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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These cookies were Delish!!!! At the time I only had dark brown sugar so the cookies came out very dark… Next time, I will use light brown sugar .. Thanks for a great recipe!
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad it came out great for you!
Oh yummy. These are just delicious. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Simon
This is my third time making these cookies since my husband was begging me to make these cookies. I eat gluten free due to celiac disease, and my husband eats gluten and he was shocked the first time around that these had no flour in them and they are gluten free. He gave some to his parents who were also shocked. I haven’t really learned to bake again since going gluten free, but these are the only ones and I love them. Thank you so much! Best cookies I have ever made.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it’s a huge hit with you, your husband, and his parents! Amazing that they’e GF and they taste so good, right!
So I just made these again after I just made them a couple of weeks ago. This time I kind of did it backwards and I liked it better. I mixed all the “dry” ingredients first. The brown sugar, baking soda and the cinnamon I like to add. Mixed that all up. Then added the eggs and vanilla. Then the chocolate. Then I added the peanut butter. No oil separation at all. I always have issues with that. I also followed someone else’s suggestion and made the balls first and then chilled them. Really happy with the outcome.
Glad that ‘backwards’ made things easier and that you’re really happy with the outcome!
Bringing a meal to a family that needs g/f, this recipe came up & I’m so excited to try it b/c your cookie recipes never disappoint! 4 little kiddos whose mommy has to go to Mayo Clinic, they deserve peanut butter chocolate goodness. Thank YOU!
I’ve made these cookies probably about 10 times. They are amazing. I usually over mix and the oil does separate and they are messy but they are the most delicious thing ever. I also like to go outside of the box and sometimes add some cinammon or cayenne or both. So yummy. When I take them to work people go crazy.
Glad they’re always a hit and that you love the recipe!
These cookies are so flipping delicious. They didn’t come out looking like this for me, rather they are very dark. They are chocolately as all get out, so I would reduce the chocolate chips by a fraction….but they taste like the “homemade Trader Joes peanut butter chocolate chips cookies” but better! So moist, chewym plump (be sure to refrigerate first) and I did have to cook them for 10 minutes solid. Thank you Averie!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad you’re loving the cookies!
I have made these cookies twice in about ten days and they are delicious. However, despite using the exact same ingredients both times, the cookies turned out completely different! I used JIF peanut butter and C&H light brown sugar. The first time, the cookies were flaky and pillowy in texture. The second time, the cookies were oily and didn’t hold together as well. I froze them to ensure that they wouldn’t separate during baking, but it seemed like the sugar caramelized during the baking processed. They still tasted good, but I preferred the first batch. I think that I will try and mix them by hand next time (probably tomorrow! LOL) to ensure that the peanut butter doesn’t separate. Thank you for posting this!
Baking is such a funny thing. Sometimes when you think you did something exactly the same, results will vary (sometimes dramatically) from time to time. Sometimes humidity can really play a role in how greasy/dry things turn out. Or just from batch to batch of peanut butter there’s more oil, or more moisture in one batch of sugar than the next, etc. Keep playing around with things!
I made these yesterday for a little get together and they were absolutely amazing! Everyone went crazy over them (and were amazed there was no flour or regular butter!) They are incredibly soft and fluffy and so easy to make. Thanks for the great recipe! You are my go-to when I know I want to make a fab cookie :)
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad it came out great for you! Thanks awesome I am your to-to for fab cookie recipes!
I just stumbled upon this recipe and decided to make the cookies! Mine turned out a little different from the picture (I didnt chill for two hours, I was way too impatient! – maybe that has something to do with it:P), but man oh man were they good! I used Kroger generic brand crunchy peanut butter and the chunks of peanuts added a great texture! Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad it came out great for you!