Addictive Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

This recipe for chocolate chip peanut butter cookies delivers a thick, soft, and slightly chewy cookie treat that’ll have you craving more. And, bonus, they’re not hard to make! 

Peanut butter chocolate chip cookie recipe: What to expect 

• Taste: These cookies are sweet and rich, thanks to a hefty amount of peanut butter and butter in the recipe. 
• Texture: Expect a soft, thick texture with just the right amount of chewiness. 
• Foolproof factor: I’ve made these cookies multiple times and the end result is consistent. The areas prone to mistakes are over-softening the butter, mis-measuring the flour, or over baking the cookies. See tips in the next section to avoid problems with butter and flour. As for baking, you will bake cookies just until the edges look set. The middle of the cookie will appear to be slightly under-done. 
• Timing: If you’re organized with the ingredients and the process, you could be eating these cookies in 40 minutes (or sooner if you like them straight out of the oven). 

Ingredients and how to use them 

These are the ingredients you need for your best peanut butter chocolate chip cookies: 

1. Peanut butter: You need 1 cup of creamy peanut butter. You can use natural peanut butter, but make sure you’ve stirred it so there’s no separated oil. If you like a chunky cookie, add chopped peanuts in lieu of some chocolate chips. 
2. Chocolate chips: These cookies are packed with 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips. You could also use dark chocolate chips for a deeper and slightly less sweet chocolate taste. 
3. Butter: The recipe calls for one stick of butter, softened. Note that softened is not melted. Plan on setting out the stick of butter 30 minutes before you start making the cookie dough. If you forget, you can use the microwave. Heat the butter on a plate 5 seconds at a time until it’s soft, but not melted. 
4. Granulated sugar: One-half a cup of white sugar does the trick here. 
5. Brown sugar: You’ll also use 1/2 cup of brown sugar. 
6. Egg: Just one egg. 
7. Milk: 3 tablespoons milk adds liquid to the dough. You can use dairy milk or almond milk. 
8. Vanilla extract: Vanilla is a standard ingredient in cookie dough. Here, you’ll use 1 teaspoon. I prefer pure vanilla extract vs. vanilla flavoring, but either works in a pinch. 
9. Flour: Measure 1 1/2 cups flour by scooping the flour into a dry measuring cup and leveling the top off with a knife. 
10. Baking powder and salt: You’ll use 3/4 teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. 

Equipment

• Baking sheet: You can bake these cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet (example). I’ve never used parchment paper or a silicon baking mat for these — they don’t stick as long as you keep them on the baking sheet for 10 minutes or so after you pull them out of the oven. 
• Hand mixer: You don’t need a stand mixer, but hand mixer makes things easier. You’ll use it to combine the peanut butter, butter, sugars, egg, milk, and vanilla. You can get a hand mixer on Amazon for about $30.
• Wooden spoon: Use a wooden spoon to fold in the chocolate chips.
• Tablespoon cookie scoop: You want the cookies to be uniform in size so they cook evenly. For this reason, it’s best to measure the cookie dough balls rather than guessing. The easiest way to do that is to use a tablespoon scoop or melon baller (like this). 
• Fork: You’ll use a fork to press gently down on the cookie dough balls before you bake them. This increases the cookie’s surface area for even baking. It also looks nice! 
• Wire rack: Elevating the cookies on a wire rack allows them to cool more evenly and prevents them from getting soggy on the bottom. I like the racks you can use for baking as well as cooling, like this one on Amazon. If you have the willpower to let them cool completely, awesome. I do not and always end up eating one while it’s hot. 

More favorite cookie recipes

Once you master the peanut butter and chocolate chip combo, be sure to try: 

• Oatmeal cookies
• Sugar cookies