This easy recipe for thick peanut butter white chocolate chip cookies makes the perfect giant bakery-style peanut butter cookies! These cookies have white chocolate chips mixed in the dough and then finished with chunks of white chocolate and flaky sea salt before baking.
This recipe for peanut butter white chocolate chip cookies differs from the classic peanut butter cookie recipe, not only in the ingredients used but also in the ingredient ratios used, which are tweaked to create the most amazing big thick bakery-style peanut butter cookies with white chocolate chips and chunks, and chopped peanuts!
This recipe for peanut butter white chocolate chip cookies was adapted from the baking book All The Sweet Things by Renée Kohlman, which you can buy on Amazon.
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Ingredients To Make Peanut Butter White Chocolate Chip Cookies
You likely have most of the ingredients for these white chocolate peanut butter cookies in your pantry and fridge! Here's what you need:
- butter, specifically unsalted butter, but if you only have salted, you can use it and omit the fine kosher salt in the dough
- peanut butter—all-natural, unsweetened smooth peanut butter, specifically the kind you have to stir before using. Make sure to stir the peanut butter well before measuring it out to make sure the peanut oil is evenly mixed into the spread
- sugar—you will need both granulated sugar and light brown sugar
- eggs—use large eggs (which weigh about 56 grams with the shell or 50 grams per egg after removing the shell) otherwise, if using a different size of egg, you will have to weigh the cracked eggs and make sure you add 100 grams of egg
- milk—use whole milk (3.25% or 2 % fat)
- pure vanilla extract
- flour—specifically bleached all-purpose flour
- leavening agents—you will need both chemical leavers, baking soda and baking powder, to make these cookies
- salt is really important in this recipe to balance out the sweetness of the cookies but also provide a nice contrast of flavours. I use Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt in the cookie dough and flaky sea salt on top (like Maldon sea salt or Jacobsen). If you are using regular table salt to make the dough, use half the amount so the cookies aren't overly salty
- white chocolate— both white chocolate chips and chopped white chocolate are used to make these cookies
- peanuts—chopped toasted peanuts you can also use chopped toasted almonds or walnuts
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions And Variations
I don't recommend making too many substitutions to peanut butter cookie recipes because substitutions can lead to textural issues. Still you can play with the cookie dough inclusions (add-ins):
- Chocolate—instead of white chocolate, you can use
- milk or dark chocolate, for both the chips and chopped chocolate. Use the same quantities as listed in the recipe
- chopped peanut butter cups for even more peanut butter flavour
- Peanut butter—they will not be peanut butter cookies if you replace the peanut butter, but you can try almond butter or another nut butter. The taste will be different and the cost to make these will be higher!
- Chopped peanuts—instead of chopped peanuts, you can use any other chopped nuts (like almonds, pecans or walnuts) or even pumpkin seeds!
- Gluten-free—try these flourless peanut butter cookies for a delicious gluten-free option!
Please check out this classic peanut butter cookie recipe if you'd like to bake a more traditional version without chocolate or nuts.
How To Make This Recipe
To make these cookies, you will use the creaming mixing method. Remember that butter temperature is key to making a smooth, aerated, thick batter.
- Step 1: Whisk the dry ingredients in a medium bowl to make sure they are evenly mixed (image 1).
- Step 2: Combine the peanut butter, butter, and sugars in the mixer bowl (image 2), then beat them together for several minutes until light and fluffy (image 3).
- Step 3: Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla to the mixer bowl (image 4).
- Step 4: Beat the mixture until light and fluffy (image 5), scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed, then add the dry ingredients (image 6).
- Step 5: Stir the cookie dough until the flour disappears (image 7), then add the white chocolate chips and chopped peanuts (image 8).
Pro Tip: Ingredients get stuck in mixing bowls! To make sure you are mixing everything evenly together, use a big spatula to scrape at the sides of the bowl and to lift up any trapped ingredients so everything is properly mixed together.
- Step 6: Make sure the white chocolate chips and peanuts are evenly incorporated in the dough (image 9), then cover the dough with plastic wrap (image 10) to chill it for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
- Step 7: While the dough chills, you can preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C)
- Step 8: Using a disher and a kitchen scale, portion out the dough into 60-gram scoops (image 11). You can roll them between the palms of your hand then place them all on a small sheet pan (image 12).
