A deeply chocolate dough packed with peanut butter and semisweet chocolate chips. Perfect for any chocolate peanut butter lover!
I love all things chocolate peanut butter, which is probably why I have so many chocolate peanut butter desserts. When it comes to cookies in this flavor category though, I have a lot of peanut butter dough based recipes, and not enough with a chocolate cookie base! Think of this recipe as a thick and gooey chocolate chip cookie recipe, and just as easy to make, but with the flavor of a peanut butter cup. A little salty and perfectly sweet, this will beat any dessert craving.
Making this dough follows a very standard process and I recommend using a stand mixer, but a hand mixer would also work well. When it comes to the dough, it is important to chill the dough if you want a thick cookie but because of the cocoa powder it is easy for this dough to dry out. It's important for this reason to chill your dough covered in plastic wrap. I also recommend, after chilling and right before hitting the oven, that you "butterfly" your dough scoops. To do this, take one scoop at a time, split it in half and then press the two pieces back together with the broken edges now on the outside. This helps to give a bakery style look but more importantly re softens the dough a bit and will ensure a shinier exterior for your cookie thanks to the heat from your hands.
Because this is a very chocolate forward recipe, if you're going to splurge on one ingredient I recommend that it's your cocoa powder. Any dutch process cocoa powder will work well, and I highly recommend using either Valrhona or Guittard if you can find it.
Ingredients:
8 tablespoons (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (96g) light brown sugar
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (72g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/3 cup (34g) dutch process cocoa powder
1 1/4 cup (150g) all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3oz (1/2 cup) semisweet chocolate chips
6oz (1 cup) peanut butter chips
Prep time: About 15 minutes
Bake time: 12-14 minutes
Chill time: 1-2 hours
Servings: 13 cookies
Equipment:
Stand mixer with paddle attachment (or hand mixer)
Spatula
Parchment paper
Large cookie scoop (about 2 1/2 - 3 tablespoons)
Cooking instructions:
Place your room temperature butter and both sugars into your stand mixer with the paddle attachment secured. Bring your stand mixer slowly from a low to medium high speed and allow it to combine the butter and sugars for about 30 seconds. Pause your mixer and use a spatula to scrape down your bowl and paddle attachment to ensure that no pockets of butter and sugar go unmixed.
Add in your egg and vanilla extract to your butter and sugar. Slowly bring your stand mixer back to a medium high speed and allow it to combine your mixture for another minute, pausing halfway through to scrape the sides of your bowl reaching all the way down to the bottom.
Add in your cocoa powder and mix at a medium speed until fully incorporated, about a minute. Scrape down the sides of your bowl and mixer attachment - this is especially important at this stage to make sure your cocoa powder gets fully mixed in.
Then, add in your remaining dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and start your mixer at a low speed mixing until your dry ingredients are about half incorporated.
Add your peanut butter and semisweet chips to your dough and turn your mixer back on for about 30 seconds to a minute. Be sure to pause halfway through and scrape down to the bottom of your bowl to make sure your dry ingredients get fully incorporated.
Onto a lined cookie sheet, I used parchment paper, use a cookie scoop or large spoon to portion out your dough - it should make about 13 cookies, 2 1/2 to 3 tablespoons (~55g) per dough ball. Cover your scoops with plastic wrap and place into the fridge to chill for up to two hours or until firm. Note: If you need to chill your dough for longer, I recommend chilling it before you scoop, and ensure to cover well with plastic wrap.
Once your dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 325 degrees. While your oven is preheating, I suggest breaking each dough ball in half, then smoosh the halves back together with the "broken" sides now on the outside. This helps to give the textured top like what you see in some bakery cookies and also softens the dough a bit to ensure a shiny exterior on your cookie. At minimum, I recommend rolling the dough between your palms just to soften slightly.
Bake your cookies one cookie sheet at a time with your scoops spread out for 12-14 minutes. Allow them to cool on your baking sheet for about 15 minutes (they will need some time to set once out of the oven) - and enjoy!
If you want to save some of your dough to bake another time, you can place your remaining scooped cookie dough in the freezer on a lined baking sheet for 12-24 hours. Then, transfer your frozen dough to a plastic bag or airtight container and store in the freezer. To bake from frozen, take your dough out of the freezer and leave it at room temperature for about 30 minutes and then bake per the instructions in the recipe. adding on a minute or two if needed. Your baked cookies will taste fresh for a day or two, but truly nothing beats fresh baked so I highly recommend freezing the dough if you don't plan to enjoy all of the cookies within the first two days.
Carb and serving info:
Carbs for full recipe: 453
Servings: 13 cookies
Carbs per serving (1 of 13): 35
Carbs from semisweet chocolate chips: 55
Carbs from peanut butter chips: 91
Note: Carb information is calculated based on the specific ingredients I used to cook with to help guide my own insulin to carb ratio when dosing before I eat my home cooked recipes.
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