The classic combo of peanut butter and chocolate comes together so nicely in these Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies! This is a gluten free peanut butter cookie, dipped in dark chocolate, sprinkled with pretzels and salted caramel peanuts for a little crunch. And guess what?! They have brown butter too! SO delicious!
Are these cookies gluten free?
Yes! The cookie itself is gluten free and you can easily purchase gluten free pretzels to top them with or just leave the pretzel off. These cookies have a wonderful texture and taste.
Ingredients for Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
- Butter
- Brown Sugar
- Granulated Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla Extract
- Peanut Butter
- Almond Flour
- Baking Soda
- Flaky Sea Salt
- Pretzels
- Salted Caramel Peanuts https://www.planters.com/product/00029000019454
- Dark Chocolate (for melting and dipping)
Tips for the best Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
- Refrigerate the cookie dough for at least an hour before baking, wrapped tightly
- Take the cookies out when they look slightly under baked, they will continue cooking and firm up after they come out
- Wait until the cookies are completely cool before dipping them in chocolate
- After dipping the cookies, lay them onto parchment paper to cool. You can refrigerate them on the parchment paper on a sheet pan to cool them faster
- Leave the cookie dough in balls before baking, do not press it down
- If you can’t find salted caramel peanuts, any peanut will do
- Dark chocolate or milk chocolate will work for dipping the cookies
How do you melt chocolate?
Melting chocolate can be a disaster if you don’t do it correctly. There are several methods of doing this but I choose to use a double boiler. I use either chocolate feves or a chocolate bar that has been broken into small pieces (about 1/2 inch).
Make sure that you don’t have even the slightest bit of water or moisture in the bowl that you’ll be melting the chocolate in. This can cause it to seize up. You also don’t want to get the chocolate too hot, so make sure the water on the bottom of the double boiler never boils.
Begin melting 2/3 of the chocolate in the top bowl of a double boiler, stirring constantly. Try to keep the chocolate under 115°F. Once the chocolate is smooth, remove it from the heat. Then add in the other 1/3 of chocolate and stir until melted. Then you’re ready to start dipping!
What is a double boiler?
A double boiler is an indirect method of heating. It is a pan with water in it that you heat until it’s at a slow simmer or lower. A bowl is placed on top of this pot, without it touching the water. Whatever is being heated is then placed into the bowl that is on top of the pot of water. Therefore providing a less intense, indirect heating method.
How do you make brown butter?
Brown butter is one of the best things EVER! It’s also very simple to make and it’s exactly what it sounds like it is. It really gives these Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies a little somethin’ extra!
To make brown butter you’ll want to cut the butter into chunks, about tablespoon size. Place the butter into a heavy bottomed sauce pan and cook on medium heat, stirring periodically. Once the butter is melted, start stirring a little more frequently. The butter will bubble and froth and eventually start turning slightly brown.
Make sure to watch the butter carefully at this point because once it starts turning brown it goes fairly quickly and you don’t want to burn it. Make sure you’re stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot. Once the butter is a medium to darkish brown remove it from the heat immediately and let it cool.
How to make Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
First things first, make the brown butter and let it cool for 15-20 minutes. Whisk together the brown butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and eggs until fully incorporated. Whisk in the vanilla. Mix in the peanut butter until fully mixed with a spatula. In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond flour and baking soda. Mix in the almond flour mix with a spatula just until incorporated.
Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour or overnight. When you’re ready to bake the cookies take the dough out of the fridge. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop the dough into 2oz balls and drop onto cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Sprinkle the top with demerara sugar and bake 18-20 minutes.
The dough may look a little under baked but will finish cooking after they sit. Move to a cooling rack after 2 minutes. Let the cookies cool completely.
Meanwhile, rough chop the pretzels (gluten free if you wish) and the salted caramel peanuts and set aside. Make a double boiler on the stove and place the chocolate in the bowl on top. Stir with a rubber spatula until almost all the way melted. Once it’s almost all the way melted take it off the stove and stir until fully melted.
Immediately start dipping the cooled cookies into the warm chocolate. Dip the cookie about halfway or a little less, set it on parchment paper then sprinkle the pretzels and peanuts on top of the chocolate. Let them cool completely, about 1 hour until the chocolate sets. Enjoy your Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies!
If you make this Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie recipe I would love it if you would give it a rating and/or review on the blog! Also please tag me in your Instagram photos @inkristaskitchen whenever you’re making any of my recipes. I love to see what everyone’s making!
Looking for other cookie recipes? Try my Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
Equipment
- oven
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter browned
- 1.75 cups brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs room temp
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 16 oz peanut butter
- 1 cup almond flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp demerara sugar for sprinkling before baking
Chocolate and toppings
- 4 oz dark chocolate bar, feves, chips or chunks
- ½ cup pretzels chopped, gluten free if you'd like
- ½ cup salted caramel peanuts chopped
- ½ tsp flaky sea salt
Instructions
Make the brown butter
- Cut the butter into cubes and cook it over medium heat in a sauce pot, stirring occasionally. The butter with foam and bubble eventually settling
- Once the butter begins to brown, make sure to stir it constantly until it is a medium to darkish brown. Remove from the heat immediately and let cool
Mix up the dough
- Whisk together the brown butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and eggs until fully incorporated
- Add the vanilla and whisk.
- Add in the peanut butter and mix with a rubber spatula until fully incorporated
- In a separate bowl whisk together the almond flour and baking soda. Add to the peanut butter mix and stir in with the spatula just until mixed
- Refrigerate the dough for 1-8 hours, tightly wrapped or in an airtight container
Baking the cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Scoop the dough into 2oz balls and drop onto the baking sheet, leaving them in a ball
- Sprinkle the tops with demerara sugar and bake for 18-20 minutes. The cookies will look slightly under baked when removed and will finish cooking as they sit.
- Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack after 2 minutes and let them cool completely
Dipping and topping the cookies
- Make a double boiler on the stove and melt the dark chocolate in the top bowl stirring constantly with a rubber spatula. Once the chocolate is almost completely melted, remove it from the heat and continue stirring until fully melted
- Rough chop the pretzels and peanuts
- Dip the cooled cookies one by one into the chocolate and lay them on a sheet of parchment paper. Top each dipped cookie with the chopped pretzels, peanuts and flaky sea salt
- Enjoy!
Yummy 😋
Glad you like them!