- Step 9: Once the oven is preheated and you've finished portioning out the dough, transfer 5 to a parchment-lined half-sheet pan. Flatten the mounds of cookie dough with the palm of your hand, then press in a few chunks of white chocolate and sprinkle with flaky sea salt (if using) (image 13). Make sure the cookies are spaced roughly 3 inches apart to allow for spreading (image 14).
- Step 10: Bake until the edges are set and begin to brown (image 15). This takes 12–16 minutes, depending on how "well done" you like your cookies.
- Step 11: Let the cookies cool on the sheet pan to firm up for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely (image 16). You can use a mini offset spatula to transfer the cookies neatly.
Hint: Give your cookies enough room on a sheet pan to spread out a little but also more room translates to better air circulation, which means they will bake more evenly!
Baking Tools And Equipment
There are tools, equipment, and bakeware that I use when I make cookies. The list is simple but if you are going to make cookies on a semi-regular basis, you might want to consider investing in a few of these items to make your baking sessions easier and more successful!
- Kitchen scale: I cannot stress enough how much easier it is to measure out ingredients by weight. If you are interested in making the switch to a digital scale, I like this OXO Good Grips kitchen scale available on Amazon. I use it all the time and it takes standard AAA batteries which you probably have on hand most of the time.
- Electric hand mixer: I have used an electric hand mixer from Braun (Multimix HM5100 available on Amazon) to make these cookies and it works well. But I prefer to use a stand mixer like the KitchenAid Artisan mixer or the 6-quart Pro model because this recipe makes over 1.8 kg of cookie dough, which is a lot for a hand-held mixer.
- Cookie scoop: this style of cookie scoop, also known as a "disher" is the most reliable I've found (available on Amazon). They can handle firm doughs without breaking because the release mechanism is separate from the handle! This gives you a better, firm grip on the handle, without the risk of breaking the leaver.
- Baking sheets: I like to invest in large baking sheets, also known as half-sheet pans, with the following dimensions: 13"x18". I like the Nordic Ware sheets (available on Amazon) and they come in a variety of sizes (quarter sheet, half sheet, big sheet). You can also find cheaper pans. Just make sure you opt for light Aluminum pans, not the pans with a darker finish because cookies on darker pans will brown/burn more quickly on the bottom!
- Large bowl with a rubber or silicone grip on the bottom: if you are going to make cookie dough with a hand mixer, invest in a GIANT 8-quart stainless bowl with a rubberized bottom so it is stable on the counter and this way, the bowl won't dance around as the mixer runs. This set from Amazon will do the trick. Or buy a stainless bowl without a rubberized grip and nest it in a damp towel to stabilize it while mixing.
- Large half-sheet pans like this one from Nordic Ware and parchment paper to prevent sticking—I prefer to bake cookies on aluminum pans lined with parchment paper. To speed up the process, I have three of these pans so that I can have one in the oven, one cooling, and one I'm loading with another round of cookies to bake next.
Hot tip: Since this recipe does make quite a few cookies, if you wind up with too many cookies, chop them up into small pieces and freeze them for later so that you can make a batch of cookie ice cream!
Storage
Store baked peanut butter cookies in an airtight container for up to one week. For longer storage, you can freeze the baked cookies and defrost about an hour before eating.
If you'd like to store some of the unbaked cookie dough for later, freeze the pressed scoops of the dough on a sheet pan until frozen solid, then transfer to a freezer bag. You can bake them from frozen but the bake time will be a few minutes longer and then may spread less.
Peanut Butter Cookie FAQs
Since the dough is loaded with peanut butter, as well as flour, these ingredients stop cookie dough from spreading in the oven. To avoid creating cookies that look like lumps of coal, we usually press the portioned-out cookie dough to flatten it out before baking. You can press the scoops of peanut butter cookie dough with the palm of your hand or with a fork to create a criss-cross pattern like in these classic peanut butter cookies.
The sometimes grainy or sandy texture of peanut butter cookies comes from the peanut butter, which is made from ground nuts. The finer the grind, the less noticeable the texture will be, but inevitably if a peanut butter cookie has a lot of peanut butter (like this one), it will have a certain texture.
