Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
48 comments » 
I am dumbfounded as to how these cookie bars do not yet have their own little cozy corner of this site. After the chunky pecan pie bars, these cookie bars were the second baked good that I made over and over and over again in high school and beyond. I came across a recipe for chocolate chip cookie bars at one point, and then decided that they needed peanut butter and some peanut butter chips for good measure. Like most things in the kitchen, peanut butter turns regular chocolate chip cookie bars into an amazing concoction that are completely addicting.
I made these a lot in high school, and once college rolled around I went to a school in the same city that I lived, while two of my best friends went off to a school a couple of hours away. While I lived on campus at school, I was only 25 minutes or so away from home, so I made it home more often than my friends did. I took the opportunity to bake these up every time I was home, and then I would package them up and send them off to my friends. I still remember standing in the kitchen and packing them up in shoe boxes to mail off.
They always made my friends smile – they got a taste of home, and I got the satisfaction of baking and showing my friends I cared. I highly recommend baking these and sharing them with someone you love!
One year ago: Chocolate Fudge Swirl Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Three years ago: Pain Ordinaire Careme (A Daily Loaf)
Four years ago: Italian Stuffed Peppers
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Yield: 32 bars
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 16 to 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chipsDirections:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan; set aside.
2. In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the brown sugar, peanut butter, butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until creamy and light. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Reduce speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until the flour is just incorporated. Using a rubber spatula, mix in the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips.
4. Turn out the mixture into the prepared pan and press into an even layer. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, or until the center is set. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars and store at room temperature in an airtight container.
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Peanut butter cookie bar combines so many comfortable flavors and textures for me. I think I need to share these with my kids tomorrow!
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Mmmmm, I love the idea of adding peanut butter to ordinary chocolate chip bars!
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These bars look amazing!
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The ingredients in this are great because I already have them all on hand
Cookie bars for breakfast? I think YES.
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Wow… no words!!!
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These look wonderful!
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I’m just now trying out cookie bars. Don’t know where I’ve been. Looks great!
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Wow these look amazing. I wish I could eat peanut butter, but I’m allergic to peanuts.
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You were very good to your friends. =) And popular with them, too, I’m sure. Come to think of it, my popularity in every new office has always increased exponentially when I started baking people happy. That, or a candy jar on the desk, is a great way to break the ice!
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Looks amazing! Will have to try as I am a peanut butter with Chocolate lover too! Really enjoying your blog. Glad I stumbled onto it!
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Of the different food blogs I’ve found, yours with the delicious recipes on it are the ones I print & try the most. I love it! Thanks for sharing your recipes!
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Peanut butter makes most things better!!!
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So many different ways to put peanut butter and chocolate together, and this one sounds great!
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If I didn’t just make bars last night, I would be all over this one! They look and sound amazing!
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Oh I can just imagine how wonderful these taste!
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Umm yeah..these are pretty much perfect. Peanut Butter and chocolate are a match made in heaven
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Delicious! Who doesn’t love peanut butter and chocolate together?!
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These look like the equivalent to a hug or wearing a wooly grandpa cardigan. Love!
xo
http://www.allykayler.blogspot.com
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Looks good and hopefully it will start cooling down so I can start baking more.
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Ooohhh!!! PB & Chocolate yum!
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Can you ever go wrong when you add peanut butter? Great recipe! It would bring a smile to my face too
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I’m not much of a fan of peanut butter, but these look amazing!
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Your blog is amazing. I am a huge oat fan and love the combo of oats, peanut butter and chocolate chips. Do you think I could change the recipe around so that the addition of oats would be complementary? If I reduced the flour and added some oats do you think this would turn out? Any suggestions would help. Thanks!
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Michelle on August 10th, 2011 at 2:37 pm
Hi Gretta, Yes I don’t see any reason why that wouldn’t work.
