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Soft, chewy and ready in 12 minutes, these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are a winner! No fancy mixers are needed- just one bowl and four ingredients.
Love chocolate and love peanut butter? I have you covered with these seriously moreish cookies!
In my opinion, there is NO combination as good as these two, as evidenced by some of our favorites on here (like no bake cookies and an actual cake!). These cookies are in their own league because of how simple and fast they are- even if you are a beginner cook, you’ll nail these from the get-go.
Table of Contents
Why this recipe works
- Pantry staple ingredients. Made without flour, grains, and dairy, every single ingredient is EASY to find at supermarkets! Better still, you probably have every single ingredient right this second!
- Perfect texture and flavor. Texture-wise, it’s soft, chewy, and melts in your mouth (seriously!). In terms of taste, it’s sweet, flavored with peanut butter and mouthfuls of chocolate chips. If you love the sweet and salty flavor, you’ll be obsessed!
- Quick and easy. No chill time is needed, so you can have a plate of these cookies in just 12 minutes.
What we love about this recipe is that they are the kind of dessert you can make in a pinch when the peanut butter chocolate cravings strike!
Ingredients needed
As mentioned earlier, you only need four ingredients to make chocolate chip peanut butter cookies. Here’s everything that it calls for.
- Peanut Butter– Smooth and drippy peanut butter is necessary- don’t try and use crunchy, or it won’t mix well. I used salted peanut butter, as I love the sweet and salty combination, but you can use regular peanut butter if you aren’t a fan.
- Sugar– Brown sugar, white sugar, coconut palm sugar, and sugar-free sweeteners all work (like allulose). I like using dark brown sugar as it gives the cookies a soft texture in the middle.
- Egg– Helps bind the cookies together and prevents them from spreading too much.
- Chocolate– I like to use chocolate chips and a chopped-up chocolate bar, so there is plenty of chocolate in every bite.
How to make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
Peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips are so simple: just use a good mixing spoon because it’s quite the arm workout!
- Make the cookie dough: In a large mixing bowl, add your peanut butter, sugar, and egg and mix well until just combined. Fold through your chocolate chips using a rubber spatula, reserving a few to top the cookies with.
- Shape the cookies: Line a large baking tray with parchment paper. Lightly wet your hands, then form 12 balls of dough. Place the dough balls on the lined tray and lightly press each one into a thick cookie shape. Top with extra chocolate chips.
- Bake: Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes in a preheated oven (180C/350F). Remove the cookies once the edges begin to brown, and allow to cool on the tray completely.
Tips to make the best recipe
- Do not overmix the dough; otherwise, they become more fragile once they have cooled down.
- Use a mix of chocolate chips and chopped pieces to ensure every bite has some chocolate!
- If you prefer thicker/chunky cookies, refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours.
- To avoid your cookies spreading, add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and chill the dough.
- Do not overbake the cookies, even if they seem under-baked; the cookies continue to cook as they cool down.
- Feel free to replace the chocolate chips with something else, like chopped nuts, dried fruit, or coconut.
Storage instructions
To store: Leftover cookies will keep well at room temperature in a sealed container for up to one week. If you want to keep them longer, store them in the fridge for up to two weeks.
To freeze: Place the cooled cookies in a ziplock bag and store them in the freezer for up to 6 months.
More delicious Cookies you’ll love
- Cashew Butter Cookies
- Almond Butter Cookies (3 ingredients!)
- Brownie Cookies
- Strawberry cookies
- Blueberry cookies
Frequently asked questions
Yes! These cookies can easily be made vegan and eggless. While any egg substitute works, I find the best texture is from using ground chia seed. Combine 3 tablespoons of it to the dough and if it needs more, add an extra tablespoon.
Easily make these cookies nut-free by substituting the peanut butter with either smooth sunflower seed butter or smooth tahini. If you can’t tolerate peanuts, use almond butter.
If you want to make the cookie dough but don’t want to bake it immediately, wrap the bowl with plastic or saran wrap and place it in the fridge.
Chilled cookie dough can be kept refrigerated for up to 5 days. Be sure to let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before baking.
Unfortunately not. This dough has no flour or wheat, meaning it will crumble once it thaws.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup peanut butter *
- 3/4 cup brown sugar **
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add your peanut butter, sugar, and egg and mix well, until just combined. Fold through your chocolate chips, reserving a few to top the cookies with.
- Using your hands, form 12 balls of dough and place them on the lined tray. Press each ball into a slight cookie shape, topping each one with extra chocolate chips.
- Bake your cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until just golden around the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool on the tray completely.
I will make this just will not use brown sugar as I never do sugars in my recipes. I like only hewlthy food.
