Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are soft, thick, chewy, and made completely from scratch with simple ingredients. Adding chocolate chips to peanut butter cookies elevates them to a new level!
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies have become a staple around my house since I discovered this recipe. I know, I know. Everyone says that their cookie recipe is the best and that doesn’t always mean much, but I promise that this is the BEST peanut butter cookie recipe you have ever tried.
Check out these 5-star reviews from other readers! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Why are these Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies the best?
- Perfect texture. I tried dozens of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and many of them are crumbly and dry. Not this one! These cookies are soft, thick, and chewy – just like you want a peanut butter cookie to be!
- Simple recipe. All of the ingredients are likely to be in your pantry. The dough doesn’t require any chilling or extra steps – just mix everything together and bake the cookies!
- Milk. I think it’s the 3 tablespoons of milk in the recipe that sets these cookies above other similar recipes. You only need a little bit, but I think it helps to make the cookies so soft and chewy.
Ingredients in Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies
Peanut butter: For best results, use regular peanut butter. Every time I have made these cookies I have used regular creamy peanut butter (like Jif or a store-brand alternative). Several readers have commented that the cookies do not turn out as well when using natural-style peanut butter.
Butter: I use salted butter, but you can use unsalted if you prefer. No margarine! Make sure the butter is softened to room temperature, but not melted before adding to the recipe.
Sugars: Can’t leave the sugar out – kind of an important ingredient in cookies! Make sure your brown sugar isn’t dried out or stale.
Egg: We only need 1 large egg, but it helps to bind the dough together so that the cookies cook properly and don’t crumble.
Milk: Just a little bit of milk, but it is needed to add a bit of moisture to the cookie dough. Any type of milk will work just fine!
Vanilla: I suggest using a good-quality vanilla extract or a Vanilla Bean Paste.
Flour: I usually use all-purpose flour, but you can use bread flour, or even pastry flour in this recipe.
Baking powder: Leavening agent in the cookies. Make sure your baking powder isn’t old or expired for best results.
Salt: Just a little bit, but don’t leave it out!
Chocolate chips: I usually use semi-sweet chocolate chips, but milk chocolate chips are fantastic as well. Or dark chocolate. Or throw in some peanut butter chips. A combination of chocolate works too! I like to swap out the regular sized chips for mini chips sometimes too! Or you can leave them out completely – peanut butter cookies are great on their own too!
Tips for making Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Full instructions on how to make these cookies are found below in the recipe card, but I want to make sure everyone has these tips.
- Lightly flatten the cookies before baking. Make sure to slightly press peanut butter cookies on the top with a fork before baking. This helps the cookies to bake more evenly since the peanut butter prevents the cookies from spreading very much. If you don’t like the look of the fork marks, you can slightly flatten the tops with a wooden spoon or the bottom of a glass.
- Use a cookie scoop. Using a cookie scoop is the quickest way to scoop cookie dough, and it helps to ensure that all of your cookies are the same size and shape.
- Make sure to use regular peanut butter (Jif, Skippy, etc.). Some readers have found that the cookies don’t turn out as well when using natural peanut butter. If you prefer to use natural peanut butter, make sure that the oil is well blended before adding the peanut butter to the other ingredients (this is more successful if you use an electric mixer to blend the peanut butter until the oil is fully incorporated).
Can you freeze peanut butter cookies?
Peanut butter cookies are easily frozen, either before or after baking them. I prefer to form the cookie dough balls and freeze them so that I can pull them and bake them whenever I need them. This way the cookies will be warm and fresh every time!
FREEZING COOKIE DOUGH
To freeze the cookie dough, place the balls on wax paper on a cookie sheet and freeze for about 30-45 minutes. Then you can place all of the frozen cookie dough balls in an airtight container or Ziplock freezer bag. When you are ready to bake them, just pull them out and place them on a cookie sheet, let them thaw for about 10-15 minutes, and then bake as usual.
FREEZING BAKED COOKIES
You can also freeze the cookies once they have been baked. Just make sure they have cooled all the way to room temperature and then place them in an airtight container in the freezer. I like to wrap them in plastic wrap and then place them in a freezer bag or airtight container to make sure to prevent freezer burn. If stored properly, peanut butter cookies will stay good in the freezer for 2-3 months.
PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE
Ingredients
- 1 cup peanut butter
- ½ cup butter softened
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 3 Tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups flour
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- With a hand mixer, cream together the peanut butter, butter, white sugar and brown sugar until blended.
- Beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla.
- Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl.
- Add flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture and mix together. Stir in chocolate chips at this point if desired.
- Scoop tablespoonfuls of dough and roll into balls.
- Place cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets (I used parchment paper since my cookies tend to burn on my darker pans). Press each ball once with a fork.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375. Don’t overcook! These cookies are much better soft and just barely cooked all the way through! Enjoy!
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How do you keep peanut butter cookies soft and fresh?
If you don’t eat all the peanut butter cookies within the first day or two, you can keep them soft and fresh by placing half a slice of white bread with the cookies in an airtight container or Ziplock bag. Make sure the bag or container is sealed well. The cookies will absorb moisture from the bread and stay softer for a longer amount of time this way!
Why do peanut butter cookies always have fork marks on the top?
Peanut butter makes cookies more dense, so they need to be slightly flattened before baking so that they can cook more evenly. There is nothing worse than a cookie with burnt edges and a doughy middle! My kids like to help make the criss-cross pattern on the tops of the cookies, but if you don’t like the pattern, you can just use the back of a wooden spoon to slightly flatten the tops before placing the peanut butter cookies in the oven.
More delicious peanut butter cookie recipes to try:
More delicious peanut butter cookie recipes to try: - Adding candy to cookies is always a great idea! Peanut Butter Butterfinger Cookies, Peanut Butter Cup Cookies, and Snickers Peanut Butter Cookies are some of our favorites.
- Running short on time? These No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookies only take a few minutes to put together, no oven is required.
- I love oatmeal in my peanut butter cookies. Five Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies have five different kinds of chips in them! Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies combine my three favorite cookies into one delicious cookie.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are soft and chewy, and they turn out perfect every time! Add chocolate chips to this classic peanut butter cookie recipe to take these cookies to the next level!
Erica | The Crumby Kitchen says
This is my ALL-TIME FAVORITE cookie! I can’t wait to try your recipe! Have you ever used crunchy PB in them?
Jessica says
Yes! Crunchy peanut butter is amazing in them!! TRY IT! 😉
Alison says
These are my new favorite cookies for sure!
Karin says
Seriously…these are tasty, soft, chewy. I followed the recipe to a T!!! And I am a big cookie snob. These turned out perfect!!
Jessica says
So glad you liked them Karin! 🙂
Sherri says
I saw in one comment that the dough can be frozen and then bake the cookies at 325 degrees. Do these cookies freeze well after they are baked? I am so excited to bake these cookies! <3
Kayla says
Can I substitute vegan products?
Nellie says
I have never tried swapping anything, but I’d be curious to know how they turn out if you decide to experiment!
Mona Lisa Aguirre says
I just made this recipe and THIS RECIPE is the BEST ONE YET!! THAT’S ALL I HAVE TO SAY.
Jessica says
So glad to hear you enjoyed them Mona!!
Stacie says
Made these yesterday for New Years, and they were perfect. Followed the recipe exactly except I did 3/4 cup creamy PB, and 1/4 cup Crunchy PB. I changed the oven temp. to 177C (350F), and baked for 13 mins. Did the first batch for 11 mins, and found them to be a little too underdone in the center (didn’t stop us from eating them though LOL). I have a convection oven & find the lower temp/longer cook works best for cookies. I was able to get 43 cookies out of this one batch.
Printed the recipe & will definitely be making these again. And again & again. Thanks for sharing & Happy New Year!!
Nellie says
So glad you enjoyed them! I love the idea of adding in come crunchy peanut butter – that sounds amazing!
Natasha says
Do I need milk? or can I get away without it?
Nellie says
I’ve always made them with milk, but I just had another reader tell me that they forgot to add the milk and they still turned out great!
Jennielee Lew says
I just made a batch of these delightful morsels my mouth is smiling . I kept a close eye on them while baking
because soft and chewy was very important. After baking them I was reading a few comments and realized
I had forgotten the milk Oh my must of been okay because I used extra large egg. Best of the Best
yes indeed.
