Some things change: the city I live in / the friends I visit on a lazy weekend / the view from my living room window / my mega longing for California Mexican food / the frequency with which I eat fried oyster po’boys.
Some things stay the same: the endless amount of cookies coming from my oven / my desire to eat every doughnut in town (any town) / my fear of spiders large and small / the hope that you’ll invite me to your house so I can share this giant batch of Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies with you and maybe make a few new friends in the process.
Crisp. Golden. Peanut Butter-y Cookies. AKA How To Make New Friends And Not Be A Weirdo At A Pool Party.
Edible social tools are my specialty.
I wasn’t sure how to tell you that I have a brick-red wall in my dining room so I just took a picture of it. Ok? Ok.
Because the Internet is old and already filled with recipes for Peanut Butter Cookies, we’re going to have to kick it up a notch. We’re adding sex appeal, glossy drugs, and Pin-able charm AKA chocolate (melted, bittersweet, and salted up a bit).
Butter, sugar, egg, vanilla and peanut butter are worked together in a stand mixer. The result is a beautifully cream half-batter that you’ll probably want to aggressively spoon into your face. Right?
Dry ingredients into wet. I always like the middle stages of baking.
The dough is chilled a bit to allow the flour to absorb the liquid of the butter mixture and to just give all of the ingredients a chance to get to know each other. You know… make acquaintance before they all jump in the oven together.
Dough balls are rolled by the tablespoonful into granulated sugar. Extra crunch we love.
Cookies are marked with a criss-cross (jump! jump!) pattern before they’re baked up golden and crisp.
While the cookies are in the oven we melt chocolate and coconut oil, chop up the honey roasted peanuts, and ready the coarse sea salt for sprinkling.
These cookies are sweet and crisp… almost shortbread in nature. There’s a lovely balance of sweet and salt both in the cookie and in the toppings.
I love melted my dipping chocolate with a splash of coconut oil and it helps the chocolate’s viscosity and dip-ability.
Comfort cookies! Wait… aren’t all cookies comfort cookies?
This recipe is inspired by and adapted from Leite’s Culinaria. Love!
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Dipped + Crisp Peanut Butter Cookies
- Prep Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 0 hours
- Total Time: 0 hours
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for coating
- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
For the Topping:
- 8 ounces dark chocolate chunks
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons coarse sea salt
- 1/3 cup coarsely chopped honey roasted peanuts, chopped
Instructions
- In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars on medium speed. Beat for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract egg and beat on medium speed until combined, about 2 minutes. Add the peanut butter and beat until just combined.
- Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl, ensuring that all of the wet ingredients are thoroughly combined. Add the dry ingredients all at once. Beat on low speed until just combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer and finish mixing with a spatula. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- While the cookie dough chills, preheat the oven.
- Place a rack in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Place about 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl for coating the dough. Spoon cookie dough by the tablespoonful into the palm of your hand. Gently roll into a ball and coat in sugar. Place on the prepared baking sheet and use a fork to mark the cookies with a cross-hatch pattern. Place cookies on the sheet about 1-inch apart.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes until removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Melt chocolate and coconut oil in a double boiler or in the microwave. Stir until completely smooth and combined. Place in a small but deep bowl for dipping. Place the salt and chopped peanuts in separate bowls near your dipping area. Dip the cookies halfway into the melted chocolate. Place on a parchment lined tray. Sprinkle with chopped nuts and a bit of sea salt. Place in the refrigerator to harden the chocolate. I bagged my cookies up and store them in the refrigerator. Delicious!
81 Responses
This is a nice twist on an old favorite being the Peanut Butter cookie. I believe
this cookie would be a great snack/treat here. Thanks for sharing it.
Hi Joy,
I made these last year for Christmas (one of three different cookies I made) and these were the most popular. This year I am doing biscuit bags with ten (everybody needs baking goals, right?) different biscuits as presents and I am making these again.
Can I just say that these are my favourite to make, eat and give away. And thanks to you I put on Kriss Kross everything I make them.
I rarely (never?) post, but I just wanted to say thank you for your wonderful blog. It’s one of the first ones I came across when I started baking more regularly. I adore your writing, humour, photography and recipes.
Merry Christmas!
Just made these and they came out light and looking just like your pictures. I didn’t put quite all the coconut oil as I was concerned the chocolate wouldn’t harden. And, now I have a tray in my refrigerator as well as one on my back porch (it’s 37o F out), as the chocolate hasn’t begun to harden at all, despite letting the cookies cool completely. How will they fre once back @ room temp? I made them to wrap for Christmas gifts!
Baking these right now and for some reason they’re not flattening. Any suggestions? Should I flatten them before I stick them in the oven?