Natural peanut butter doesn't contain any emulsifiers and therefore the oil naturally present wants to separate from the ground peanuts. Furthermore, peanut butter can make the dough more fragile. For these reasons, it's a good idea to chill peanut butter cookie dough in the refrigerator briefly.
The combination of peanut butter and flour with a lot of butter can lead to crumbly peanut butter cookies, especially if you use too much of one of these ingredients, with a texture similar to shortbread. Use a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients before making the dough and also make sure to cool the cookies on the sheet pan for about 10 minutes so that they firm up before moving them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
More Peanut Butter Recipes
Many of us cannot resist a dessert made with peanut butter. Here's a rundown of a few more peanut butter recipes to try!
- Chocolate peanut butter cups
- Chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting
- Grape crisp with peanut butter crumble
- Flourless peanut butter cookies
- Criss-cross peanut butter cookies
Other Drop Cookie Recipes To Try
Looking for more drop cookie recipes like this? Try one of these popular choices:
If you tried this recipe for peanut butter white chocolate chip cookies (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
📖 Recipe
Peanut Butter White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 230 grams unsalted butter softened
- 520 grams all natural, unsweetened smooth peanut butter room temperature
- 300 grams granulated sugar
- 200 grams light brown sugar
- 2 large egg(s)
- 30 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat)
- 10 mL pure vanilla extract
- 313 grams bleached all-purpose flour
- 7.5 mL baking soda
- 5 mL baking powder
- 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
- 115 grams white chocolate chips
- 60 grams chopped toasted peanuts you can also use chopped toasted almonds or walnuts
- 100 grams white chocolate chopped
Instructions
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter, peanut butter, and sugars. Beat for 2 minutes on medium–high, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed with a spatula.
- Add the eggs, vanilla, and milk, and beat again on medium–high for another 2 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides as needed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and the salt.
- Dump this dry mixture into the mixer bowl and mix everything together on low until combined. Stir in the white chocolate chips and the chopped peanuts. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Chill 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
- Preheat the oven to 350 ºF (175 °C). Line 3 baking sheets with parchment.
- Using a medium disher or cookie scoop, portion out the chilled dough into 60 gram scoops onto a cutting board (or a parchment-lined sheet pan). You can roll the scoops between the palms of your hands to smooth them into round balls of cookie dough.
- When the oven is preheated, transfer 5 scoops of dough to a prepared sheet pan, spacing them about 3 inches apart. You can only fit 5 cookies on a half sheet pan at a time.
- Flatten the cookies with the palm of your hand so they are ½ inch high
- Bake 1 sheet at a time for about 12–16 minutes. I prefer to bake them for the longer time until the edges are set and very lightly browned.
- Remove pan from the oven and let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack
Notes
- For the white chocolate chunks, I used a bar of Lindt White Chocolate, like this Lindt Excellence on Amazon or this Lindt Classic Recipe on Amazon.
- Make sure to chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes before scooping and then press the mounds of dough to flatten them slightly before baking so that they spread perfectly to make thick bakery-style peanut butter cookies.
- Let the cookies cool on the sheet pan for 10 minutes to firm up before transferring to a cooling rack as they are fragile when hot.
- Store cookies in an airtight container for up to one week.
- This recipe was adapted with permission from Touchwood editions. The original recipe is called "Double peanut butter and white chocolate chunk cookies" and can be found in All The Sweet Things by Renée Kohlman on Amazon.
Amy Jo Ehman says
I grew up on puffed wheat cake. But then, I grew up on a wheat farm! Puffed wheat cake is a classic here in Saskatchewan. I particularly liked my mom's chocolate version. I haven't tried Renée's recipe yet, but I'm sure it's yummy ♥
Mardi (eat. live. travel. write.) says
I had these bookmarked too! I could use one right now!
Janice says
Yes! They are so good! I gave a lot of them away because I felt there was a serious risk that I sit on my sofa and eat them all 😉
Renee says
Janice, thank you so much for this. I had to give so many of these cookies away too. Super addictive! I'm so sorry you found some of the recipes to be a little salty. This issue never came up with any of the testers, and the recipes you mentioned were tested several times. Could be an issue of personal preference, I suppose. Or not all salts are created equal. Nevertheless, be sure to give that Puffed Wheat Cake a go - I cut my teeth on that!