
- *Although natural peanut butter or homemade peanut butter may work, I recommend using storebought peanut butter like Jif, Skippy, Peter Pan or similar so that cookies bake up thicker and spread less. Using natural or homemade peanut butter tends to result in thinner and flatter cookies that are prone to spreading.
- Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 4 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Peanut Butter Cookie Recipes:
Did you know that I wrote a Peanut Butter Cookbook? It contains 100+ recipes that feature peanut butter as the key ingredient!
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Big Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Crinkle Cookies — These soft peanut butter cookies are the peanut butter version of a molasses crinkle. They’re soft, supremely chewy, and have an old-fashioned peanut butter cookie flavor!
Peanut Butter Blossom Cookie Bars — Just like the classic cookies except made as cookie bars rather than individual cookies. Bars are faster, easier, there’s no dough to chill, they’re made in one bowl, and you don’t need a mixer!
Monster Cookies — My recipe for classic monster cookies that are chock full of creamy peanut butter, oats, chocolate chips, and M&M’s makes both kids and adults reach for just one more cookie! Fast, EASY, soft, perfectly chewy, and they’ll become a family FAVORITE in no time!
Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies — Soft, chewy and they’ll be your new fave PB cookies!! One bowl, no mixer, no butter, naturally gluten-free! Love it when something so easy tastes so amazing!!
Soft Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies — These chocolate-dipped peanut butter cookies are SOFT AND CHEWY on the inside thanks to the addition of pudding mix in the cookie dough! Dipping them in dark chocolate makes for the PERFECT flavor combo!!
So I made these cookies, and they are delicious! I’m having one problem though…no matter how long I let the dough rest or how chilled it is, the cookies still run and get flat! I live in Utah, is there maybe an adjustment I have to make? Or some secret trick for stubborn cookies?
Glad you love them and about the flattening – not sure what to say since altitude baking is tricky and I know very little about it. You could add 1-2 tbsp of flour – that would probably do the trick or increase baking soda to about 1.5 tsp
Good ideas, thank you!
Oh just to update, I did what you suggested and those tips worked perfectly and the next batch came out great. So if you’re at a high altitude, just add in those extras and it’s good to go! Thanks!
Oh that’s great to hear it all worked out for you and the tips worked – excellent!
Hi!
My sister-in-law made these cookies over the summer and they were absolutely delicious! I decided to make these cookies yesterday and (thought) I followed the directions thoroughly. You can see where this story is going, right? ….
I never bake OR buy anything but natural peanut butter, but I used all the ingredients you listed. The batter seemed very wet/greasy but I thought refrigerating the mix for hours would change that. No avail. I baked them anyways…after using my body weight to shape dough balls and forget the chocolate chips- they all fell off to the bottom of the bowl. I thought only plants came to my house to die. What do you think I did wrong and/or have you or others had this issue? I’m really only asking because I have Celiac and was looking forward to a gluten free cookie! Help!
I honestly have no idea where you went wrong. It’s the easiest recipe – you cream together PB with brown sugar, an egg, vanilla until it’s VERY SMOOTH. At least 5-8 mins. Add choc. Form into balls, refrigerate them, and bake when they’ve been chilled. I form the balls before I refrigerate the dough b/c it’s easier that way.
Honestly, this is my 3rd most popular post of all time, and 99% of the comments and emails I get are positive ones, ‘best cookies I’ve ever had’ emails. Sorry you didn’t have luck. If you google flourless PB cookies, and read recipes on allrecipes.com or similar sites, there are tons and tons of variations on this theme; some use all brown sugar, some use half white/half brown, some use natural PB, some don’t; but the overall method is always the same. 1 c PB, 1 c sugar, 1 egg. Some people call them 1:1:1 cookies.
I am thinking your issue was under-creaming the batter…or maybe try your natural PB and see if that’s better. I don’t have luck with it, but you may!
i had the same problem tonight, I’ve made these cookies twice before and they came out perfect. i made the dough last night and made the cookies tonight. i feel like after just 1 min of mixing it was starting to separate and really a lot of oil came out, like enough to pour out of the bowl. cookies are yummy but very soft even after 10 min of cooking. i did use a different brand of PB but nothing fancy. not sure what happened. will defiantly make these again though, most amazing cookies ever.
fyi-try adding a little cayenne powder to the mix, adds a nice heat the the back of your throat
Well if you’ve made them perfectly before but today they weren’t as ideal as they once were, and you switched brands of PB, then that’s probably the culprit. I would go back and retrace your steps and do exactly what you did before and I’m sure you’ll be fine! Glad you love the recipe!
I made these the other night, and the same thing happened to me. The dough became super greasy and the chocolate chips fell out. However, I decided to refrigerate it anyway, and I pushed it into a large cookie shape, thinking it might work as a bar instead of a cookie. I piled the chocolate chips that fell out of the dough on top, and baked it. It turned out amazing! It may not have been the right consistency of the original recipe, but I cut it into squares that were chewy and soft. Today I’m trying it again to see if it turns out the same!