This is a wonderful recipe. Can’t believe it works so well. These delicious cookies have become a family favourite!
Made three batches of these for the holidays, SO good.
Hello,
I haven’t made these yet, but I am wondering if I can reduce the sugar without compromising the consistency of the cookie considering there are only 4 ingredients ? Thanks !
Kel
I haven’t tried- You’ll need to experiment and see 🙂
Hi..could I use golden monk fruit granular instead of sugar?
You could try!
Do NOT use conventional sweetned PB. The first time I made these, they were sickeningly sweet. I remade with 100% peanut PB and used slightly less brown sugar than required and they turned out great!
OMG! My family absolutely loved these. They make a much needed treat for a family on a restricted diet due to my health issues. I will continue to make these for my family and introduce them to friends. Thank you so much!
Absolutely love these cookies, and the recipe couldn’t be easier. Love the way the dough quickly comes together – I popped the cookies into the oven and 12 minutes later, yummy cookies. Highly recommend this recipe to anyone and everyone. ♥️
Thank you for this recipe, I made it with hazelnut butter and it was so good.
Soooo good! I use sugar free crunchy peanut butter. And I sometimes chop up a bit of pecans and add those. I’ve found I need to bake them about 15 to 16 min. And they aren’t as good until they’ve cooled for several hours. But oh my goodness what a treat to eat. Thank you for a simple and great tasting recipe.
My husband loved these but requested next time I add some chopped peanuts or maybe use chunky peanut butter. Also wondering about adding a bit of vanilla and maybe salt.
These are absolutely delicious and so easy! I didn’t change a thing. You’re amazing with all the details to accommodate others with their preferences and allergies. Will be trying more of your recipes. Thank you!
I substituted with liquid stevia — they came out super crumbly and alcohol-is tasting. Any tips? I refrigerated the dough for a couple hours before baking.
This recipe doesn’t use liquid stevia, only granulated sweeteners 🙂
These are delicious! Made with Pyure brand stevia.
These were great! Made it according to the recipe and everyone loved them! Thanks!
HI
It was absolutely delicious. I made it in the food processor with almond butter. almond butter tends to go a bit hard so the food processor helped. Loved it.
Oh fabulous! 🙂
I made this not expecting it to hold together, but I used egg whites instead of the whole egg along with truvia and these came out delicious!
😀 Love it!
In Brazil we haven’t monk fruit. Do you think doest it work with xilitol?
I haven’t tried, I’d stick to erythritol.
Hi Arman! I tried these cookies and they turned out so delicious 😋. It was so quick and easy but tasted amazing! Definitely a keeper 👍🏻. Love your recipes. Thanks for sharing them with us 🤗
how long will they keep with a nice texture ?
I find up to one week at room temp is fine!
These were amazing! Cook times may vary, I had to cook mine a little longer. 1 cookie so so rich it’s like have a few. My Type 1 loved them and was excited to have something to satisfy her sweet tooth.
Hey! I absolutely LOVED this recipe but I would say the texture was more of a cake than a cookie! Did I do something wrong? What can I do to make it more cookie textured! Thank you 💜
I admit I was very iffy about trying a flourless cookie recipe – the last time I made 3-ingredient peanut butter cookies, they burned to the cookie sheet so badly that I had to toss the sheet itself out. However, your photos of these cookies looked so good that I had to give it a try.
I’m sure glad I did! These turned out wonderful! I made mine with a mix of brown and white sugar (1/2 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown), an egg, and I also used baking soda, which didn’t do much to stop the cookies from spreading into one another, but it was nothing that couldn’t be solved with a spatula. I was amazed at how chewy they wound up being (and staying), and when I took them to work, people couldn’t believe they were flourless.
Thanks very much for sharing this lovely recipe and also for renewing my faith in flourless cookies! I’d love to try this with almond butter.
Just made these and these are the best Keto cookies I’ve ever made!!!!
I was really iffy about trying this recipe because the last time I made flourless peanut butter cookies, they stuck to the baking sheet so badly that I had to throw out the entire sheet! It kind of turned me off to making 3-ingredient cookies ever again. But the cookies just looked so good in your photos that I decided to give them a try anyway.
Wow! I’m sure glad I did! Not only did my baking sheet survive, but the cookies turned out beautifully! I did refrigerate the dough and I used baking soda (they still spread quite a lot) and a mix of white sugar and brown sugar (1/2 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar). These are definitely for folks who looooooove peanut butter, which I do. They were also a big hit with folks at work who were shocked to learn they were flourless. And I also love that it’s not only a small-batch recipe made with very basic kitchen staples, but the ingredients can easily be doubled or tripled or more for a larger batch.
I would definitely like to try making these with almond butter now that I know they’ll turn out. Thank you for sharing!