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Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

by Jennifer Debth December 10, 2020

4.97 from 31 votes

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These Peanut Butter Cup Cookies are buttery soft peanut butter cookie cups stuffed with melty peanut butter cups. This holiday classic is SO easy to make!

General
Ingredients
How to make
Get the recipe
Frequently Asked Questions
What peanut butter to use
Can you use crunchy PB?
Can you use liners?
Tips
Variations
Making ahead of time
How to store
How to freeze
Nutrition information

These easy peanut butter cup cookies definitely need to go on your holiday baking list. Why? They’re quick and easy, deliciously soft and melty, and perfectly peanut butter-y. I mean, how could you NOT love these cookies?

Ingredients

A simple, soft and fluffy peanut butter cookie dough recipe stuffed with peanut butter cups for a double dose of peanut butter!

Butter – brought to room temperature to give these cookies a light, fluffy texture.
Peanut Butter – use Jif, Skippy, or your favorite processed peanut butter for these cookies. All-natural peanut butter will not work here.
Granulated Sugar – helps sweeten the dough and caramelizes to crisp the outside of the cookie.
Brown Sugar – using brown sugar gives the cookies a rich, molasses-y flavor.
Egg – makes the cookies super moist and chewy.
Vanilla Extract – provides depth of flavor.
All-Purpose Flour – the base for the cookie dough.
Baking Soda – gives the cookies a little lift.
Salt – helps balance the sweetness and enhances other flavors.
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups – a delicious, creamy, chocolate peanut butter-y filling.

Pro tip

Want a little crunch? Try replacing 1/2 of the creamy peanut butter with crunchy peanut butter! You could also top the melted peanut butter cups with crushed salted peanuts…yum!

How to make

Make cookie dough, bake in mini muffin tins, stuff with peanut butter cups, devour!

Use a hand mixer to beat together butter, peanut butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla.
Add in flour, baking soda, and salt.
Use a tablespoon to scoop dough then roll it into a ball.
Place in your prepared mini muffin tin.
Bake then press Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups into the cookies.
Cool and serve!

Pro tip

Be sure you’ve unwrapped all your mini peanut butter cups before you start baking the cookies. You need to move quickly!

What peanut butter to use

Use a processed creamy peanut butter like Jif or Skippy to make the best peanut butter cup cookies. Do not use an all natural peanut butter for these cookies; it’s too runny and oily.

Can you use crunchy peanut butter?

You sure can! If you want a little extra texture, feel free to replace 1/2 the creamy peanut butter with a crunchy variety.

Can you use muffin liners?

Yes! I usually just grease my muffin tin with cooking spray, but muffin liners are a great thing to use if you’re serving these at a party.

Tips

Grease the pan or use mini muffin liners. To easily remove the cookies from the muffin tin, make sure your non stick mini muffin pan is greased or you use mini muffin liners. Otherwise the cookies might stick.
Use room temperature ingredients. Bringing your ingredients, like the egg and butter, to room temperature allows the cookies to reach the perfect soft and chewy texture.
Use a tablespoon to scoop the dough. A tablespoon is the perfect amount of dough for the mini muffin tin.
Don’t over-bake. In fact, slightly under-bake the cookies. They’ll set as they cool and will be extra soft and chewy. Over-baked cookies are dry and crumbly.

Variations

Here are some other delicious candies you can use instead of Reese’s Peanut Butter cups.

Caramel. Try using Rolos or very soft caramels (the squares are too hard and chewy) for an ultra gooey treat!
Chocolate and Marshmallow. Stuff the cookie cup with a hershey’s kiss, top with a standard sized marshmallow, and bake until the marshmallow is perfectly golden!
Snickers. Use mini Snickers bars for a sweet and salty twist.
Twix. Cut up Twix bars and tuck into the cookie cups.
White Chocolate. White chocolate peanut butter cups are delicious as well!

Can you make the dough ahead of time?

Yep! You can make the dough ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for 2-3 days or in the freezer for 2 weeks before baking.

When you’re ready to bake, let the dough thaw in the refrigerator first. Whether frozen or refrigerated, you may also need to let the dough soften at room temperature for 10-30 minutes to be scoop-able.

How to store

Store cooked and cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Can you freeze peanut butter cup cookies?

Yes! These cookies can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.

To enjoy again, let them thaw in the refrigerator then reheat in the microwave or enjoy cold from the fridge.

Let’s get our bake on!

– Jennifer

This post has been updated to provide more detailed content.