Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a few baking sheets with parchment paper, or line with a silicone mat.
Make the dough. In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat 1 cup butter for 2 minutes until smooth, scraping the sides and bottom a few times in between.
Add 3/4 cup white sugar and 1 cup brown sugar. Beat for another 2 minutes, taking the time to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl in between. Your butter and sugar should be light and fluffy with no chunks of butter.
Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter and mix well.
Add 2 eggs and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla. Beat well, scraping sides and bottom.
Add 2 cups flour but don’t mix it in yet (make sure you spoon and level your flour). Use a small spoon to stir in 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1 teaspoon baking soda into the flour, then beat in gently. There should still be flour streaks when you stop.
Prepare the mix-ins. Quarter the mini Reese’s cups with a knife. (I used the mini size Reese’s that are about the size of a quarter, but you can use any kind. You need about 2 cups.)
Measure out one cup of Reese’s Pieces candy. I like to chop half of it into smaller pieces for the best texture, but that’s optional.
Measure out 1 and 3/4 cup pretzels, then chop coarsely.
Measure out 1 cup of dark chocolate chips; if the chips are big I like to chop half of them into smaller pieces (again, optional.)
Set aside a handful of any of the mix-ins that you want to press into the tops of the cookies.
Add 1 cup peanut butter chips, the quartered Reese’s cups, all the Reese’s Pieces, the pretzels, the dark chocolate, and the peanuts to the dough. Peanuts are totally optional.
Use a rubber spatula to mix all the ingredients into the dough. I like to do this part by hand so that the Reese’s cups don’t get smooshed.
Use a quarter cup measuring cup, or a very large cookie scoop to shape the dough.* Place cookie dough balls on a baking sheet with about 2 inches in between them. I like to fit between 8-12 on a half baking sheet.
Bake the cookies at 350 for about 9-11 minutes, until the edges are a very light golden and the edges have set. It’s ok if the centers of the cookies (no more than the size of a quarter) are still shiny. The rest of the cookie should be matte.
Immediately after taking the cookies out of the oven, use a spoon to push the edges of the cookies toward their centers. This makes the cookies round in shape and makes the center thicker and more chewy. You have to do this within 30-60 seconds of taking them out of the oven. See my Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe for more details about this technique!
While the cookies are still warm, press any reserved mix-ins into the top of each cookie.
Remove the cookies to a wire cooling rack and let cool. But you better eat at least one warm. With milk. Live your best life.
Notes
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