Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies {Best Ever}

Peanut butter and chocolate, two of the very best flavor combinations of ALL time! I am a HUGE peanut butter chocolate fan, especially if cookies are involved.

I LOVE my classic peanut butter cookie recipe, but chocolate makes everything better. These Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are the BEST!

The peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are big, so they get the perfect golden brown around the outside while staying soft and fluffy in the middle.

The cookies are soft, chewy, and have the ultimate peanut butter flavor. And let’s not forget about the chocolate, the cookies are dotted with chocolate chips that compliment the peanut butter so nicely.

These easy-to-make cookies are comforting, delicious, and always a favorite! If you are a peanut butter lover, you will be baking these cookies often.

Ingredients

These are super classic peanut butter cookies, so you probably have everything on hand to make these today! Let’s get out the ingredients so we can start baking!

• All-purpose flour– when you measure, fluff, spoon, and level! Don’t pack the flour or your cookies will be dry and puffy.
• Baking soda– Make sure your baking soda is fresh!
• Salt
• Cinnamon– I love adding a touch of cinnamon. Trust me on this one!
• Unsalted butter– at cool room temperature
• Sugar– granulated sugar and brown sugar!
• Peanut butter – I use creamy peanut butter (Skippy or Jiff are my favorites!) Don‘t use natural peanut butter for this recipe!
• Eggs– use large eggs!
• Vanilla extract– always use pure vanilla extract for baking, not imitation vanilla.
• Chocolate chips or chunks – I prefer semisweet chocolate in cookies, but you can use milk chocolate chips. Guittard milk chocolate chips are my favorite.
• Extra granulated sugar– For rolling the cookies before they go in the oven.
• Flaky sea salt– For sprinkling on cookies after they come out of the oven. I love the salty kick!

How to Make Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

This peanut butter cookie recipe is simple. I guarantee you will want to make these cookies on a regular basis. They are SO good!

• First, do a little bit of prep! Preheat the oven to 350 and whisk the dry ingredients together: flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set it aside for later!

• I use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment to beat the butter and sugars together for about a minute, until it’s smooth and fluffy. Scrape the sides as needed, add the peanut butter, and mix for another minute. You want the mixture to be nice and fluffy!
• Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined!

• Add the dry ingredients and mix on low until just combined. Don’t over mix–just incorporate the ingredients! Now stir in the chocolate chips or chunks.
• I like to make BIG peanut butter chocolate chip cookies! I use about 3 tablespoons of dough per cookie. Roll the cookies in sugar before baking so they’re well coated. This gives them a sweet and pretty finish!

• Place the cookies on a baking sheet that you’ve lined with a Silpat or parchment paper. Leave about 2 inches between each cookie! Bake them for 11 to 14 minutes, until they’re golden brown on the edges but soft in the middle. Don’t over bake!
• Sprinkle the cookies with flaky sea salt right out of the oven. Let them cool and set up on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. After this, transfer them to a rack to cool completely.

Prevent Cookies from Spreading

To keep cookies from spreading, make sure your butter is at cool room temperature. You don’t want super soft butter or melted butter.

I also recommend using a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. This gives a much stronger foundation than nonstick spray or butter, which is too slick and will cause the cookies to spread.

You can also chill the dough, but you don’t HAVE to for this recipe. I bake right away and they turn out great. BUT If your cookies are spreading, chill the dough for at least 30 minutes and try again. Your butter was probably too soft.

Soft and Chewy Cookies

If you want a soft and chewy peanut butter chocolate chip cookie, make sure you don’t over bake the cookies. The secret is in the baking time! They might look a little underdone when you pull them out of the oven, but you’ll leave them on the baking sheet for 10 minutes so they can set up.

Every oven is different so I recommend checking them at 10 minutes the first time you bake them. I make bigger cookies, 3 tablespoons of dough per cookie, and my cookies usually take 13 or 14 minutes, but check early to be safe! It is important to become best friends with your oven so you know how it bakes:) If you make smaller cookies, reduce the baking time.

And if you happen to like crispy cookies, you can bake them a little longer, but I personally prefer soft and chewy cookies.

How to Store

Store the cooled peanut butter chocolate chip cookies in a sealed container on the countertop for up to 3 days. You can place a slice of bread in the container to keep the cookies extra soft. I promise it will work. The bread will get hard and the cookies will stay soft.

How to Freeze

To freeze the cookie dough, form the cookie dough into balls and place on a baking sheet or tray. Place in the freeze for 30 minutes or until the balls are solid. Transfer the cookie dough balls to a freezer container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to bake, pull the dough balls out of the freezer and add a few extra minutes to the baking time. You don’t have to defrost the cookie dough before baking.

To freeze baked cookies, let the cookies cool completely and place in a freezer container or freezer bag. Freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost or eat the cookies frozen. I love a good frozen cookie:)

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