These peanut butter marshmallow cookies bake up thick and chewy with crisp edges, melty chocolate chips, and toasted marshmallow pockets bubbling right through the tops. Chilling the dough gives them a bakery-style center that stays soft long after they cool.
Peanut Butter Marshmallow Cookies With Toasted Marshmallow Pockets
These peanut butter marshmallow cookies are thick and chewy with crisp edges, melty chocolate chips, and toasted marshmallow pockets that caramelize right into the tops as they bake. Chilling the dough keeps the centers soft and gives the cookies a bakery-style texture that stays chewy instead of drying out like so many peanut butter cookies do. The mini marshmallows melt into gooey pockets throughout the dough while the chocolate chips spread through every bite instead of sinking into a few random spots.
These cookies started as a beach problem. Growing up in Southern California, s’mores were part of beach life. SoCal beaches are really, park your car, walk twenty feet, the sand, ocean and a fire pit are right there.
Oregon is park your car, evaluate the terrain, descend a staircase engineered by mountain goats, cross an unstable boulder field while carrying a cooler, chairs, blankets, sweatshirts, a beach bag, and firewood, then decide, yeah, I don’t want to do this.
There is one exception though. If you stay at the Stephanie Inn in Cannon Beach, the fire comes with a staff.
They set up the chairs, blankets, a private fire (and tend to it), wine, and s’mores right on the beach while you just show up. It’s a nice evening on the Oregon coast and a great way to drop a couple hundred bucks on s’mores. Ha. It’s also proof that I don’t really hate campfires, just the logistics of them.
At some point I looked at what it took to make s’mores on the Oregon coast and decided I needed a new strategy. And I didn’t start out trying to reinvent or replace s’mores. I reached a point where, sure, the beach experience was great, but organizing it was exhausting. It was easier to bake the campfire into the cookie than haul the campfire to the beach.
I’ve tried all the obvious shortcuts with these cookies. They all looked better in theory than they did in practice. Adding marshmallows on top once out of the oven and little squares of chocolate pressed into warm cookies. It wasn’t close enough to what I imagined. If I was going to create a s’mores experience, I wanted gooey marshmallow melted into the center like lava, chocolate in every bite, and the toasted edges that make s’mores worth the trouble in the first place.
Then peanut butter showed up, which should surprise absolutely nobody. I’ve been obsessed with peanut butter for as long as I can remember, so there was no way I was making a cookie version of a s’more without it. You’re welcome.
These are now my beach or BBQ cookies when I’m craving s’mores and lighting a fire isn’t practical. They travel better than a bundle of firewood and manage to satisfy the same craving. I’ve been making them this way for years and decided it was finally time to share them.
If you’re looking for a peanut butter cookie that stays soft for days, these are the ones to make. The chilled dough bakes up thick, the chocolate chips are scattered through every bite, and the marshmallows melt into toasted pockets that make the tops look a little wild in a good way. They end up somewhere between a peanut butter cookie and a s’more, without requiring a campfire, a bundle of firewood, or a descent down an Oregon cliff carrying half my belongings.
What Makes These Different
- Using mini marshmallows instead of large marshmallows means they are distributed throughout the dough instead of creating one giant hollow cavity in the middle of the cookie. Some stay inside the cookie while others work their way to the surface, where they toast into gooey golden pockets that make the tops look a little wild in the best way.
- Refrigerating the dough is how you get the bakery-style shape. Peanut butter cookie dough will spread quickly once in the oven, especially when marshmallows begin melting. Chilling the dough gives the flour time to hydrate and helps the cookies bake up thicker with soft centers and crisp edges instead of spreading into flat peanut butter pancakes.
- Peanut butter cookies can go from perfectly soft to disappointingly dry with just a minute or two of overbaking. The extra yolk adds richness and helps the centers stay tender long after the cookies cool.
- I also stick with creamy commercial peanut butter like Jif or Skippy for this recipe. Natural peanut butter separates and can be unpredictable in cookie dough. Since the marshmallows already bring plenty of gooey behavior, stabilized peanut butter helps the cookies stay thick, chewy, and consistent from batch to batch.
