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You are here: Home / Desserts / Cookies / Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

April 22, 2019 By Sam 32 Comments

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

A sweet & simple recipe for soft, chewy peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies loaded with melty milk chocolate candy bar pieces. Recipe includes a how-to video!

White plate filled with peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I have a short and sweet post for you today. Partly because this recipe is so simple it needs little introduction or explanation, and partly because I’m currently still in a sugar coma from excessive chocolate bunny consumption yesterday.

I don’t often buy candy (because let’s be honest there’s more than enough sugar in my life anyway) but Zach’s mom always gives us an Easter basket full of our favorites, and we’ve already demolished over half of it so far. Things aren’t looking too good for the second half right now, either.

But anyway, let’s talk peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies. If the recipe looks familiar to you, that’s because it is, it’s a hybrid between my popular soft and chewy best peanut butter cookies and my peanut butter blossoms. I’m completely obsessed with this recipe because it yields the softest, butteriest/peanut-butteriest cookies.

Cookie Dough in bowl - stirring chocolate pieces into peanut butter dough

Butter All The Way

Most peanut butter chocolate chunk cookie recipes use shortening rather than butter. Considering that peanut butter has a distinct enough flavor that you shouldn’t notice the lack of butter, and that shortening has a higher fat content (which should mean softer cookies) I didn’t challenge this for a long time. For years I made my peanut butter cookies with shortening.

But the flavor and texture always fell flat! The cookies crumbled too easily! The flavor wasn’t bad, but couldn’t it be improved? I wanted a cookie that was soft and chewy like my chocolate chip cookies, but obviously with a distinct peanut butter flavor (and with buttery undertones, not shortening ones!).

This is that recipe! Soft and chewy with a distinct peanut butter flavor (enhanced by real butter), once you try it you’ll never go back to shortening based recipes again. Pair it with milk chocolate candy pieces and you’ve got yourself a dream cookie.

Golden brown peanut butter chocolate chunk cookie on cooling rack

Ok, I’m sorry, I promised you a short and sweet post today and here I am rambling about butter and shortening.

Just one more quick word about chocolate. I chopped up chocolate Hershey bars for these peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies; while I’m a dark chocolate girl at heart, nothing pairs quite as well with peanut butter as milk chocolate. You can use your preferred variety of chocolate (chocolate chips will also work) and if you found yourself with a surplus of Hershey bars or milk chocolate bunnies in your Easter basket yesterday, well what a great way to use them!

Enjoy!

Other Recipes You Might Like:

  • Brown Butter Toffee Cookies
  • Butter Pecan Cookies
  • Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies on plate

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Chewy peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies loaded with melty milk chocolate candy bar pieces.
Check out the how-to VIDEO at the bottom of the recipe! 
4.86 from 7 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Cookies, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: peanut butter chocolate chunk cookie
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Chilling Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 27 minutes
Servings: 18 cookies
Calories: 240kcal
Author: Sam Merritt

Ingredients

  • 10 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened (140g)
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed light or dark (135g)
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar (50g)
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter¹ (140g)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1/2 teasoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (185g)
  • 1 Tablespoon cornstarch (cornflour in the UK)
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 8 oz milk chocolate², coarsely chopped (I used 5 Hershey bars)

Instructions

  • Combine butter, sugars, and peanut butter in a large bowl and use an electric mixer (you can use a stand mixer instead) to beat until creamy and well-combined. 
  • Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and stir well. 
  • In separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt.
  • Gradually, with mixer on low speed, stir flour mixture into peanut butter mixture, pausing occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl.
  • Use a spatula to stir in chocolate pieces.
  • Cover cookie dough with plastic wrap and transfer to refrigerator. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
  • Once dough is almost finished chilling, preheat oven to 350F/175C. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
  • Once cookie dough has chilled and oven has preheated, remove dough from fridge and scoop cookie dough into roughly 1 1/2 Tablespoon-sized balls. If desired, gently roll into balls between your palms and then place onto prepared cookie sheets.³
  • Place cookies at least 1 1/2 inch apart on prepared baking sheets and bake for about 12 minutes.
  • Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet before serving.

Notes

¹I don't recommend using a "natural" peanut butter (the kind that separates and you need to stir before using).
²I love using milk chocolate because it complements the peanut butter so nicely, but you can use your favorite variety of chocolate -- semisweet, dark, or even white chocolate will work here.
³The cookies don't need to be rolled, this just makes them look neater and more uniform.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 240kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

This recipe was originally published on March 9th, 2016. Photos updated and recipe improved and updated April 22, 2019.

Filed Under: Cookies, Desserts Tagged With: peanut butter, peanut butter and chocolate

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Comments

  1. Janet says

    December 13, 2020 at 1:08 pm

    5 stars
    Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. I made these exactly as written and see no reason to change anything. I did put walnuts in my second batch only because I love walnuts. But as I said, they are wonderful as the recipe is written. This will go in my recipe folder.

    Reply
    • Sam says

      December 13, 2020 at 9:54 pm

      I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Janet! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Karen says

    July 22, 2020 at 8:44 pm

    5 stars
    I have a peanut allergy so I used Wowbutter instead. They turned out great! Thanks for the wonderful recipe! 🙂

    Reply
    • Sam says

      July 23, 2020 at 9:49 am

      I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Karen! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Sheep says

    June 8, 2020 at 11:11 am

    5 stars
    I made this into a pizookie (pizza-sized cookie) and it turned out delicious! 🙂 😀 Thank you so much!

    Reply
    • Sam says

      June 8, 2020 at 3:20 pm

      I am so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Sheep says

    June 7, 2020 at 6:37 pm

    Hello! I was wondering how long this would have to cook for if all of the dough was used to make a single, giant cookie.

