Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

One of my greatest weaknesses is peanut butter and chocolate together. Give me all the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups you can find. And I, of course, will turn them into a Peanut Butter Cup Pie. My guilty pleasure is hiding in my pantry with a spoon, getting a huge scoop of peanut butter, and then topping it with chocolate chips.

These peanut butter and chocolate cookies are, naturally, a dream come true for me. They combine peanut butter and chocolate in the most delightful way. They are an easy spin on my peanut butter cookies. With their slightly crisp exterior and buttery insides, you will swoon for them.

How to Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

1. Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda.
2. Beat the wet ingredients. In a large bowl with a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together until it is light and fluffy, about three to six minutes.
3. Add in the remaining ingredients. One at a time beat in first the peanut butter, then the eggs, then the vanilla extract.
4. Add in the flour mixture. Pour it all in at once, then turn the mixer on low. As soon as it incorporates enough, turn the mixer on high. Read more on this process below.
5. Scoop and bake the cookies. Use a 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop and scoop the cookies onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Use a fork to push the cookies down, making a hash mark on top. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. (Mine were perfect at 8 minutes.)

Measuring Flour for Cookie Recipes

A really important step to any baking recipe is measuring the flour correctly. If you don’t do this process correctly, your flour can pack and lead to you adding up to 25% more flour than is called for in the recipe. As you can imagine, this can result in dry, unappetizing cookies.

1. Whisk the flour in the container you keep it in. This is our first step to loosening the flour and keeping it from packing.
2. Use a spoon to scoop the flour into a dry measuring cup. Note that there are two types of measuring cups – glass with lines on the side to measure liquids, and plastic or metal measuring cups with handles that come in many sizes and are for dry ingredients. (Do not use the measuring cup to scoop the flour, this is what leads to it packing.)
3. Level the flour with the flat edge of a spatula.

Using Cocoa Powder with Baking Soda

An important key to these peanut butter cookies with chocolate is the reaction of the baking soda. As you may know, baking soda is a leavening agent – something used in baking to make the recipe rise and become light and fluffy. The leavening agent used in cookies, whether it is baking soda or baking powder, depends on the other ingredients. Baking powder needs only a liquid to react, whereas baking soda needs something acidic.

The great news for us is that cocoa powder is acidic and can be used in conjunction with baking soda to make these cookies rise. However, it is important to note that Dutch processed cocoa powder is not acidic, and therefore will not work in this recipe. You can get all the ins and outs on this in this great article from Sally at Sally’s Baking Addiction.

The bottom line: You are looking for 100% cocoa, natural unsweetened, such as Hershey’s.

Adding Dry Ingredients to Wet Ingredients in Baking

Many baking recipes call for the step of adding dry (a flour mixture) recipes to wet ingredients (such as eggs and butter creamed together). The important part of this step is not over-mixing.

One way to avoid over-mixing is what I describe in this chocolate peanut butter cookie recipe. Add all of the flour mixture at once. Then start beating on low. You want to do this only long enough that the flour begins to incorporate, so that when you move on to the next step, the flour doesn’t fly out of the bowl. The next step is to turn the mixture on its higher speed, and beat only for a few seconds until the flour is fully incorporated.

Older recipes suggest that you add the flour a little at a time while beating on low, but the method above actually results in less beating. Less beating means that the gluten in your recipe won’t be overworked, and you will have cookies that are chewy in the best way possible.

Cookie Baking Tips

The following are great baking tips for any cookie recipe.

• Measure the flour correctly. Read my full instructions on that above in the section labeled: Measuring Flour for Cookie Recipes.
• Use room-temperature butter. Room-temperature butter will still feel cold to the touch, but you should be able to easily dent it with your finger. A great trick is to cut it into one inch pieces and leave it on your counter for just 20 to 30 minutes.
• Use baking soda and baking powder as called for. These two ingredients are very different, behave differently in recipes, and cannot be interchanged. Note that this recipe calls for baking soda.
• Ensure that your baking soda or baking powder is still reactive. Baking soda can be tested by dropping a little in vinegar. Baking powder can be tested by dropping a little in water. Both should bubble immediately if they are still good. In general, both should be replaced every six months for maximum effectiveness.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients correctly. Read more on that in my section above labeled: Adding Dry Ingredients to Wet Ingredients in Baking.
• Check the temperature of your oven. Not all ovens are calibrated correctly, and they can be off by as much as 25 degrees or more. This, obviously, can have a huge impact on a recipe. Check your oven temperature with an inexpensive thermometer.
• Use quality baking sheets. This is true of other recipes too. What you bake on (or in) can make or break a recipe. These are the cookie sheets that I love and stand by.
• Use a cookie scoop. A cookie scoop is a great investment. I use them for all of my cookie recipes, and my grandma’s Italian meatballs! The benefit of using one is that it ensures that all your cookies are uniform in size, and then they will bake evenly. This is my favorite cookie scoop.

Storing and Freezing

These cookies can be stored in an airtight tight container for up to one week. You can also store them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to three months.

Baking Dough from Frozen

This recipe bakes from frozen very well. To do this, make the recipe up to the point of baking. Then freeze the unbaked cookies on a wax lined plate or baking sheet for two to four hours. Transfer to an airtight container. Bake the cookies from frozen in a 350 degree oven for 9 to 11 minutes.

More Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cookies

• Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

If you make these Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies or any of my other cookie recipes, leave me a comment and let me know what you think. I love to know that you are baking up some love in your house using my recipes.