- Mini chocolate chips work better than regular-sized chips for the same reason the mini marshmallows do. They spread throughout the dough more evenly, so every bite gets peanut butter, chocolate, and marshmallow instead of all the good stuff ending up in a handful of cookies.
Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour – Helps hold together the melted marshmallow, peanut butter, and chocolate while keeping the cookies sturdy and chewy.
- Baking Soda – Helps the cookies spread properly while contributing to the crinkled tops and lightly crisp edges.
- Salt – Keeps the sweetness in check.
- Creamy Peanut Butter – Peanut butter adds flavor and moisture all at once. I use commercial brands like Jif or Skippy because they create a more reliable dough and bake up consistently soft.
- Salted Butter – Adds richness and helps create tender centers with lightly crisp edges.
- Brown Sugar – Adds moisture and chew while helping the cookies stay soft long after they’ve cooled.
- Granulated Sugar – Encourages spread and helps create the lightly crisp exterior that contrasts with the soft center.
- Egg – Binds everything together.
- Egg Yolk – The extra yolk adds richness and helps protect peanut butter cookies from drying out, keeping the centers softer and chewier.
- Vanilla Extract – Makes everything better.
- Mini Marshmallows – Mini marshmallows distribute throughout the dough more evenly than large marshmallows. Some melt inside the cookie while others reach the surface and toast into gooey golden pockets.
- Mini Chocolate Chips – Mini chips spread chocolate throughout the dough so every bite gets a little of everything.
How to Make Peanut Butter Marshmallow Cookies
Find the complete printable recipe with measurements in the recipe card at the BOTTOM OF THE POST.
- Step One (mix the dry ingredients)
Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Nothing exciting yet, but getting the dry ingredients combined first keeps you from finding random pockets of baking soda later. - Step Two (cream the peanut butter mixture)
Beat the peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and creamy, about 3 to 4 minutes. This is not the moment to get impatient. Those few extra minutes help create the thick, soft texture that makes these cookies worth baking in the first place. - Step Three (add the wet ingredients)
Mix in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until everything looks smooth and fully combined. The extra yolk helps keep the cookies soft, which is important because peanut butter cookies can get dry in a hurry if you’re not paying attention. - Step Four (finish the dough)
Add the flour mixture and mix just until the dry streaks disappear. Fold in the mini marshmallows and mini chocolate chips. You want them scattered throughout the dough so every cookie gets the full experience instead of leaving it to chance. - Step Five (chill the dough)
Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. I know chilling cookie dough is rarely the news anyone wants to hear, but this is what gives the cookies that thicker bakery-style shape and keeps them from spreading into peanut butter frisbees. - Step Six (bake the cookies)
Scoop the dough into 2-tablespoon portions and place them on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 9 to 11 minutes, until the tops look set and the edges are lightly golden. Some marshmallows will bubble through the surface and look slightly out of control. That’s exactly what you want. - Step Seven (cool before serving)
Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for a few minutes before moving them to a wire rack. The marshmallow pockets will still be molten at this point, and the cookies will finish setting as they cool while keeping their soft centers.
Recipe Tips
- I would not skip the chill time. The dough may look ready to bake right away, but chilling is what gives these cookies their thick bakery-style shape. It also helps keep the marshmallows from completely taking over the baking sheet.
- The centers should still look slightly underdone when they come out of the oven. The cookies continue setting on the hot baking sheet, and that’s how you get that chewy center instead of a dry peanut butter cookie.
- Every cookie bakes a little differently. Some marshmallows stay hidden inside while others bubble through the surface and toast around the edges. That’s part of the charm.
- If you refrigerate the dough overnight, let it sit at room temperature while the oven preheats. This makes scooping much easier and gives the flour even more time to hydrate.
- The marshmallows can create little caramelized edges as they bake, so give the cookies some breathing room on the baking sheet. This helps them keep their shape and prevents marshmallow overflow from connecting neighboring cookies.
