Ritz Cracker Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies are the perfect combo of creamy peanut butter, milk and white chocolate, and butterscotch chips. These freezer cookies are great for making ahead of the busy holiday season but they disappear quickly!
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Ritz Cracker Peppermint Cookies 
Cheescake Cookies 
Snickerdoodle Cookies 
Matcha Frosted Sugar Cookies 
Pistachio Ice Cream Sandwiches with Thin Mint Cookies 
S’mores Chocolate Chip Cookies 
Bradshaw Cookies: A Sour Cream Cookie with Cream Cheese Frosting 
Maple Bacon Ginger Oatmeal Scotchies 
Lorna Doone Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars 
Peppermint Espresso Brownies 
White Chocolate Latte 
Spiced Mocha Hot Chocolate with Curry Paste 
Holiday Mulled Wine 
Mint Mojito Irish Coffee 
Chocolate Cookies with Peppermint Chips
Ritz Cracker Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
These Ritz Cracker Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies are my favorite Christmas cookies. I lie. I can’t choose a favorite. But they are the ones I tend to instinctively grab the most.
The mixture that you dip the peanut butter cracker sandwiches in is a perfect balance of milk/dark chocolate, white chocolate, and butterscotch chips. I think it’s the butterscotch chips that provide that extra something that keeps me coming back. Although subtle, it pairs so well with the peanut butter.
I’m continuing with the frozen no-bake desserts to help you prepare for the holiday season. There is one more Ritz Cracker recipe after this one (Ritz Cracker Peppermint Peppermint Cookies) and then I’m switching over to baked cookies.
Both Ritz Cracker cookie recipes are addicting and super easy but this one is definitely the richer of the two.
The most time-intensive part is dipping each cookie into the chocolate. But biting into the thin but crisp chocolate coating, crunchy cracker, and creamy hardened peanut butter is totally worth it.
We always make the same cookies and candies every year for Christmas. I’m very hopeful that this Christmas season I’ll actually be able to partake in all the treats.
With ulcerative colitis, I always seemed to be getting sick, hospitalized, or recovering from being hospitalized during the whole holiday season (which I consider to be from October-December). It’s my favorite time of year and it has just killed me that I haven’t been able to partake fully.
FAQ about Ritz Cracker Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
Here is a break down of some really good questions that readers have asked about these cookies!
What’s a double boiler?
A double boiler is a piece of kitchen equipment that’s often used with delicate ingredients where direct heat could cause them to seize or separate (like chocolate). It consists of two pots. The first, or bottom, is larger and looks like a regular saucepan. The second, or top, is more shallow and nests inside the larger one.
But if you don’t have one, don’t worry. Just set a metal mixing bowl over a regular saucepan. Whether you use a double boiler or a saucepan and mixing bowl, make sure the bottom of the top bowl doesn’t touch the surface of the water.
Can I use baking chips instead of melting wafers?
Unfortunately, baking chips don’t work very well. They melt okay one time around, but the constant heat that’s required to keep the chocolate melted and smooth for dipping makes it seize up and you get a lumpy melt.
Can I use natural peanut butter?
Sorry, for these cookies, partially hydrogenated peanut butters are best. They are able to maintain their hold while being dipped in the hot chocolate better than non-hydrogenated peanut butters.
How much peanut butter should I use?
How much peanut butter you use in each cookie is up to you. I like the layer of peanut butter to be about equal or a little more than the thickness of a Ritz Cracker. Mostly, it comes down to personal taste.
However, a very large amount of peanut butter in a Ritz Cracker sandwich can be hard to cover completely with the melted chocolate. And sometimes a small portion of it will end up melting into the chocolate mixture.
If you are trying to determine how much peanut butter you should buy, a small 8-ounce container of peanut butter might not be enough but a standard 16-ounce container is plenty enough.
How do I dip the cookies?
I use small tongs (like the one below in the Ingredients and Tools section) to drop the Ritz Cracker sandwiches into the chocolate. I then use them to flip the cookie and pick it up.
To get rid of the excess chocolate and get a smooth coating of chocolate, I tap the tongs on the side of the pan before transferring the cookie to a baking sheet.
