Name: Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies (GF/DF)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 12 min
Ingredients: 3/4 cup sugar; 1/2 cup brown sugar; 1/4 cup dairy free butter (- I strongly recommend Miyoko’s Plant Milk Butter, European Style Salted); 1/4 cup coconut oil (- extra virgin); 2/3 cup peanut butter; 2 eggs (- large); 3 tablespoons dairy free yogurt (- plain or vanilla); 1 teaspoon vanilla; 1 1/2 cups gluten free flour blend (- I strongly recommend Authentic Foods Steve's Gluten Free Cake Flour Blend); 1/2 cup cocoa powder; 1/2 teaspoon baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder (- I recommend King Arthur Espresso Powder); 3/4 cup dairy free dark chocolate chips (- I recommend Guittard Extra Dark Chocolate Chips)

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As a food blogger, am I supposed to say that I don’t have a favorite recipe? (As in, all my recipes are so great, how could I ever choose?) Well, I can’t say that because it would be a big lie. I can totally say which is my favorite — it is THIS one. This very recipe for dark chocolate chocolate chip peanut butter cookies (which also shockingly happen to be gluten free and dairy free).

Soft but moist, dark but sweet, and just the right amount of peanut butter to go with the chocolate chips that surprise you with their gooeyness like little sleeper agents of deliciousness… oh I seriously need to eat one right now!

Secret ingredients include dairy free yogurt, coconut oil, and espresso powder, combining to make these cookies super tender and – with both cocoa powder and chocolate chips – packed with deep chocolate flavor. They are always a crowd-pleaser, probably more than any other cookie I make. I know you will love them!

Why These Gluten Free Dairy Free Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies Are My Favorite

Three reasons:

Reason #1: because of chocolate + peanut butter, of course. Greatest combo of all time? Very possibly yes.
Reason #2: because they are sooooo soft. I really don’t know how or why that is — a bit of serendipity in my kitchen. So many peanut butter cookies are completely dry and crumbly! This is not at all what I wanted, so many years ago I set about trying to find a recipe for the chocolate peanut butter cookie of my dreams. Not finding anything to my liking, I made this one up. Which brings me to…
Reason #3: pride. I made this! I can now say I’ve left the earth better than I found it.

How This Recipe Came to Be

Back in the day, before being gluten free (BBGF), I searched for a cookie recipe that combined my twin loves of chocolate and peanut butter. But my search was to no avail. All I could find were peanut butter cookies that stuck a peanut butter cup in the middle and called it a day. That was not at all what I imagined, where was the chocolate?? So, I tried and tried using different combinations of ingredients until I finally created a recipe that brought my dream of soft and moist chocolate peanut butter cookies into the real world where I could eat them!

These were the cookies I made on repeat for many years when my kids were little. So, when I went gluten and dairy free in 2017, I knew I wanted to recreate them but in GF/DF form. However, I didn’t for many years because of my many failed attempts at gluten free baking. Eventually, when I discovered my favorite gluten free flour blend (see below for more info), I was finally able to recreate these wonderful cookies. My youngest son says these are even better than my chocolate chip cookies!

Key Ingredients

Here are a few of the recipe’s most important ingredients, with tips on brand suggestions and potential substitutions. Make sure to check the recipe card for a full list of ingredients and quantities.

Gluten Free Flour Blend: I strongly recommend a gluten free flour blend from Authentic Foods called Steve’s Cake Flour Blend. There are two reasons for this: 1) The flour mixture is ground until it is “superfine,” which helps avoid the graininess you often get in gluten free baking. 2) It includes two kinds of plant fiber in lieu of xanthan gum. You can order it directly from Authentic Foods or via Amazon. If you don’t have this blend, you can try using another blend, but I can’t guarantee the results! If you use another blend, make sure it has xanthan gum or plant fiber in the mix; also, you might try the America’s Test Kitchen suggestion of resting the batter for a few minutes before you bake to allow the flour to absorb the moisture and therefore hopefully avoid the dreaded graininess that plagues so many gluten free baked goods. Also, if you don’t need to avoid gluten, you can feel free to use regular all purpose flour (remember to not overmix your batter — you don’t want to overdevelop the gluten).
Dairy Free Butter: I strongly recommend Miyoko’s Plant Milk Butter (the kind that is packaged in a block like butter, in the yellow box: Salted European Style). This dairy free butter bakes up beautifully and has the oh-so-important umami flavor present in regular butter (thanks to their use of cultured cashew milk). If you can’t eat nuts, though, you’ll need to substitute with your favorite dairy free butter — preferably one in stick form. Also, if you don’t need to avoid dairy, you can use regular butter here as well!

