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 loved these cookies. Could I skip the baking powder for crunchier cookies? I also want to add for oatmeal.
Hi Andrea, thank you for giving these cookies a try! We don’t recommend leaving out the baking powder as it provides necessary lift for the cookies. You could try leaving them in for slightly longer and flattening your cookies out partway through bake time for crispier cookies. Adding more oatmeal would require tinkering with the other ingredients to ensure that the cookies don’t become too dry. Let us know if you do any experimenting!
I bake for my grandson who is currently serving in military overseas, and I’m always looking for awesome cookie recipes, this did not disappoint! They are a hit. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Love these!! Can the dough be frozen?
Hi Sally, absolutely — see recipe notes for details!
A very good recipe, with just the right amount of oats! Came out gorgeous and it was a fantastic idea to put a few chocolate chips on top when they were still hot.
The only thing that could be improved was I found them to be a tad bit too salty- maybe I should use unsalted peanut butter next time? I used regular creamy Jif, not sure if something else is recommended.
This is by far one of our favorite cookies….Love everything we have tried Sally. My 2 granddaughters love to bake…..Thank you!
Here is what I did that made them come out perfectly, a bit thick, crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle. I added 1/2 more flour. Then scooped with a # 20 ice cream scoop and refrigerated for 2 hours.
Put on the cookie tray, pushed down with my palm to flatten a bit, and baked aT 380 degrees for 6 minutes then rotated the two trays, up and down, back and forth, for 6 more.
Delicious
Just made this and it’s hands down the best cookie I’ve ever eaten. Soft and chewy but a bit crisp on the outside. Sweet but not too sweet. Quick to make and makes a big batch of big cookies. Honestly sooooooooo good.
I now just search your blog when I’m looking for a recipe because I know it’s always going to turn out great. Thanks for being my go to!
Hi Sally!! Would love to make these, but hubby is dairy free. Do you think it would work with coconut oil? Any adjustments required?
Hi Laura, you can try replacing the butter with solid coconut oil (so that it can be creamed together with the sugars). The taste will change. Or, you can try with a plant-based butter. We haven’t personally tried either, so please do let us know how it goes if you give either a try!
For anyone wondering, these turn out GREAT with gluten free flour. Don’t taste gluten free at all!
Thank you so much for sharing. I’ve been reading ALL the reviews looking for this information lol. I’ll be baking Robin Hood all purpose gluten-free flour. Will post how they turn out! This is my favourite cookie recipe of all time – but my husband has just discovered a slight gluten intolerance
These are by far the best cookies I’ve ever made/eaten in my entire life. I didn’t have chocolate chips so used white chocolate chips instead but I know any kind of chip would be great. The dough was flaky like it was made with shortening but had that wonderful butter flavor. This is now my go to cookie.
Can this recipe be used to make cookie bars instead of cookies?
Hi Becky, you can definitely try these in a 9×13 inch pan to make cookie bars. We’re unsure of the exact bake time needed, but you can follow the baking time and temperature for our Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars as a guide. Enjoy!
Becky, did you end up trying these as bars? I was wondering the same thing—if this would work well!
These cookies are so simple and quick to make. My family devoured these. This recipe is a keeper!
Haven you tried this recipe with gluten free all purpose flour?
Hi Kathryn, we haven’t tested it but let us know if you do!
I had tried these at my friend’s house and fell in love, and her mom gave me the recipe afterwards. This was a few years ago and I have made these multiple times since then. Not very pocket-friendly, but DEFINETLY THE BEST COOKIES I HAVE EVER HAD
Me and my family loved these cookies! They were hit and will be definitely be making more of these soon! This recipe did not disappoint.
Perhaps a silly question, but there’s no reason we couldn’t make smaller cookies with this recipe, is there? Would it affect the bake time to make them smaller?
Hi Tara, Just roll the dough into smaller balls. The bake time might be slightly shorter!
Delicious!!
This is the fave cookie recipe at our house. The balance of peanut butter, oats and chocolate is perfect – and because there’s not a lot of flour since it also uses oats, it makes perfect gluten free cookies using an all purpouse gf flour, without changing the recipe at all! Wether making them gluten free or not, they are delish!
Thank you, it’s a keeper!
Love this recipe. Versatile too as you can add and subtract goodies at your choosing. I added raisins and walnuts by substituting part of the chocolate chips (1 cup of each). They were yummy! Thanks!!
