My grandma used to make us giant, chocolate-dipped peanut butter cookies. As a child, I thought she dipped them in fudge.

As I got older, I realized it was just melted chocolate, but my memories of these cookies have only gotten fonder over time.

I wanted to attempt to recreate her recipe but have altered it a bit to make the cookies slightly smaller and a little bit chewier.

Making These Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies

This recipe is pretty straightforward but does require an electric mixer of some sort to cream together the butter and both types of sugars.

Incorporating air into the butter helps your cookies bake up nice and fluffy! This is what gives them that wonderfully chewy texture.

I’ve made these with both my hand mixer and my stand mixer, and they’ve turned out great both ways.

Just be sure to mix the butter and sugars until the mixture becomes lighter in color. This usually takes me about 2 minutes!

Substitutions and Swaps – Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

While I love this recipe just the way it is, I know some of you might not have all these ingredients on hand!

Below are some swaps and substitutions that can be made in this recipe.

• Unsalted Butter – If you only have salted butter on hand, you can use it in place of the unsalted butter in this recipe. Just be sure to omit the salt that this recipe calls for. You can also use vegan butter in its place.
• Granulated Sugar – You can use light or dark brown sugar in place of the granulated sugar in this recipe if that’s all you have on hand. However, the cookies have a better texture using both types of sugar.
• Brown Sugar – You can use light or dark brown sugar (I prefer light in this recipe). I don’t recommend replacing the brown sugar in this recipe with additional granulated sugar.
• 1 Large Egg – You can use a flaxseed egg in place of the egg in this recipe if you have an egg allergy. This will cause the cookies to spread more, but they should still taste great.

• Peanut Butter: This recipe turns out best with thicker peanut butter (like JIF or Skippy). You can use creamy or crunchy peanut butter, or an alternative nut butter like almond or sunflower seed butter. NOTE: If you use a natural peanut butter or alternative peanut butter, the cookies will be less chewy and spread more as they bake.
• All-Purpose Flour – I haven’t tested this recipe with gluten-free flour, but it should work as long as you use a good baking blend like King Arthur’s GF flour.
• Chocolate – You can use pretty much any type of chocolate for the dip! Dark, semi-sweet, milk, or even white chocolate would all taste great. You can also use chocolate chips, baking bars, or chocolate disks.
• Vegetable Shortening or Coconut Oil – This makes the chocolate coating easier to bite into. It can be omitted if needed, but the chocolate will be a lot more firm.

How Many Cookies Does This Recipe Make?

This recipe can be used to make 12 cookies using 3 Tbsp of dough per cookie. The yield and bake time can vary based on the size of the cookies.

This recipe can be halved to make fewer cookies (use half a scrambled egg in the dough), but I don’t recommend doubling it unless you have a commercial (8 qt.) stand mixer.

The dough gets pretty sticky, and a double batch would be a lot for a hand mixer or regular stand mixer to handle.

Tips for Making the Best Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies

• Properly measure the flour by either spooning it into the cup measure and then leveling it with a knife or using a kitchen scale to measure it.
• Ingredients at room temp mix together better! Set out any cold ingredients ahead of time.
• Turn the oven on once you put the cookie dough in the fridge to chill. That way the oven will be preheated once the cookies are ready to be baked.
• Use a cookie scoop (mine fits 3 Tbsp per scoop) to make sure your cookies are uniformly sized.
• Wait to shape your cookie dough balls and roll them in sugar until the dough has chilled. They’ll be way easier to handle!
• Space your cookies about 3 inches apart before baking them. They spread a bit as they bake.
• Bake time can vary based on the size of your cookies, so keep a close eye on them and take them out just before they begin to brown.

Making These Cookies in Advance and Storing Them

Make these cookies in advance! If stored in an airtight container, they can last for up to a week at room temperature.

The cookie dough balls can also be made in advance and frozen for up to a month. When you’re ready to bake them, there’s no need to thaw the dough.

Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C and place frozen cookies on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet about 3 inches apart. Bake for 14-16 minutes.

Baked cookies can be frozen! These cookies last for up to a month if frozen in a Ziplock bag or airtight container.

Move them to the fridge the day before you plan to eat, then let them sit out at room temperature for a few hours before eating.

Let Me Know What You Think!

If you try this recipe for chocolate-dipped peanut butter cookies, I’d love to hear what you think of it! Please leave a rating and comment below.

And if you share on social media, tag me @chelsweets and use #chelsweets so I can see your delicious creations!

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If you want to take a trip down memory lane, below are the photos of my first batch of these cookies from back in 2015.