Peanut butter and chocolate lovers rejoice! Iโve combined at least 3 delicious cookies into 1 mouthwatering recipe with my big fat peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Consider yourself warned: these cookies are exploding with flavor, unapologetically thick, and hopelessly irresistible. Theyโre guaranteed to satisfy almost every cookie craving.
One reader, Dyna, says: “Hands down the BEST cookie recipe I have ever made, and Iโve made a lot of cookies… All the extra notes and suggestions too were spot on. Following those tips made for a beautiful, delectable cookie!”
A cookie to end all cookies, these big fat peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are a mouthful. I was inspired to try these decadent treats after seeing the cover of my cookbook, Sally’s Cookie Addiction, for the first time. The glorious monster cookies gracing the book cover are loaded with M&Ms and can be found in Chapter 2 and have recently been added to my website.
This recipe, however, skips those rainbow candies and focuses instead on a flavor relationship like no other. Chocolate chips and peanut butter. Itโs a match made in cookie heaven! In this recipe, weโre combining that perfect pairing with textured oats to achieve the thickest, richest, and most satisfying cookie.
Tell Me About These Big Fat Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Texture: Loaded with so many delicious add-ins, these cookies have chewy edges, soft centers, and are unbelievably thick. (Iโm always shocked by how thick they turn out.)
- Flavor: Ordinary chocolate chip cookies are buttery sweet on their own, but the peanut butter-chocolate pairing here brings a delicious decadence to these cookies. If this flavor pairing is a favorite, be sure to add these peanut butter chocolate cookies to your list, too.
- Ease: Simple to make, the dough comes together in just minutes using a few staple pantry add-ins like old-fashioned oats and peanut butter. Make them for same-day snacking or prepare them ahead of a special occasion (see Note).
- Time: This dough can be prepped and chilled in under an hour. 20 minutes in the refrigerator (the same amount of time we chill dough for brownie cookies) helps the oats soak up some moisture and prevents the cookie from overspreading.
If you love these cookies but don’t have oats, try these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies instead. If you love these cookies but need a gluten free dessert recipe, try these flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies or flourless monster cookies instead. We’ve got all the bases covered!
Recipe Testing: What Works & What Doesn’t
- The weight of peanut butter. This cookie dough is adapted from my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. The addition of peanut butter here, however, can weigh down the dough. To counter this, I add baking powder for lift.
- A spreading solution. When testing the recipe, I found the cookies werenโt spreading enough. I decided to swap the quantities of granulated sugar and brown sugar. Granulated sugarโdry and thinโhelps increase cookie spread. Brown sugarโmoist and thickโkeeps cookies compact. Increasing the granulated sugar makes all the difference in this dough for the perfect spread. You wonโt even miss that extra brown sugar flavor because the peanut butter is our front-runner.
- Fewer oats + more chocolate. When testing, I originally had a higher quantity of oats in the cookies. I decided to reduce that amount to make room for more chocolate chips. Can you blame me?
Choosing the Right Ingredients:
Peanut butter. Though natural-style peanut butter is my #1 choice for eating and snacking, I recommend using non-natural peanut butter for this particular cookie recipe. Natural peanut butter can be used in my regular peanut butter cookies (though the cookies are a little crumblier than intended), but it’s not ideal for today’s recipe. Instead, use Jif or Skippy. You can use creamy or crunchy, but I prefer creamy peanut butter as crunchy can make the cookies taste a little dry. You need 1 cup of peanut butter for this recipe.
Room-temperature butter. Like my basic soft chocolate chip cookies, the base of todayโs oatmeal cookie recipe is creamed room-temperature butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. You canโt cream butter and sugar together if the butter is too warm or too cold. (It usually spells disaster for your cookies!) Room temperature butter is about 65ยฐF (18ยฐC). Itโs cool and slightly firm to touch, not warm or slippery. I recommend placing your butter on the counter for 1 hour prior to beginning the recipe to achieve ideal โroom temperatureโ butter. If you donโt have an hour, here is my trick to soften butter quickly. You need 1 cup of butter for this cookie dough.
Whole oats: To ensure the cookies spread nicely and do not dry out, be sure to use whole oats and not quick oats. Quick oats are cut finer, and will soak up more moisture in the dough.
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
After you prepare the peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies dough, chill it for 20 minutes in the refrigerator. After chilling, itโs time to scoop the dough and bake the cookies. Each cookie uses 2 Tablespoons of dough which is about the same size as these regular chocolate chip cookies. Arrange the cookie dough balls 3 inches apart on your baking sheet. These cookies are large, so I use a medium cookie scoop and overflow it with dough (since the medium only holds 1.5 Tablespoons.)
More Quick Cookie Recipes
- Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwiches
- Mini M&M Cookies
- Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Brownie Cookies
- Shortbread Cookies
Big Fat Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
- Yield: 32 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Big fat peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are easy, thick, and exploding with peanut butter, oats, and chocolate chips to satisfy your cookie cravings.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flourย (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup (240g) creamy peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups (170g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats
- 2 and 1/2 cups (450g) semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus more for topping if desired
Instructions
- Whiskย the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat on medium-high speed until creamed, about 2 minutes.ย Add the eggs, peanut butter, and vanilla and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute.ย Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. With the mixer running on low speed, add the oats. Once combined, beat in the chocolate chips. Dough will be thick and sticky.ย Cover and chill the dough for at least 20 minutes in the refrigerator (and up to 4 days). If chilling for longer than 1 hour, allow to sit at room temperature for at leastย 30ย minutes before rolling and baking because the dough will be quite hard.
