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Peanut Butter & Dulce de Leche-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

I grew up learning to bake in Massachusetts from my mother, starting when I was young enough to assist. We had a rule in our house growing up where we weren't allowed to eat sweet, processed foods. Sad, I know.
One exception to this rule included examples where we had all the required ingredients to make baked goods by ourselves, from scratch, at home. If the ingredients were there, we could bake to our hearts’ content. One of the desserts that we grew up eating all the time were chocolate chip cookies. No matter how many we made, they were always gone by the end of day two.
While I’ve made chocolate chip cookies my entire life, this past week was my first time ever creating chocolate chip cookies that were stuffed with peanut butter and dulce de leche. The end result was absolutely incredible and worth making—I hope you enjoy this recipe.

Ingredients

  • 1.25 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp Kosher salt
  • 8 Tbsp 1 stick salted butter, softened
  • ½ cup white granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 whole egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • ½ cup walnuts (roughly chopped)
  • ¼ cup dulce de leche
  • ¼ cup peanut butter
  • ¼ cup finely-chopped almonds
  • A small pinch of Maldon Sea Salt (finishing salt)

Instructions 

  • Preheat your oven to 375F (190C).
  • Line a sheet tray with parchment paper.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter, peanut butter, and sugars until light and fluffy.
  • *You can also do this by hand.
  • Mix in the whole egg, and then add the vanilla extract.
  • Gradually mix in the dry flour mixture until fully incorporated.
  • *Try to avoid over-stirring the mixture here once you have added the dry ingredients.
  • Gently stir in the chocolate chips and chopped walnuts.
  • Refrigerate the dough for at least 45 minutes.
  • *This refrigeration step makes a big difference!
  • Drop the cookie dough using a large spoon in heaping tablespoons onto the parchment paper on a baking sheet, spaced about 3 inches apart.
  • Use your fingers to press down into the center of each cookie dough ball, leaving the sides of the cookie dough higher than the center portion.
  • Drop a teaspoon of dulce de leche and a teaspoon of peanut butter into the center of each cookie dough ball.
  • Top the dulce de leche and peanut butter with some of the finely-crushed almonds.
  • Create another cookie dough ball, and press it into a disk.
  • *This will serve as the “lid” for your stuffed cookie.
  • Place the cookie dough disk on top of the filled cookie dough base you created earlier, and gently press to seal the edges.
  • Sprinkle a few pieces of Maldon Sea Salt on the top of each cookie before baking.
  • Bake the cookies at roughly 375F (190C) for about 12-14 minutes, or until cookies have baked through and are golden brown in color.
  • Allow the cookies to cool at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving.

Notes

You can make the cookie dough a day in advance of forming and filling the stuffed chocolate chip cookies.