I bake these Gooey Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies when I want that thick, soft, almost-melty center you get from bakery cookies, but with all the comfort of peanut butter and chocolate chips in a simple home recipe. I cream peanut butter, butter, and two sugars until fluffy, stir in eggs and vanilla, then fold in flour and chocolate chips and bake just until the edges set so the centers stay soft and gooey.
Why I love these cookies
I love that this dough leans on both peanut butter and softened butter, which gives the cookies rich flavor and a soft, tender texture instead of a dry, crumbly one. Using brown sugar plus granulated sugar helps the centers stay moist and chewy while the edges set, a balance many chewy peanut butter chocolate chip recipes rely on. I also love that the method is straightforward: cream, whisk, fold, and bake—no special equipment beyond a mixer and a couple of bowls.
I keep the bake time short and the oven at 350°F so the edges firm up while the centers still look a little underdone; as the cookies cool on the sheet, they finish setting to that gooey, soft texture. This underbake-and-cool technique is a common trick for getting ultra-soft peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. Chilling the dough before baking deepens the flavor and keeps the cookies from spreading too much, giving them a thicker, bakery-style profile.
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