Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

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Chocolate chip and peanut butter chip cookies are a soft, buttery drop cookie made with a classic vanilla cookie dough studded with both semisweet chocolate chips and peanut butter chips, giving you pockets of both flavors in every bite.

Key Takeaways

• This recipe uses peanut butter chips as a mix-in, not peanut butter stirred into the dough those are two different cookies, and this is the true “both chips” version.
• Peanut butter chips have a lower melting point than chocolate chips and scorch more easily, so a moderate oven temperature and a close eye near the end of baking protect them.
• Chilling the dough for at least 30 minutes is the most reliable way to keep these cookies thick instead of thin and greasy.
• Because peanuts are one of the most common and severe food allergies, it’s worth double-checking labels and who you’re baking for before this one goes in the oven.
• Room-temperature, properly softened butter (not melted) makes the biggest difference in how much these cookies spread.

Chocolate chip and peanut butter chip cookies take the classic chocolate chip cookie and add a second mix-in that brings its own pocket of sweet, salty peanut flavor. It’s a small change that makes a noticeably different cookie, chewy and buttery, with chocolate in some bites and peanut butter in others.

The two things worth knowing going in: this is genuinely a different cookie than the peanut butter in the dough style you’ll see on a lot of other sites, and peanut butter chips behave a little differently in the oven than chocolate chips do. Both are covered below.

What You’ll Need

• All-purpose flour
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Unsalted butter, room temperature  properly softened, not melted.
• Granulated sugar and light brown sugar
• Eggs, room temperature
• Vanilla extract
• Semisweet chocolate chips
• Peanut butter chips  look for a good quality brand the flavor and texture can vary noticeably between products.

Chips vs. Peanut Butter in the Dough: Which One Is This?

Worth clearing up before you start, since a lot of recipes for this exact search term are actually something different. Peanut butter chips are solid pieces folded into the dough at the end, the same way chocolate chips are, and they stay as distinct pockets of peanut flavor throughout the cookie. A separate style of cookie mixes peanut butter directly into the dough itself, which changes the fat and moisture balance of the whole recipe and produces a denser, more uniformly peanut-flavored cookie.

This recipe is the first kind: a classic vanilla cookie dough with both chocolate chips and peanut butter chips folded in as mix-ins. If you’re looking for peanut butter baked into the dough itself, that’s a different recipe.

Equipment That Makes This Easier

• A stand mixer or hand mixer, for properly creaming the butter and sugars.
• A cookie scoop, for evenly sized cookies that bake at the same rate.
• Parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, for even baking and easy release.
• A kitchen scale, if you want the most accurate flour measurement.

How to Make Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugars. Beat the softened butter with the granulated and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the eggs and vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, mixing until fully combined.

Combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix just until no streaks of flour remain.

Fold in the chips. Stir in both the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips by hand, distributing them evenly through the dough.

Chill the dough. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, up to 24 hours. This firms up the butter and keeps the cookies from spreading too thin.

Bake. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line baking sheets with parchment. Scoop the chilled dough into balls, spacing a few inches apart, and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are just golden and the centers still look slightly underdone.

Cool. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack; they’ll continue to set as they cool.

Why Do My Peanut Butter Chips Scorch or Disappear?

This is the one real technical quirk of this cookie that most recipes don’t mention. Peanut butter chips have a lower melting point than regular chocolate chips, which means they’re more prone to scorching or breaking down into a greasy streak if the oven runs hot or the cookies bake too long. Chocolate chips are more heat-stable by comparison and tend to hold their shape better at the same temperature.

A few things help: bake at a moderate 350°F rather than pushing the temperature higher, pull the cookies while the centers still look slightly soft rather than waiting for full browning, and consider tossing a handful of peanut butter chips into the freezer for 10 minutes before folding them into warm dough if your kitchen is on the warmer side. Good quality chips also tend to hold their shape better under heat than cheaper ones.

Why Did My Cookies Spread Too Thin?

Flat, greasy cookies almost always trace back to one of a few things.

