Reeses Pieces Chocolate Chip Cookies
These Reese's Pieces chocolate chip cookies are everything I want in a cookie: soft in the middle, chewy at the edges, and stuffed with peanut butter candy and melty chocolate chips. Chocolate and peanut butter is my desert island flavor combo, and cramming both into one thick, bakery-style cookie feels a little like cheating in the best way.
I have been making these for years, and they are the ones that get requested again and again. The base is a brown butter sugar chocolate chip dough built for chew, and those crackly little candies give every bite that unmistakable Reese's Pieces snap. If you love the chocolate and peanut butter pairing, my peanut butter blossom cookies are the classic cousin worth keeping in your back pocket.
About This Recipe
These Reese's Pieces chocolate chip cookies are soft, thick drop cookies made with a melted-butter dough, brown and white sugar, an extra egg yolk, and a touch of cornstarch for tenderness. The dough needs to chill for at least 2 hours, which is the key step for thick cookies that do not spread thin. The recipe makes about 2 to 2.5 dozen and bakes low and slow at 325°F for roughly 11 minutes.
Recipe Snapshot
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 11 minutes per batch
Total Time: About 2 hours 30 minutes, including chilling
Servings: About 2 1/2 dozen cookies
Difficulty: Easy
Perfect For: Halloween parties, bake sales, cookie trays, after-school treats, chocolate and peanut butter cravings
Main Ingredients: Flour, butter, brown sugar, Reese's Pieces, semisweet chocolate chips
Why You'll Love These Reese's Pieces Cookies
Why This Recipe Works
Melted butter gives this cookie dough a different texture than a traditional creamed butter cookie. It mixes easily with the brown and granulated sugars and creates a rich dough with plenty of moisture. Brown sugar helps keep the centers soft while granulated sugar contributes to those lightly set edges.
Using one whole egg plus an additional egg yolk is another important part of the texture. The extra yolk adds richness without introducing as much additional egg white, which helps keep the cookies tender and chewy instead of cakey.
Cornstarch works alongside the flour and baking soda to give the cookies a softer bite. There isn't any baking powder in this recipe. The baking soda provides the leavening, while the cornstarch helps create that tender cookie texture.
Finally, chilling matters because we're starting with melted butter. Giving the dough at least 2 hours in the refrigerator lets the fat firm back up before the cookies hit the oven. That helps control spreading and gives you thicker cookies with soft centers instead of flat little Reese's Pieces pancakes.
The Ingredient Breakdown
Top Tip for a “Fabulous” Finish
Pull these while the centers still look underdone. When the edges are set and lightly golden but the middles look soft and a little glossy, they are done, even if they seem too soft to be ready. They keep cooking on the hot sheet for those 7 to 10 minutes of resting, and that carryover is what gives you a set edge with a gooey, chewy center. Wait for the center to look fully baked and you have already gone too far.
How to Make Reese's Pieces Chocolate Chip Cookies
Step 1: Whisk the dry ingredients
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt until evenly combined. You want no streaks of any one ingredient, so give it a good 20 seconds. This is your chance to distribute the leavening evenly, which means every cookie bakes up the same.
Step 2: Mix the wet ingredients
In a large bowl, beat the melted butter with both sugars until the mixture looks smooth and glossy and pulls together like wet sand. Add the whole egg, the extra yolk, and the vanilla, and beat until it turns silky and slightly lighter in color. That shift in look tells you it is well combined.
Step 3: Combine, then fold in the good stuff
Add the dry ingredients to the wet in a couple of additions, mixing just until the flour disappears. Stop the second you no longer see white streaks, because overmixing here is what makes cookies tough. Fold in the Reese's Pieces and chocolate chips by hand so you do not overwork the dough.
Step 4: Chill the dough
Scrape the dough onto plastic wrap or waxed paper, roll it into a tight log, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. The dough should feel firm and cold when you press it, not soft. This rest firms the butter and lets the flour hydrate, which deepens the flavor.
Step 5: Scoop and bake
Preheat the oven to 325°F and line a baking sheet with parchment. Scoop the dough in 1 to 2 tablespoon portions, spacing them at least an inch apart. Bake for about 11 minutes, until the edges are set and lightly browned. Do not use a hot baking sheet, since that makes them spread.
Step 6: Rest, then cool
Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 7 to 10 minutes before moving them. They will look almost too soft at first, then firm into that perfect chewy texture as they sit. Transfer to a rack to finish cooling, then store them in an airtight container.
Fun Variations (Make It Your Own)
Peanut butter chips: swap the chocolate chips for peanut butter chips to double down on that flavor, like in my easy peanut butter cookies.
Add peanut butter cups: Fold in about 1/4 cup of chopped peanut butter cups for even more peanut butter flavor.
Try milk chocolate: If you prefer a sweeter chocolate flavor, swap the semisweet chips for milk chocolate chips.
Make them extra chocolatey: Add a mixture of semisweet and dark chocolate chips.
Swap the candy: M&M's work well when you want the same candy-cookie idea without the peanut butter.
