Salted Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

By Food Blogga, posted 4 months ago

Photo: Sarah Shatz

Amanda & Merrill's Notes:

This is the ultimate peanut butter cookie for chocolate lovers. The texture is reminiscent of the peanut butter cookie we all grew up on but with every detail refined -- the base is made with cocoa and you stir unsalted peanuts and semi-sweet chocolate chips (just the right amount of each so it's not overkill) and sprinkle coarse sea salt (we like Maldon) on top. As Food Blogga notes, don't use all-natural peanut butter or you won't get the same crumbly texture. We used Skippy. - A&M

I created these cookies one day when I was in serious need of chocolate, peanut butter, and salt. (Ladies, you know what I mean.) I definitely recommend using coarse sea salt on the cookies because it looks pretty and provides a punch of saltiness to contrast with the rich chocolate. - Food Blogga

Serves about 3 1/2 dozen

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cups creamy peanut butter (not all natural)
1/2 cup unsalted peanuts
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
coarse sea salt for sprinkling cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with an an electric mixer on medium-high speed. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in peanut butter until just combined. Beat in dry ingredients until just combined. Stir in peanuts and chocolate chips.
Drop 1 heaping tablespoon of cookie dough (I used a cookie scoop, but spoons are just fine) two inches apart (as they will spread). Top each cookie with a few sea salt crystals.
Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes, until the edges are firm. It's OK if the centers are a tad soft. They'll firm up as they cool. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Cool completely before storing in an air-tight container, for up to 5 days.

Comments (16)Add yours

ZiggyPiecrust 23 days ago: I've made these twice now to RAVE reviews. Followed the advice of others and halved the peanuts and chocolate chips and they were perfect. They get better like most things after a day or two - if they last that long. The sea salt is the piece de resistance.
BadgerBakery about 1 month ago: I made these with Jif, and both the flavor and texture were excellent. I thought the chocolate and peanut butter married quite well, and they were not hard at all--I used a convection oven and took them out at 12 minutes. Let crumbly than most PB cookies. I used a generous sprinkle of Kosher salt on top, which I think helped the flavors bloom.
coffeefoodwritergirl about 1 month ago: Wow! These look amazing. I'm looking forward to trying them -- what a wonderful combination...
Rissi 3 months ago: I just made these cookies for a party. The idea sounded fantastic, but somehow the actual flavor wasn't that great. The texture and appearance were good, but the chocolate and peanut butter flavors kind of competed and neither won. I concluded that the two flavors are better together when each one remains pure (like a reese's bar, where the chocolate and peanut butter are separate but you eat them together).
Tara01 3 months ago: Decent, but not as good as other chocolate peanut butter cookie recipes that I've tried. I would reduce the peanuts to 1/4 cup (or eliminate them altogether), and add more salt than suggested. The cookie ended up a little on the hard side, even when removed from the oven when pretty soft (about 11 minutes, for me). Not much of a peanut buttery taste either.
Bristow 4 months ago: I made this recipe last night and was pretty disappointed with the results. There were way too many peanuts and chocolates chips to the point the batter could not hold them all. I would strongly give the recipe a thumbs down until the recipe has been refined to fix the ratio of dough to peanuts & chocolate chips. The final result was fine, but nothing special. Good flavors, but the overabundance of chocolate and peanuts meant the cookies were more peanuts & chocolate chips than cookie. And I'm one of those people who ALWAYS add 25% chocolate chips to the chocolate chip dough after baking a few samples and finding there just isn't enough chips per cookie.
Food Blogga 4 months ago: Thanks for all of your lovely comments and votes. I truly appreciate it.
pauljoseph 4 months ago: Great recipe
Chef Gwen 4 months ago: You had me at peanut butter.
spowell 4 months ago: I LOVE cookies, more than most foods, and this recipe makes me want a cookie right now! Sea salt on cookies makes them better than the rest. I just posted an entire post dedicated to cookies on www.myyoganutrition.com and would love to add this to it!
Tamar 4 months ago: Peanut butter and chocolate are one of my two favorite food combos.
Food Blogga 4 months ago: Thanks for making the cookies with the all natural peanut butter, happycooker! It's great to know that they turned out well. I really appreciate your effort and thoughtful feedback. Thanks again. PS- No worries about the name. "Blogga" is a Rhode Island thing. :)
mariaraynal 4 months ago: I adore sea salt on sweet treats, and peanut butter plus chocolate has long been a favorite. I'm not a huge baker but these cookies are on the list!
WinnieAb 4 months ago: These look delicious; I'd have a hard time not using natural pnut butter tho...
Food Blogga 4 months ago: Thank you all for your comments! Lacerise-- I say not to use natural pb because in general it doesn't bake as well. Unlike processed peanut butter, which is thicker, natural peanut butter usually causes cookies to spread more and adversely affects the texture.
Pete 4 months ago: These look awesome, my wife and I will be making these very soon!
Maria Teresa Jorge 4 months ago: Looks good, looks yummy. Great recipe.
lacerise 4 months ago: it's been a few decades since i bought any peanut butter with ingredients other than peanuts and salt. this cookie may taste great, but are you promoting use of a product that is not "natural"?
maryvelasquez 4 months ago: This is my kind of cookie!
maryvelasquez 4 months ago: This is my kind of cookie!