You could flatten them slightly with the heel of your hand
Thank you for these little yummy gems! I substituted the regular flour for gluten free & added xanthom gum but followed the recipe to the T. They were slightly dry. Could you suggest ratio of GF flour to Fat (butter/coconut oil etc.)? Thank you!
Allergic to coconut. Can one use another oil to help the chocolate’s “viscosity and dip-ability”?
Never mind–saw the answer below. Thanks
How many cookies does this recipe make?
I’m a sucker for peanut butter cookies and I love this take on classic PB cookies! Dipped in chocolate?! Yum!! Definitely going to try this recipe!
I don’t have coconut oil on hand ,what can I substitute with.
thx, Patti
Vegetable oil should work great
Thank you for sharing your recipe. I wanted to make peanut butter cookies that were both salty and sweet and especially, nutty. You have just validated my cookie impulses! I don’t know why anyone would make peanut butter cookies without chocolate and sprinkled salt and nuts! P.S. never pick an email address when you are having a bad day. See below.
I made these and dipped them in toffee bits :) they were delicious
Gonna make these for National Peanut Butter Cookie Day next week…..can’t wait to try ’em!
Hi! Awesome cookies!! How many does the recipe make? Thanks!
very delicious…eat it everyday :D I substitute chocolate dip with chocolate chips and mix it together with the chopped honey peanuts into the dough. Also substitute nutmeg with cinnamon, and roll the cookies into brown sugar instead of white. A little bit too sweet though, must reduce the amount of sugar next time.
I’ve made these twice already to pass along to friends for Xmas gifts.
I am a cookie baker and this might be the best cookie I have ever made. I am more of the chocolate chip cookie expert, but these really step it up a notch on decadence. Thank you for the recipe. This one is definitely going into my cookie file. : )
hi, how many cookies does this recipe yield?
Can you freeze these? Looking to start baking for Christmas
Ow! I love cookies and chocolates. Look so yummy. Great.
Do these cookies come out crispy and stay crispy even a day later in a storage container. I’ve tried so many recipes and they get soft on day 2 and on :(
these cookies won’t get soft day two. just be sure that the cookies cool completely before you place them in the storage container. you don’t want steam to soften the cookies.
Edible social tools are my specialty…you are so great! these cookies look delish!
You’re always welcome to come to my house to make cookies any time. I live in the sorta ghetto, so I recommend taking them to Waikiki beach for consuming. I can’t wait to try these.
I’ve recently been married to a man that can’t have any nuts. Is there any wonderful substitute for nuts that can go into a cookie he could eat and baking it in the house wouldn’t cause him major harm?
you’d probably want to go with a chocolate chip cookie. no nuts.
If you’re trying to kill me with photos, you’re doing it in the right way!
https://justsem.wordpress.com/
I can’t wait to give these a go. Love the sprinkle of salt too – I often do this when making peanut butter on toast – it’s so tasty!
You are welcome to come over any time and bake these at my house… Yum!
OMG! Can NOT wait to make these! (And I love your red wall.)
Perfect criss-crosses, I’m in love! Chocolate dipped, amazing!
Love that chocolate dip, cookie perfection!
These cookies are very nostalgic looking and I love that. Plus, can’t go wrong with chocolate!
When you bring these along you could knock on my door anytime :) That would be a long trip though.
Greetings from Germany
I wish I lived near you so stop by and eat some of these cookies! Dipping them in chocolate was a good decision!
These sound and look heavenly!! I love shortbread AND I love peanut butter cookies, so the minute you said “almost shortbread…” I started drooling ;)
Beautiful!
Isabelle @ Head Red & Blondi
Please come to my house and make these cookies! I would love it. I would love it love it love it!
I would for sure invite you over if you brought me some of those not dipped in chocolate. I love nothing more than a crunchy peanut butter cookie. I’d gladly introduce you to my oatmeal lemon or oatmeal orange cookies.
Oh goodness do I love peanut butter cookies. The only problem that I see is that it looks like a small batch. My three guys would string me up if I didn’t make a double batch. Ok, now I really want to go make some. I would come by and have some of your cookies but I live in Oregon.
These look incredible! Yum!!
xo Amanda
https://theluxelion.blogspot.com
Well you are more than welcome to come to my house with these cookies anytime. My mouth is watering! Then, we can go grab some good Californian Mexican grub, I’m in Los Angeles :-)
Yasssssss! Jump! Jump! (You are awesome)
These look delicious – I have to admit I’ve never tried peanut butter cookies before but I think I’m going to have to now! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Hi Joy! I’m a LONG time fan and almost-never commenter but I have to ask, what and where do I eat for a quick weekend get away to LA? I thought you’d be the perfect person to ask because 1) you love food 2) you’ve never ever steered me wrong in my baking expeditions (faves include sweet potato pie, that easy crumbley crisp thing from last week and quite possibly these insane looking cookies) 3) you’re from LA. Just to give your recommendations a bit more guidance my husband and I are particularly fond of fresh Mexican, good margaritas and desserts. Now what can I simply not miss during 3 days in LA?!?!
