Salted Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Salted Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies are rich, flavorful, and easy to make. They are sweet, a little savory, and full of texture. This cookie recipe calls for natural peanut butter, which gives the cookies a natural peanut taste without tasting artificial.

This easy recipe is made for chocolate and peanut butter lovers. Experience rich chocolate, peanut butter, and sea salt in every umami bite of Salted Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies!

Jump to:

• Key Ingredients
• How to Make Salted Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Storage
• How to Freeze Cookie Dough
• Baking Tips for the Best Cookies
• Related Recipes
• Do You Love This Recipe?
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Key Ingredients

• All-purpose flour - the foundation for the cookies.
• Baking soda - Helps the cookie dough spread.
• Butter - room temperature butter is best for the cookie dough texture and adds a buttery flavor. Use European or American butter. European has a higher fat content resulting in a crisper, buttery cookie. American butter has higher water content, which will make the cookie less buttery but still delicious.
• Granulated sugar - Adds sweetness and helps the cookies spread as the sugar melts.
• Brown Sugar - Adds moisture to the cookie dough.
• Natural peanut butter - Adds the salty peanut butter flavor to the cookies.
• Eggs - Binds the ingredients together. Use a room temperature egg so it spreads evenly in the cookie dough.
• Vanilla extract - Vanilla extract adds complexity and sweetness to the cookie dough. For a stronger vanilla flavor, use vanilla bean paste.
• Cocoa powder - Adds extra chocolate flavor to the cookies.
• Chocolate chips - We recommend semi-sweet chocolate chips because they are the perfect combination of sweet and rich.

How to Make Salted Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

• Heat the oven - preheat oven to 350°F.
• Mix wet ingredients - In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugars, and creamy peanut butter until smooth. Slowly add vanilla extract (I personally love Nielsen-Massey) and carefully beat in the eggs one at a time. Mix in cocoa powder just until mixed -- be careful to not over mix.
• Whisk Dry Ingredients - In a separate mixing bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and salt.  
• Mix wet and dry ingredients - Then, slowly stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture (again, without over mixing). Once you have a nice consistency, fold in chocolate chips. I like to save a half cup of chocolate chips to add to the tops of the cookie dough balls to make the cookies even more chocolatey.

• Make cookie dough balls then place on baking sheet - Once your dough is ready, use a cookie scoop or spoon to form cookie dough balls and place them onto an ungreased baking sheet. You can also line your baking sheet with parchment paper to reduce the mess. Before you place the sheets into the oven, sprinkle finishing salt (Maldon is my personal favorite) on each cookie dough ball.
• Bake cookies then enjoy - Place the cookies in the oven to bake for 12-14 minutes. I know it's tempting, but allow cookies to cool slightly for 1-2 minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. I recommend enjoying them with a cold glass of milk.

Hint: use an aluminum baking sheet for even heating and line the baking sheet with parchment paper to minimize sticking and cleanup time. Place a single baking sheet on the center rack for even baking.

Substitutions

• Gluten-free - Use gluten-free all-purpose flour to make these cookies gluten free. We recommend this gluten free flour for the best results.
• Vanilla bean paste - Use vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla extract for a richer vanilla flavor.
• Dark chocolate chips - If you prefer the intensely flavored and lightly bitter taste of dark chocolate, use dark chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet.
• White chocolate chips - Replace the semi-sweet chocolate chips with white chocolate chips or toffee bits for added sweetness.
• Peanut butter chips - Use peanut butter chips if you want the cookies to taste more nutty and less chocolatey.

Variations

• Extra chocolatey - If you want to make these peanut butter chocolate cookies even more chocolatey, add another half cup of chocolate chips to the dough.
• Walnuts - Add walnuts for an extra hearty and rich crunch.

Storage

Cookies have two lifecycles: pre-oven and post-oven. You can enjoy fresh cookies all the time if you plan ahead. It doesn't take a lot of work and it pays dividends for as long as you have cookie craving (as in, always).

Once cookies are baked, keep them in an airtight container or bag or under a cloche. They will stay good for 5-7 days.

How to Freeze Cookie Dough

If you don't think you can eat an entire batch of these easy peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, I recommend freezing your cookies. This will allow you to make one single batch and bake as you need, so you don't have to commit to an entire 30-40 cookies in one week.

1. Simply make a batch of cookie dough.
2. Scoop cookie dough balls using your cookie scoop.
3. Place the balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet will easily fit in your freezer. They can be arranged very close together since they aren't going into the oven.
4. Place the cookie dough balls into the freezer and freeze for 1-2 hours or until completely frozen solid.
5. Remove the balls and place them in an airtight container or bag. Label the container or bag with the date.
6. Keep frozen for 4-6 weeks. Before baking, allow the cookie dough to thaw for a couple of hours.

Baking Tips for the Best Cookies

• Use room temperature butter for soft and chewy cookies. Room temperature butter is soft and pliable, but not melted.
• Use brown sugar to add moisture to the cookies. This maintains their soft cake-like center for a few days.
• Make your cookies the same size to ensure the cookies have the same texture. If you make all of the cookies larger (e.g. 2 tablespoons) or smaller (e.g. ½ tablespoon), be sure to adjust the bake time.
• Don't over-mix ingredients to ensure the cookies spread evenly and have a light texture. Over mixing can make the cookies tough.
• Bake on the middle rack for even cooking. If baking more than one sheet of cookies, place the racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven. Rotate the baking sheets from top to bottom halfway through baking to ensure the cookies bake evenly.
• Cool down the cookies before storing to ensure the cookies maintain their texture. The steam from hot cookies will make the cookies soggy.

Related Recipes

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