Add a finishing salt: A very light sprinkle of flaky salt on the warm cookies is delicious if you enjoy that sweet-and-salty combination.
Storage & Make-Ahead
Room temperature: store cooled cookies in an airtight container for up to a week. Tuck a slice of sandwich bread in the container and it keeps them soft even longer.
Freezer (baked): freeze fully cooled cookies in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or warm briefly for that fresh-baked feel.
Freezer (dough): this is my favorite move. Freeze dough balls or a wrapped log for up to 3 months. Flash-freeze the balls on a tray first, then bag them so they do not stick together.
Make-ahead: bake straight from frozen, adding a minute or two to the time. Fresh cookies on demand with zero morning-of effort.
More Cookie Recipes You'll Love
If these disappear as fast as they do in my house, you are going to need backup.
- For deep chocolate, my easy double chocolate cookies are rich and fudgy.
- And these cosmic brownie cookies are a nostalgic throwback with rainbow chips.
- For more peanut butter, my peanut butter and jelly cookie sandwiches are a fun twist.
- If you are baking for fall, these nutter butter acorns are the cutest little treats on the table.
Give These Cookies a Try
These Reese's Pieces chocolate chip cookies are the definition of a crowd-pleaser: thick, soft, and loaded with the chocolate-and-peanut-butter combo everybody loves. They are easy enough for a weeknight bake and impressive enough for a cookie tray, and they store beautifully, so there is really no reason not to make a batch.
If you bake these, I would love to hear how they turned out. Leave a comment and a star rating below, and tell me your favorite mix-in. Come up with a fun variation? Share it so the rest of us can try it too.
Reeses Pieces Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup 1 and ½ stick unsalted butter, melted
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs divided (1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup Reese’s Pieces candy regular size
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt.
- In a mixing bowl, beat together melted butter and sugars until completely combined. Add whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Beat until blended.
- Slowly add dry ingredients into wet ingredients, beating in between additions.
- Fold in candy and chocolate chips.
- Transfer to waxed paper or plastic wrap and roll tightly. Refrigerate for 2 hours to overnight.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper unless you are using a baking stone (as pictured). Scoop dough into 1 to 2 tablespoon increments, depending on the size cookie you desire. Space cookies at least 1 inch apart.
- Bake cookies for about 11 minutes or until the edges are set and lightly brown. Remove from oven while still soft and allow to rest on the baking sheet for 7 to 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Once cool, transfer to an airtight container and save up to 1 week.
Nutrition
Notes
Pro Tips for the Best Cookies
- Chill is the whole game: with melted butter, skipping the fridge means flat cookies. Give it the full 2 hours minimum.
- Cold dough on a cool sheet: never scoop onto a warm pan straight from the oven, or the dough starts melting before it bakes.
- Underbake on purpose: pull them looking slightly underdone. The resting time on the sheet finishes the job.
- Save some candy for the top: press a few extra Reese's Pieces and chips onto each dough ball before baking so they look bakery-perfect.
- A pinch of flaky salt: a tiny sprinkle right out of the oven makes the peanut butter and chocolate pop.
- Restaurant habit, scoop them uniform: a cookie scoop keeps every cookie the same size so they bake evenly and look sharp on a tray.
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!FAQs: Cookie Questions, Answered
Why did my cookies come out flat?
The most common cause is warm dough or warm butter. Since this recipe uses melted butter, chilling the dough for the full 2 hours is what keeps them from spreading thin. A hot baking sheet does it too, so always scoop onto a cool pan. If a batch spreads, pop the remaining dough back in the fridge before baking the rest.
Why are my cookies dry or too puffy?
Almost always too much flour. Scooping the measuring cup directly into the bag packs in extra flour, which dries them out and makes them cakey. Spoon the flour into the cup and level it off, or weigh it. Overbaking is the other culprit, so pull them while the centers still look soft.
Do I really have to chill the dough?
Yes, for this recipe it is essential. The melted butter needs time to firm back up, or the cookies will spread into flat puddles in the oven. Chilling also lets the flour hydrate and deepens the flavor, so 2 hours minimum makes a real difference. Overnight is even better.
Can I use regular Reese's Pieces or the baking size?
Both work great. Regular Reese's Pieces give you that classic candy crunch, while the smaller baking pieces distribute more evenly through the dough. Use whatever you have on hand, and feel free to press a few extra on top before baking for looks.
Can I freeze the cookie dough?
Absolutely, and it is a great idea. Roll the dough into balls, flash-freeze them on a tray until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Bake straight from frozen, just adding a minute or two to the bake time.
How do I keep these cookies soft all week?
Store them in an airtight container at room temperature and add a slice of sandwich bread to the container. The cookies pull moisture from the bread and stay soft and chewy for days. Keep them sealed and away from heat.
Can I make them without chocolate chips?
Definitely. Leave out the chips and add an extra third of a cup of Reese's Pieces for an all-candy cookie. You can also swap in peanut butter chips or a mix of candies to suit your crowd.
