Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 Tsp baking soda
- 1/2 Tsp salt
- 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup mini peanut butter cups
- 1/2 cup chopped semisweet chocolate
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the softened butter and the peanut butter until combined. This takes about 1-2 minutes.
- Add both sugars into the butter mixture and mix on medium speed until the mixture becomes light and fluffy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl down occasionally while doing so. This step takes anywhere from 3-5 minutes. The mixture will be much paler in color.
- Add the egg, the egg yolk, and the vanilla extract to the butter and sugar mixture and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Turn the mixer off and gently add in your dry ingredients you set aside earlier. Turn the mixer on low speed and mix until just combined, scraping the bowl occasionally.
- Next, add in the chocolate chips, chunks, and peanut butter cups and mix on low until distributed through out the dough.
- Using a medium cookie scoop scoop out all of the dough into cookie balls and set on a parchment lined baking sheet. Add any extra chocolate chips or peanut butter cups to the tops of the cookies now and press them in. This is not necessary, but will make for pretty puddles of chocolate once the cookies have baked. Set the baking sheet into the fridge for at least 2 hours, or up to overnight to chill the cookie dough.
- When you are ready to bake preheat an oven to 350° F and adjust your oven rack to the middle position. Once oven is preheated take cookies straight from fridge and place 1-2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes on the middle oven rack. The cookies will still be very pale but the centers will be set and starting to crack a little bit. I find with these cookies if the edges are starting to brown they come out a little too crunchy for me. They will continue to bake on the cookie sheet to cool so I find the 10 minute mark to give me a perfectly soft and gooey cookie with a tiny bit of crunch on the edges.
- Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then remove to finish cooling on a wire rack. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt if desired.
Notes
Once cookies have cooled store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. Any unbaked cookie dough balls can be transferred to an airtight container as well and stored in the freezer until you are ready to bake. Simply bake from frozen and keep an eye on the cookies at the 10-12 minute mark. They will most likely need 2-4 more minutes to bake from frozen.
Any kind of mix-ins would be great in these cookies so if you don't have milk chocolate chips or prefer something different dark and semisweet chocolate would also be delicious.