Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies – Chocolate cookies are filled with peanut butter chips and Reese’s Pieces to make for a chocolate & peanut butter mash-up in every bite.
Cookies! It’s been too long! I have been stumped on new cookie recipes to share but no longer – I’ve got a great cookie recipe to share that brings me back to my high school days.
Back in high school, I’d occasionally buy warm cookies from the Economics Club. They strategically placed themselves in the courtyard after lunch to sell freshly baked cookies to sugar-holics, like myself. I always got the classic chocolate chip cookies but this one day they were all out. Ah! But I need my warm cookie fix!
I settled for the chocolate cookies with PB chips and Reese’s Pieces candy. And oh my goodness, I am so glad I did! It was the best cookie I’ve had in a very long time. Rich chocolate cookie is balanced out by the strong peanut butter flavor. Oh and since the cookies were warm, the Reese’s Pieces were warm too and melted in my mouth. Yummmm.
I don’t know why I hadn’t thought to make these cookies sooner. I guess I just forgot about that love affair I had almost 15 years ago. Gosh, I’m so old. Wahh!
Anyway, here I am finally sharing a recipe that has recreated that cookie for all to enjoy. I present my Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies!
How these cookies are made
There’s nothing complicated about these cookies. Just like cookies you’ve probably made before, these cookies are made by:
- Creaming butter and sugar
- Adding eggs and vanilla
- Adding dry ingredients
- Folding in candy and chips
In the past, I’ve avoided mixing my dry ingredients before adding to wet because the dry ingredients were only flour, salt, and baking soda and, in my opinion, didn’t warrant getting another bowl dirty.
For this recipe, however, there is cocoa powder in the dry ingredients so you’ll need to mix the dry ingredients together before adding to the wet. This helps the dough come together faster and ensures the dough doesn’t over mix and get tough and cakey.
Tips & Tricks
- Most cookies turn out best when you chill the dough before baking. And these cookies are no exception. See, when you soften the butter for the dough, you need to firm it back up, otherwise your cookies are going to spread out too much. And then you have these flimsy cookies that break as soon as you pick them up (oh yes, I’ve been there). So make sure you chill the dough at least 2 hours before baking. This means you better plan your baking accordingly.
- To get the cookies to cook evenly, you’ll need a cookie scoop. I recommend this one. It’s a lot easier than rolling the dough into balls. Plus, it will keep your hands clean. Hooray for cleanliness!!
- A unique characteristic about these cookies is that it’s hard to tell when they’re done baking since they’re so dark. But trust me – it won’t take more than 9 minutes. If you still want a visual cue, you’ll start to see cracks on the sides when they’re ready.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter unsalted
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup flour all-purpose
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup Reese’s Pieces
- ¾ cup peanut butter chips
Instructions
- Using a mixer, cream together butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, scrapping the sides of the bowl, as needed. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda. Add to wet ingredients and mix on low just until combined. Add the Reese's Pieces and peanut butter chips, and blend until just incorporated.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop heaping spoonfuls of dough and place on a large serving platter or plate. Roll the mounds into smooth balls and slightly flatten with your palm. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or up to 3 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.
- Once the dough is chilled, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Place dough on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, about 2 inches apart from one another. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, rotating cookies halfway through. Do not bake longer than 10 minutes, as they will firm up as they cool.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.
Pin for later:
More recipes you’ll love:
Chocolate Peanut Butter Souffles
Reese’s Pieces Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Whoopie Pies
Can’t wait to try these, I already have the ingredients on my shopping list ready to go!
Ohh I am for sure going to save this so I can make it next week!
So glad you got to recreate the cookies you love! They look absolutely delicious.
YUM! What an incredible combo. Love how you’ve added Reese’s pieces AND peanut butter chips. What an amazing cookie this is!
These look cute and delicious, love the combination.
I pinned these as well! Love how tempting they look and how easy they are to make!
This is the BEST combo. Totally making these for my husband.
Chocolates are my weakness, and this one made me mouth-watering. These are absolutely gorgeous cookies.
My kind of cookies. Easy, delicious, colorful, and fun looking. Love it.