- Use commercial peanut butter, because natural peanut butter can make the dough oily, crumbly, or unpredictable. Since the marshmallows are already introducing enough variables, this is not the recipe where I like to gamble.
Storage
- Store completely cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- The brown sugar, peanut butter, and extra egg yolk help these stay soft longer than many peanut butter cookies, which is one of the reasons I keep making them.
- For that fresh-from-the-oven texture, microwave a cookie for 8 to 10 seconds. The marshmallow pockets soften right back up, and the chocolate chips get a little melty again.
- Freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months. Let them thaw at room temperature before serving.
- You can also freeze portions of cookie dough. Bake them straight from frozen and add an extra minute or two to the baking time.
FAQs
- Can I use natural peanut butter?
No. Natural peanut butter tends to separate and can make the dough crumbly or greasy. Commercial peanut butter like Jif or Skippy gives much more reliable results. - Why do I need to chill the dough?
Chilling helps the flour absorb moisture and keeps the cookies from spreading too much in the oven. It’s the reason they bake up thick with soft centers instead of flat and thin. - Can I use regular marshmallows instead of mini marshmallows?
You can, but mini marshmallows work much better. Large marshmallows create giant empty pockets and melt less evenly throughout the dough. - Why are my peanut butter cookies dry?
The most common culprit is overbaking. Peanut butter cookies can go from perfect to dry surprisingly fast. Pull them from the oven when the centers still look slightly soft. - Can I freeze the cookie dough?
Absolutely. Scoop the dough into portions first, freeze them on a baking sheet, then transfer them to a freezer bag. Bake directly from frozen whenever a cookie emergency occurs. - Can I make these ahead of time?
Yes. The dough can be refrigerated overnight before baking, and a longer chill often produces an even thicker cookie. - Why did my marshmallows disappear?
They didn’t disappear. Most of them melted into the cookie while baking. Some cookies end up with dramatic marshmallow pockets on top, while others hide more of the marshmallow inside. - Are these basically s’mores cookies?
Sort of. They have the marshmallow and chocolate side of a s’more, but the peanut butter makes them different. Think of them as a peanut butter cousin of a s’more rather than a direct replacement.
From My Kitchen Notes
A few observations from the beach bag.
- These cookies exist because I wanted s’mores, but at some point became unwilling to carry half of REI down a cliff.
- Marshmallows have never shown the slightest interest in moderation.
- Some things become traditions because everyone agrees. Others happen because one person never stopped bringing them.
- Southern California taught me that beach days and s’mores belong together. Oregon taught me that carrying firewood down a cliff was a great way to reconsider my priorities.
- Beach food always tastes better than the exact same thing eaten anywhere else. I have no scientific explanation for this.
- Some things become associated with a place so completely that eventually one reminds you of the other.
- Some recipes spend years arriving.
- There are people who carefully ration marshmallows and people who understand abundance. I know which group I’m in.
- I didn’t replace s’mores. I outsourced the fire.
- Some traditions start because they’re meaningful. Others started because I got tired of carrying firewood.
- A cookie loaded with marshmallows is essentially a trust exercise between you and your oven.
- Certain things become expected so gradually nobody remembers when they started and stops acting like they’re temporary.
- I never wanted hardship standing between me and marshmallows.
- The marshmallow isn’t the problem. It’s the confidence that comes after the second cookie.
- Some people find comfort in control and order. I put marshmallows in peanut butter cookies to see what happens.
- Some ingredients reward precision. Marshmallows reward acceptance.
- There are few places where you can simultaneously be looking at one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world while wondering whether you’ll survive carrying a folding chair back up the stairs afterward.
- I still enjoy a beach fire, especially when somebody else has carried everything to the sand and I merely arrive to find blankets, wine, and a functioning fire already waiting for me.
- Some things become part of the landscape so slowly nobody notices they’re holding the whole horizon together.
- Sometimes it’s surprisingly difficult to tell when a favorite becomes a fixture.
- Certain things stop feeling special only because they’ve become familiar. That doesn’t make them less special.