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After looking at these scrumptious bars I’m wishing that I was one of your very fortunate friends back in your schools days. How I would have jumped for joy at receiving a shoe box full of these in the mail from you.
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Oh my these look so delicious. Knocked another one out of the park. Love them. and your friends are so lucky.
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These look incredible, much like everything else you make. I can’t wait until my kitchen is done and my mixer is back in business! I’m a PB and chocolate addict as well and LOVE your use of the two together. I want to try your cream cheese/brownie recipe BUT use PB cream cheese. I figure chocolate+pb+cream cheese can’t be bad…
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sometimes you want cookies, but just don’t want to scoop and wait…bars are a perfect option! I love them and can’t wait to try these!
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MIchelle, these were amazing. I am also a notorious peanut butter + chocolate fanatic, and made these tonight (added an egg, an extra huge glob of peanut butter, and butterscotch chips to the mix). I ate half the pan. (My bf, who doesn’t eat baked goods, was incredulous.) Keep ‘em coming!
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I made this over the weekeend and they were delicious! Thanks.
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Everything I want and more, in bar form! I cannot wait to try these
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WOW! These are great!!! I’m really glad I took your suggestion and shipped them to my pregnant friend in another state otherwise I would have eaten them all! They turned out fabulous. Thanks for the great recipe and helping me share some love:)
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I agree – peanut butter and chocolate go hand in hand, so I have no doubt that these cookie bars are downright excellent =)
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Oh these look so delicious! I love peanut butter in baked good
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My favorite combo! Peanut butter and chocolate…you can’t go wrong!
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Just tried these out, and they’re delicious! They’re perfect with a tall, cold glass of milk!
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Mmm these look so delicious, I can’t wait to try them and I may even add a little candy to them. I’m sure M&Ms may just make this the absolute perfect recipe for me.
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These bars are so delicious! I made them today for lunch & our guests couldn’t stop eating them. They are rich & totally scrumptious. Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe. Just wonderful.
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Okay, come on – just made this recipe…. “Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.” – Yeah right, you think we could wait that long!!!!
Sure it comes out of the pan better once it’s cool, but it tastes so yummy hot! No willpower in this house! 
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Really yummy. I received very strict instructions to never make these again! The sandy texture, slight salt hit, and sweetness of the chocolate were wonderful together. Going into the Christmas plates this year.
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These are great!! I made them last night. I did tweak the recipe a bit. I cut down the actual amount of peanut butter and substituted white chocolate chips for the peanut butter chips. Still great. They were a hit with my nieces and nephews. None of them are big peanut butter fans. So this is why I tweaked the recipe. Either way, it was a success. Thanks!!
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Just made these and they are perfect. So chewy and packed with peanut butter flavor! I skipped the peanut butter chips and just used chocolate chips but it was still fantastic. Thanks!
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my boyfriend I just made these! So yum
xoxo from seattle
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I made these a couple weeks ago at my boyfriend’s house for his family, and they turned out really good. I ended up melting some extra chocolate and peanut butter to drizzle over the top but it was too rich. I’m making them again right now, and one tip I learned was to use natural peanut butter. To me, it gives it more of the peanut butter flavor.
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I actually made these bars today and they were kind of thick because I used a brownie pan. Yet they still came out delicious and peanut buttery lol.
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Thank you sooooooo much for this wonderfully delicious recipe!
I have searched high and low for a melt in your mouth, thick and chewy cookie bar and i hit the jackpot with your recipe! I made them for my husband and they smelled so delicious when they baking he couldnt wait for them too cool down so he could have a taste, lol This one is a winner and will be added to my recipe book along with my sweet moms homemade banana pudding, i love it!
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I made these with coconut shreds instead of PB chips and that is my favorite combo. The bars crumble easily though. Could it use another egg and a bit more sugar and flour?
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Michelle on June 13th, 2013 at 10:32 am
You can try, I haven’t done it, so I can’t tell you what the results would be. If you give it a try, let me know how it turns out!
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