Soft Chocolate Chunk Cookies

These chocolate chunk cookies hide a third of a cup of smooth peanut butter in the dough, which doesn’t read as peanut butter in the finished cookie. Instead it adds richness, extra fat, and a subtle savory note that keeps the cookies tender for days after they cool.

The lower oven temperature is the second move toward that soft chew. A slower bake gives the centers time to set without crisping the edges, which is how you get that bakery-style soft chew. Pulling the cookies at the moment the edges turn golden but the centers still look slightly underbaked seals the texture.

Real chocolate chunks (not chips) melt into ragged molten pockets instead of holding their shape, which gives the cookies a more rustic look and a more intense chocolate hit per bite. Toasted walnuts folded in last add crunch and earthy depth.

Chef Tips

• Use chunks chopped from a chocolate bar for the best melt; chips contain stabilizers that keep them from spreading into pockets.
• Toast the walnuts in a dry pan before chopping for a deeper, more concentrated nut flavor.
• Don’t skip the three-minute rest on the hot baking sheet; that’s when the centers finish cooking from residual heat.
• Underbake slightly. The cookies will look soft and pale at 15 minutes; pull them anyway. They firm up on the tray.

Variations

• Swap pecans or almonds for the walnuts for a different nut profile.
• Use half dark and half white chocolate chunks for a two-tone cookie.
• Add a teaspoon of espresso powder to the dry ingredients to deepen the chocolate without adding coffee flavor.