I love the Levain Bakery Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies even more than their regular chocolate chip, and over the years I’ve tried making Levain copycats at home. There are pictures to prove it!
My favorite are the ones made with Hershey’s Dark. For some reason it goes very well with the Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips. But I've tried with Guittard Cocoa Rouge, Valrhona Dutch, Hershey's Natural and Ghirardelli, and the Hershey's Dark once win every time.
I also like adding mini peanut butter cups and spooning melted chocolate over the cookies for a slightly more dramatic effect.
Since I first started making my own peanut butter chip cookies, many new variations have popped up all over the Internet with people doing their own cool experiments like using part egg yolks, part brown sugar, adding a bit of corn syrup, using a bit of cornstarch. You name it, I’ve tried it. At the end of the day, I just wanted to clean up this post and settle on a good basic slightly Levain-like but definitely not a clone, dark chocolate cookie with peanut butter chips. This is the one I’m sticking with. It’s pretty straight forward and not too heavy, not too dry, not too rich, but just right and perfect for adorning with more chocolate and colorful peanut butter candies.
Recipe
Giant Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Levain Copycats
Ingredients
- 2 cups unsifted unbleached AP flour 280 grams, it’s best to weigh
- ½ cup Hershey’s Dark unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt Morton Kosher
- 2 sticks 228 grams unsalted butter, cool room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar 185 grams
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar 100 grams
- 2 large eggs 100 grams – our large eggs are on the smaller side
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- About 2 cups peanut butter chips
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt, breaking up the cocoa powder so there are no clumps.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attached, beat the cool butter until creamy, then add sugars on medium speed for about 3 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl often.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating one low speed after each egg is added. Beat in vanilla.
- Add the flour mixture and stir until fully blended, then add the peanut butter chips (or use an assortment of peanut butter and chocolate.
- Using a large cookie scoop or about a quarter cup measure, scoop up big balls of dough and arrange them on a plate lined with plastic wrap. Chill the dough balls for several hours or overnight. A long chill will give you a thicker cookie.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Arrange cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 13-15 minutes or until fully cooked. Allow them to cool before serving. Makes 16 large cookies.
Anna says
Hi Melissa,
I'm sure it would.
melissa@the hungry artist says
These look and sound so delicious. I haven't used European butter before -- would Kerrygold work? Everyone raves about their butter.
Jen @ Jen's Favorite Cookies says
Chocolate and peanut butter are a very popular combination in my family! I may just have to make these! I've never used European butter before though. Anything I should know about it?
Mackenzie@The Caramel Cookie says
My husband would love these! He loves PB&Chocolate. Thanks for the recipe!
Bronwen says
Just returned from the city and of course I had to check out Levain after reading about their amazing cookies on your blog. They lived up to the hype for me! Yum!!! I'm still nibbling on both of the chocolate varieties that I brought home. Being able to re-create them at home may be very dangerous! 🙂
Julia says
oh, im pretty sure they don't have peanut butter chips in UK ; (
They look amazing, and I love them already, even without trying them yet!
Emily says
I have to make these! They look amazing! I love Levain cookies,
d says
These look amazing. I've tried some of your other Levain copycats and can't wait to try these. Thanks!
Tracy says
Those look delicious! In my house, they probably wouldn't make it to the freezer.
Anna says
Martha, I think regular butter would work too. In all of my experimenting, I found that the European butter made the cookies more round and less likely to spread. So the cookies maybe spread a tiny bit more, but they'll still be good. You should probably chill the dough thoroughly before baking.
snooky doodle says
delicious. i live in Malta so all i have is European butter, great 🙂
Darlene says
It amazes me that the texture improves after the cookies have been frozen - how convenient!
Martha in KS says
Anna, I've never seen European butter in the grocery store - frankly I haven't looked for it. Can I use regular butter instead since I still have 2 lbs. in the freezer from Xmas? I want to make these to take to work on Tuesday. Thanks.