You can also use a fork. After dropping the cookie into the chocolate, use the fork to flip the cookie and then scoop it up, tapping the fork on the side of the pan and sliding the cookie off onto the baking sheet.
Ingredients and Tools
Ritz Cracker Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 60 Ritz Crackers
- Creamy peanut butter like Skippy, natural peanut butter doesn't work as well
- 12 ounces milk or dark melting chocolate*
- 8 ounces white melting chocolate*
- 6 ounces butterscotch baking chips*
Instructions
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Make peanut butter sandwiches with two Ritz Crackers and peanut butter.
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Fill the bottom portion of a double boiler (see note) with water. Make sure when you place the top portion on, the water doesn't touch the bottom. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low so that the water is simmering.
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Place the top portion of the double boiler over the simmering water. Add the milk/dark chocolate, white chocolate, and butterscotch melting wafers and baking chips together and melt, stirring with a rubber spatula.
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Use small tongs to dip the sandwiches in the melted chocolate mixture. Shake off excess chocolate by tapping the tongs on the edge of the double boiler. Place the cookie on a baking sheet. You can also drop the cookie in the chocolate, flip it with a fork, and then use the fork to scoop up the cookie.
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Once the cookie sheet is full, place it in the freezer until the cookies are frozen. Store in a zip lock bag in the freezer.
Recipe Notes
*I’ve gotten the best results with Ghirardelli melting wafers and Guittard’s butterscotch chips for these cookies.
Double Boiler
A double boiler is a piece of kitchen equipement that’s often used with delicate ingredients where direct heat could cause them to seize or separate (like chocolate). It consists of two pots. The first, or bottom, is larger and looks like a regular saucepan. The second, or top, is more shallow and nests inside the larger one.
But if you don’t have one, don’t worry. Just set a metal mixing bowl over a regular saucepan. Whether you use a double boiler or a saucepan and mixing bowl, make sure the bottom of the top bowl doesn’t touch the surface of the water.
Sincerely, Meg: Who is Feeling…
The struggles of surgery recovery and adding food back into my diet.
- I’m trying to stick to the recommended low fat and fiber diet after reconnection surgery (which happened August 30, 2016)
- My weight is hanging out around 100 pounds (20 pounds lighter than normal) after being hospitalized for 21 days for pancreatitis, reconnection surgery, pouchitis, and post-operative ileus
- Doing yoga feels strange and uncomfortable because of all my bony protrusions and the heartbeat I can feel in my stomach, which is a little freaky
You can read more details about how I’m feeling right now in this Health Update post: Surgery Recovery and Diet Problems.
We call these hockey pucks here in Minnesota. A Christmas tradition at my house! =)
Haha, that’s the perfect name for them, they do look like hockey pucks! Christmas wouldn’t be the same without them at my house either 😋
Do they need to be frozen? I need something for a work holiday party and these look great, but no way to keep them frozen once I leave home and they won’t be served for hours.
They are fine at room temperature! I always just grew up keeping them in the freezer.
Can I use chips or do i need to use melting walfers? I have plenty of choc & white chocolate chips
Hi Kathleen, unfortunately, baking chocolate chips don’t work. They don’t do very well with the constant heat that’s needed to keep the chocolate the right consistency to dip the crackers in.
Thanks for your response. I thought that. Chips are made to hold their shape. I think i remember doing it once. It was too thick and wouldn’t really coat and drip off.
Exactly! It’s so annoying when you have a ton of chocolate but it’s the wrong kind for what you want to do!
I I made these for my kids for after school treats but I also put jelly on them. My kids range in age from 61 to 50 and they still enjoy them. I like the other recipes too
Putting jelly in them sounds like a fantastic idea! These have been my favorite since I was little and they probably will continue to be as well. Thanks, Bev!
hi i see your recipe for the ritz cracker chocolate peanut butter cookies i would like to make them but how much peanut butter should i have . looks delis .
Hi, Caroline! It depends on how much peanut butter you put in the Ritz cracker sandwiches. I’m not sure a small 8-ounce jar of peanut butter would be enough but the standard size (which is usually 16 ounces) is plenty. Hope that helps!
