Big, chewy and packed with flavor – these peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies give you everything you could want in a cookie. They have a delicious peanut butter flavor without being getting dry like so many peanut butter cookies can turn out. The oats add texture and increase the chewiness of these cookies. Then you really can’t go wrong with tons of chocolate chips in every bite.

Thick & Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut butter cookies, oatmeal cookies, and chocolate chip cookies are all delicious in their own right. But combining all these flavors will give you a truly perfect cookie recipe. These peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies have a delicious salty, sweet peanut butter flavor that’s complemented by brown sugar and vanilla extract in the dough. Then the oats add texture without turning the cookies dry or too crunchy. The cookies are thick enough to hold lots of chocolate chips, so feel free to use your favorite variety.

Because peanut butter + chocolate is always necessary.

If you’ve read my blog before, you may know that I have a favorite recipe for peanut butter oatmeal cookies. So you may be wondering, why not just add chocolate chips to that recipe? Well, in that recipe I wanted the oats to be the star of the show producing cookies with crispy edges and chewy centers. But in this recipe, I wanted the cookies to be a little softer and a little thicker so that I could fill them with lots of chocolate chips. Therefore, I adapted the recipe so the cookies would be thicker without getting to dense or dry.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Unsalted Butter: This recipe uses softened butter. Note that softened vs melted butter behaves differently in baking, so make sure that your butter is softened to room temperature but not melted. Take it out of the fridge about 30 minutes prior to making the dough and cut into cubes.
Brown Sugar: Feel free to use light or dark. I love the flavor that brown sugar adds to this recipe.
Granulated Sugar: While I love the flavor that brown sugar adds, if we used entirely brown sugar the cookies can get too dense. Using a combo of brown and granulated gives you the best of both worlds.
Peanut Butter: I always bake with smooth, commercially prepared peanut butter and nothing labelled natural or where the oil sits on top. When the peanut butter can separate, the amount of oil you end up with in your cookies varies and leads to inconsistent results.
Egg: The egg holds the dough together. It should be at room temperature for easier mixing
Vanilla Extract: For that warm vanilla flavor.
All-Purpose Flour: You’ll notice the amount of flour in this recipe might seem a bit odd – we’re using ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons. I found ¾ cup wasn’t quite enough for thick cookies but 1 full cup was too much and the cookie got too dense and dry. So this in between amount was just right.
Baking Powder & Baking Soda: For this cookie recipe, I found the combination created cookies that are chewy without being too heavy or too cakey. Perfection.
Salt: To balance out the sweetness. I always bake with unsalted butter and add the salt in because it gives me more control of the recipe.
Old-Fashioned Oats: I really prefer using old-fashioned oats in this recipe as opposed to quick oats because they provide more texture. Quick oats will “work”, but don’t provide the same consistency. Make sure you aren’t using instant oats or steel cut oats (AKA Irish oats).
Chocolate Chips: Because how could you go wrong? Feel free to use your favourite variety. I use ¾ cup in the batter and reserve ¼ cup for dotting on top of each cookie after they come out of the oven.

Making the Cookies

I’m including step-by-step photos and tips below. If you’ve made these before, feel free to scroll down to get straight to the recipe.

Start by preheating the oven to 350F (180C or 170C degrees). This recipe doesn’t require the dough to chill, however, you can choose to chill the dough if you prefer. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or baking mats. I always line my cookie sheets because it helps to avoid the bottoms over browning.
In a large bowl beat together the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and peanut butter. Ensure that the butter is softened to room temperature but not melted before making the dough. Cutting it into cubes will allow it to soften faster and make for easier mixing.
Then mix in the egg and vanilla extract. Just like the butter, having the egg at room temperature first allows for easier mixing.
Turn off the mixer and add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. I always do a few stirs by hand first, then continue mixing with the electric mixer starting on a low speed. This helps to ensure that the flour doesn’t blow everywhere when you turn on the mixer.
Then stir in the oats. I like to do this by hand so that there’s no risk of an electric mixer pulverizing the oats and to avoid over mixing.
And finally, stir in the chocolate chips. The recipe calls for 1 cup, but as mentioned above, I only stir in ¾ cup and leave the rest for placing on top of each cookie.
Then form the dough into balls. I use a large cookie scoop which holds 3 tablespoons of dough or 2 scoops of a medium cookie scoop which holds 1.5 tablespoons of dough. Place the dough balls 2-3 inches (5-7cm) apart on the lined baking sheets.
Bake 1 sheet at a time in the middle of your oven for 10-12 minutes or until the tops look just set. It’s important to always bake just 1 cookie sheet at time for even baking. Otherwise, you can have the tops of the cookies on the top rack burnt, and the tops of the cookies on the bottom rack are still gooey while the bottoms are burnt.
When you take the cookies out of the oven, let them cool on the cookie sheet for at least 10 minutes. Then will continue baking slightly during this time because the tray is still hot. I place a few extra chocolate chips on top of each cookie while the cookies are still at warm for that bakery-style look.

A Note About Sticky Cookie Dough

The dough for this recipe will be very sticky due to the peanut butter. That’s expect and is nothing to worry about. That’s why I like to use a cookie scoop. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, you may want to chill the dough for about 30 minutes prior to forming into balls so that it’s less sticky.

Freezing the Dough

Like so many cookie recipes, the dough for these peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies freezes beautifully. You’ll form the dough into balls first. Then because it’s quite sticky, I recommend placing the dough balls on a plate, covering with plastic and placing in the fridge for about 30 minutes for them to firm up a bit. This is to avoid them sticking together and/or losing their shape in a freezer bag. Then once the balls are slightly firm, place in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake the cookie dough balls from frozen as directed in the recipe. They’ll need about 1-2 extra minutes.

Big, chewy, packed with flavor and totally addictive – these peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies have everything you could want! And if you’re looking for even more delicious cookies, then be sure to try:

Cowboy Cookies – these thick and chewy cookies are filled with oats, coconut, chopped nuts AND chocolate chips
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies – because you can’t go wrong with a classic
Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Stack of peanut butter cookies made with oats and chocolate chips

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