Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
The best Levain Bakery chocolate peanut butter chip copycat cookie recipe
I just arrived home from the Big Apple at 2:30 am New York City time and couldn't wait another minute to share this recipe with you!
These Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies will knock your socks off... I promise you!
People may think I am lying but I swear it's the truth, this cookie is dang good.
My husband and I decided to do something BIG for our daughter's 16th birthday. She's a sweet girl who is super low-maintenance, so we wanted to completely surprise her with an epic trip to New York City. And of course, the majority of the trip revolved around food. Duh, I am a food blogger for a reason!
My kids LOVE food too but my this daughter is a real health nut and chooses her sweets carefully. However, a visit to Levain Bakery was high on the list for this girl.
As we rode our bikes to the bakery and peered around the corner of 74th Street and Broadway, we saw the line was at least 50 people deep. If you've never been to Levain Bakery, you would be amazed to see how tiny the storefront is for this very popular bakery. The day we arrived, our time was limited so we couldn't brave the line. But there was always the next day and we were determined! We had to exercise some serious patience!
Monday morning we tried again and were pleasantly surprised to see a much shorter line. Hallelujah! We purchased our Chocolate Chip and Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies, which by the way cost $4 each, and sat on the bench and devoured them. I must have studied the cookies for what seemed like forever to my kids, who just wanted to take a bite of them for the very first time. I had to remind them it's all about the research!
My kids have been taught to be brutally honest about food because they are my ultimate taste testers. As they opened up their warm cookie and took a bite, they said that the cookies tasted just like mine. Oh, happy day!
Here's my original Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies if you haven't tried them yet -- Levain Bakery Copycat Chocolate Chip Cookies If you can't just hop on a plane and fly to NYC yet want to make Levain Bakery cookies at home, well then I am here to help you. Here are my Levain Bakery Copycat Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies and Levain Bakery Copycat Oatmeal Raisin Cookies .
Helping people is good. We should all help people.
So I am sharing the recipes that I have spent months tweaking in order for all of us to have fabulous Levain Bakery Cookies at home.
Let's clap our hands together!
Levain Bakery is LEGIT and no joke with their cookies. Since I had already tweaked and experimented with my own copycat version of their ever so popular Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookie, it was time to go for the chocolate. There are small things that set these apart from just any ordinary chocolate cookie and I am sharing my baking secrets with you!
This Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie is full of rich chocolate and studded with peanut butter chips to give it that prized peanut butter chocolate combination. Where are my Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie fanatics?
The fascinating thing about Levain Bakery cookies is their ability to be thick without being cakey. If you read my other Levain Bakery copycat cookie post, you will know that those cookies are my husband's favorite cookie of all time. I think the reason is that they aren't over the top sweet. They are rich and decadent without putting you into a sugar coma.
If you are a true chocoholic, you can substitute peanut butter chips for dark, semisweet or milk chocolate chunks, which will give you a true Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie copycat recipe. You are getting 2 for 1 here, people.
How to make Levain Bakery Chocolate Peanut Butter Copycat Cookies:
- Use cold butter. Now, I am not talking about throwing two cubes of cold butter into the mixer and hoping the butter will incorporate into the sugars. Nope. The key is to cut the butter with a knife into small cubes, making it easier to cream with the sugar. We want them to become one and meld together to break down the graininess of the sugar. Cream for at least 4 minutes on high until light and fluffy.
- Use good high-quality cocoa, if at all possible. Levain uses dark cocoa for these cookies. If you can find that in your grocery stores, use it! Hershey's makes a dark chocolate cocoa that would be fantastic. If you follow me at all, you know I am a huge fan of Callebaut cocoa. It's found in the bulk bin section at Winco and is very reasonable. I wish it was as cheap on Amazon as it is at Winco. Trader Joe's also makes a fabulous baking cocoa.
- Use a mix of cake flour and all-purpose flour. Why cake flour? You know how I talked about Levain being a thick cookie without tasting like a scone? When you use cake flour, it creates a more TENDER crumb on the cookie which creates a mouth-watering texture.
- Another game changer is cornstarch. It also helps to create and soft and tender cookie.
- Bake at high heat. You want to shock these Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies with high heat so they don't spread too rapidly. It helps keep their shape and make those crispy edges. These are my favorite silpats -- Silpat Brand and Amazon Basics.
Here are more famous Levain Bakery cookie recipes:
- Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Levain Bakery Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup Cold Butter cut into small cubes
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- ½ cup Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- ½ cup Dark Baking Cocoa
- 1 cup Cake Flour
- 1 ½ cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 ⅓ cup Peanut Butter Chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 410 degrees.
- In a large bowl, cream together cold butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Add cocoa, cake flour, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt and stir until combined. Stir in peanut butter chips (or can substitute chocolate chips).
- Chill dough for 10 minutes.
- Separate dough into large balls and place on lightly colored cookie sheet. Lightly press on top of dough to smooth out. They are bigger than you think! You will fit 4 cookies on one large cookie sheet. The dough makes 8 extra large cookies.
- Bake for 8-11 minutes or until golden brown on the top. Let them rest for at least 10 minutes to set.
