Chocolate Chunk & Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

Slightly crisp edges, chewy centres, pools of chocolate and a light sprinkling of sea salt make these the ultimate brown butter, choc chunk and peanut butter chip cookies. 

I’ve figured I can’t go too far past 10 posts without sharing a cookie recipe. And whilst I’m on a forever hunt to find the perfect cookie (and brownie) recipe, this one is so smacking good I might just call it a day. 😂

These are the ultimate browned butter, chocolate chunk and peanut butter cookies. I mean just read that combination of flavours! 🤯

Imagine this. You pick up a warm cookie. It’s slightly crisp at the edges, and amber in colour. You take a bite. It’s soft and chewy in the centre. Your mouth waters at the deep caramel flavour imparted by the browned butter. Just as you begin to give, the pools of dark chocolate trickle over your taste buds. It’s almost too much to handle. But wait, there’s one last salty sweet flavour you’re swooning over. Of course, it’s the peanut butter. You look at the rest of your cookies. You know you’re in trouble – because you just baked two dozen of them, and they won’t be there tomorrow.

Can I make the dough ahead of time?

Yes! The cookie dough can remain in the fridge for up to 3 days (72 hours). If you need to wait any longer, it’s best to freeze the cookie dough. You can bake the cookies straight from the fridge as per the instructions below.

I forgot to scoop the dough before chilling it.

Don’t worry, and more importantly, don’t try to scoop it chilled – it’ll break your scoop (don’t ask how I know that)! 😅 Simply let it come to room temperature before scooping it. If you don’t have a scoop, roll a tablespoon sized amount between your palms then place on a lined baking sheet. This small size should yield close to four dozen batches. Using a larger ice cream scoop will yield about 24 cookies.

Can I freeze my cookie dough and save my diet?

Absolutely, if you insist. I made four dozen small cookies and froze half to snack on during my fourth trimester, and boy did I love myself for it!

To freeze cookie dough, chill scooped dough balls in the fridge until solid then remove from cookie sheet and place in ziplock bags in small batches. Avoid freezer burn by wrapping cookies in parchment paper before placing in bags.

To bake, remove from freezer and let sit on a lined baking tray for 5 minutes. Bake per instructions below, adding 1-2 minutes to the baking time.

Why do you use bread flour in the cookie recipe?

I use a combination of plain flour and bread flour in this cookie to add extra chewiness. Recipes tend to call for an extra egg yolk to achieve this, but I usually hate splitting yolks from whites unless I have uses for both components.

Bread flour has a higher protein content than plain flour. This helps increase gluten production in the dough. Why does this matter? When baked, gluten is the primary ingredient that gives a baked good its chew. So increasing its presence in a dough increases the overall chewiness of the baked item.

If you don’t have bread flour at home (what are you making your pizza dough with? 😉) then substitute it with more plain flour. You may lose some of the chewiness but you’ll still have the same great taste.

Can I use brown butter in all my cookie recipes?

Once you’ve tried brown butter, it’ll take a while before you can appreciate regular butter again. The flavour of brown butter is often described as a deep caramel, butterscotch flavour with nutty undertones. The French label it as beurre noisette – literally translating to ‘hazelnut butter’, referencing the deep amber colour and nutty flavour it imparts.

Unfortunately, you can’t substitute regular butter with brown butter in all cookie recipes. As you brown butter, the water content from it evaporates (usually around 15-20% of butter is water) and the butter solids begin to caramelise. Losing this moisture from the butter may result in dry, crumbly cookies, or it may prevent your cookies from spreading nicely.

It’s best to stick to a recipe which already uses brown butter to achieve the perfect cookie every time.

Peanut Butter Chip & Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Immerse yourself in the flavours of brown butter, dark chocolate and peanut butter chips - all wrapped up in a soft and chewy home baked cookie.

5 from 4 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Chilling time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 35 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, Australian

Servings 24 large cookies

Ingredients

  

• 250 g (1 ¾ cups) plain flour
• 67 g (½ cup) bread flour, see substitution in notes below
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• 200 g (1 cup, minus 1 tbsp) unsalted butter
• 200 g (1 cup + 1 tbsp) packed brown sugar
• 70 g (⅓ cup) white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• ½ cup Reese's Peanut Butter Chips
• 1 block Cadbury Old Gold 70% Cocoa, see note 2 below.
• ½ cup additional dark chocolate chips of choice, see note 3 below.
• a pinch Maldon sea salt flakes to serve, optional

Instructions

 

• In a small saucepan set over medium heat, melt the butter. Mixing occasionally, continue to cook the butter until foamy with audible popping sounds.

  Once the crackling stops continue to mixing the butter until it brown bits start to form and it develops a nutty aroma.

  Once the bits are golden brown in colour, remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl. They should begin to colour several minutes after the popping stops.
• Add brown and white sugars to the browned butter. Stir and set aside to cool completely.
• Meanwhile, roughly chop the block of dark chocolate. Set aside.
• Once butter mixture has completely cooled, add the eggs and vanilla and stir until combined.
• Next, in a separate bowl, mix the plain flour, bread flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
• Slowly stir in the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined.
• Stir in the peanut butter chips and chopped chocolate.
• Use a 4cm ice cream/meatball scoop to scoop 48 small mounds of cookie dough. Using a large scoop will yield 24 cookies.

  Place scooped dough baking sheets lined with parchment paper. You do not need to leave big gaps between scoops as this is just for chilling.

  Wrap well with plastic bags or cling film and place in the fridge for one hour, or until firm.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 180°C / 350ºF / 160°C fan forced.
• Arrange chilled cookie dough balls to ensure there is 5cm / 2 inches space between each cookie. Any scoops which do not fit on baking sheet can be returned to the fridge or frozen per the instructions in the blog post.
• Bake small cookies for 9 minutes, large cookies for 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Bake one cookie sheet at a time on the middle rack in your oven.

  When ready, remove baking sheet from oven and tap on your counter a couple of times. This is optional but it gives the cookies those nice crackly ridges on top.

  Allow to cool on baking sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

1- If you don't have bread flour at home, simply substitute with more all-purpose (plain flour). The cookies may lose a bit of chewiness, but they will still be delicious!

2- Use any 70% cocoa chocolate block you like. I use this one as it's thick and guarantees pools of chocolate in the cookie. However, see next note:

3- The total amount of dark chocolate called for in this recipe is 255g. The chocolate block listed in the recipe only weighs 180g. You may choose to purchase 2 blocks and use about 1 1/3 blocks of this particular brand, or omit using the block of chocolate, and replace it entirely with a bag of chocolate chips.

Keyword Chewy Dark Chocolate Cookies

Tried it? Let me know if you liked it!

Go on and rate the recipe in the comments below. And don’t forget to tag your creations on Instagram with @tilgoldenbrown #tilgoldenbrown so I can feature them!