Name: Peanut Butter Chopped Chocolate Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 cup unsalted butter (softened 226 g or 2 sticks); 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (360 g); 1 cup brown sugar (200 g); 1 cup granulated sugar (200g); 2 large eggs (room temperature); 1 tsp vanilla paste (or extract); 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (293 g); 2 tbsp peanut butter powder (optional); 1 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp fine grain kosher salt; 2 cups chopped semi-sweet chocolate (12 oz or 340 g); 2 oz chopped semi-sweet chocolate (57 g optional, for adding to the tops of cookies before baking)

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These cookies are the perfect marriage of a peanut butter cookie and a chocolate chip cookie. Using extra peanut butter and chopping the chocolate ensures you’ll have layers of chocolate throughout every super peanut-buttery bite!

Peanut Butter Chopped Chocolate Cookies on parchment paper.

Creating the perfect Peanut Butter Chopped Chocolate Cookies

I created these Peanut Butter Chopped Chocolate Cookies with the following must-haves foremost in my mind:

Peanut butter Over the years, one of the most requested cookies from my friends and family has been peanut butter. It's also the most requested frosting flavor, filling flavor, and cookie or bar add-in. Everyone, from The Boy, to his parents, to my nephews, to my next door neighbors wants peanut butter. And when I add peanut butter, they want more peanut butter. So, the base of this cookie is extra peanut-buttery.
Chocolate Second only to the peanut butter, is chocolate. For my in-laws, there cannot be enough chocolate. The limit does not exist. When I bring them baked treats, my mother-in-law actually inspects them for chocolate content and makes her choice based on that. As a matter of fact, one of my life goals is to hear my mother-in-law say "that's too much chocolate," and we have yet to reach that goal. I carry on with hope.

What do I need to make these cookies a reality?

Unsalted butter and salt Whether I am baking or cooking savory food, I always use unsalted butter because it better allows me to control the salt content of my finished product. As for my preferred salt, I only use kosher salt when cooking or baking (preferably Diamond Kosher Salt), and flaky sea salt for finishing. You know, that last minute sprinkle to satisfy my salty palate.
Creamy peanut butter Although I firmly believe that chunky peanut butter is the superior peanut butter, I just don't feel it belongs in this cookie. For the proper balance of peanut butter and chocolate, let's stick with creamy this time. I also wouldn't use natural peanut butter. Its tendency to separate can sometimes affect a cookie during baking. Go Jif. Or Skippy. But, really Jif.
Sugar I use an equal amount of brown sugar and granulated sugar in these cookies. The brown sugar (dark or light) gives us a chewy center, and the granulated sugar helps give us that crispy edge. perfection.
All-purpose flour Cake flour or bread flour need not apply. All-purpose flour gives the perfect structure to the cookie. No need to complicate it.
Peanut butter powder This is an optional ingredient, but it packs a peanut butter punch, and shuts up those "needs more peanut butter" whiners. This used to only be available on the Interweb, but I can find it in the natural section of my Mega Market now.
Semi-sweet chocolate Between the sugars and the peanut butter, these cookies run a bit sweet, so I don't feel this is the place for milk chocolate. You can get bars of semi-sweet chocolate in both the candy aisle and the baking aisle, and they're often on sale, so grab a bunch! Remember, you can never have enough chocolate.

How do I make these cookies?

These cookies are really easy to bring together and require no chilling! Woo hoo!! You can go straight from mixing to eating cookies in less than 30 minutes and no one is mad about that!

Cream butter and sugar Using either a stand mixer or a hand mixer, you want to cream the butter and sugar until it's light and fluffy.
Add peanut butter Just beat it.
Mix in dry ingredients I like to sift my dry ingredients together, but some people can't be bothered, and I get that. But at the very least, whisk them together, then add, one spoonful at a time, to the butter mixture.
Fold in chocolate Using some sort of flat tool, a big spoon, spatula, or rice paddle (my Korean contribution, and superior mixing tool), fold the chocolate in. Using the mixer at this point will break up the chocolate too much and risk over-mixing the dough.
Scoop and bake Using a small scoop (about 1 ½ tbsp), place cookie dough balls on a parchment paper lined large sheet pan. Giving each cookie some space, bake these at 375° F for 10 minutes. They should be fairly puffy and just starting to set at this point.
Pan-banging Borrowing a bit of the method pioneered by Sarah Kieffer for her Chocolate Chip Cookies, we're going to pull the pan of cookies out of the oven at this point and give it a couple of sharp raps on the countertop. This will deflate the puffiness, spread the cookies out, and settle the chocolate into luscious pools.
Bake a bit more Just 2 or 3 minutes, to get brown bottoms and crispy edges.
Eat! If I have to explain this, there are issues.

Aren't getting enough Peanut Butter in your diet? Try my other PB recipes!

Happy Baking and may all your peanut butter and chocolate dreams come true!

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