These cookies bring two favorite flavors together without making you choose one. A rich peanut butter cookie dough and a chocolate cookie dough are swirled together, so every bite has streaks of both. They’re soft, chewy, and big enough to feel like a real treat.
Quick facts
- Prep time: 20 minutes
- Bake time: 11 minutes
- Makes: 24 large cookies
- Cuisine: American, Canadian
Equipment
- Large and medium mixing bowls
- Baking sheets
- Measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
- 1 C salted butter at room temperature
- 1 C brown sugar
- 3/4 C white sugar
- 1 C smooth peanut butter
- 2 large eggs
- 1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 & 1/2 C all purpose flour, spooned and levelled
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
How to Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cookies
Part 1: Make the Base Dough
1. Preheat and prep. Heat the oven to 350°F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Cream the butter and sugars. In a large bowl, beat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy. This usually takes about 5 minutes.
3. Add the peanut butter. Mix in the peanut butter until it’s fully incorporated into the creamed mixture.
4. Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix these in until smooth.
5. Combine the dry ingredients. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
6. Bring the dough together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix just until no streaks of flour remain.
Part 2: Split and Add Cocoa
7. Divide the dough. Split the dough in half, setting one half aside.
8. Make the chocolate half. Add the cocoa powder to the remaining half of the dough and mix until it’s fully combined and evenly colored.
Part 3: Swirl the Doughs
9. Combine the two doughs. Tear off pieces of the peanut butter dough and the chocolate dough and press them together into one large ball. Tear this ball apart a few more times, squishing it back together each time, to build a marbled pattern without fully blending the two colors together.
Part 4: Shape and Bake
10. Scoop the dough. Portion the swirled dough into 3-tablespoon balls and place them on the lined baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
11. Bake. Bake for 11 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown. The cookies will look puffed up when they come out, but they’ll flatten as they cool.
12. Cool. Let the cookies cool completely to room temperature on the pan before moving them.
Tips for the Best Swirl Cookies
Measure the flour correctly. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup, then level off the excess with a knife. Scooping directly from the bag packs the flour down and can add more than the recipe needs, which leads to dry cookies.
Don’t overmix after adding the flour. Stop as soon as the streaks disappear, so the cookies stay soft and chewy.
Don’t overwork the swirl. Tearing and pressing the two doughs together just a few times keeps the marbling distinct. Too much mixing will blend the colors into one.
Let them cool fully on the pan. These cookies are soft right out of the oven and need time on the baking sheet to set before you move them.