I had the same problem the first time I made these cookies, but I finally figured out that because I was using a hand mixer instead of a stand mixer they only need to be beat on 5 for about 1 to 2 minutes. the first time I beat them for the 5 to 8 minutes and the oil from the sugar and the peanut butter separated and I had very oily cookies they were still okay but all of the oil separated. Now whenever I make them I only beat them for one to two minutes until the sugar dissolves in the peanut butter and they are perfect every time.
Great and glad to hear you found a system that works for you!
consider that you are using peanut butter… the longer you work it and the warmer the peanut butter gets, the more oil is going to separate and release, especially if you use natural peanut butter. Peanuts are naturally oily. I mixed it with my hands coz I don’t have a stand mixer and it was too stiff for a whisk or spoon. It was a lot of fun! Where is the fun if your baking doesn’t get a little messy. Because of the oil of course the chocolate chips are not going to stick, I just smooshed them into the dough after I made the balls. It all turned out perfectly, the oil doesn’t really make a difference. If you’re worried about the oil stick the peanut butter in the fridge as soon as you buy it and let it cool down completely before using. It’s going to be a lot harder to work with as it’s going to be cold, but when you work with it, and only mix it til *just* combined, it shouldn’t release as much oil.
I am wondering if anyone has tried using coconut sugar. I have cut sugars from my diet to treat a leaky gut and candida, but will use coconut sugar and pure maple syrup on occasion. Think I might try this with coconut sugar.
I think you’d be fine. Just CREAM the heck out of it – make sure it’s as silky smooth as you can get it before adding the chocolate! Keep me posted!
Hello Amy!
I have made this recipe with both brown sugar and coconut sugar. They turn out completely different when you use coconut sugar. They were much darker of course and had a bit of a caramelized taste. They did not puff out like when you use sugar. It kind of looked like a kashi cookie. They were not bad, but they turn out much better with all sugar or a sugar/coconut sugar blend.
I made the dough for the first time last night. Of course I could barely stand waiting 2 hours to cook it! After 2 hours in the fridge though it was pretty oily and looked crumbly. I squeezed oil out when forming dough balls. But only made two because I had to have some and put the rest of the dough back in the fridge. The cookies, oh my were they wonderful!! Never knew a cookie without flour or butter could taste so good! Woke up this morning to make more and the dough is a lot less oily, still more then other cookie doughs but come on its peanut butter! It was also less crumbly and easier to work with. These cookies receive a gold star from me. One of my best Pinterest pins ever!
I am so glad you love the recipe and yes, the dough is oiler in the beginning, but as the days pass, less so after chilling. I made a batch of dough, form into balls, chill the balls for up to 5 days, and as needed, bake 4 or 6 at a time. So easy and no issues with oiliness. Glad you’re so happy with these! Thanks for LMK!
Tried these tonight for a get together with some friends! I didn’t have the two hours to chill so I popped them in the freezer for 15 min already scooped. Then I just tossed a batch in leaving the rest in freezer- worked amazing! My dough was dark and crumbly but cooked up perfect! Love, love, love these cookies!
Thanks for trying the recipe and the info about what you did on a short timeframe – great thinking! So glad they worked out well and you love love love them! Awesome!
Okay. I need you to understand the miracle that just happened between me and your blog, specifically this entry.
So. I am currently looking for good homemade peanut butter recipes for my friend’s birthday present (he’s a sucker for that kind of stuff), and I ended up at your blog. While at your blog, I couldn’t help but notice the sidebar of favorite recipes, and all of the torturously delicious looking pictures lined up next to each other in a neat grid. I groaned. I couldn’t help it. Everything looked so good, I’m hungry, and, to be totally honest, a little bit hungover, so my body is doubly in love with carby things.
But here’s the kicker: I just found out I’m allergic to gluten a couple of months ago. Before this, I’ve always been an avid baker, and it’s been kind of tough for me. So I called my boyfriend over and was like, “Ughhh. How did I end up on this blog?” And he came over, and when he saw me click on the most delicious looking picture, he said, “Satpreet, don’t torture yourself!” But I wanted to. I have a penchant for self-inflicted gluten torture (when he eats bread, sometimes I hold his plate up to my nose and just sniff it for a little while), so I clicked.
And I ended up on this page. And after scanning through a few pictures, I saw that magic, promising word: flourless.
“FLOURLESS???!” I said this, in case the caps lock didn’t throw you off, very loudly, alarming my boyfriend, who had at this point craned his neck over my shoulder to get a better look at these heavenly looking cookies.
Still in disbelief, I scrolled to the recipe, and by golly, these cookies are gluten free. And you just made my day.
I just wanted you to know that. I could just kiss you! JUST KISS YOU!
