Nancy B’s Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies (Copycat Recipe)
Bring Nancy B’s Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies from Pennsylvania into your kitchen so that you, too, can get a taste of “The World’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookie”! Made with mostly pantry staple ingredients, this copycat recipe combines peanut butter, chocolate chips, and a hands-off freezer method to bake up to tasty perfection every time.
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Made Right At Home
Whenever a cookie is claimed to be “The Best,” I’m immediately lured in to taste it and find out for myself! But since Nancy B’s Bakery is about 12 hours away from me, I’m left whipping up a copycat recipe to try at home.
After hours of recipe research and multiple baking trials in my kitchen, I believe we have arrived at the very best copycat recipe for Nancy B’s Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies! I chose to trade in all-purpose flour for a combination of cake and bread flour and used a mixture of chocolate chips while also incorporating creamy peanut butter to achieve that hint of peanut butter flavor that Nancy B’s cookies are known for.
And the results will absolutely blow you away! These cookies have a texture and structure that’s deliciously unmatched with a taste you thought would only be found in a bakery. Yet they’re made right at home!
Rebecca’s Recipe Review
Taste: Sweet with notes of milk and dark chocolate and a delicious peanut butter undertone.
Texture: Soft and tender cookie with a slightly crisp exterior and puddles of chocolate.
Ease: 3/10 — A simple process with big results!
Pros: Since these are meant to be baked from frozen, they are perfect for making ahead or baking one at a time for a late night treat!
Cons: The chill time can be an inconvenience if you’re craving something sweet RIGHT NOW.
Would I Make This Again? Yes, definitely a top go-to cookie recipe for me now!
Nancy B’s Bakery Cookies Ingredients
To perfect the base of this copycat cookie recipe, I chose to use two types of flour: bread flour and cake flour. This flour combination nails the structure and texture of these cookies perfectly!
If you don’t have cake flour on hand, check out my Cake Flour Substitute for a simple 2-ingredient hack!
From there, the copycat recipe is built with powdered milk, baking powder, baking soda, light brown sugar, salted butter, granulated sugar, salt, vanilla extract, eggs, and chocolate chips.
The last ingredient that may stand out is the creamy peanut butter. This gives the cookies a very subtle peanut butter flavor that makes them a true copycat of Nancy B’s Bakery!
How To Make Nancy B’s Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Sift together bread flour, cake flour, powdered milk, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Set this bowl of dry ingredients aside.
- Cream the salted butter with light brown sugar, creamy peanut butter, granulated sugar, salt, and vanilla extract.
- Beat in the large eggs until just combined.
- Mix in the dry ingredients in three parts, mixing after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl down as you go.
- Stir the chocolate chips into the cookie dough.
- Portion out the cookie dough and then roll each mound into a ball. Gently press each ball down to flatten them slightly and then tap your fingers into the tops to give them texture.
- Freeze the cookie dough.
- Preheat the oven and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Transfer the frozen cookie dough balls onto the prepared baking sheet and then bake the cookies in the preheated oven. Rotate the cookie sheet halfway through the baking time.
- Cool the cookies on the baking sheet before moving them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Rebecca’s Tips
- I recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh the dry ingredients to bake the most accurate copycat cookie. At the bare minimum, learn how to measure flour correctly, as too much or too little can greatly impact any recipe.
- I found that using a mixture of sizes and chocolate content made for the best cookie. I used chunks, mini, and regular -sized chips in dark, semi, and milk chocolate. Feel free to use only one kind if you prefer!
- To portion the cookie dough out, use a 1/2 cup measuring cup or #8 cookie scoop. You can also weigh out the cookie dough using a kitchen scale, aiming for each cookie to be about 6 ounces.
- These cookies MUST have time in the freezer, or they will not come out right! They must also be baked directly from frozen to keep the texture right.
- When baking, these cookies will go from not done to burnt in a second; therefore, keep a close eye on them as they bake! We don’t want them to take on that “crispy” look that normal chocolate chip cookies get, or the texture of these cookies will change.
