Enjoy 2 soft-baked cookies in 1 with every bite of these thick peanut butter chocolate swirl cookies. A swirly batch features the greatest dessert flavor duo out there: peanut butter and chocolate. Shaping the dough is super simple, and don’t forget all the chocolate chips!
Why Everyone Loves Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Cookies
Combine 2 Stellar Cookie Recipes
Peanut Butter Cookie Dough
These soft and thick peanut butter cookies are my flagship peanut butter cookies, serving as the base recipe for 6+ other cookie recipes on my site. They’re PACKED with peanut butter flavor and not dry/crumbly like similar recipes can be. It’s the same dough I use in peanut butter blossoms and these peanut butter jam thumbprints. Let me just say: this recipe has the hearts of peanut butter lovers everywhere. Many readers say they taste like the inside of a peanut butter cup!
Chocolate Cookie Dough
Then comes my go-to chocolate cookie dough. My recipe for double chocolate chip cookies also makes appearances as inside-out chocolate chip cookies, chocolate crinkle cookies, and salted caramel dark chocolate cookies. When it comes to Christmas cookies, I use it for peppermint mocha cookies, Andes mint chocolate cookies, and peppermint frosted cookies. This is one versatile cookie dough!
Naturally, I knew it would be the perfect chocolatey half of these cookies, too. It’s soft-baked, chewy, and oh-so-fudgy.
Key Ingredients in Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Cookies
Swirling the Dough
That’s it! Even easier than my peanut butter-filled brownie cookies or peanut butter fudge puddles… both of which you absolutely have to try sometime.
The cookies will look very soft when they come out of the oven, but they set as they cool. While they’re still warm, feel free to top with a few extra chocolate chips like I do with my chocolate chip cookies. This is optional and purely for looks!
Success Tip: Chill Your Cookie Doughs
Chilling both cookie doughs in the refrigerator is mandatory for this recipe. It’s one of my top tips for how to prevent cookies from overspreading. If you skip the chilling, you’ll lose that pretty swirled dough and end up with peanut butter chocolate cookie puddles. I recommend chilling the dough in the vast majority of my cookie recipes.
Not to mention, dough that has not been chilled will make quite the mess on your hands during the swirling process! I’m not saying your hands won’t get covered in any dough, but the dough is much easier to handle when cold.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Cookies Recipe
Ingredients You’ll Need
Instructions
- Cream the butter and sugars together with a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract, and then beat on high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly pour into the wet ingredients. Beat on low until combined. Switch to high speed and beat in the milk, then the chocolate chips. The cookie dough will be sticky and tacky.
- Cream the butter and sugars together with a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes. Add the egg and beat on high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the peanut butter and vanilla extract and beat until combined. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Once combined, beat in the chocolate chips.
- Cover both cookie doughs tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or up to 3 days. It’s imperative that both doughs are chilled, otherwise the doughs will be difficult to work with, and the cookies will overspread.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) Set aside.
- Measure about 2 Tablespoons (40g)—or a little less, because the recipe makes *slightly* more peanut butter dough—of chocolate cookie dough. Roll into a ball. Measure about 2 Tablespoons (40g) of peanut butter cookie dough. Roll into a ball. Press the 2 balls together between your hands and roll them into 1 large ball. Repeat for each cookie. The chocolate cookie dough is particularly sticky, so wipe your hands clean after every few balls of dough you shape.
- Bake the cookies for 12–14 minutes or until the edges appear set and the centers still look soft. Tip: If they aren’t really spreading by minute 9, remove them from the oven and lightly bang the baking sheet on the counter 2–3x. This helps initiate that spread. Return to the oven to continue baking.
- Cool cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheet. During this time, I like to press a few more chocolate chips into the tops of the warm cookies. (This is optional and only for looks.) Transfer to wire rack to cool completely. The cookies will slightly deflate as they cool.
- Cover leftover cookies tightly and store at room temperature for up to 1 week.
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