What a great comment and story! Thanks for finding my blog and glad you were able to find some cookies that are GF! And they are truly my fave PB cookies I have on my site – and I probably have 25 other versions of PB cookies, but those are my faves! Enjoy!
I found this on Pinterest and they were awesome! Thanks for sharing the recipe. And don’t let the haters get you down! They’re just jealous! :) ill be following your blog now!
Thanks for finding me on Pinterest and for trying these AND for getting back to me about the results. Glad you loved them and thanks for being a new follower! That’s wonderful & thanks for your support :)
Since I relooked at this recipe after seeing it in your cookbook giveaway post, I wanted to ask you a question. I made flourless pb cookies using granulated in stead or brown sugar. They were outstanding right out of the oven. Then I froze some because that’s what I do with all the baked goods I love. But about a week later when I pulled them out they looked really frosty and were crazy hard, even after being warmed. Have you found this to be the case? Would the brown sugar change this?
Staying hard after coming back up to room temp – normally that’s not my experience with any cookies that I freeze. I freeze a ton of them too like you do; we can’t get through that many all at once so I freeze extras and normally I just set a few out to thaw on their own (I don’t warm them in an oven or micro which can cause them to get hard) and I don’t have any issues. I think brown sugar in general makes things stay softer than granulated but I don’t think it would have a drastic effect here. Maybe it has to do with the type of PB used, too….
Made these today for a soccer team gathering, a couple girls on the team have a gluten allergy and I wanted something everyone could enjoy. I made a triple batch which made about 42 regular sized cookies. They baked for about ten minutes and came out great! Perfectly soft, chewy, and so very chocolatey! I loved them and so did everyone else! With the help of about 12 girls, the entire tub of cookies (about 36) had vanished far before the 2 hour event had ended. These are definitely a keeper, and so great because it uses so few ingredients.
Love love love stories like this! A triple batch gone in under 2 hours! Now THAT’s the sign of cookie success! Thank you so much for this story and so glad the cookies are soft, chewy, chocolaty and everything you want in a cookie :)
OMG. That could be my only comment. I am so glad I made a double batch cease I have already eaten four.
My dough was vey oily, and ws pretty dark. I baked them for 8 minutes, and they were no where near as pretty as yours. But OMG, they are chewy and moist nd peanut buttery delicious. And easy.
Thank you, thank you.
So glad you’re a fan! And made a double batch, right off the bat. That ‘a girl :) Oily and dark – yes, that’s pretty normal. And I’m sure they were pretty enough. It’s the taste that matters. Thanks for LMK you tried them & are super happy!
Hi there! So I’m always looking for recipes that are non traditional and don’t use flour or butter etc. Yours look amazing! Tried them tonight and had an uh oh moment of only a half cup of peanut butter left. I could halve the recipe or fudge through it with something else. I usually make it up as I go along. :) so I had nutella… read all of the comments about the dough being too oily or gritty and you’re warning about natural peanut butter. I used a half cup of nutella instead of all peanut butter. Cut down on the chocolate but everything else is the same. Just baked one to see how it went and ahhhh they are AMAZING! I was skeptical since the dough was like an oily tootsie roll but they are great. Cant wait to make them with all pb
:) thanks!
I have a recipe for what you made! https://www.averiecooks.com/2013/04/nutella-peanut-butter-chocolate-chunk-cookies.html
Very good call on improvising at the last second though and I know Nutella + PB is a fab combo and I bet your cookies were wonderful.
“skeptical since the dough was like an oily tootsie roll” — LOL because when I made the cookies I just linked, I had that very same dough. I know it well :)
If you try the orig version with just PB, lmk how that goes, too. So glad these worked for you!
I have these chilling in the fridge right now. Looking forward to baking them tomorrow. I’ve tried this recipe (ish) before without baking soda and wasn’t impressed. But, your picture looked so tempting I had to try it.
Can’t wait to bake them tomorrow!
I am so pleased to say that I just made these on a whim- about 10 minutes after I saw them on Pinterest- and they were AMAZING. What an awesome recipe. It makes me wonder why we even use flour in our cookies when the consistency and texture of these is just the same. Thanks for a great recipe.
I love that you saw them on Pinterest and BAM – made them! Sometimes I do that and every now and then it’s so worth it! Glad to hear this recipe was one of them! The only other PB cookie recipe that can compete with these that uses flour is in my cookbook called Old-Fashioned PB Cookies. But other than those, I am with you – flour isn’t even necessary!
Oh wow…YUM. I made these yesterday and it was so hard to keep my hands off of them. Now it’s morning, and I really want one for breakfast. lol
I disobeyed you and used natural peanut butter (Jif) because that was all I had and I was desperate. Also added maybe 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of flour. Perfect! I’ll definitely be making these again and again (especially since I’m the only one in my family who likes peanut butter >:D). Thanks!
So glad you tried them and that the natural PB worked for you (good call to add 1.5 – 2 tbsp flour to firm it up) and cookies for breakfast sounds perfect actually! :)