This is the cookie for peanut butter lovers! Thick, soft cookies packed with salted peanuts and peanut butter chips, filled with a creamy peanut butter-honey center. A sprinkle of flaky sea salt brings everything together for the perfect sweet-and-salty peanut cookie.
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What sets this recipe apart
Thick and chunky: These are substantial bakery-style cookies loaded with mix-ins.
Peanut butter filling: A mixture of peanut butter and honey is tucked inside each cookie creating a bold peanut butter center.
Honey: A little honey in the dough as well as in the filling adds sweetness and pairs wonderfully with the peanuts.
Sweet and salty: These cookies strike the perfect sweet-salty balance with tons of peanut flavor.
Visual recipe overview
*Full recipe below in recipe card*
Cookie dough
Use a hand mixer or stand mixer to assemble the cookie dough.
Filling
Stir together ingredients for peanut butter filling. Place the filling and dough in the refrigerator for one hour.
Assemble
Flatten portions of dough and place a small spoonful of filling inside. Bring the dough up and over the filling and shape into a mound.
Bake
Bake for 11-13 minutes, until the cookies have spread and are beginning to brown.
My recipe testing tips and notes
Peanut butter: A conventional emulsified peanut butter will give you the most consistent result. I do not recommend natural peanut butter for this recipe.
Peanuts: Roasted salted peanuts give these cookies great flavor and texture. I tested the recipe with Planters Cocktail Peanuts as well as Trader Joe’s Old Fashioned Blister Peanuts.
Mix-ins: Don’t skimp on the mix-ins! Not only do the peanut butter chips and peanuts add flavor but they also contribute to the chunky texture.
Make them ugly: For a chunkier texture skip rolling the dough into smooth balls. Instead, press the dough into lumpy mounds with exposed mix-ins poking out (see photo below).
Don’t overbake: Remove the cookies from the oven once they have spread and are beginning to brown. The edges will be set but the center will still be slightly underbaked. They will firm up as they cool.
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Recipe
Chunky Salted Peanut Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 3 cups plus 2-tablespoons (400g) all purpose flour, spooned and leveled or weighed
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine table salt, see note
- ¾ cup (170g) salted butter, room temperature
- ⅔ cup (150g) light brown sugar
- ⅔ cup (134g) granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 large eggs
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1½ cups (212g) roasted salted peanuts, coarsely chopped, if desired
- 1½ cups (240g) peanut butter chips
Filling:
- ⅓ cup (84g) creamy peanut butter
- 1½ tablespoons honey
- flaky sea salt, optional for topping
Instructions
- Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter, both sugars, and honey for two minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined, scraping the bowl and beaters as needed.
- Add the flour mixture, beating until combined. Add peanuts and peanut butter chips. You can stir them in by hand with a silicone spatula, or you can incorporate them with the mixer which will break down the nuts/chips a bit, the dough will be fairly thick. Place the bowl in the refrigerator for one hour.
- Preheat oven to 350°F with racks near the center of the oven. Give your oven plenty of time to heat up. I usually wait until 10 minutes after it beeps that it is preheated before adding the cookies. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Stir together peanut butter and honey for the filling. Scoop 2½ oz portions of dough (just shy of 3 tablespoons). Flatten the dough in the palm of your hand and add a teaspoon (I eyeball it) of peanut butter-honey into the center.
- Fold the dough up and over the filling and form into a lumpy mound, sealing them closed. Making the dough mounds lumpy, instead of rolled smooth, helps add texture to the baked cookies.
- Place the filled dough mounds on prepared baking sheets, allowing room to spread. Bake the cookies for 11-13 minutes, until the cookies have spread, are browning around the edges, and the very center is still slightly underdone. If necessary, rotate the baking sheets halfway through cooking time, so that the cookies brown evenly. Make sure not to over-bake, they will firm up as they cool.
- Place the baking sheets on wire racks to cool completely. If desired, you can top with flaky sea salt when they come out of the oven. Also, if you'd like to shape the cookies a bit, use the back of a spoon to press the edges inward when they are fresh out of the oven and still hot.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
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