- These cookies do not replace a beloved tradition. They replace the logistics required to access the beloved tradition.
- There are recipes that disappear from memory the moment they’re gone and recipes that leave an oddly shaped space behind.
- I still want marshmallow, chocolate, and happiness, but not if I have to carry a bundle of firewood down 200 stairs.
- There are recipes people remember and recipes people assume will always be there. Those are not the same thing.
- Some recipes spend years proving they belong before anyone notices they already do.
- Some things seem optional right up until the year they don’t show up.
More Ways I’ve Avoided Building a Campfire
- S’mores Parfaits – No-bake layers of s’mores flavor.
- Frozen S’mores Lasagna – Ice-cold summer dessert obsession.
- Air Fryer S’mores Egg Rolls – Crispy wrappers, molten centers.
- S’mores Pretzels – Sweet, salty, chocolate-covered crunch.
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Peanut Butter Marshmallow Cookies
Soft and chewy peanut butter marshmallow cookies loaded with mini chocolate chips and gooey toasted marshmallow pockets. Chilling the dough creates thick bakery-style cookies with crisp edges and soft centers.
Servings: 24 cookies
Calories: 176kcal
Equipment
- Stand Mixer or hand mixer. Creates a smooth, evenly mixed dough.
- mixing bowls For preparing the dry ingredients.
- 2 baking sheet Allows the cookies room to spread properly.
- parchment paper Prevents sticking and promotes even browning.
- medium cookie scoop (2 tbsp / 30 ml) Helps keep cookies uniform.
- cooling rack Allows the cookies to finish cooling without trapping stream.
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups (175 g) all-purpose flour
- 1¼ tsps (6 g) baking soda
- ¼ tsp (1.5 g) table salt
- ⅔ cup (180 g) creamy peanut butter (not natural)
- 8 tbsps (113 g) butter softened
- ¾ cup (165 g) packed light brown sugar
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk room temperature
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) vanilla extract
- 1 cup (50 g) mini marshmallows
- ¾ cup (130 g) mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.1¼ cups (175 g) all-purpose flour, 1¼ tsps (6 g) baking soda, ¼ tsp (1.5 g) table salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and creamy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.⅔ cup (180 g) creamy peanut butter, 8 tbsps (113 g) butter, ¾ cup (165 g) packed light brown sugar, ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix until fully incorporated.1 large egg, 1 large egg yolk, 1 tbsp (15 ml) vanilla extract
- Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed just until no dry streaks remain. Fold in the mini marshmallows and mini chocolate chips until evenly distributed throughout the dough.1 cup (50 g) mini marshmallows, ¾ cup (130 g) mini chocolate chips
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight. Chilling the dough helps control spread and creates thicker cookies with soft centers.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Portion the dough into 2-tablespoon portions and place them 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the tops appear set and the edges are lightly golden. The centers should still look slightly soft.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 3 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. The cookies will continue to set as they cool while maintaining a soft, chewy center.
Notes
- Use commercial creamy peanut butter such as Jif or Skippy for the most reliable texture. Natural peanut butter will produce dry or crumbly cookies.
- If using unsalted butter, increase the salt to ½ teaspoon (3 g).
- For overnight chilling, let the dough sit at room temperature while the oven preheats so it is easier to scoop.
- Avoid overmixing once the flour is added to maintain a tender texture.
- Slightly underbaking the cookies helps preserve their soft, chewy centers.
- Store completely cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- Freeze baked cookies or unbaked dough portions for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Peanut Butter Marshmallow Cookies
Amount Per Serving (38 g)
Calories 176
Calories from Fat 81
% Daily Value*
Fat 9g14%
Saturated Fat 4g25%
Polyunsaturated Fat 2g
Monounsaturated Fat 3g
Cholesterol 21mg7%
Sodium 141mg6%
Potassium 94mg3%
Carbohydrates 22g7%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 15g17%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 134IU3%
Calcium 22mg2%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Have you made these Peanut Butter Marshmallow Cookies? I’d love to hear how they turned out – leave a comment below and let me know.
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