If you love the combo of chocolate and peanut butter, you'll love these chocolate peanut butter chip cookies. They’re rich, fudgy, and loaded with melty chocolate and peanut butter chips. The best part? You don’t need to chill the dough—using cold butter keeps the dough firm and the result is thick, soft cookies with gooey centers. They come together fast, bake in under ten minutes, and taste like something straight out of a bakery (but better, because they’re warm from your own oven).
I made these cookies to serve at my sister's wedding reception this summer, and they were a bit hit. I'm surrounded by peanut butter fans in my family, so this recipe was long overdue--any peanut butter lover will fall in love with these cookies!
Ingredient Notes
- Unsalted Butter: Make sure to use cold butter in this recipe so that you don't need to chill the dough.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: I like to use Ghirardelli cocoa powder, but any high-quality cocoa powder works in this recipe. Just make sure that it's 100% unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Cornstarch: This is the "secret ingredient" in all my cookie recipes--it makes the cookies soft and chewy, while also not letting them spread too much in the oven.
- Milk Chocolate Chips: If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll know that my preference will always be Ghirardelli chocolate chips--their quality can't be beat! But use any brand you like.
- Peanut Butter Chips: I use Reese's peanut butter chips in this recipe, and they work great.
How to Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
Preheat your oven to 400° Fahrenheit, then line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside for later.
Slice the cold butter into ¼ inch cubes and place in the standing mixer, along with the brown and cane sugars. Using cold butter keeps the dough firm so that you don't need to chill the dough. Gradually increase the speed of the standing mixer and mix on high for 3-4 minutes until creamy. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula halfway through.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, flour, sea salt, cornstarch, and baking soda, then set it aside for later.
After creaming the butter and sugar, add the eggs and vanilla extract. Mix on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl halfway through to get an even mix.
Add the mixed dry ingredients to the standing mixer and mix on the lowest setting until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips while the dry ingredients are still mixing in--this minimizes the risk of overworking the cookie dough.
Roll the dough into 12 balls and place 6 on each baking sheet, spread apart. Press down gently on each cookie to flatten them slightly. Then press additional chocolate chips and peanut butter chips into the tops of each cookie dough ball.
Bake each cookie sheet separately for 8-10 minutes, or until the tops start cracking. Mine are usually done right at 9 minutes. Immediately out of the oven, round out the edges of the cookies with either a round cookie cutter or the back of a spoon to get perfectly round, bakery-style cookies. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for at least 15 minutes before eating--they will continue to bake on the hot pan.
Then dig in!
Frequently Asked Questions
Using cold butter helps to maintain the structure of the dough without having to add excess flour. It also means that you won't need to chill the dough before baking. Just make sure to slice the butter into small, ¼ inch cubes and use a flat beater, NOT a whisk attachment, so that your mixer can handle mixing it cold.
No, this recipe does not require chilling the dough. If the dough feels too sticky to roll into balls, let it sit for about 5 minutes to let the flour absorb the moisture. If it's still too sticky to handle, there likely isn't enough flour in the dough.
Cornstarch hinders some of the gluten development, giving you chewy, soft cookies. It also keeps the cookies from spreading too much in the oven. Cornstarch is the key to perfectly soft, tender cookies and I use it in all my cookie recipes.
Other Popular Cookie Recipes
I have lots of cookie recipes on the website, and here are some all-time favorites:
Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you try out these peanut butter chip cookies or any of my other recipes, I’d LOVE to hear about it. You can leave a comment below the recipe, or if you post a picture on Instagram, be sure to tag me! Getting any feedback on my recipes is both rewarding AND helpful as I write and edit recipes in the future.
Now get baking, and enjoy!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
Print Pin RateIngredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter cold, cut in ¼ inch cubes
- 1 ¼ cup light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup cane sugar
- ⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder*
- 2 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips* plus extra for topping
- 1 cup peanut butter chips** plus extra for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set them aside for later.
- Slice the cold butter into ¼ inch cubes and place in the standing mixer, along with the brown and cane sugars. Gradually increase speed and mix on high for 3-4 minutes until creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula halfway through.1 cup unsalted butter, 1 ¼ cup light brown sugar, ½ cup cane sugar
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, flour, sea salt, cornstarch, and baking soda.⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder*, 2 ¼ cup all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, 2 teaspoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon baking soda
- After creaming the butter and sugar, add the eggs and vanilla extract. Mix on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl halfway through.2 large eggs, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Add mixed dry ingredients to the standing mixer and mix on the lowest setting until just combined. Add chocolate chips and peanut butter chips while the dry ingredients are still mixing in--this minimizes the risk of overworking the cookie dough.1 cup milk chocolate chips*, 1 cup peanut butter chips**
- Roll the dough into 12 balls and place 6 on each baking sheet. Press down gently on each cookie to flatten them slightly. Then press additional chocolate chips and peanut butter chips into the tops of each cookie dough ball.
- Bake each cookie sheet separately for 8-10 minutes, or until the tops start cracking. Mine are usually done right at 9 minutes. Immediately out of the oven, round out the edges of the cookies with either a round cookie cutter or the back of a spoon (optional).Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for at least 15 minutes before eating. Enjoy!
Notes
Equipment
- 2 baking sheets
- parchment paper
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- Standing Mixer
- medium-sized bowl
- whisk
- rubber spatula
- large round cookie cutter optional
Laura Callister says
These are soooo amazing!My favorite cookie?
All You Can Eats says
Thank you! 🙂
Hope says
We LOVE these cookies!! So easy and everyone loves them!!
All You Can Eats says
Thanks, Hope! 🙂