Easy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Everyone needs a ‘go to’ recipe for Easy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, so here’s mine! These crispy chewy chocolate chip cookies are lightly crunchy on the outside, but chewy on the inside. Just the way a cookie should be for dunking in a glass of milk.

I combined All Purpose Flour with Cake Flour to create the perfect smooth textured crumb for these cookies. Of course chocolate chip cookies need brown sugar, but I prefer to use dark brown sugar for a hint of a caramel taste. I also prefer dark chocolate chunks in a cookie in comparison to small milk chocolate chips. But, either chocolate you choose will work just fine.

One thing I’ve finally decided was worth my time is making cookie dough, then freezing it for later baking. I mean how many times have you been watching tv at night and wanted a cookie? These easy peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are the perfect recipe for pre-making dough, freezing it, then grabbing a few cookie dough balls to bake later!!

Tips for Easy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Use unsalted butter! Salted butter contains a bit of water and will make these cookies spread to  much when baking.
• Add your favorite peanut butter, nut butter, or sunflower butter in creamy or crunchy.
• Weigh your flours and sugars for best measuring.
• Use dark chocolate chunks, but substitute with milk chocolate chips if desired.
• I use a 3 TBSP Ice Cream Scoop to measure my cookie dough balls. This yields in 12 large cookies. Feel free to use a 2 TBSP scoop for a larger number of smaller cookies.
• Scoop your cookie dough before chilling and place the dough balls on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Chill the entire plate in the fridge for 30-45 minutes until each ball is firm.
• This makes measuring so much easier than chilling the entire bowl of cookie dough, then trying to scoop hard cold dough.
• Then, simply arrange the cookie dough balls 2-3 inches apart on a lined cookie sheet and bake.
• You can also freeze the cookie dough balls. Once firm, place them in an air tight freezer safe container and freeze. Then, when you have a cookie craving simply grab a couple frozen dough balls, let thaw slightly then bake.
• These cookies will spread on their own while baking. But they don’t flatten all the way when the dough is super cold (plus they are BIG cookies!). I prefer to bang them on the counter halfway through baking to create that signature jumbo flat cookie look!
• Make sure to wear an oven mit when you grab your cookie tray. Simply keep the tray of half baked cookies flat, give it a downward medium bang on the counter and watch those cookies flatten and crinkle!!
• Return the tray to the oven and finish baking.
• DO NOT OVER BAKE the cookies!!! Once you seem them start to get darker brown on the edges, take them out of the oven. These cookies are already a bit darker because of the dark brown sugar, so don’t wait for them to get super dark. A little firming on the edges and you are good to go. They will continue to firm while cooling on cookie sheet.
• Store cookies in an air tight container at room temperature or freeze them.