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.
If you love these cookies but don’t have oats, try these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies instead. If you love these cookies but need a gluten free dessert recipe, try these flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies or flourless monster cookies instead. We’ve got all the bases covered!
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 (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) 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.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- 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 recipe for flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies 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.
These were some of the best cookies I’ve ever made. Follow chilling and peanut butter suggestions. I didn’t have walnuts so I subbed in raisins (our house loves them) and damn were these a meal in themselves!
I have made these so many times and THEY ARE THE BEST!!! Especially with bittersweet chocolate! But I have a question for you and your team, Sally! Can I use some cocoa powder in place of the flour to make these double chocolate pb oatmeal? And would I use the ratio in your regular Double Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe? Thank you!!! I’m also totally cool with experimenting!! Nothing chocolate and PB is EVER bad! 🙂
Hi Kelly, we haven’t tested cocoa powder in this dough but would love to hear how it goes if you do! So glad you love them.
Trina – SO. HOLY COW. I added black cocoa powder based on the ratio in Sally’s Double Chocolate Chip cookies. And…..Wow. If you love chocolate and peanut butter, these cookies are already SO good. But now they are SUPER chocolatey on top of it. I halved the recipe, and used 30g cocoa/64 g flour. I also chopped up 85% cocoa chocolate bars. I did reduce the sugar a little bit: for the 1/2 recipe, I used 75g of granulated sugar and 35g brown sugar. I baked them for about 10 minutes at 350. I made them a little smaller than the recipe calls for. They totally hit the chocolate-chocolatey PB vibe!! Thank you so much for your quick response to my first question. SBA cookies never fail!
My family has been making these cookies since the beginning of time. We like to add butterscotch chips to the mix alongside the chocolate chips. Puts them over the top!
Can I substitute turbinado sugar for the granulated sugar?
Hi Roslyn, we don’t recommend that swap here.
I do not have salted Butter, Can I add salted butter and take out the salt or just add less? What do you recommend?
Hi Sarah, if using salted butter, reduce the added salt to 1/2 teaspoon.
I made these for the first time today. They are absolutely perfect! The oatmeal adds perfect texture without becoming an overwhelming flavor component, the peanut butter elevates it from your basic chocolate chip cookie recipe. All of the flavors work together to create what my husband deemed “my new favorite cookie.” If you need to add a new cookie to your baking – this is the one!
OH MY GOODNESS GOOD!!! – and so easy. THANKS SO VERY MUCH! I love your recipes.
Hi Sally and her baking team. I just made these cookies, but I made without chocolate chips. I just want a peanut butter oatmeal cookie. I added an extra 1/2 cup oatmeal. They came out flat. What do I need to to make come out thicker. They are certainly tasty, just kinda flat. Thank you for your reply in advance.
Hi Lorraine, happy to help. Here are our best tips for preventing cookies from spreading!
Thank you Trina, for the tips. I think my butter was too warm and I think I will also try re-chilling them before I bake them. Should I have added the extra oats?
The extra oats may help keep the cookies thicker without the chocolate chips, but let us know what you try either way!
I forgot to add 5 stars also!
These are the best cookies I have ever made! They are so delicious!
Forgot to add, 5 stars
These cookies are delicious! LOTS of peanut butter flavor, and good texture. I reduced chocolate chips to 2 cups and there were still plenty. Also used natural pb because that’s all I had and it worked great. And reduced regular sugar to 3/4 cup. Still plenty sweet. Will hang onto this recipe and make again!
This is best peanut butter cookie recipe ever. I have tried so many but I love the combination with the oats. My number one cookie recipe. All your recipes are excellent Thanks.
My favorite cookie ever even my nieces and nephews ask for these cookies. I’ve played with cooking these in my 8qt air fryer and they are even more delicious. When I make a batch I portion out my dough into pucks and freeze them solid. Preheat my fryer to 330 degrees Fahrenheit, place parchment paper down on the rack, and bake for 15 minutes. At 330F. They’re crispy on the outside and edges and soft and chewy on the inside. Just perfect for my taste. I always keep a batch in my freezer for those emergency cookie cravings. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
These cookies are one of my most requested. I love to bake and give lots away. I worry about those with peanut allergies, so the ONLY change I make is adding a few finely chopped peanuts to the top of the cookie before I bake it. That way, if my peanut warning doesn’t get passed along, those with allergies should see that there are peanuts in the cookie. This is one of my favorite sites to get recipes. Thank you!!!
Hi Stardance, chunky peanut butter is a little drier and may dry out the cookie dough a bit, but it will work in a pinch!
Can you spread in a 9 x 13 pan instead of individual cookies?
Yes, absolutely! We’re unsure of the best bake time.
These are the best cookies. Friends and family love them. Very easy to make.
This is bar far THE BEST peanut butter cookie recipe!! My husband and I LOVE IT!! We even love it more then the oatmeal chocolate cookie…and I loved it!! In Germany we don’t have Jif or Skippy.. but happy enough to have at least peanut butter 🙂 I made this batch with white chocolate chips and it was just perfect 🙂
This recipe came out perfectly. I followed the recipe exactly. This is a delicious cookie!! It is so good, you need to be careful not to over indulge.
I LOVE this recipe! This will be my all-time favorite peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies 🙂
I just finished making this recipe and a bit delicious delicious I also substitute if a dog chock with chips conce. That’s what I had and I didn’t I used dark chocolate chips instead of semi sweet cause that’s all I had and I didn’t have enough butter so I used a 1/2 a cup of butter, flavor crystal, and a 1/2 a cup of butter, and they’re fabulous deliciyes. I’m sure they’ll be even better with all bother, but I didn’t have any. Thank you for the recipe. Cause I was looking 42 make a recipe four I thought oh maybe I should make peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and then I google and I found yours and a few others and I looked at the others and I looked at yellows and I really liked it so i’m very happy, thank you
Absolutely delicious!! Did not change anything. Turned out perfect.
These may have just moved to my number 1 favorite cookie of Sally’s. That’s BIG, as I love all of her cookie recipes. I’m not usually a big peanut butter fan, but these were INCREDIBLE. The oatmeal gives them the best texture. And it made so many cookies! I want them again right now!!
Peanut butter and chocolate in an easy to make oatmeal cookie! Delicious!
I’m making these now first batch came out perfect, thanks for sharing so delicious
I started making this cookie to get more protein in my picky eating child! She loves this recipe and we make batches for her to snack on days she has a lot of physical activities. Do you happen to have nutritional info on these? I’m curious how many grams of protein these have.
Hi Liz! So glad your daughter enjoys these. 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
Thanks for this yummy recipe. Can I please use coconut oil instead of butter? And how much should I use? I also would like to know how many calories are there in each cookie. Thanks so much
Hi Josephine, butter is best here. You could try solid coconut oil (so that you can cream it together with the sugars), but the taste and texture will likely be a bit different. Use the same amount. 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
I made 36 of the cookies with my large cookie scoop. I decided to try using my mini muffin pan for some and used my small scoop. (I do this with other cookie recipes and brownie recipes.) I won’t do that again, as the ones in the mini muffin pan were rather “squishy” even after sitting on the cooling rack for a while. They will probably firm up after a while in the refrigerator. But, just in case you were thinking about trying this . . . I’m not recommending it. Stick to Sally’s instructions.
Quick question: Has anyone attempted to roll the dough into logs (in wax paper) prior to putting in refrigerator, so all you have to do is slice it and place on cookie sheet? (Like the cookie dough you can buy at the market)
Hi G, that should work, but the cookies will be a bit flatter that way. Let us know if you try it!