LA is suuuch a big place it can be hard to navigate and see everything there is to see! i wrote about some of my favorite LA spots here: https://joythebaker.com/2012/10/i-love-you-los-angeles/ Enjoy your visit! It’s pretty rad!
These look amazing!
I don’t have a stand mixer. Will an electric hand mixer work as well?
absolutely!
Jump! Jump! I caught that. Nice.
Sprinkled with chopped nuts and a bit of sea salt… yes please! Pinned for a future baking day.
Oooo, I love this! I have been craving my traditional peanut butter cookies, but thought my family might be bored of them. This looks great! It will satisfy my craving for that strong peanut butter flavor, but it is all fancy and new for those who aren’t that crazy about peanut butter
I feel weird saying that I’ve never had a chocolate-dipped pb cookie, but it’s true! I still think it’s a great idea, and I may be turning on the oven for this one this week to rectify this ;)
I wonder what makes a pb cookie crispy vs soft vs chewy. We need to crack the code! You know, for the sake of science and all.
Loving the crispness of these cookies and the quick dip in dark chocolate! You just brought back some long-ago-filed memories with your criss-cross (jump! jump!) reference:) Pinned for later…
I didn’t think there was anything better than a good peanut butter cookie. Now I know better – can’t wait to try these!
You are invited to come to my house anytime if there are cookies coming with you. Or pie. Or cake. Or just you because you’re awesome.
You can bring these to my place any time ya want! Yum! :)
HAHA yes, let’s add more sex appeal to those PB Cookies! These look awesome, as does your wall! Love that dark red color. Is it a statement wall on its own or is your whole dining room that color?
https://www.youtube.com/sparklesandsuch26
Yes, I would like to spoon the 5th photo down aggressively into my face. Most definitely. xx
Yum! I’ll have to make them almond butter instead of peanut butter cookies, but love the idea of rolling them in sugar! (I also love them middle stage of baking!)
almond butter would be delicious!
Yummy! Making a batch of these very soon! I love peanut butter cookies so much.
xoxo
Taylor
I have been dipping my peanut butter cookies for years in chocolate, aren’t they great that way. Grandchildren love them, so do the adults. They look so pretty. Paulette
I’m so going to try this with sunflower seed butter! Oh the joys of marrying someone with food allergies…
These cookies look soooooo ymmy, i love the musical reference and the red wall in your dining room! my kitchen is the same color :)
There’s really nothing better than a peanut butter cookie…. Unless probably if it’s dipped in chocolate :)
Sues
I have always leaned more to the soft and chewy cookie side of life. But these, with their peanut butter and chocolate awesome-ness, may push me to try the crispy side.
Your face has total pinnable-charm. For realz. xo
Beautiful! Peanut butter isn’t so big in the UK (for reasons I don’t understand), so I’m always craving it. Your post really kicked the craving up a notch. I might just have to make these soon!
When my son was in England for his junior year of college, I had to regularly send peanut butter to him. It’s expensive to sending jars of jif to the other side of the ocean!!!
I saw the words ‘crisp’ and ‘dipped’ and I was like yesssss girl you did!
You are always and forever invited, with or without cookies. BUT since life with cookies is so much more fun, feel free to bring ’em along anyway :)
I have been craving peanut butter cookies for weeks, sometimes I think you can read my mind!
yum, they sounds awesome (& look gorgeous!)
I ADORE your red wall! In our last two homes, including our current one, we have had a deep red wall either in dining or kitchen. It makes me happy and I think it is cozy. Making these cookies for sure! Love the dipping-thank you for a great post.
Loving these dipped cookies! Pretty and delicious!
Love the look of these cookies, i have a sis inlaw whos crazy for anything with PB. Have to make these for her. Do they flatten out when baked or do they bake exactly the way they are criss crossed before baking?
I love the texture of shortbread so I am very excited to give these a try. Very cute styling as well with the chocolate dip. Looks delicious as always!
That you taking on the classic PB cookie and making it more bonkers is the way to go Joy! Love the half dipped moon of chips too!
I love peanut butter so much that I eat it every day! I HAVE to try out this recipe. http://www.clementinebuttercup.blogspot.co.uk
That little bit of chocolate on these classic PB cookies just makes me want to MAKE them, now! pinned :)