I love this recipe, I made PB chocolate chip last wk and wanted to try oatmeal with PB I looked it upon and came across your recipe and give it a try and my goodness! they came out prefect, I use butterscotch chips instead and it was delicious. I will be making more. And instant oatmeal I used the mix fruit kind to that has walnut, dates and raise . very delicious than you for your recipe.
Tasty but I found the dough to be crumbly. I was hoping when the chocolate chips melted, it would bring the cookie together. Sadly no. Baked cookies were also crumbled. I made as directed. Ideas for what may have gone wrong? I baked 1/2 the dough. Stuck the other half in the fridge, hoping to think of what I can add to the remaining dough
Hi SallyAnn! How did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. Too much flour in the dough would lead to dry and crumbly cookies. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
My husband and I have always loved Sally’s cookie recipes, and now this recipe may be my last. IT IS SO FANTASTIC I NEVER WANT TO EAT ANOTHER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE BUT THIS ONE EVER!! We love them, followed the recipe and cannot stop eating them. Thick, soft and peanuts, loads of chocolate and the chewiness of the oatmeal. There is no way there is a better cookie. Make them, you will fall in love with them. I am devouring them right now as I type this. Thanks Sally!
I made these and added a cup of raisins to the recipe and decreased the chocolate chips by a half a cup oh my gosh these might be the best cookies I have ever tasted
I made these cookies., Recipe was simple but holy cow so many chocolate chips. Personally I would prefer more oats and less chocolate. Will play with the recipe next time.
That being said my Husband LOVED them & I’m sure the Grandkids will as well.
Thanks for the recipe!
Fantastic—I’m not an experienced cookie baker but these are by far the best I’ve ever baked. Note: I ran out of rolled oats and used about 1/2 steel cut oats. The cookies had quite an interesting little crunch…but delicious. Later I read that you have cook the steel cut and add a bit of flour. Lol.
I’ve read your cookbook and loved it! My son’s birthday is next week and he asked for oatmeal peanut butter cookies without chocolate chips. Please help me….
You can leave them out without any other changes. Enjoy!
Sally, you never disappoint! You are my go to site for recipes now! These cookies are fantastic!
One more tip for cookies that have peanut butter in them is…natural peanut butter is more likely to spread. I prefer natural peanut butter but after some mishaps with spreading I tend to use traditional PB for baking. The last batch I made of these cookies, I used half natural and half Jif ( that’s all I had left from my Christmas baking), I did get more spreading from this batch than I had from the previous two batches I made with a regular PB but he spread was not excessive since I froze them before baking. And the edges were turned out to be SO SO SO buttery and crunchy and adding the natural PB (to me) bumped up the PB flavor so I will probably do it this way going forward. I just LOVE this recipe, they have been a huge hit!!
Just made these sinfully, delicious morsels…
OMGOODNESS!!! Did not change a thing…I do believe these are the best-ever cookies I have made….and I have made a LOT of cookies!! Can hardly wait for my emails from you
These cookies are amazing. I did substitute the butter and used crisco baking sticks instead and added butterscotch chips as well as chocolate chips. i will definately be making these again as they are hit in my household.
Can you use quick oats instead of old fashioned oats?
Hi Cindy, Quick oats are more powdery and dry out the cookies. We recommend sticking with whole oats if possible.
Followed this recipe to the letter and was SO excited. Ended up with paper thin, extra crispy, flat cookies. Not sure what went wrong. I still have most of the dough in the fridge, since my first couple batches that went in the oven came out so poorly. Most of my recipes come from Sallys Baking Addiction, so I don’t know what I did wrong!
Hi Taylor! You may find our post on how to keep cookies from spreading useful for next time!
I recently made these cookies, my husbands fav recipe of all time, and I read all the comments. After refrigeration, my batter felt quite soft, and comment section said they do spread. I added a bit of flour. I shouldn’t have. They would not spread at all! First tray were lil balls after cooking! I laughed and pressed a glass into the rest of the dough balls. Today I’m going to do it again! Please pray they don’t over spread! hahaha my joys of baking… always a funny disaster!
Your recipe rocks! I am 9 and i am a baking machine
This is probably the best comment I’ve EVER EVER seen. Great to see kids having a hobby as great as baking. Kudos to the parent(s)