All the cookies 🍪 look so tempting. I know I will try quite a few. I just love a good cookie and with peanut butter yum 👅 oh!! One thing that really caught my attention was how sick you have been. I really have a lot of the same issues. I was just in the hospital for emergency surgery on my intestines. When you rub my belly you can feel the scare tissue. It’s horrible I hate being sick like this. I weight 183 in Feb of last yr. now I’m down to 100. Sometimes I go up but it always comes back down. I hate the fact that your sick. But nice to know someone out there has a lot of the same issues as me. Thanks for the recipes I sure will try them.
Any cookie with peanut butter is on my favorite list! I’m sorry to hear that you are so ill and I hate the fact that you’re sick as well. It’s extremely hard going through all that you have and sometimes it’s unbearable that it just keeps happening over and over again. I’ve been well for a year now and I hope that you also heal and get stronger as soon as possible! I’ll be thinking of you and sending positive thoughts your way Patti!
These little bites of deliciousness are so pretty! I love that you mix different flavors of chips for the chocolate coating. What a yummy treat!
Thank you, Amy! And yes, the butterscotch chips get me every time 😋
I have been making these for over 30 years!
Glad to meet a fellow Ritz Cracker cookie maker! I’m always trying to figure out where some recipes come from. My mom got the recipe from her mom but before that I don’t know. Was your’s passed down or something you just threw together one day?
This cookies were amazing!! Basically a homemade Peanut Butter Sandwich (the girl scout cookie).
I’d love to know if anyone had a good dipping technique that didn’t involve fingers covered with chocolate :0
Thanks Kat! And I typically use tongs to dip the cookies in the chocolate. Lol, I should probably put that in the recipe.
I melt my chocolate in a electric fry pan on low and I use a salad fork with large tines and a dinner fork. I drop the cookie into a pile if melted chocolate that is in the fry pan and fish it out with the salad fork, then I tap it several times on the side of the pan to get extra chocolate off. Then I use the other fork and slide it off onto wax paper.
These cookies look amazing — and your photography is terrific! Was wondering if you use Tailwind — because I am starting a new tribe called CHRISTMAS COOKIES and I’d love for you to participate! If you’re interested, send me an e-mail and I’ll invite you! Thanks — these cookies are going on my MUST TRY list this year!
Thanks Lisa! I do use Tailwind and I would love to join your Christmas Cookies tribe!
Oh my goodness, these cookies are EVERYTHING! I absolutely love that chocolate, white chocolate, AND butterscotch chips coating!! Talk about a trifecta! These would be great it a holiday gift basket! Pinned! Cheers!
Thanks Cheyanne! And we always include them in our cookie plates that we give to our neighbors and friends. Little tip though-wrap them separately because if you don’t everything will taste like peppermint.
These cookies look adorable. I love the combination of chocolate and peanut butter. YUM !
Ooh goodness. I’d never have thought of using ritz crackers as a sweet biscuit, but i can totally see how well it would work – great idea.
I had chocolate covered Ritz crackers last year for the first time. I didn’t even think to add peanut butter and butterscotch. What a way to crank this dish to 11! Definitely gonna try this. Thank you!
Haha, true! Peanut butter always cranks things up.
You hit every taste note that is my fave! Salty, sweet plus my all time favorite…peanut butter! Beautiful photos as well!
Thank you Kathi! And yes, that’s why they’re so addicting!
What an amazing idea for Ritz Crackers, bet the saltiness goes well with chocolate
Thanks Bintu! And yes the saltiness goes great with the chocolate-it’s what makes them so addicting!
oh my word.. these cookies look AMAZING! Peanut butter and chocolate anything are pretty much irresistible for me (I’ve actually banned most from my house because I CANNOT stop eating them hahaha). So I’m confident I could eat a bazillion of these!
And yay for yoga! That’s probably one of the best workouts if you’re still feeling fragile– I love it!
Thank you! Yes, peanut butter and chocolate is a little too addicting sometimes. I snack on these WAY too much. And yoga is the best-I’m so happy I’m doing it again.