    Reply
    • Sam says

      June 8, 2020 at 2:55 pm

      I’m not sure how it would turn out or how long it would need to bake. You would definitely want to do it in a springform pan if you do try it. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Sheep says

    May 22, 2020 at 3:40 pm

    Do these need cornstarch? I don’t have any!

    Reply
    • Sugar Spun Run says

      May 22, 2020 at 4:39 pm

      Hi, Sheep! The cornstarch helps break down the harsh proteins of the flour, making for a more tender cookie. You can leave it out, they just won’t be as soft. 🙂

      Reply
  6. Sheep says

    April 18, 2020 at 6:03 pm

    Hello! These cookies have tasted delicious every time me and my sibling would make them, however, we’ve noticed that they don’t really spread out that much and are quite big. Is it the peanut butter that is causing them to not spread or is it something else? 🤔

    Reply
    • Sam says

      April 19, 2020 at 12:07 pm

      I am so sorry that has happened. It sounds like there may be too much flour in the cookies. You can check out my guide for how to properly measure flour so this doesn’t happen in the future. 🙂

      Reply
  7. Karen Moore says

    April 16, 2020 at 6:17 pm

    My son and I just made these – they smell delicious even before baked ! I’m waiting til after dinner to bake them so we don’t ruin dinner cuz I have no will power ! Thanks for the recipe ! Karen

    Reply
    • Sugar Spun Run says

      April 16, 2020 at 9:59 pm

      I hope that you and your son had fun making them and that they were the perfect after-dinner treat, Karen! Enjoy! 🙂

      Reply
  8. Sheep says

    March 24, 2020 at 6:09 pm

    5 stars
    Me and my sibling have made these cookies 4 times! They are so delicous! Thank you so much for the recipe! 🙂 😀

    Reply
    • Sugar Spun Run says

      March 24, 2020 at 8:04 pm

      Thank you so much for trying my recipe! I am so happy to hear that the cookies have been such a hit. Thanks for commenting. 🙂

      Reply
  9. Sheep says

    March 19, 2020 at 2:35 pm

    These cookies are delicous! Thank you! 🙂 😀

    Reply
    • Sugar Spun Run says

      March 19, 2020 at 2:36 pm

      Thank you so much! I hope that you enjoy the cookies! 🙂

      Reply
      • Sheep says

        March 26, 2020 at 4:19 pm

        5 stars
        You’re welcome! I made them again yesterday! 😉 🙂

      • Sugar Spun Run says

        March 26, 2020 at 4:40 pm

        I love it! Enjoy! 🙂

  10. Breanna says

    June 3, 2019 at 6:35 pm

    Do you really have to use an electric mixer? Can I get away with mixing it by hand?

    Reply
    • Sam says

      June 3, 2019 at 7:15 pm

      It depends on how strong you are and how much of an arm workout you want. So long as the butter (it should be softened, but not so soft that it’s melt-y) and sugar get nicely creamed together that’s all that really matters 🙂

      Reply
  11. Momof11gifts says

    May 4, 2019 at 11:44 pm

    I just tried these cookies & I followed the recipe exact. They looked great when they came out of the oven. They just didn’t taste as good as I had hoped. They didn’t have a sweet taste at all & had more of a cake like texture, instead of the chewy cookie texture.
    It might be though that I had been eating the cookie that I made from your other recipe (the worst ever cookie) 😁
    I think that recipe is so good, that it’s ruined the taste of all the others. 😉
    I’m sure it’s a great recipe. I must have done something wrong.

    Reply
    • Sam says

      May 6, 2019 at 3:26 pm

      You’ll just have to give them another try when you aren’t making the other cookies. 😉

      Reply
  12. Nicole says

    May 3, 2019 at 7:59 am

    4 stars
    Thank you so much for this great recipe. They are absolutely delicious. Mine just didn’t spread very much, they stayed quite thick, but the taste is great.

    Reply
    • Sam says

      May 3, 2019 at 10:00 pm

      I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed the cookies, Nicole! Thank you for commenting 🙂

      Reply
  13. Rosellen Fareri says

    May 1, 2019 at 8:14 pm

    I made these just the other night and they were absolutely delicious !!! I followed the recipe exactly as it is written and they came out so nice and chewy and incredibly delicious that I am planning to make them again tomorrow !! They stayed so fresh too, although I must admit they didn’t last too long in my house lol !! I’ve tried other recipes like this, but nothing compared ..yours is by far, the BEST. ! Thank u so much for sharing it. I love all your recipes !

    Reply
    • Sam says

      May 2, 2019 at 12:27 pm

      I am so glad you enjoyed the cookies, Rosellen! 🙂

      Reply
  14. Medha @ Whisk & Shout says

    March 9, 2016 at 9:15 pm

    These chocolate chip cookies look amazing- the only thing missing from the classic was totally peanut butter, these are spot on! 🙂 Pinning!

    Reply
    • Sam says

      March 10, 2016 at 10:19 pm

      Thank you, Medha!

      Reply
  15. Marsha | Marsha's Baking Addiction says

    March 9, 2016 at 2:30 pm

    5 stars
    Oh my, these cookies look good! I just wanna grab that stack of cookies!

    Reply
    • Sam says

      March 10, 2016 at 10:19 pm

      Thank you, Marsha!!

      Reply

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The author (Sam) in blue shirt holding donut Hi, I'm Sam! I'm dedicated to bringing you sweet, simple, and from-scratch dessert recipes. My life may or may not be controlled by my sweet tooth. Send help (or chocolate). Read more about me.

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