Problem	Likely Cause	Fix
Cookies spread thin and greasy	Butter too soft or melted, or dough not chilled	Use room-temperature butter and chill the dough at least 30 minutes
Cookies spread more with each batch	Baking sheets still warm from the previous batch	Let pans cool completely between batches
Peanut butter chips look scorched or streaky	Oven too hot, or baked too long	Bake at 350°F and pull cookies while centers still look slightly soft
Cookies are dense instead of chewy	Too much flour packed into the measuring cup	Spoon flour into the cup and level it off, or weigh it on a scale
Uneven mix-in distribution	Chips added all at once without folding evenly	Fold gently but thoroughly, scraping the bottom of the bowl

A Note on Peanut Allergies

This is worth taking seriously if you’re baking for a group. Peanuts are one of nine foods legally defined as major food allergens in the United States, a category that accounts for the large majority of severe food allergic reactions according to the FDA’s page on food allergies. If you’re baking for a school event, office, or any gathering where you don’t know everyone’s allergies, it’s worth checking with your host or setting these aside from a nut-and-peanut-free dessert table entirely, since even trace cross-contact can matter for some people.

Can You Make This Ahead of Time or Freeze It?

Yes, and it holds up well for planning ahead.

• Refrigerated dough: keeps well for up to 3 days.
• Frozen dough: scoop into balls, freeze on a tray until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Bake straight from frozen, adding 1 to 2 extra minutes.
• Baked cookies: cool completely, then store in an airtight container.

How to Store Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

Storage Method	How Long	Notes
Room temperature, airtight container	Up to 1 week	Best texture within the first 3 to 4 days
Freezer, baked cookies	Up to 3 months	Thaw at room temperature or warm briefly in the oven
Freezer, raw dough balls	Up to 3 months	Bake straight from frozen, adding a couple extra minutes
Refrigerator, raw dough	Up to 3 days	Let sit at room temperature 10-15 minutes if very firm

More Cookies and Chocolate Treats to Try

If you love this chip combination, browse the rest of my cookie recipes or my bars and brownies for more easy, crowd-friendly bakes.

For more chocolate to pair with a batch of these, my ultimate chocolate layer cake and chocolate fudge cake are both great picks for a dessert table, and my dark chocolate cake recipe is a good option if you want something even richer alongside these cookies.

What to Serve Them With

These cookies are rich enough to enjoy with just a glass of cold milk. For a dessert spread, they pair nicely with something lighter and fruit-based to balance out the richness. If you’re baking a big batch for a bake sale or gathering, a [cookie tin or storage container] keeps them fresh and makes them easy to transport.

[AFFILIATE LINK: airtight cookie storage container]

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this the same as peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips?

No. This recipe uses peanut butter chips as a mix-in, the same way chocolate chips are added, rather than mixing peanut butter directly into the dough. Peanut-butter-in-the-dough cookies are denser and more uniformly peanut-flavored; this version has distinct pockets of both flavors.

Why did my peanut butter chips scorch in the oven?

Peanut butter chips have a lower melting point than chocolate chips and can scorch more easily if the oven runs hot or the cookies bake too long. Baking at a moderate 350°F and pulling the cookies while the centers still look slightly soft helps protect them.

Why did my cookies spread too thin?

Thin, greasy cookies usually come from butter that was too soft or melted, or from skipping the chilling step. Chilling the dough for at least 30 minutes before baking is the most reliable fix.

Can I use only one type of chip instead of both?

Yes, you can use all chocolate chips or all peanut butter chips in the same total quantity if you prefer a single flavor. Using both is what gives this cookie its distinct back-and-forth of chocolate and peanut butter in each bite.

Can I freeze the cookie dough?

Yes. Scoop the dough into balls, freeze them on a tray until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Bake straight from frozen, adding 1 to 2 extra minutes to the bake time.

Are these cookies safe for someone with a peanut allergy?

No, and this isn’t a recipe to adapt casually for a peanut allergy since it contains actual peanut butter chips. If you need a peanut-free version, leave out the peanut butter chips entirely and double the chocolate chips instead, and always check labels on any packaged ingredients you use.

Conclusion

Chocolate chip and peanut butter chip cookies come down to getting two mix ins right instead of one: proper chilling for a thick, chewy cookie, and a bit of care with oven heat so the peanut butter chips stay creamy instead of scorched. Get those right, and this becomes one of the easiest crowd-pleasing cookies you can make.