- Preheat oven to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Scoop balls of dough, 2 Tablespoons of dough per cookie, and arrange 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 12-14 minutes until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. While the cookies are still warm, I like to press a few more chocolate chips into the topsโthis is only for looks!
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Allow to come to room temperature then continue with step 4. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Peanut Butter: Use a non-natural peanut butter like Jif creamy or Skippy creamy. I do not suggest using natural style or oily peanut butter as both produce crumbly, fragile, and sandy tasting cookies. (Try this recipe for flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies if you want to use natural!) Crunchy peanut butter is OK, but I find the cookies taste a little dry with it.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Reader Comments and Reviews
These are delicious. Light, with a little crunch and soft in the center. I used sun nut butter that I was trying to use up, it worked well.
Sally love ALL your recipes!!
Question for you..in the abve receipe can I use crunchy peanut butter and quick oats (i only have access to quick oats โโ๏ธ)
Thanks huge fan from Canada
Daw
Hi Dawn, you can use crunchy peanut butter if you want, but crunchy can make the cookies taste a little dry. We don’t recommend quick oatsโquick oats are cut finer, and will soak up more moisture in the dough. Best to stick with whole rolled oats here. Let us know if you give the cookies a try!
All I’ve ever used is natural peanut butter specifically kraft sea salt. Turns out so well. My family and friends can’t eat just one. I’ve been using this recipe for more than 5 yrs now and never disappoints
Could I sub whole wheat flour for the white flour? Trying to make these a little healthier – using as a breastfeeding snack.
Hi Lauren, you could, but the cookies will taste quite dense. If you want to try it, start by subbing half the AP flour for WW flour. Hope they turn out well!
These are phenomenal! I definitely used a bigger cookie scoop but am so happy with the results. Looking forward to this sweet treat for the week!
Delicious.
Second time I made these I added Walmartโs Indulgent Trail Mix.
Made the cookies next level.
10 star recipe. I made it exactly as written and it was perfect. Iโll be making this one again. Thank you!
Yaaas! These are exactly what I was looking for! Once first cooled they were still soft but after a couple hours they crisp and airy. Consider this bookmarked.
These always turn out amazing! My husband LOVES these cookies and asks for them often. A favourite in our family!
I followed the recipe exactly except for the addition of chopped peanuts, about 3/4 cup. These were delicious, thanks for this keeper recipe, yum!!!
Iโm wondering if I could lower the sugar amount and achieve a great cookie still? Iโm thinking like half the white sugar but leave the brown sugar amount alone.
Hi Jamie, you can give it a go, but you should expect the texture to be slightly different if you reduce the sugar. Let us know how it goes!
Can I substitute tapioca flour for all purpose flour?
Hi Jill, we recommend sticking with all purpose flour for best results, or searching for a flour that uses tapioca flour.
I read all the baking tips and followed it to the letter. Everything the right temperature and all ingredients weighed. I didn’t have a 2 tbsp cookie scoop and weighted a ball that was 2 tbsp it was 35 grams every cookie was made that size. I got 45 cookies. Do you heap the 2 tbsp measure? They look perfect to me as in not too small and not dry. To my and my husbands taste these are WAY too sweet but we don’t eat sugar. Everyone I give them to thinks the sugar is fine.
I make these often. They are so good and my grandchildren love them. Thx for sharing.
Came out just like the pictures. I baked 12 and froze the remaining dough in pre-made size. Thanks for this great recipe!
Made these cookies for my Family and they fell in love with them now I working on a 3rd batch for them. Thank you so much sharing you delicious recipes
I would like to make these, they look amazing! I want to add toffee bits but not sure how many for the recipe, would I add them in addition to the 2 1/2 cups of chocolate chips or substitute for some of the chips?
Hi Sara, you can swap some of the chocolate chips for toffee bits, keeping the total amount of add-ins about the same (2 and 1/2 cups). Enjoy!
The best cookie I have ever made…says everyone who eats them…including myself!! Wow, so delicious and the size of the cookie is perfect. I added 1 cup of chopped pecans and they were a hit! I am making them again today.:-)
Thank you for this recipe. Definitely a keeper!
These are my go-to cookies, even my husband, whose only cookies are oatmeal raisin, loves them. I add about 3/4 cup of coconut. Yum! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Sally!
Iโm not sure what happened, but my cookies spread out quite a lot and were browning very quickly. I had to take them out at 12 minutes for fear of overbaking/burning.
I followed the recipe to a T, and even chilled the dough for a couple of days.
Any idea what mightโve gone wrong? Other than freezing the dough balls, how else can I avoid them spreading so thin?
Thank you.
Hi Prissy, here are our best tips to prevent cookies from spreading. Hope this helps for your next batch!