Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Chip Cookies. Everyone’s favorite cookie, but with a little twist! These have crisp edges, chewy peanut-buttery centers, and are loaded with double the mini chocolate chips. The secret? A spoonful of apple butter. It’s unexpected, but it gives the cookies a subtle warmth, a hint of spice, and the most delicious depth of flavor.

Some recipes just feel a little more special than others, and these might be my favorite of the month. I adore them!

For me, a peanut butter cookie always feels like September. From game day treats to the peanut butter cookies served by the lunch lady on Pizza Day. I have the best memories tied to this classic cookie.

When I set out to recreate those school cookies, I knew exactly what I wanted: crisp edges, soft centers, lots of chewy peanut flavor, and plenty of melty mini chocolate chips. I thought I’d keep things basic — but then I remembered apple butter. September is apple season, after all, and folding a little into the dough turned out to be just the magic ingredient these cookies needed.

The apple butter adds a faint note of cinnamon and spice that pairs perfectly with the salty peanut butter and chocolate. It’s not obvious, but it makes these cookies unforgettable. My family has been loving them — especially my little brother, Oslo!

These are the details

Ingredients

• salted butter
• creamy peanut butter – crunchy will work too!
• brown sugar
• vanilla
• eggs
• vanilla extract
• flour
• old-fashioned oats
• baking soda

For the Icing

• powdered sugar
• cocoa powder
• vanilla
•  dark or milk chocolate – I love dark

Special Tools

For these peanut butter bars, you need a single mixing bowl and an electric mixer. I love this sheet pan for baking.

The Steps

Step 1: Make the cookie dough

In a mixing bowl, beat the butter with brown sugar and peanut butter until creamy. Add the eggs, apple butter, and vanilla, then beat again until fully combined. Mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Stir in the mini chocolate chips. Regular chocolate chips work too, but the minis give the best distribution of chocolate throughout.

Step 2: Bake

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop the dough into tablespoon-size balls and place them on the prepared sheet.

If you’d like, gently press the tops with a fork to create a crosshatch pattern — just don’t press too hard or the cookies will spread too much.

Bake for about 7 minutes, then remove the cookies from the oven and give the pan a gentle tap on the counter. This helps the cookies spread evenly, crisp the edges, and keeps them from turning cakey. Return the cookies to the oven and continue baking until golden at the edges.

Enjoy warm, melty, and oh so wonderfully peanutty!

Looking for other fun cookie recipes? Here are some favorites:

Brown Butter Malted Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Snickerdoodle Peanut Butter Chocolate Chex Mix Bars

Slice n’ Bake Bourbon Caramel Pretzel Cookies

Lastly, if you make these Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Chip Cookies, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!

Welcome to Bon Appétit Bake Club, a community of curious bakers. Each month senior test kitchen editors Jesse Szewczyk and Shilpa Uskokovic share a must-make recipe and dive deep on why it works. Come bake and learn with us—ask questions, share pics, listen to our podcast, and lots more here. And don’t forget to join the Bake Club Group chat over on Substack.

For those uninitiated with the magic of Paris-Brest, let us enlighten you. It is a classic French dessert created in the early 20th century to commemorate the bicycle race connecting Paris and Brest. It’s traditionally composed of a giant wreath made of pâte à choux (the same dough used to make eclairs and cream puffs) and a praline crème mousseline. The ring bakes and expands dramatically in the oven; once it’s removed and cooled completely, the ring is sliced in half and filled with a light and fluffy cream. It’s a showstopping dessert that can’t help but take center stage. This version, an ode to the classic, imbues it with notes of ripe banana and salty-sweet candied nuts for a fun take on banana pudding.

The dessert is essentially three separate recipes: The first, the choux, is a simple yet hardworking dough that gets cooked both on the stovetop and in the oven. The initial stovetop cooking step helps the dough puff in the oven, so don’t skip it. And piping the dough into connected puffs in lieu of one continuous ring allows guests to pull off just the right amount with ease. The banana cream filling gets its bold flavor by steeping the peels (yes, the peels!) in milk before turning it into a pastry cream and lightening it with whipped cream, a concoction known as diplomat cream. To finish it off, candied nuts—made by coating pecans in whipped egg white and sugar, then baking them until crisp—adds a welcomed crunch. (But feel free to use 1 cup store-bought candied nuts to make life easier.) It’s no doubt a project, but you can make one or all of the components at least a day before to get ahead.

