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.
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 (spoon & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks; 235g) 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.
- 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 flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookie 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.
Keywords: peanut butter oatmeal cookies
These cookies were really good. I did make a few changes (sorry), but overall wonderful recipe. Instead of 2 1/2 cups of chocolate chips, I split that in half adding 1 1/4 cups of peanut butter chips and 1 1/4 choc chips. I also added chopped walnuts. I love my cookies crispy so I flattened them some before they went into the oven. I also lightly butter my baking sheet each time I add cookie dough and setting into the oven! So good……
★★★★★
I substituted the extra half cup of flour with ground up oats (coffee grinder) and they still came out great – I tell myself they’re healthier now haha!
Loved this recipe! All my friends and family loved the cookies too! So many compliments.
What are the nutritional values? Per Cookie: Calories, Protein, grams of sugar, etc.
Hi Karen, 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
This recipe is so great! I only used 2 cups of chips and that was plenty. I’ll definitely make these again!!
★★★★★
BEST COOKIE I HAVE MADE IN A LONG TIME. I ADDED A BIT OF COCONUT! YUMM!
Amazing cookies
Delicious
★★★★★
I just made these a few minutes ago and man are they good. They will be my go to cookie from now on. The only thing I did different was I added peanut butter chips along with the chocolate chips and some toffee bits to make 2 cups of chips.
Wow what an amazing cookie.
★★★★★
Hands down the best cookie I’ve ever eaten. I love the chewiness of the oatmeal, the creaminess from the peanut butter, and of course the chocolate. I shared some with a neighbor both he and my husband also think they are DELICIOUS! This will be my go to cookie recipe. Thank you!
★★★★★
These turned out beautifully! No need to change anything. Would love to know the nutritional values per cookie (sugars, protein, fiber)
Hi Jeanette, 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
wow AMAZING! Can i omit the oatmeal? If so, how would I adjust the recipe if I omitted the oatmeal?
★★★★★
Hi Arya, we’d recommend this recipe for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies instead. Hope they’re a hit!
This is a great recipe! I changed it the first time just a little switching out half of a cup of flour for oat flour and a bit more peanut butter. Small change. The cookies were a little dry. My fault but still yumm
Now I’ve switched all sugar for honey one cup of flour for oat flour and 1.5 cups pb. I’m excited
★★★★★
Just wondering if you ever eliminate the butter and substitute peanut butter?
Hi Kim! Butter and peanut butter function very differently in baking recipes and would not be an even swap.
I cannot tell you how much I love this recipe – I make these constantly. My partner loves them, so much so that I have to make him some to take on work trips for him to share with his coworkers. I have been using a natural organic peanut butter and have really enjoyed it
Great receipe
I think i’ve used this recipe about 30 times and it never disappoints! Thanks for so many delicious recipes.
★★★★★
Best cookie recipe ever!!! Absolutely love, love, love these. Great job!
★★★★★
These cookies should be renamed “ADULTS ONLY COOKIES”
Thats how great they are. DON’T waste them on the kiddos, savor them with you favorite squeeze and adult beverage.
I needed a cookie for a special friend who did me a favor and loves cookies. BIG BINGO. This cookie will do it in more ways than one for a thank you.
I’ve been on a cookie kick for a while especially ones that are labled refrigerator. There are tons of refrigerator cookies out there, just punch in what ever does it for you along with refrigerator. They are an easy way to cookie up after being pulled together.
I followed this recipe all the way, until I got to the peanut butter (used crunchy, it gives a nice crunch) and ball roll part. Instead I did what I always do with refrigerator cookies: I placed two pieces od plastic wrap on a cookie sheet, scooped equal amounts of cookie dough on the plastic, covered with another piece of plastic, formed a log, then popped in the fridge for about 12 hours. Then I sliced each cookie to about 1/4 inch and let sit on the counter for about 45 minutes before baking.
The key to cookies is not to over mix or bake. I baked for 10 minutes, monitor closley they can easily over bake.
I always pre measure everything, did the same here. Time consuming but worth it (have an adult beverage)!
I did use a top quality mini chip, worth it for the end result.
So, kick out the kiddos and everyone else and just have yourself a really great adult cookie!
★★★★★
Can I leave out the chocolate chips without altering other ingredients’ measurements?
Yes, you can. Enjoy!
I have made this recipe 3 times in the last 30 days, it is SO good and my family can’t get enough! I feel certain it’s gonna get me through my first trimester. Thank you for sharing it with us!
★★★★★
I’m also making these for a “healthy” 1st trimester munchies lol
The cookie is too dry, it crumbles when it’s done. I only substituted the cup of Suger for a teaspoon of stevia
Did you use natural peanut butter? I tried that with either this or another cookie recipe because I didn’t have anything else and they turned out crumbly. Did some research and it seems natural peanut butter is not good for cookies. Who knew? I’ve made these many times with store bought pb and they have turned out great every time – my favourite cookies!
The sugar in the recipe is vital for moisture and texture. Replacing it with only 1 tsp of Stevia will ruin the recipe. A better sugar free substitute would be monk fruit sugar or erithritol.
These get gobbled up so fast!! I now add 3/4 cups of shredded coconut to the recipe with no problems and it’s a dream to bake up! Highly recommend these cookies
★★★★★
I was looking at the reviews for this answer! I wanted to know about coconut. But after reading all the comments, I may try half with and half without, Can’t wait to make them, which will be right now! Thanks
Great cookie recipe..! Super easy. Directions are clear and easy. simple, basic ingredients. Usually I dred getting the dough off the spoon onto the cookie sheet, but these are a dream, dough comes right off, doesn’t stick to anything. They bake up perfectly at 13 mins. I used one bag of choc chips, measures at 2 cups; this was enough. They are loaded with chips. This recipe is definitely a keeper..! Thank You, Sally. …definitely addicting : )
★★★★★
I loved these cookies. And I hate peanut butter. I don’t find the peanut butter flavor too overpowering and my peanut butter loving kids and hubby loved them. I put in a little extra vanilla extract to help off set the peanut butter. It’s a keeper!
★★★★★
THIS IS THE BEST TASTING THING I HAVE EVER PUT IN MY MOUTH!!
This recipe looks good. I am going to try. My secret for cookies with oatmeal that don’t go flat is after I mixed them together. I let them rest for awhile in the bowl covered. The cookies come out with a little height and everyone’s gobbles them up!
Cookies never go stale in my house. There is only two of us now, so I bake them and give them away! Tks for the recipe!!
★★★★★
These are great! Easy to cut the recipe in half, which is perfect since its just mhh husband and I and we have no self control. LOL I made 8 and froze the rest in balls for later. Thanks for the recipe.
★★★★★
These! Are! Amazing!
I even added too much salt on accident (couldn’t remember if I added it or not. Oops!)
These will be my forever recipe!
★★★★★
i’ve made these now 6 times in the past month for myself and relatives, i mean it when i say these are genuinely some of the best home baked cookies on earth. peanut buttery and soft with the chocolate to round it out. 10/10 cannot recommend this recipe enough. it will become a staple in our house for sure! thank you for sharing it with us sally!
★★★★★
These cookies are a hit with everyone who tries them. They are delicious. I’ve been making them for a couple of years now. My relatives, who recently moved out of town, asked me to mail them a batch as a Christmas gift. They seem to have held up well with 2-day delivery.
★★★★★