Choc chip Peanut Butter Cookies

5 from 7 votes

Choc chip Peanut Butter Cookies

Recipe video above. These are delightfully peanut buttery cookies that are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Chocolate chips were a late addition, but once I did, there was no going back! The smidge of honey you see in the ingredients is a little bakers' trick that deals with the effect of adding peanut butter into cookie dough - it makes cookies a bit pasty inside, and they don't colour as nicely. A tiny amount of honey solves both these problems!

To make these gluten free- See Note 4.

Prep Time15

Cook Time12

Cookie dough fridge time and cookie cooling1 10

Total Time1 37

Course: Sweet Baking

Cuisine: Western

Keyword: peanut butter cookie, peanut butter cookie with choc chips

Servings: cookies 8cm/3.2" wide, 1.5cm / 0.6" thick

Calories: 233cal

Author: Nagi

Ingredients

100g / 7 tbsp unsalted butter , cut into ~1cm / 0.2" cubes
1/2 cup (tightly packed) brown sugar
1/2 cup caster sugar / superfine sugar , or regular/granulated white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp honey (Note 1)
1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
1 large egg , fridge cold is fine
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter spread (ie Aus: Bega, US: Jif, Skippy, UK: Sun-Pat, NOT the runny natural sugar-free type)
1 1/4 cups plain flour / all-purpose flour (Note 4 for gluten-free)
1 tsp baking soda / bi-carbonate soda , not baking powder (Note 2)
150g (3/4 cup) dark choc chips / US semi-sweet chips

Cups - Metric

Instructions

ABBREVIATED RECIPE

Melt butter, mix in sugars, then mix in egg, vanilla, salt and honey. Mix in peanut butter until smooth, then the flour and baking soda, and lastly the choc chips. Fridge 1 hr, roll into 16 balls, bake 12 min at 190°C/375°F (170°C fan), cool 10 min on trays. Don't forget extra choc chips for surface!

FULL RECIPE

Set aside ~2 1/2 tablespoons of chocolate chips to decorate the surface.
Barely melt butter - Put the butter in a microwave proof bowl and microwave in 20 second increments on high until almost melted. Then mix with a wooden spoon to finish melting using residual heat.
Make cookie dough - Stir in both the sugars. Then add the egg, vanilla, honey and salt. Stir until combined. Add the peanut butter and stir until smooth (a few little lumps is ok - I don't think anyone would complain!)
Add dry ingredients - Add the flour then scatter the baking soda across the surface. Mix until the flour is mostly incorporated. Then add most of the choc chips (reserve enough to decorate at the end) and mix until you no longer see flour.
Fridge 1 hour - Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour, or up to 2 days. (Note 2)
Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F (170°C fan-forced). Line 2 trays with baking paper (parchment paper).
Roll the dough into 4cm / 1.6" balls, you should get 15 - 16 (size 24 cookie scoop, 1 1/2 tbsp). Place on baking paper / parchment paper lined trays, 6 cm / 2.5" apart. Bake for 12 minutes until golden around the edges and lighter golden on the surface.
Top, cool, attack! As soon they come out of the oven, press chocolate chips gently onto the surface (I like to push some in a tiny bit, on a slight angle). Cool on the tray for 10 minutes so they finish cooking and the edges crisp up. Then attack! Or transfer to cooling racks and fully cool before storing in airtight containers.

Notes

1. Honey - Bakers' trick, to make the cookies brown faster and makes insides a bit chewier. You can't taste it. No substitute, so if you don't have it, just leave it out.

2. Baking powder will work but changes the shape and texture of the cookie, it will be thicker (so won't spread as much) and a bit less chewy inside. Use 2 1/2 teaspoons.

3. Refrigerating cookie dough - Dough can be kept in the bowl for 2 days in the fridge. The cookie gets even better - inside slightly chewier, edges and base crispier, and colour more golden. But while some cookies like my best Chocolate Chip Cookie is designed for overnight refrigeration, this peanut butter cookie is intentionally made to be great with just a 1 hour.

Note: Dough becomes hard if kept in fridge for longer than 3 hrs, leave out on counter for ~1 hr until soft enough to scoop and roll balls. You can also freeze the cookie dough balls - bake from frozen for time per recipe.

4. Gluten-free - Substitute the flour with gluten-free flour, follow recipe as written. I used White Wings GF flour (I'm in Australia), common brand carried at regular grocery stores. They didn't spread as much and came out a little thicker but flavour and texture were spot on! See FAQ for more info.

Storage - Cookies will keep in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days, in the pantry.

Nutrition per cookie, assuming 16 cookies.

Nutrition