If there’s a flavor combination in baking I could never get bored of it’s got to be chocolate and peanut butter! These dark chocolate peanut butter swirl cookies will surely satisfy your cookie craving. A fudgy soft baked cookie marbled with a peanut butter spread…beautiful to look at and delicious to eat!
MAKING THE PEANUT BUTTER SWIRL SPREAD
When I first started testing this recipe I tested it two ways. First I just used the peanut butter straight from the jar and swirled that into the cookies. The second way was to make this sweetened slightly sturdier spread with powdered sugar, a little milk, and some cinnamon…yes cinnamon!
After baking both ways the peanut butter only version was too gooey and sticky and the spread version was just right! By making the spread a little thicker it can hold up well to the heat of baking. You’ll get all the great flavor without a sticky mess. And that cinnamon addition? That really elevates the flavor of the peanut butter even more and helps balance some of the extra sugars in the cookies and powdered sugar.
Just mix together these ingredients, then set aside until you’re at the step to finish the cookie dough:
- Smooth peanut butter (whatever brand you normally buy)
- Powdered sugar
- Milk
- Cinnamon
- Salt
The cookies come together in a few basic steps.
First. Combine the ingredients to make the peanut butter spread then set aside.
Second. Cream the butter with the sugars, egg, and vanilla.
Third. Mix the flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.
Fourth. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, adding in the dark chocolate, then lastly adding the peanut butter swirls.
Fifth. Chill the dough for 30 minutes.
Sixth. Bake and eat!
For flatter cookies bake them directly on a dark non-stick baking sheet. But for slightly taller cookies line the baking sheet first with some parchment paper then bake! The centers stay super soft baked, almost fudge brownie-like.
I’m bummed I made these many weeks ago because staring at these pictures now is making me crave one of these so bad!
For more cookie inspiration check out my Cookies category! My person favorites that are on repeat in my kitchen:
Hot cocoa cookies
S’mores cookies
Strawberry dark chocolate cookies
Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cookies
The combination of the best flavors: dark chocolate and peanut butter! These are soft and fudgy cookies loaded with chunks of dark chocolate and swirled with a sweetened peanut butter spread.
- Prep Time: 50 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
1 stick of salted butter, softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup dark cocoa powder
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 bar dark chocolate chopped (I use a bar that’s 72% cacao or you can use 3/4 cup dark chocolate morsels)
For the peanut butter swirl
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
1. Make the peanut butter spread but mixing together the peanut butter, powdered sugar, milk, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl cream the softened butter with the white and brown sugars. Beat just enough so the sugars have blended into the butter. Add the egg and vanilla and beat again for about 30 seconds to incorporate.
3. In another bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda.
4. Add half of the dry ingredients into the wet and stir. Pour in the chopped dark chocolate and stir to evenly blend throughout the dough. Add in the remaining dry ingredients. If there is excess dry mix you can use your hands to gently blend into the dough. Dollop the peanut butter spread overtop the cookie dough and use a large spoon to gently chop and fold it to create a beautiful swirled marbled appearance.
5. Chill the dough for 30 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Far taller cookies, line the baking sheet with parchment paper first!
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