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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are everything you love about a peanut butter cookie and a gooey chocolate chip cookie, baked into one easy pan. I whipped these up on a busy weeknight when Maddie begged for cookies but I had zero patience for scooping dough, and they vanished off the cooling rack in minutes. If you love our fudgy brownies, these thick, chewy bars are your next obsession.
Everything mixes in one bowl and bakes in a single 9×13 pan, so you get bakery-style bars with barely any cleanup.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 30 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 40 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 15 bars
- ⚡ Calories: 368kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Rich, sweet, and loaded with peanut butter and chocolate
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, on par with our Easter cookie bars
Quick Answer
Cream softened butter with creamy peanut butter, then mix in granulated and brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt, then stir in peanut butter chips and chocolate chips. Press the dough into a parchment-lined 9×13 pan and bake at 375F for 25 to 30 minutes until golden. Cool completely, then lift out and cut into bars.
Jump to:
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars Quick Look
- Quick Answer
- Why This Recipe Works
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Key Ingredients
- Variations and Substitutions
- How to Make Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Serving Ideas and Suggestions
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars FAQs
- Other Recommended Dessert Bar Recipes
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Peanut butter and butter base. Creaming both gives the bars a rich, tender, melt-in-your-mouth peanut butter flavor in every bite.
- Two kinds of chips. Peanut butter chips and chocolate chips double down on that classic chocolate-and-peanut-butter combo.
- Brown sugar for chew. Brown sugar adds moisture and a soft, chewy texture instead of a dry, cakey bar.
- One bowl, one pan. Everything mixes in one bowl and bakes in a 9×13, so there is no scooping or baking in batches.
- Pulled at golden brown. Baking just until a toothpick comes out clean keeps the centers soft and fudgy.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- They deliver that beloved peanut butter and chocolate combo in an easy, no-fuss bar.
- One bowl and a 9×13 pan mean minimal cleanup and no scooping individual cookies.
- They are a guaranteed potluck hit, right next to our peanut butter buckeyes.
Key Ingredients
Simple pantry staples come together for these rich cookie bars. Full amounts are in the recipe card below.
- Creamy peanut butter: the star, giving the bars their rich, nutty flavor and soft texture. A no-stir brand works best.
- Peanut butter chips and chocolate chips: a double dose of chips for pockets of melty chocolate and extra peanut butter in every bite.
- Brown sugar: adds moisture and a chewy, soft texture along with a hint of caramel flavor.
- Butter: softened and creamed with the peanut butter for a tender, rich crumb.
- All-purpose flour: the structure that holds these thick bars together.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
These bars are easy to customize.
- Use crunchy peanut butter for a little texture, or swap in almond or sunflower butter.
- Swap the peanut butter chips for white chocolate, butterscotch, or extra chocolate chips.
- Add a handful of chopped peanuts or pretzels for crunch.
- Drizzle the cooled bars with melted chocolate or peanut butter for a bakery finish.
- Love brownies too? Try our fudgy white chocolate brownies for another easy pan dessert.
How to Make Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Cream the softened butter and peanut butter together until smooth.
- Add the granulated and brown sugar and mix until combined.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, then mix in the vanilla.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and salt a little at a time until fully combined.
- Stir in the peanut butter chips and chocolate chips until just combined.
- Press the dough into a parchment-lined 9×13 pan and bake at 375F for 25 to 30 minutes until golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool, lift out, and cut into bars.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Do not overbake. Pull the bars when a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs; they firm up as they cool.
- Line the pan with parchment so you can lift the whole slab out and cut clean bars.
- Soften the butter fully so it creams smoothly with the peanut butter.
- Use room-temperature eggs for a batter that comes together evenly.
- Cool completely before cutting for neat bars that do not crumble.
- Press the dough evenly into the pan so the bars bake at the same rate.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
These Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are perfect for potlucks, bake sales, and lunchboxes since they travel and cut so easily. Stack them on a dessert tray with our Butterfinger brownies for a chocolate-and-peanut-butter lover’s dream.
Warm a bar for a few seconds in the microwave and top it with a scoop of vanilla or our cookie dough ice cream for an easy sundae. A cold glass of milk is a must for dunking.
They keep well for days, so they are great for making ahead. Pair them with our fudgy brownies when you need a crowd-pleasing dessert spread that comes together fast.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars FAQs
These bars are soft, thick, and chewy with rich peanut butter flavor and pockets of melty chocolate and peanut butter chips. They taste like a cross between a peanut butter cookie and a blondie, with a tender center and lightly golden edges.
Crunchy peanut butter works great and adds a little texture. We do not recommend leaving the peanut butter out entirely since it is the main flavor, but you could swap in almond or sunflower butter for a different nutty twist.
Stir in chopped peanuts, pretzels, or a swirl of extra peanut butter before baking. You can also press a few extra chocolate chips on top right after they come out of the oven for a pretty, bakery-style finish.
Swap the peanut butter chips for white chocolate, butterscotch, or extra chocolate chips. You can use all brown sugar for a chewier bar, or replace half the butter with shortening for an even softer texture.
Store the bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days. Layer them with parchment so they do not stick together. They also freeze well for up to three months; just thaw at room temperature before serving.
Yes. Double the ingredients and bake in two 9×13 pans, or use a larger sheet pan and add a few minutes to the bake time. Keep an eye on the center and pull them when a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs.
Craving more easy pan desserts? Try our chocolate brownies with strawberry frosting next for a fun, fruity twist.
For a fun party dessert, our zebra cake looks bakery-made but starts with an easy cake mix.
Love peanut butter desserts? Our lunch lady peanut butter bars have a chewy PB base and fudgy chocolate frosting.
For a fun cookie batch, our cookies and cream cookies deliver rich chocolate and creamy cookies and cream flavor.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups peanut butter chips
- 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer on low speed with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, cream the butter with the peanut butter until smooth.½ cup unsalted butter, ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- Add the granulated and brown sugar to the bowl and stir it in until combined.¾ cup granulated sugar, ¾ cup light brown sugar
- Add the eggs one at a time until fully mixed in along with the vanilla.2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Next, add the dry ingredients a little at a time to the wet ingredients until fully mixed in.
- Lastly, add the peanut butter chips and chocolate chips, stir until just combined.1 ½ cups peanut butter chips, 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Press the cookie dough into the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and they are golden brown.
- Let cool completely then lift the bars out using the parchment paper to help. Cut into bars and serve.
Notes
- You can halve this recipe if you’d like and bake in a 9×9-inch pan.
- Use any of your favorite chocolate chips, we use semi-sweet but milk and dark chocolate will also work.
- Other mix-ins can be added, see above for ideas.
- You can use crunchy peanut butter instead of creamy if you’d like.
- If you want less of a peanut butter flavor you can leave it out of the batter, see above on how to replace it.
- We have not tested with natural peanut butter so I do not know the outcome of using that.
- These can be frozen, see above on how to do that.
Nutrition
Love This Recipe?
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I love different recipes always like to try maybe someone would like to try my recipe it is peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips added to them my good freind loves use any peanut butter recipe and add chocolate chips to them or my swirl brownie receipt
Definitely not stupid, I should have worded it better. I bought the bags where the peanut butter and chocolate chips are already mixed together. So you can just do like I did and buy those pre-mixed bags or get one peanut butter bag and one chocolate chip bag. Hope that makes sense!
Quick question, this may sound stupid but is it two bags of chocolate chips and peanut butter chips or one bag of each mixed together?
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