This is a towering brick of a 2.5-pound zucchini bread, easily 1.5x of most standard recipes, so please don’t balk at the oil or sugar levels — they’re all to scale, and the result is just moderately sweet. If you have a scale, this is a one-bowl recipe. You can use any kind of cocoa powder here, but my preference is Dutch-processed, or basically the kind you’d get from any European brand. Just a heads up: The baking time is long. It’s taken me 1 hour 25 minutes the last three tests, but I know that ovens range. You can cut into it right away but I really like it better on day two, when the moisture settles into an even crumb and the top is extra crunchy.

This easy zucchini bread recipe is the best I’ve tried! Packed with zucchini and cinnamon, it’s super moist and flavorful. Plan on having a second slice.

Meet my best zucchini bread recipe! It’s ultra-moist, warmly spiced with cinnamon, and studded with crunchy walnuts. Plus, it’s PACKED with shredded zucchini, so you can use up a good portion of your summer squash haul in one go.

I make this zucchini bread recipe every single summer. I love that all the ingredients are pantry basics, that the batter is a breeze to stir together, and that the recipe yields two loaves. Freeze one for later or share it with a friend…if you can resist devouring it as soon as it comes out of the oven.

How to Make Zucchini Bread

Just like my other quick bread recipes (see my banana bread or pumpkin bread), this zucchini bread is easy to make! You don’t need any special equipment—just a box grater, a couple of mixing bowls, and two loaf pans. The ingredients are simple too.

Zucchini Bread Ingredients

• Zucchini, of course! It makes this quick bread amazingly moist.
• All-purpose flour – Spoon and level it to avoid packing too much into your measuring cup.
• Baking powder, baking soda, and eggs – They help the loaves rise.
• Cinnamon and vanilla extract – For warm, cozy depth of flavor.
• Cane sugar – It sweetens the zucchini bread. Granulated sugar works too. Several readers have also had success using brown sugar!
• Vegetable oil – It adds moisture and richness.
• Walnuts – For crunch.
• And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

How to Prep Zucchini for Bread

To make this recipe, you’ll need 3 cups of shredded zucchini, from about 2 medium squash.

If you’ve never grated zucchini before, it’s super easy—just shred it on the large holes of a box grater. There’s no need to peel the zucchini or remove the seeds. You also shouldn’t press or squeeze any of the excess moisture out of it. You want all that to go into the bread!

Once you grate the zucchini, make the batter. Mix together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. Add the zucchini to the wet mixture and fold to combine.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Careful not to overmix! If you do, the quick bread will be dense.

Fold in the chopped nuts.

Next, pour the batter into two greased loaf pans. It’s ok if the two pans aren’t the same size or material, but keep in mind that the loaves might bake at different rates. I recommend checking them early to avoid over-baking.

Sprinkle more nuts over the tops of the loaves…

And bake at 325°F for 40 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The tops of the loaves should spring back to the touch.

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

Best Zucchini Bread Recipe Tips

• Don’t overmix. When you add the dry ingredients to the wet, stir just until they’re combined. Overmixing the batter will develop the gluten in the flour, which can make the loaves dense. We want them to be light and tender instead!
• Give it time to cool. If you’re anything like me, you’re going to want to slice into the bread as soon as it comes out of the oven (heads up: your kitchen will smell amazing). But it actually tastes better after it cools. The texture becomes moister, and the warm flavor from the vanilla and spices deepens.
• Use a different summer squash. Green zucchini isn’t the only type of squash that will work in this bread! Sub in yellow zucchini, striped zucchini, or yellow squash instead. They’ll all yield a delicious, moist zucchini bread.
• Change up the mix-ins. Not feeling walnuts? Replace them with pecans, or swap in dried cherries, dried cranberries, raisins, or chocolate chips. A walnut/chocolate chip combo is fantastic too!

More Favorite Zucchini Recipes

If you love this recipe, try one of these easy zucchini treats next:

Best Zucchini Bread

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 40 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr

Serves 16

Our best zucchini bread recipe! This easy quick bread is super moist, warmly spiced, and studded with crunchy walnuts. It’s the perfect breakfast or snack.

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

• Preheat the oven to 325°F and grease two 8×4 or 9×5-inch loaf pans.

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

• In another large bowl, whisk together the sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla. Add the grated zucchini and fold to combine.

• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in the walnuts.

• Divide the batter between the prepared pans and sprinkle with walnuts. Bake for 40 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the tops of the loaves spring back to the touch.