- It’s important to allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack, or the bottoms of the cookies will fall out.
Cookie Storage Instructions
Once Nancy B’s Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies have fully cooled on the wire rack, transfer them into an airtight container or Ziploc bag. If you need to layer the cookies in the container or bag, I suggest separating them with parchment paper to prevent the cookies from sticking together.
How To Store Cookies In The Freezer
Learning How To Freeze Cookie Dough is such a game-changer! A freezer loaded with ready-to-bake cookies with no kitchen mess? YES PLEASE.
To store the cookies, once the portioned-out dough has been in the freezer for two hours, transfer them from the baking sheet to a gallon Ziploc freezer bag or freezer-safe container. Store the cookies in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Since this recipe is meant to be baked from frozen, this makes a really great treat to store in the freezer to have on hand for freshly baked treats at the drop of a hat!
More Copycat Cookie Recipes
- Sausalito Cookies (Pepperidge Farm Copycat) – This recipe will have you skipping the store-bought version!
- Mom’s Recipe (Crumbl Copycat) – Made with one simple recipe tweak that makes THIS copycat recipe the best!
- Copycat Levain Bakery Cookies – World-famous cookies that you can now make right at home!
- Gideon’s Bakehouse Peanut Butter Cold Brew Cookies – An overindulgent cookie that will blow your mind!
- Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies – Tested with FOUR different kinds of chocolate until we found the best!
Did You Make This Recipe?
If you’ve tried this recipe, please let leave a review in the comments below. I love hearing from you! Don’t forget to tag me – @sugarandsoulco – on Instagram and Pinterest with your photos, or join our Sugar & Soul Show-offs Community and share them there.
Nancy B’s Cookies (Copycat Recipe)
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups bread flour 228g, spooned and leveled
- 1¾ cups cake flour 228g, spooned and leveled
- 2 tablespoons powdered milk 10g
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1¼ teaspoons baking soda
- 1⅓ cups light brown sugar 266g, packed
- 1¼ cup salted butter 284g, softened
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter 265g
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200g
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 13mL
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 24 oz chocolate chips I use a mixture of sizes and chocolate content (chunks, mini and regular – dark, semi, and milk)
Instructions
- Sift together 1¾ cups bread flour, 1¾ cups cake flour, 2 tablespoons powdered milk, 1½ teaspoons baking powder, and 1¼ teaspoons baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Cream together 1⅓ cups light brown sugar, 1¼ cup salted butter, 1 cup creamy peanut butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract for 2 minutes.
- Add in 2 large eggs and beat until just combined.
- Add in the dry ingredients in three parts, mixing after each addition until just incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 additional seconds. ,
- Stir in 24 oz chocolate chips (I like to reserve about ¼ cup to press into the tops of the cookie dough for a more finished look). Original recipe says to use 1/4 cup scoop to measure cookies. If you make them that large no problem, I have been able to make them about half that size by adjusting cooking time.
- Use a #8 cookie scoop or a ½-cup measuring cup to divide the dough into 12 cookies; each cookie should weigh approximately 6 ounces. Place them close together on a baking sheet for chilling.
- Make your balls and flatten slightly, gently pressing your fingers in to give the top texture. Then, freeze them for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight to 24 hours. MUST BAKE FROM FROZEN TO KEEP THE TEXTURE RIGHT.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350℉ and line a double-layered baking sheet with parchment paper. The doubled-up pans allow the large cookies to bake through without overbaking the bottoms.
- Bake 4 cookie dough balls per baking sheet at 350°F for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Allow to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Use fresh pans for the next batch, or chill the hot pans in the freezer for a couple of minutes before placing the next batch to bake.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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These are now one of my favorite cookie recipes! I love being able to make a batch and pull one out of the freezer to bake when a sugar fix is needed! The flavor is so well-rounded, and they are so tender and chocolaty!