These chocolate peanut butter cookies are one of the easiest to make, are so indulgent and rich with fudgy centres, and simply irresistible to eat.
The journey to these cookies began when I was grocery shopping in Woolworths. It wasn’t my regular store but rather one nearby that is a little bigger in size. I was in the area and needed to grab a few groceries items for some recipes I was making that day.
Perusing the baking aisle as I do, I spotted a bag of Reese’s peanut butter chips sitting on the shelf among the regular baking chips. It seemed this store had a whole Reese’s section of imported goodies. I was pretty excited to say the least.
You see I was so excited because I see these used in many American based recipes and I had always wanted to try them. Finally, it seemed Australia was starting to import some of the good stuff! I grabbed a pack and for several weeks they have sat in my pantry, just waiting for the moment they would transform into chocolate peanut butter cookies.
I absolutely love peanut butter. It is just a versatile ingredient, being able to be used with it’s best friend chocolate for sweets such as these cookies, or mixed with chilli and lime to make the ultimate satay sauce for a weeknight stir fry. I think it’s safe to say I always have peanut butter in my house.
Actually I generally have two tubs of peanut butter in my house. A crunchy one for toast (and spoons), and a smooth one for cooking.
The Peanut Butter Cookie
These cookies are based of the classic peanut butter cookie recipe that uses some very simple and basic ingredients:
- Peanut Butter
- Sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla
We then add a little bicarbonate soda and some cocoa powder before mixing through some of those amazing little peanut butter chips. If you cannot find them, regular chocolate chips would still be pretty awesome, or you could leave them out completely if you didn’t mind a more plain chocolate PB cookie.
I love that these cookies are naturally gluten-free as they don’t contain any flour. I don’t do a lot of gluten-free baking so I thought it might be weird making cookies without flour, but the mixture came together perfectly and the texture of the finished cookie is fantastic.
These cookies don’t really spread in the oven, so make sure to press them down gently before baking. We don’t want them flat, but just use a spoon to lightly press them down before going in the oven.
And because looks are important, after 10 minutes in the oven the cookies will still be soft so press a few extra peanut butter chips in the top to make them look pretty. The cookies will firm up as they cool while still being soft and fudgy in the centre.
These cookies are literally one of the simplest I have ever made and they are so good, I couldn’t stop at just one. I’m pretty sure these disappeared from my kitchen in record time. But the good news is that you really don’t need much in the pantry to make them!
Easy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup 250g peanut butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ¾ cup peanut butter chips*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, lightly whisk egg. Add in brown sugar and continue to mix until combined.
- Add in peanut butter and vanilla and continue to whisk until everything comes together. You may find it easier to switch to a spatula during this step.
- Using the spatula, mix through bicarbonate soda and cocoa powder until mixture comes together as dough. Add in peanut butter chips and stir until evenly mixed through.
- Scoop 1 tablespoon balls of mixture and place onto the baking sheet. Lightly press down each ball with the back of the spoon. Bake for 10 minutes. Cookies will still be soft when removed from oven but will continue to firm up as they cool. Press a few extra peanut butter chips into the top of cookies when they come out of the oven if desired.
Notes
Nutritional information is provided as a guide only and is calculated using automated online tools, therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy. We encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe.
Related Recipes:
Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Snickerdoodle Cookies
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies
The Ultimate Chocolate & Coconut Cupcakes
Rocky Road Cookies
Michele Lawing
They sound and look so yummy! I can’t wait to make them.
Thanks for sharing!
Sally
Thanks Michele!