Coconut Oil: I love to add a bit of coconut oil to many of my baked goods — not so much that the coconut flavor comes through, but just enough to add to the flavor complexity and to increase the moisture and tenderness of the finished product. Note that you’ll want the virgin, unrefined coconut oil here; I buy mine at Costco.
Dairy Free Yogurt: I use dairy free yogurt in this recipe to add to the moisture level. To me, I haven’t found one clear winner in the dairy free yogurt category. (I don’t think any are good enough to eat plain!) But luckily, in these small quantities, we have a lot of flexibility, so feel free to use any plain or vanilla yogurt you like. And if you don’t need to avoid dairy, feel free to swap out for regular yogurt in plain or vanilla.
Espresso Powder: Whenever I’m baking with cocoa powder, you’ll find me adding espresso powder to the recipe. I like to use the version sold by the King Arthur Baking Company. This ingredient is optional, but trust me, such a good idea. Add just a smidge and all of a sudden the chocolate is so much richer, deeper, and more chocolatey! It’s a superpower, seriously. You don’t have to like coffee to like espresso powder — I am not a coffee drinker myself. I never add enough that the coffee flavor comes through, just enough to amp up the complexity and richness of the chocolate flavor. Yum!! (One important point to note: if you are making these cookies for a bunch of little kids, you should probably leave the espresso powder out, or you might be cursing my name! It does add a bit of caffeine to the cookies, which already have caffeine from the chocolate chips. So, best not to go there. Plus, kids tend to appreciate the simpler flavors anyway.)
Quality Chocolate: As I’m sure you know, not all chocolates are equal. My vote is for Guittard, all day every day. Their chocolate is vastly superior, in my opinion, to the other chocolate chip offerings. It can get expensive, so whenever I see a sale, I buy as many bags as possible. I like the red bag (Extra Dark, 63% cacao), but you could definitely conduct some fun taste tests to determine your favorite. And if you do use another version (or another brand), make sure to read the label to ensure that it’s dairy free.

Steps

Step 1: Prep

Set out the dairy free butter and eggs so that they can begin to come to room temperature. (If your kitchen is extra cold and you’re worried that your DF butter won’t warm quickly enough, you can cut it into a few pieces to speed the process.) Measure out the gluten free flour blend, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt (I use regular ol’ table salt), and espresso powder into a medium-sized bowl; stir so that everything gets fully mixed and set aside. Grab your cookie sheets and some parchment paper, and preheat your oven.

Step 2: Make the Dough

Mix the sugars, fats, and peanut butter until well mixed. (Don’t be too worried about the temperature of your fats; if the DF butter or the coconut oil is still cold and hard, just beat it for an extra minute or so to soften.) Then add in the eggs, dairy free yogurt, and a splash of vanilla. Add the dry ingredients you already measured out, and gradually incorporate until fully mixed. (Mix in short bursts at first to avoid the giant cloud of flour in your face that comes when you mix too quickly!) Once you’ve got it all mixed in, behold the glory that is your glossy, dark, chocolatey cookie batter. You will be tempted to eat it by the spoonful!

Mix in the chocolate chips and stir to make sure they’re fully distributed. Time to bake the cookies!

Step 3: Bake the Cookies

Use a medium-sized cookie scoop (size 40, or 2 tablespoon) to scoop up chocolatey mounds of goodness. Space them evenly on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, 12 to a sheet. The dough is pretty sticky, what with all the peanut butter, so I typically have to bang the scoop on the side of the cookie sheet a few times to get it to release. I tried refrigerating the dough for a bit to see if it helped, but it didn’t really. So I just keep whacking away, knowing that it is totally worth it! You can also scoop out your cookie dough using a soup spoon and use another spoon to remove the dough. Normally I love topping my cookies with some flaked salt, but I was surprised that I don’t prefer it with these cookies. They’re already perfect as they are!

Bake at 350°F for 12 minutes until the cookies are puffed up and set, but still soft. Then let them rest on a rack while still sitting on the cookie sheet for another 10 minutes. This lets them bake just a bit longer from the heat of the cookie sheet so that they firm up without getting dried out. The finished result is a cookie that stays soft and moist, even after several days. Delish!

Step 4: Serve & Enjoy

Serve up a plate of these chocolate peanut butter cookies with a tall glass of oat milk — that’s about as classic as it gets!

Step 5: Store

With the rest of your dough, you have options:

Store the Baked Cookies: Bake the rest of the cookies in separate batches. Store the extras in an airtight container. The cookies will stay soft and delicious for many days — I would guess 3 to 4 days, but it’s hard to say because they’re always eaten so quickly!
Freeze the Baked Cookies: Freeze any remaining baked cookies to make them last even longer. Pop the cooled cookies into a Ziploc freezer bag and store for a rainy (or any) day. To thaw, simply sit on your plate for a few minutes until thawed, or hurry the process by popping the cookies into the microwave and heating for 10 seconds at a time until thawed. If I am going to ship these cookies to a loved one, I will freeze them first and then ship in the frozen state!
Freeze the Dough Balls: This my preferred method — I usually bake up one cookie sheet and then freeze the rest as dough balls. Scoop the remaining dough into dough balls and place onto a smaller cookie sheet (or anything that can fit in your freezer), spacing the dough balls close together. Freeze until hard (for an hour or so), then remove from the cookie sheet and place in a plastic bag. Whenever you want fresh-baked cookies, let the frozen dough balls sit on a cookie sheet on the counter while your oven is preheating, so that they can defrost slightly. Then bake as directed, except with 1 minute added to the baking time.

Every bite is deep dark chocolate, with little bursts of melted chocolate chips, all infused with rich and nutty peanut butter. Perfection!

Looking for other yummy gluten and dairy free options? Here are a few ideas:

Gluten Free Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last but not least, if you make these Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies, be sure to leave a comment and give this recipe a rating. If you have questions, feel free to share also. I love hearing from you and am excited to hear about your kitchen adventures. Have fun, enjoy, and remember:

Joy comes when we trust ourselves — live a life only you would love!