Chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies. Soft and gooey on the inside, slightly crisp on the outside. Absolutely delicious!
For me there is little better than a nice cup of tea with a cookie or two!
Cookies are relatively simple to make, however there are a couple of key choices to make upfront:
The first is what to put in them. For this recipe I settled quickly on the traditional choice of chocolate chips. This felt a little boring though, so I also decided to add in peanut butter, guaranteeing a gooey texture, whilst still complimenting the chocolate.
The second choice to make is whether you prefer thick or thin cookies. For chocolate chip cookies I prefer thin, for oatmeal and raisin cookies; I prefer thick.
How to Make Thicker or Thinner Cookies
You can alter the thickness of the cookie by simply making some tweaks to the cookie recipe. There are many ways to do this, highlighted below are three of the main ones:
- The amount of butter in the mixture – reducing the amount of butter decreases the liquid in the cookie causing less spread (although at the expense of softness).
- Cooling the cookie dough in the fridge before baking also causes less spread, in part because it gives time for the flour to absorb the liquid in the dough.
- The ratio of brown sugar to white sugar. The more brown sugar the thicker the cookie (from research this is due to the acidic nature of brown sugar which reacts with the raising agent).
In the photo below I show how by making the three changes above you obtain different looking cookies.
On the left-hand-side I have created a thin cookie using the chocolate chip and peanut butter cookie recipe detailed below. On the right-hand-side I have reduced the butter, used only brown sugar and cooled the cookie dough in the fridge before baking. The result is a smaller thicker cookie.
Fortunately, as I opted to make thin cookies this time round, you don’t need to wait for the cookie dough to cool (I’m not the most patient, particularly when it comes to eating!).
In my view, and I think the majority agree, the best type of cookies are those which are soft and gooey in the middle, but have a slightly crisp outside. This is easy to achieve by shortening the baking time, removing the cookies from the oven as soon as the edges start to show a golden colour, and then leaving them to harden on the baking tray for a few minutes.
What are these Cookies Free From? Who are they suitable For?
The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary and product recipes can change over time.
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Tree Nut-Free (contains peanuts)
- Sesame-Free
- Sulphur Dioxide & Sulphite-Free
- Lupin-Free
FREE GRAMS TO CUPS CONVERSION CHARTS
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Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Cookies
INGREDIENTS
- 100 g softened unsalted butter
- 100 g caster sugar
- 80 g light brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp of salt
- 180 g self-raising flour
- 40 g milk chocolate chips
- 50 g smooth peanut butter
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan.
- Add together in a bowl butter (100g), caster sugar (100g) and light brown sugar (80g), and beat until you have a fluffy mixture.
- Add 1 egg, lightly beaten, into the mixture
- Add 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- Add ½ tsp of salt, sprinkled evenly across the mixture.
- Sift in 180g of self-raising flour, and beat the mixture until it is fully combined.
- Add in 40g of chocolate chips.
- Add in 50g of peanut butter.
- Mix all the ingredients together until there is an even distribution of chocolate chips and peanut butter across the mixture.
- Spoon the mixture onto baking paper. For neat looking cookies, the mixture for each cookie should be roughly 2cm high and 6cm wide in a circular shape with sufficient space either side to allow it to widen to about 12cm when cooked.
- Place into the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, depending on how crisp you like the outside of your cookie to be.
- Once taken out of the oven allow the cookies to rest in the baking tray for five minutes whilst they harden, before moving to a wire rack to cool.
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Natalie says
Hi Charlotte,
We made this recipe and it made 12 big cookies…I was just wondering, can these be frozen after being made but not cooked, and if so, how do I freeze them and what are the cooking instructions once they are?
And also how long do they last in an airtight container once baked?
Thanks
Natalie
Charlotte Oates says
You can freeze the dough before baking. I would recommend portioning out the cookies on a tray (you don’t need to leave big gaps) and free freezing them. Once frozen you can move the dough pieces to a smaller airtight container or freezer bag. They can be baked from frozen and you will need roughly an extra 3 to 5 minutes baking time. It is best to keep a close eye on them. The baked cookies will be best in the day or two after baking but will be good for up to a week although they may lose some of their softness.
Neuro says
Very nice! I did cook for longer though as I like a crunchy biscuit but they are lovely! Thanks x
Suzy Kelsey says
Very tasty cookies – although I add a little extra choc chips & use chunky peanut butter.
Nice easy recipe
Jane McDougall says
Hi can i use crunchy peanut butter
Thanks jane
Charlotte Oates says
Yes you can.
Suzy says
Cookies were so easy to make, and they taste amazing.
I used an ice cream scoop to spoon out the mixture & it made 11 big cookies. Although I had to bake them for 14 mins to ensure cooked enough.
They taste great, I’m having to keep them out of reach of my dog who can smell the peanut butter! – thanks for another fab recipe Charlotte.
Luci Walker says
Lovely Maybe a little bit more peanut butter ? But wouldn’t dare change the recipe as cake out perfect
kat says
hi charlotte
could i make these double chocolate by adding cocoa powder if so how much
thanks:)
Charlotte Oates says
It should work but I’ve not tried it so I’m not too sure what the quantities would be – sorry.
nazz says
and could i chill them in the refrigeratore for 24 hours
Charlotte Oates says
Yes, you can chill the dough before baking in the fridge. If you do you’ll end up with a slightly fatter cookie as the dough won’t spread as much during baking.
nazz says
HI CAN I USE MARGERINE ISNTEAD
Charlotte Oates says
I’ve not tried them with margarine. They should work though.
Carrie says
i want to make them but why is everything in g? Can’t you just tell me how many cups? Bummed looks great but hate taking time to figure out all the time?
Charlotte Oates says
Hi Carrie. Thanks for your feedback, I’m really sorry to hear that you find the lack of cup measures frustrating.
I prefer to use grams rather than cups as I find it a more accurate way of measuring ingredients (which can be very important in baking). Also, in the UK it’s much more common to use weight rather than volume for dry ingredients so I guess it’s just what I’m used to. As you’ve noticed converting from grams to cups isn’t straightforward and so I’m not able to provide a conversion and be confident that the recipe would still work.
If you’re coming across this problem quite a lot I’d really recommend investing in some cheap scales. I use these Salter scales which are easy to use and excellent value for money http://www.amazon.co.uk/Salter-Design-Electronic-Platform-Kitchen/dp/B000ZNM51O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427110310&sr=8-1&keywords=salter+scales
Jen says
Chocolate chip cookies are one of my favourites, thanks for sharing your tips for creating different types of cookies, very useful 🙂
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Jen, I’m glad you found it useful. It’s amazing how much difference a small tweak to the ingredients can make.
Luca says
What a perfect pile of beautiful cookies. Wish I could reach in and take one!
Charlotte Oates says
Too late 🙂
Laura says
These look absolutely perfect!
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Laura. They’re really yummy, I think Jon is secretly a good cook (he’s kept it well hidden until now!).
Mel says
Charlotte, are you getting your other half to write recipes now? Wow, that’s brilliant! Looks like you’ve made the most of your new photography equipment x
Charlotte Oates says
He volunteered! Although he only seems to offer to do sweet treats like flapjacks and cookies.
We did use the new light, it was great being able to photograph at 9pm without any interruptions from the boys. Unfortunately it probably took longer than normal as I need to figure out how best to set up the light and what camera settings to use, but hopefully it’ll make things quicker in the long run. I just need to practice, practice, practice.