Oh, have I got a treat for you today. The first time I had chocolate chip peanut butter cup cookies was at a baby shower our church had for me when I had Phoebe – yep, 14 years ago and I still remember how amazed I was by them. {don’t laugh, this was before pinterest and blogs when you had to get new recipes in cookbook, magazines or from friends.}
Since then, chocolate chip peanut butter cup cookies have had a permanent place on our Christmas cookie list. People love getting these in the treat boxes we make up and think we’ve spent all kinds of time on them. In reality they are super simple to make. If you want to know who all we give these treat boxes to you can read about it in our post about blessing others.
This week’s theme for Cookie Month is cookies that are good for giving. Sometimes we think gifts have to be fancy or expensive, but sometimes it really is the simple things that make the best gifts. These cookies can be on the more expensive side with the addition of the peanut butter cups. I usually buy the peanut butter cups after Halloween when they are on clearance and just keep them {hide them from my family} until it’s time to make these.
The very first step is to put your peanut butter cups in the freezer. You can also go ahead and unwrap them. This is a great job for children if you can keep them from eating them all.
First, start with your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. I substitute mini chips for regular chips but it’s not necessary.
Next, fill a mini muffin tin with cookie dough. I find that using a cookie scoop works really well for this.
Bake for 8-10 minutes. I bake closer to 8 minutes rather than 10 minutes but you want the edges to be golden brown.
Take your peanut butter cups out of the freezer and unwrap them {if you haven’t already} and gently push them into the warm cookie muffins.
When they are all done, I always pop them into the freezer for jus a minute or two. You need to make sure you have a spot open.
I usually use a butter knife to help get the chocolate chip peanut butter cup cookies out of the muffin tins. While my excited children beg and plead to have some.
And this is why we call the spatula “the last lick”. I can usually get one more cookie with the bowl scrapings.
For this week’s cookies, Wilton let me pick some fun treat boxes from their Christmas line up. I really like these boxes. Each box has 3 smaller boxes inside so you can make compartments to divide your different treats. Or you can use the box without the dividers. I could easily get a dozen of these cookies in the box. It’s enough to be nice treat but not so much that it overwhelms the recipient {especially during the holidays}.
Sometimes I make the cookie dough ahead of time and freeze it. Then we can bake on another day.
I also used King Arthur organic unbleached all-purpose flour and the “last lick” {aka spatula} from GIR that I received as part of this Cookie Month celebration. As always, the opinions are mine.
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.)semi sweet mini chocolate chips
- 54 mini peanut butter cups
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cream butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla together. Add eggs and mix well.
- Put flour on top of butter mixture and add in baking soda and salt.
- Mix dry ingredients into butter mixture.
- Fold in mini chocolate chips.
- Using a cookie scoop, put a scoop of cookie dough into each compartment of a mini muffin tin.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes.
- When edges are brown, remove from oven and put a peanut butter cup into each cookie muffin.
- Pop into the freezer for just a minute or two.
- Remove from freezer and remove cookie muffins from tin.
- Enjoy!
- I like to unwrap and freeze the peanut butter cups before beginning but it’s not totally necessary.
Sheila @Life, Love, and Good Food says
Now, that’s my kind of cookie! And what a cute helper you have there, too! Love this idea — I know they would disappear very quickly with my crowd 🙂
Chris says
Oh, my. Did you have to post such delicious looking cookies? I will be scouting out the Reeces peanut butter cup Halloween packages now, just so I can buy a whole lot of peanut butter cups at a good price, so I can make these. You really aren’t fair! 😉 I know someone who would love these for his birthday in December. But I won’t be able to make them without eating some, um, just to test them, of course.
Wendy says
Your cookies look delicious, Angi! I can imagine sinking my teeth into the soft peanut buttery sweetness. 🙂 These are now officially on my gift giving baking list. Thanks! I am in total agreement with everything you wrote on this post and your blessing others post. With my 2 “kids” now young adults, I miss the time spent together creating gifts in the kitchen. But because of those many years, my 21 year old son now calls to talk about cookie recipe ideas and my 26 year old daughter just asked if I would help her learn to make marshmallows for her holiday gifts this year. Its not the treat that is the gift. It is the giving of oneself and the message that “I appreciate you!”
Angi Schneider says
Thank you Wendy. I love hearing that your adult children remember (and cherish) those times in the kitchen with you. Sometimes when we only have little ones it’s hard to imagine that one day they’ll be gone and we’ll all be looking back. The time spent and mess made in the kitchen with our children is always worth it. Thanks for that reminder.
Rachel says
just made this lastnight very delicious and addicting!
Angi Schneider says
I’m so glad you liked them!