Peanut butter and chocolate… what’s not to love? Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies elevate the average chocolate chip cookie. Every bite is chewy, peanut buttery, and chocolatey. So good! They just melt in your mouth.
This recipe is a little different because it uses maple syrup – or honey – instead of corn syrup. This makes them a bit healthier and give them a better flavor. Then there’s the issue of the peanut butter. Peanut butter cookie recipes often call for creamy peanut butter, but why not give chunky peanut butter a try? It adds another level or texture and flavor that your family will love.
Use this recipe for the best chocolate chip peanut butter cookies.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
When making cookies with peanut butter, be sure to read labels. Choose palm oil free peanut butter. This means choosing a peanut butter with just peanuts or peanuts and salt. If you have a high performance food processor, it’s easy to make peanut butter at home as well.
The downside for some people with using a peanut butter that contains just peanuts and salt is that it’s more difficult to stir. You’ll need a hand mixer when making this recipe.
If you want a peanut butter with oil, you can use Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter or Skippy Crunchy Peanut Butter. It doesn’t contain palm oil. It contains hydrogenated vegetable oil (cottonseed, soybean and rapeseed). Note, this is not their Naturals line which contains palm oil.
These easy peanut butter chocolate chip cookies takes just 15 minutes to prep and 15 minutes to bake. It uses 12 ingredients. Soon you’ll be on your way to enjoying delectable cookies.
What You Need to Make This Recipe
- ½ cup real butter
- ½ cup peanut butter
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons real maple syrup or raw, unfiltered honey
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2-½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate, chopped or chocolate chips – Buy palm oil free
You will need a large bowl and a medium and small bowl to mix the ingredients. This peanut butter chocolate chip cookies recipe makes 24 cookies. A stand mixer or hand mixer will make it easier to combine ingredients but it’s not necessary.
Use more or less chocolate chips as you wish
How to Make Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Be sure the oven rack is in the center.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter, natural peanut butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until it is smooth.
- In a small bowl, beat the eggs, one at a time. Add each one separately into the large bowl and mix together.
- Add the maple syrup or honey, water, and vanilla extract into the peanut butter mixture.
- Set out a medium bowl to mix the dry ingredients together. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Add it into the peanut butter mixture to form a cookie batter. Mix together well.
- Fold the chocolate chips or chocolate chunks into the batter. Gently stir together by hand.
- If you have time, chill the dough in the refrigerator for an hour. If not, you can proceed with making them.
- Now you have two choices. You can scoop out the cookie batter and place on an ungreased baking sheet. You can use a tablespoon — fill it to overflowing — it doesn’t have to be exact. The important thing is the cookie dough is about the same size so they all bake evenly. Or you can roll the dough out flat and use a circle cutter to remove the cookie dough and place on the baking tray.
- Continue scooping out the dough. Be sure to space the cookies about 3 inches apart.
- But baking sheet in oven, and bake at 375 degrees for 12 – 14 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. (Oven times vary.)
- Remove from oven. Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 1 minute, then transfer them to wire racks to finish cooling.
You can store them covered on the counter for 5 days or in the refrigerator for two weeks. You can freeze for up to three months as well.
You can roll them in balls and gently press down before baking or use a glass or cookie cutter to cut the dough in shapes
Tips for Baking
Use these cookie baking tips to make the best peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.
- When baking, make sure to use room temperature ingredients.
- When adding the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mix until just blended. Be careful about over mixing the dough to avoid a tough cookie.
- Chilling the dough: Chill dough for about an hour so it’s easier to work with. This also helps eliminate air bubbles.
- Cookies will need to cool before devouring them.
Different Varieties
In addition to adding chocolate chips, you can add oats to make peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. It’s so easy to add in the oats when you add in the chocolate. Sometimes I sneak in a quarter cup of oats so it’s not so obvious to my kids. It’s a way to make the cookies a bit healthier! Other times, I’ll add one cup of oats for more oatmeal flavor and texture.
If I make them with oats and use peanut butter with no added oils, I’ll add another tablespoon of maple syrup and another teaspoon of vanilla extract to increase the moisture content.
I mentioned this uses 12 ingredients. If you want something even faster, you can make peanut butter cookies 3 ingredients. Adding chocolate chips would make it four ingredients.
I also have a recipe for sugar free peanut butter cookies.
FAQs
Do I need to put fork marks on peanut butter chocolate chip cookies?
You don’t need to put fork marks on these cookies. Doing so helps them flatten and become crispier.
What happens if I use natural peanut butter in cookies?
Traditionally, “natural” peanut butters contain just peanuts and salt or just peanuts. Read labels before buying. Using natural peanut butter to bake cookies may result in a crispier cookie. They may also flatten out more. Natural peanut butter is a little bit harder to work with if you are mixing by hand.
Note that depending on the brand, peanut butters advertising “natural” on their labels can mean different things. Read labels before buying. Natural peanut butters, such as the Skippy Natural Creamy and Skippy Natural Crunchy, contain palm oil. However, Skippy Creamy and Skippy Crunchy — which do not include palm oil — do not. However, neither of these two product lines contains just peanuts and salt.
Do I put the chocolate chips in the dough before baking?
Mix in the chocolate chips into the dough before baking. They will not burn in the oven as long as the cookie isn’t extremely flat.
Homemade Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies
Since learning my son has a palm oil allergy and palm oil intolerance, I’ve learned to bake everything from scratch. It’s very difficult to find premade and store-bought desserts without palm oil. The same is true of cookies and ready-to-bake cookie dough. There are very few palm oil free cookies available.
The great news is it’s easy to make any type of cookie at home. You can even make edible cookie dough for one if that’s what you’re craving.
Baking gets easier the more you do it and have pantry staples on hand. I also find it easy to have them all in a dishpan in the cabinet. I can just pull it out and get whatever I need without hunting around for ingredients.
My kids love when I make these cookies. They are naturally gluten free as well. Serving peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips is a great after school snack as well as dessert. For adults, they are the ultimate comfort food!
If you love all things peanut butter, in addition to making peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, see how easy it is to make peanut butter sauce which is great to put on ice cream. I also love using peanut butter to make peanut butter milkshakes and of course, a palm oil free peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the peanut butter chocolate chip cookie recipe is a great option for those looking to satisfy their sweet tooth.
Chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies are the perfect dessert. This recipe will leave you feeling satisfied and happy. The next time you’re craving something sweet, try this recipe!
I think this is the best peanut butter chocolate chip cookie recipe. If you make them, please let me know how it went in the Comments. I love hearing about recipes and the trials and successes of baking from scratch. It’s awesome to be able to bake homemade and not rely on store-bought cookies. Yum!
Speaking of homemade cookies, try my Oreo Cakesters which are unbelievably great! If you have a taste for chocolate chip cookies but are low on ingredients, try these small batch chocolate chip cookies.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies ~ The Ultimate Comfort Food
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup peanut butter
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup or raw unfiltered honey
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate or chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place rack in the center of oven.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth.
- In a small bowl, beat the eggs, one at a time and add to the peanut butter mixture.
- Stir in the maple syrup (or honey), water, and vanilla into the peanut butter mixture.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir it into the peanut butter mixture to form a cookie batter. Be careful to not overmix.
- Fold the chocolate chips or chunks in the batter.
- Optional: Chill the covered dough in the refrigerator for one hour before baking.
- Use a ¼ cup measuring cup to scoop up some batter and place it on an ungreased baking sheet. Continue, spacing the cookies about 3 inches apart.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown.
- Remove from oven. Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 1 minute, then transfer them to wire racks to finish cooling.