These easy peanut butter cup cookies always make me think of my childhood. A soft delicious cookie wrapped in a sweet peanut butter cup center.
It’s the perfect cookie for holidays, get-togethers, parties and more. They also make excellent Christmas gifts. Simply put them in a Christmas tin and wrap with a bow.
Best of all they’re quick, easy, and almost always gone within a few hours! So try your hand at making these easy peanut butter cup cookies today.
Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
People have a lot of different names for these cookies.
Some simply call them peanut butter cup cookies. Others prefer Reese’s peanut butter cookies or chocolate candy peanut butter cookies.
Whatever you call them, there’s no denying that they’re delicious.
After all, they feature one of the world’s favorite flavor combinations. You just can’t beat peanut butter and chocolate.
Besides being incredibly tasty, they’re also pretty easy to make. They are 100% from-scratch cookies. And yet, you can have them ready in about 35 minutes.
That’s good math.
Now, let’s talk about what you’ll need.
Ingredients
Basically, you’ll need standard baking ingredients and a couple of extra things:
- Flour. All-purpose flour is fine.
- Salt. A flavor enhancer.
- Baking soda. The leavening agent.
- Butter. Salted or unsalted is fine. Remove it from the fridge beforehand and give it time to soften.
- Sugars. This recipe calls for both plain white sugar and packed brown sugar. They sweeten the recipe and give it that rich, caramelly brown sugar taste.
- Peanut butter. These cookies are really peanut butter cookies with a Reese’s cup in the center. Peanut butter plays a key role in that equation. Creamy peanut butter will give you the best texture.
- Vanilla extract. Like salt, vanilla acts is flavor enhancer for all the other ingredients.
- Milk. Milk will help make the batter creamy. Whole milk will provide the best flavor.
- Miniature peanut butter cups. These are the star of the show. You’ll place one in the center of each cookie. I stick to Reese’s miniatures, but you can use an off-brand.
How to Make Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Believe it or not, these aren’t hard cookies to make. Follow these directions:
1. Prepare. Set out the ingredients you’ll need and preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Make the batter. Start by mixing the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set that mixture aside and grab another large bowl.
In this bowl, combine the butter, sugars, and peanut butter. Mix until fluffy, then beat in the egg, vanilla, and milk.
Finally, ad the original flour mixture into this mixture. Continue to mix well until the batter forms.
3. Bake. Separate the batter into 40 equally-sized dough balls. Place each one into the cup of an ungreased mini muffin pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 8 minutes.
4. Add the peanut butter cups. Remove the cookies from the oven and press a peanut butter cup into the top of each one.
5. Chill. Place the entire muffin tin into the freezer for about 7 minutes. This will give the cookies time to cool and set the peanut butter cups in place.
6. Remove and serve. Pop the cookies out of the muffin tin, serve, and enjoy!
Tips & Tricks:
Here are a few tips to remember:
- Freeze the peanut butter cups beforehand. Unwrap and freeze your peanut butter cups before pressing them into the hot cookie. This prevents them from falling to pieces.
- Chill the dough. After preparing the dough, place it in the refrigerator for one hour. This makes the cookies a lot easier to scoop.
- Don’t fret if the middle sinks. When you take the cookies out of the oven, the middle will start to sink in a bit. Don’t worry! That’s exactly what we want. Allow them to cool for about 8 minutes before adding the peanut butter cups. This also prevents the sides of the cookie from cracking.
- Chill the cookies after adding the peanut butter cups. After you place the peanut butter cups in the cookies, place them in the refrigerator to cool for 15-20 minutes.
- Don’t overbake! Although they may not look like they’re done after 8 minutes, trust me they are. The cookies will continue to cook as they cool in the muffin tin. Don’t be tempted to leave them in longer. I’ve made that mistake before. If you over bake them, they turn out dry.
- Use a cookie sheet if necessary. If you don’t have a muffin pan, you can also use a cookie sheet. They’re delicious either way.
- Keep the dough balls to 3/4-inch in diameter. To ensure that you’re able to get all 40 cookies, make them about 3/4 inch in diameter. Instead of forming balls, you can also use a small cookie scoop. This saves time as well.
- Make them healthier. Use whole wheat white flour and all-natural peanut butter for healthier cookies. But if you decide to use natural peanut butter, make sure it’s not oily! I recommend Jif or Skippy.
- Jazz them up. Top with sprinkles for some extra holiday fun. You can also use crunchy peanut butter, white chocolate peanut butter cups, or Hershey kisses.
Can you freeze peanut butter cup cookies?
Absolutely! These cookies freeze incredibly well. Place the cookies in an air-tight container, and pop them in the freezer.
They should last for up to 3 months.
Can I make the dough ahead of time?
You sure can! You can make the cookie dough ahead of time and let it chill in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
When you’re ready to make your cookies, remove the dough from the fridge. Allow it to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before popping it in the oven.
You can also freeze your cookie dough balls for up to 3 months. When you take them out, bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw.
Other Cookie Recipes
These are some of my favorite cookies. But if you want to make a wide variety for a holiday cookie basket, here are a few more great recipes:
Easy Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
40
servings25
minutes10
minutes122
kcalIngredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg (beaten) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
40 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups (unwrapped)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
- Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture and mix well. Roll the dough into 40 balls and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan. The balls should be about 3/4 inch in diameter.
- Bake at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes. Do not overbake! Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball.
- Place in the freezer for about 7 minutes and allow the cookies to chill. Pop each cookie out of the muffin tin.
- Enjoy!
