Peanut butter and chocolate lovers rejoice! I’ve 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. They’re guaranteed to satisfy almost every cookie craving.
One reader, Dyna, says: “Hands down the BEST cookie recipe I have ever made, and I’ve made a lot of cookies in my time as a 50-something, mother of three. An incredibly satisfying cookie experience. All the extra notes and suggestions too were spot on. Following those tips made for a beautiful, delectable cookie! Thank you for putting this out there into the world for all to enjoy.”
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.
This recipe, however, skips those rainbow candies and focuses instead on a flavor relationship like no other. Chocolate chips and peanut butter. It’s a match made in cookie heaven! In this recipe, we’re combining that perfect pairing with textured oats to achieve the thickest, richest, and most satisfying cookie.
Video Tutorial
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. (I’m 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 weren’t spreading enough. I decided to swap the quantities of granulated sugar and brown sugar. Granulated sugar—dry and thin—helps increase cookie spread. Brown sugar—moist and thick—keeps cookies compact. Increasing the granulated sugar makes all the difference in this dough for the perfect spread. You won’t 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: Best Peanut Butter to Use
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 today’s oatmeal cookie recipe is creamed room-temperature butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. You can’t 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 65°F (18°C). It’s 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 “room temperature” butter. If you don’t have an hour, here is my trick to soften butter quickly. You need 1 cup of butter for this cookie 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, it’s 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 flour (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 (260g) 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
- Whisk 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. Add the eggs, peanut butter, and vanilla and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. 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. 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 least 30 minutes before rolling and baking because the dough will be quite hard.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). 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 tops—this 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.
I added both the chocolate chips and Reeses pieces to these. Oh my! Great recipe. Thank you so much for sharing.
These are by far the best cookies I have ever made. My mom (who is biased obviously but still) said they are better than Levain.
Hi there. I’ll be making these soon. I’m considering using almond butter, oats, chocolate chips, cherries, and walnuts. Thank you for sharing.
Wow,
This is the last recipe I’ll need for cookies.
Can these be made using gluten free flour in place of regular flour?
We haven’t tested that but please let us know if you do!
I did something wrong? They taste wonderful but when I took them out of the oven then removed them to paper towels, they crumbled. Help!
Hi Kay! How did you measure the dry ingredients? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour or oats into your measuring cups. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post. Did you cool for 5 minutes before transferring? We don’t recommend cooling cookies on paper towels – best to use a wire rack!
Great job!! THEY WERE SO DELICIOUS <3
Great, easy recipe. Used dark chocolate chips. Was a big hit with the grandbabies.
I’ve made those cookies about x4 times now and they always turn out delicious. I’ve been thinking to include mushed bananas to the wet batter, for a banana flavour. Has anyone tried this? Would you recommend.
Hi Ray, we haven’t tried adding banana directly to this batter, but you might enjoy our breakfast cookies recipe instead. You can use peanut butter as your nut butter and use chocolate chips for the add-ins for a flavor profile that’s similar to these cookies. Let us know if you give it a try!
The best we’ve tasted.
Came out perfect!
Oh my goodness STOP IT RIGHT NOW!!!! THESE COOKIES ARE TO DIE FOR!!!!!! I don’t recommend you make these unless you want to eat the whole batch in one day because these are flipping amazing!!! Soft, chewy, salty, sweet, gooey, pillows of deliciousness!!!! Sally’s Baking Addiction has never served me wrong when making cookies! These were another HUGE hit in my house! I only added half the chocolate chips because I didn’t have enough, but they still came out amazing! I never leave reviews but I just to because of these cookies from Heaven!!!
What are the nutritional numbers.
We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Wonderful recipe! I made it with chunky peanut butter. It was not dry at all, but I added a little extra peanut butter (two tablespoons?) to account for the volume of solid nuts. I used dark chocolate chunks. I would rate this at just one crumb short of the perfect cookie recipe. I thought it should be just a tad sweeter. When (not if!) I make it again, I will add about 1/4 cup more brown sugar. Using milk chocolate would also add to the sweetness.
