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“The texture of the shortbread, the light sweetness, and classic flavors… just so delightful! This has become one of my very favorite cookies!” ~Valerie
peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are my signature shortbread cookie
They’re closely followed in popularity by my Double Dark Chocolate Shortbread Cookies. I’m not surprised, after all, when was the last time you saw a cookie that intensely chocolaty? But there’s something magical about the epic combination of creamy peanut butter and chocolate that lures people in every time.
These cookies have a melt-in-your-mouth texture thanks to the creamy peanut butter and their shortbread base. They’ll even stick a wee bit to the roof of your mouth…better have a cold glass of milk ready.
these peanut butter cookies are made with a short list of ingredients:
- creamy peanut butter ~ I don’t recommend using natural style peanut butter for this cookie, the consistency tends to be oily. Personally I think the best pb is Jif.
- butter ~ unsalted and at room temperature
- flour ~ all purpose
- sugar ~ confectioner’s or granulated sugar, both will work.
- kosher salt
- chocolate chips ~ use milk, semi sweet, or dark, it’s up to you. I love dark chocolate with peanut butter.
slice and bake cookies are a favorite around here
Who wouldn’t love to have a log or two of cookie dough hanging out in their fridge?
You can get all the measuring and mixing and messy hands out of the way early and then have the luxury of fresh dough waiting at your beck and call. Let me put it another way: when you’ve got this dough in the fridge you’re 12 minutes away from nirvana.
If you want to try a rolled dough version of these, try my Milk Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.
tips for success with peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
- Make sure to start with room temperature butter. This helps the dough come together smoothly.
- Measure your flour carefully. I fluff the flour first to loosen it, then scoop the measuring cup and level it off. This helps insure you get an accurate measure and not too much flour, which will affect the quality of the cookies.
- I make the dough in a stand mixer, this helps the dough come together with less effort. If you’re doing it by hand, take the time to mix the dough until it comes together and there is no dry flour left.
- Use regular, creamy peanut butter, not natural peanut butter. I use Jif.
- If you have trouble with the dough crumbling when you slice it, this can be due to the chocolate chips. I just form any broken slices back into shape on the cookie sheet. It helps to use a very sharp knife, and you can also try a sharp serrated knife to cut through the chips. You can use mini chips which will solve the problem, but I prefer the taste of the big chunks of chocolate. To skirt the issue altogether, roll out your dough and cut with a round cookie or biscuit cutter.
- If you make smaller cookies (i.e. more than 10-12) adjust the baking time, it will take slightly less time for them to cook.
- Expect these cookies to have a shortbread texture, which is to say delicate, and very buttery. They aren’t the same as a regular chewy or cakey cookie. Shortbread has a distinctive texture resulting from the combination of butter, sugar, and flour, without egg.
chocolate + peanut butter is a dynamic flavor duo
The simplicity is part of the charm of these cookies, you really get to taste the pb and chocolate, which is the main reason we make them in the first place 🙂 If you’re a fan of the combo, join the club:
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Scones
- Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Muffins
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bread
- Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Video
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (important!)
- 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter (I like Jif)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar Note: you can also use granulated sugar.
- scant 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips of your choice, milk or dark
Instructions
- Cream the butter and the peanut butter together in a stand mixer, with a hand mixer, or a wooden spoon. Make sure to get the butter and peanut butter completely combined and creamy. Beat in the vanilla.
- Add the flour, sugar, and salt and mx until the dough comes together and is no longer dry.
- Fold in the chocolate chips, and turn the dough out onto a piece of waxed paper. Gently pull the dough together and form it into a log. If it is still crumbly, work it with your hands until it holds together smoothly. Roll it up in the paper, smoothing the shape as you go. Twist the ends securely and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours. The log will be roughly 7 1/2–8 inches long.
- While the dough is chilling, pre-heat the oven to 350F
- Slice the log into slices with a sharp knife. Not too thick, not too thin, about 1/2 inch. If a slice crumbles a bit, just smoosh the dough back together. These don’t have to be perfect disks.
- Bake on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet at 350F for about 12-14 minutes, depending on how thick your cookies are. The cookies will not be browned, and they may look undone, but don’t over bake. One of the joys of shortbread cookies is that they fall apart and melt in your mouth.
- Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack.
Nutrition
don’t forget to pin!
cannot wait to try these. Can they be made in a shortbread pan?
Absolutely! That’s the way I first discovered this recipe!
These are absolutely magnificent! I didn’t have any crumbly problems – the cookies are divine!
These are fresh out of the oven and cooling right now… It’s taking all my willpower not to stuff these into my face and burn my mouth off! Chocolate and peanut butter, what’s not to love?
My dough was also super crumbly, but I added small amounts of water until it was the right consistency, & they look perfect! Can’t wait to try them. 🙂
These are my all time favorite cookies.I can’t make them too often because I want to eat them all!
I happen to be a shortbread freak I just love shortbread and I will be making these in a couple of days even though I have everything in my cabinets now !!! I Might Make Them Today I’m Not Sure I Have Time To Much to Do But Maybe I Will Still Make Them And Take To A friend Love This Recipe Thanks For Sharing This Wonderful Recipe !! 🙂
Update–
Cooked these tonight and they’re divine! Of course they’re crumbly–they’re shortbread! My son said, “they’re kinda sweet, kinda salty, kinda everything good.”
Dough worked fine for me–they’re in the fridge currently. A little misleading to have step 1: preheat oven, then tell me later on to refrigerate for several hours! Bummer.
Good point RB, I’ll amend the recipe to be more clear.
That’s why your suppose to read your recipe first before you start baking anything.
I absolutely loved these, like make a batch, eat it all, then make another. I guess they are also a greta sharing cookie, if you are feeling generous. I followed your recipe as is and had wonderful results. It’s my now go to cookie recipe. I would like to make them for my son’s school event but they have a nut free environment. Could I replace the PB using an equal amount of just more regular butter?
First, thanks for the great feedback! And yes, you can make a plain chocolate chip shortbread cookie, here’s a link to my plain vanilla shortbread for an example, and you could just add chips: https://theviewfromgreatisland.com/2013/01/vanilla-bean-shortbread-tea-cookies.html
Looks yummy! May i know your 1 cup butter, flour and sugar equal to how many gm?
Sure, Christina — 1 cup butter is 8 ounces, and that is about 227 grams. One cup of flour = about 156 grams. 1/4 cup of confectioner’s or icing sugar = 31 grams. I edited the recipe, too. Good luck!
First, I want to say that these were delicious. Secondly, I read a lot of comments from people whose dough was do crumbly it wouldn’t come together at all. What I did to solve this problem was to add cold water a half tablespoon at a time until the dough came together. For me, I ended up adding about 1.5 tablespoons. After that, I was able to roll it without any issues, and it didn’t affect the baking time or finished product. I hope this helps!
Thanks Nathan, that’s great info, and I’m glad you liked them!
Also, not sure if you know, but I came across a site that has your recipe word for word, but no link to you and different pictures.
Thank you SO much Nathan, I’ll check it out. I appreciate you looking out for me!