Video
When I arrived home from New York City, I pulled these Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies out of the freezer where I store my stash of cookies (always need to be prepared), and was able to satisfy my cookie cravings in one bite. These Levain Bakery copycat cookies are the closest to the originals that you are going to get!
Happy Baking, my friends! xoxo
Natalie
Hey, so I was reading this recipe the other day, and then I read another this morning over at https://mikebakesnyc.com/levain-bakery-dark-chocolate-peanut-butter-chip-cooki
I couldn't help but notice some of the commentary about the recipe is almost word for word the same - for example the line about 'getting 2 for 1 here people' and about using the cold butter. It looks like your blog was posted several years before theirs, but thought you might like to know there is such a similar post out there....
Modern Honey
Hi Natalie! Thank you so much for sharing with me. I have to say it has been tough to see so many people copy my Levain recipes word for word. It is crazy! My original Levain chocolate chip cookie recipe was my first recipe I ever posted and I worked on it for so long before even sharing it. I appreciate you letting me know! Have a great day! -- Melissa
Lauren
These are by far the best cookies I’ve ever made. Left them in the fridge while I did dishes and a bit longer so probably 25 minutes. 10 minutes was perfect. They’re thick, soft, decadent… my hubby and I were both SO happy with these!!
Joan
I substituted that 1/3 of peanut butter chips with mini m&m's! Absolutely, delicious!
Grace
I made these but made a lot of edits - browned the butter and infused it with 2 tbsp of medium roast coffee, used roughly chopped 70% chocolate, used all white sugar (I didn't have any brown sugar), and used all AP flour. 10/10 best cookies ever. I will be coming back to this base recipe!!
Scott
Excellent, made me feel like I was in NYC. Worked well shaping and refrigerating so we had one cookie a night.
Youngmi
Can't believe how fast and easy these were to make. My friends said they actually liked these better than Levain's. (And they're not the type to say that just to be nice. ????)
Julianne davis
These are delicious! Do you think I could mix in Oreos too? Or should I use a different base for that?
Tess
Absolutely delicious! I made a half batch, with each cookie about 50g/1.8 oz. I rolled each one loosely, with little chunks of cookie dough sorta lumped together. I baked them at 400* for 7 mins, and they were perfect!
Jay
I lived down the block from a Levain and it’s been years since I’ve been graced with the taste of fresh cookie and this recipe did the trick! I used Dutch process cocoa and it worked well. If you’re looking for a thicker cookie similar to Levain I recommend chilling the dough in the freezer for 45min to an hour rather than the recommended 8-10 (I did bake it for 12 min but it didn’t affect the “fudginess” and overall texture of the cookie). Thank your for the great recipe, can’t wait to bake my way through the other dupes!
Mary
Hi! Did you leave out the baking soda, if you used Dutch process cocoa? Or did you use both? I love baking with Dutch cocoa, but not always interchangeable in recipes.
I love baking with Ghirardelli cocoa and found one that l love. It’s ghirardelli majestic cocoa. Thanks for your time!
ML
Hi there, love these chocolate peanut butter cookies. After I made the first batch the second time I doubled the batch. I do portion them a freeze the dough, as there are only the two of us and if I baked the whole batch we would eat them all in one night. I make them full size as a treat to keep myself in check. I have been using Guittard Cocoa Rouge Dutch process cocoa, but in reading an article about natural and Dutch processed cocoa powder they suggested a natural process cocoa powder when a recipe calls for Baking Soda as your leavening agent. My next experiment will be making this with a natural cocoa powder I keep several types of cocoa powder in my pantry. But what is your take on this? I am just learning about the chemistry aspect of baking and truthfully this might be gilding the lily here as it is an already Fantastic cookie. Thoughts suggestons?
Charlotte Vadas
I don't know how to tell when a chocolate cookie is done. In one comment you said to watch them carefully. What do you watch for? One batch was over done and the next was under baked. I'm not a novice baker - just with chocolate cookies! Thanks!
Dani
Sooooooo good! Thanks for sharing the cookie secrets!
Connie
I actually forgot to add the all purpose flour to the first batch but I thought those tasted even better. Might make the whole recipe again without it!
Kristina
These turned out absolutely amazing!! I did not have cake flour so used all regular flour instead and still turned out absolutely delicious! Not scone like at all. Crispy edges and soft centers. I also even made two in my air fryer as I've been wanting to try it for cookies. 390 degrees for about 7 minutes and they turned out great too! Can't wait to try the oatmeal raisin ones next.
Ashlee
Amazing!!
Melissa
Love these! great recipe - I want to eat them all.
...then make more and eat those too.
Nadia Taylor
Hi, the recipe calls for “dark baking cocoa powder”. Do you mean dutched cocoa (which is darker) or natural (lighter but not neutralized)? I’m confused...
Carol
Can you make these into small, more traditional size cookies?
Sid
According to chefs, leaving the dough overnight in the fridge for a total of 36 hours really brings the taste even more to life... this is an incredible recipe though, thanks so much! Big fan!
Meg
My cookies don't spread at all in the oven. So when I shape them into a ball they stay like a ball instead of melting a bit and looking more like a cookie. Do you know what I am doing wrong??