Is it possible to make a half batch for this recipe?
Absolutely, simply halve all ingredients. Enjoy!
Another fantastic recipe from Sally! My husband loves these and kept saying while he was eating his first one, “these are delicious”. I am so happy I found your website. I have learned so much. You are my go-to for baking. Thank you.
Absolutely outstanding!! I made the recipe exactly as written then, on a whim, threw 1/2 a bag of Heath toffee bits in with the chocolate chips. All I can say is WOW. Some of the best cookies I’ve ever baked, these will be gone in one day if I don’t hide them from my family!
really just the best cookie recipe ever! I love the crispy chocolate chip cookie recipe as well, but these are the are my go to when i want to impress my friends and family.
I just read your advice to not use natural peanut butter, but I bought a whole bunch from Costco that nobody likes, so I’ve been using it in these cookies and they’ve turned out really well and not too crumbly or anything.
Because I love oatmeal cookies but not a fan of the giant flakes of oats could I food process 1& 1/2 cups of the rolled oats and use them with a half cup of the full sized rolled oats or do you think that would mess up the ability for these cookies to bake properly???
Hi Michelle! Processing the oats will give the cookie dough a different consistency and may dry it out too much. It would take some testing to get right but let us know if you try anything!
These cookies were a BIG hit!!!!
Thank you
I just made these, and Oh. My. Goodness. I only had about half a cup of chocolate chips, so I substituted white chocolate chips for the rest. Divided the dough into thirds, added raisins to one batch, and coconut and pecans to the other. They are ALL AMAZING (although the raisin ones were the best cookies I’ve ever put in my mouth, by far!) and this will be a staple cookie recipe for the rest of my days!
What a fun way to try different mix-ins, Michelle! So glad you love these cookies.
These cookies are the best! Keep up the good work!
These are so good! The only problem is that I don’t think I’ll ever need another cookie recipe. :p
The first time I made it, I was a little short of two cups for the chocolate chips. Still delicious, but I totally get the “more chocolate” note. This time I’ll make sure I have the full two cups and maybe even a little more for the tops. A mix of chocolate chunks and chocolate chips is a nice twist.
You have the best recipes. Thank you for sharing!
We’re so glad you loved these cookies! Thanks for reporting back.
Thank You for such a great recipe. A big thank you for the detailed instructions and the knowledge behind them. I have tried many recipes with peanut butter, oatmeal and chocolate chips. I made this recipe exactly and changed nothing. They are my go to from now on. Crunchy and chewy! Awesome job!
Thank you so much for your kind feedback, Tam!
I made these to share with neighbors while passing out candy on Halloween – what a phenomenal recipe! Definitely on my list of must make again recipes.
I made a double batch as I usually do but this recipe makes heaps already. Any idea if the biscuits can be frozen
These cookies are amazing! New favorite. Making a double batch and freezing to be ready for Christmas Cookie exchange! Thanks Sally
Can you use quick oats?
Hi Sam, quick oats are more powdery and dry out the cookies. We recommend sticking with whole oats.
I had this question too, thanks for addressing it! I’m making these tomorrow and I’m excited!!
Wow! A superbly balanced cookie! I used sunflower seed butter in place of peanut butter because there’s a peanut allergy in the house, and these cookies turned out phenomenal! 13/10, totally recommend.
My 11 year old made these today and they are fantastic! She ran out of peanut butter, so she used some almond butter and they were still amazing. Thanks for sharing your talents with us! Everything we’ve made from your site has been delicious
How about subbing frozen peanut butter Snickers for the chocolate chips?
Hi Betty, you can use chopped Snickers in place of the chocolate chips. Thawing out the Snickers should make for easier chopping. Enjoy!
These cookies are the best. They are easy to make and are so yummy.