Nellie says
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Abeer Rizvi says
Such a classic that’s a family favorite for us!
Pam Greer says
mmmm…. peanut butter and chocolate – my favorite combination! I’ve made peanut butter cookies and I’ve made chocolate chip cookies, I can’t believe I never thought to combine them!
Pat says
Everyone seems to think they have the BEST recipe. This is the BEST recipe. These cookies are amazing and I bake a lot. I used crunchy JIF as that’s my favorite and they turned out perfect. I rolled the dough with my hands and made balls, then dipped in sugar to give it a sweet crunch on top. So perfect, thanks for sharing this.
Nellie says
So glad you love these cookies as much as I do!
Mary says
Oh my!! These are the BEST peanut butter chocolate chip cookies I have made thus far, and I have tried many. Thank you!! My husband loved them too, he said he will be requesting these cookies weekly!!
I followed the recipe as is and they came out perfect! Thanks again!!
Jessica says
I’m So glad you enjoyed them Mary! 🙂 You’re most welcome- and thank you for your kind comment!
Paul R. says
Just finished my 1st attempt. Cooked them for 9 min. let them sit in cookie pan for 2 minutes and they turned out great. Light brown bottoms are probably good enough to ensure the cookie sets up o-k. Needed to dip fork in water then shake water off fork to press on cookies without sticking. Made 5 doz. 2″ cookies using the 2t size cookie scoop. Great p-nut butter flavor and great chocolate chip flavor. I appreciate the recipe and will make them again. Thanks
Donna zickuhr says
A ridiculous crumbly mess. Bad bad bad !!!!
Nellie says
Oh no! I’m so sorry they didn’t turn out! Can I ask what type of peanut butter you used? A couple years ago I added a note to the post that this recipe doesn’t have very good results with more “natural” types of peanut butter so maybe that was the problem? I hope you’ll try them again – this has been one of our favorite recipes and a favorite of many of our readers – they really are amazing!
Jessica says
Did you try adding a bit of milk Donna? Cookie dough can need some adjustments based on how humid it is where you live. I live in a SUPER dry area and this is what I do!
LMD says
Wondering if these could be made with Biscoff Biscuit spread instead of PB…Anyone know if it would.work? Because I don’t like PB…
Jessica says
I haven’t ever tried it, but it’s worth a shot! I’d mix up the dough and adjust as needed. If it’s too soft, add a bit more flour, if it’s too thick, add a little milk. Let us know how it goes!
KRYS says
Awesome recipe. They’re moist and the chocolate a and peanut butter shake share th flavor. I ate like 4 lol
Jessica says
Glad to hear this Krys!
Janet says
I refuse to buy any non-natural peanut butter, so here are the ingredients in JIF and I’ll adjust the recipe and see what happens. Hoping to have the best of the best for my nephew in the Navy. JIF Ingredients: Made From Roasted Peanuts And Sugar, Contains 2% Or Less Of: Molasses, Fully Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (Rapeseed And Soybean), Mono And Diglycerides, Salt.
Janet says
They were good, but not good enough, so back to tinker some more. I added some molasses and coconut oil, but I think the chewiness comes from the hydrogenated (bad-for-you) fat in JIF. They need more peanut flavor, salt and sugar, too, when using natural organic peanut butter. Will try to replace some of the butter with more peanut butter and see how they come out. Thanks for the great place to start my experiments!
Gina says
I used natural peanut butter and didn’t have any issues with crumbliness. I sprinkled a little sugar on before baking and then pressed with a fork. I also used mini choc chips instead because that’s what I had.
They held together well, perfect amount of sweetness and soft on the inside crisp on the outside. My entire family loved them including my toddler.
Thanks for the great recipe! Saving for the future.
Jessica says
I’m so glad you all liked them Gina!!
Julie says
Some people just shouldn’t bake. Learn your oven. I bake all cookies at 325 middle upper rack for 10 minutes. Beat everything then add the flour but don’t beat it, stir it.
Kwanza says
Hello, What can I do if I wanted to make the cookies a little more crispy.
Nellie says
To make the cookies crispier, you can just bake them for an extra couple of minutes. I usually bake at least one cookie sheet of cookies a little longer because my husband prefers them a little bit crispier so he can dip them in milk!