Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Updated December 08, 2023
Quick Summary
Peanut Butter Cup Cookies-peanut butter cookies made in mini muffin tins with a peanut butter cup in the center. These cookie cups are a family favorite and the perfect cookie for parties and the holidays!
What are your favorite holiday cookies? I have A LOT of favorites: Andes mint, snickerdoodles, thumbprints, sugar cookies, and chocolate crinkle…just to name a few.
I recently asked you all to send us your all-time favorite cookie recipes and WOW, you guys make some amazing cookies. We were blown away by all of the submissions. THANK YOU! I seriously wanted to make them all.
When I saw Mallory’s recipe for Peanut Butter Cup Cookies, I knew I HAD to make them. I used to make these when I was a kid but haven’t made them in YEARS. I was so happy to see them again…and I couldn’t wait to taste them again:)
If you haven’t had Peanut Butter Cup Cookies, let me fill you in. They are basically the most dreamy peanut butter cookie ever because they have a peanut butter cup in the center! Peanut butter lovers, these cookies are for YOU!
The cookies are also fun to make because they are made in a mini muffin pan! They are fun to make and fun to eat! These bite size cookies are filled with peanut butter goodness.
Tips for making Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
- Unwrap the peanut butter cups before you start and place them in the freezer. If they are super cold they won’t melt when you push them into the warm peanut butter cookies.
- Use regular creamy peanut butter for this recipe, not natural peanut butter.
- Make sure your egg and milk are at room temperature.
- Don’t overfill the muffin cups. You only need a tablespoon of dough per cookie.
- Don’t over bake. The cookies will continue to cook as they cool in the muffin tin.
- When you remove them from the oven, they will collapse and that is what you want. Push the peanut butter cups into the collapsed center.
- After you push the peanut butter cups into the center of the cookies, place the pan in the refrigerator to chill for 15-20 minutes. This will keep the peanut butter cups from melting and it will be easier to remove them from the pan.
- You can use a butter knife to lift them up and out of the pan if you need to.
- White chocolate peanut butter cups are good in this recipe too.
Ok, are you guys ready to bake Peanut Butter Cup Cookies? They are guaranteed to be a family favorite. The only problem? They never last long, they are TOO good:)
Thanks Mallory for reminding me of one of my favorite cookies! We loved your recipe! Please share your favorite holiday cookies in the comments. I am always looking for new recipes to try!
Make a batch to share with your family and friends this holiday season!
More Peanut Butter Cookie Recipes
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Salted Pretzel Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
- Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
- Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Find MORE cookie recipes HERE and in my cookie cookbook, Let’s Eat Cookies!
Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Ingredients
- 40 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups unwrapped
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon milk at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 24 cup mini muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. This recipe makes about 40 cookies, so if you have two muffin pans, grease them both. This will speed up the process.
- Place the unwrapped peanut butter cups in the freezer until you are ready to use them.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter, sugars, and peanut butter together until fluffy and smooth, about 3 minutes.
- Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix until just combined.
- Roll the cookie dough into balls, 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie. The dough will be a little sticky and that’s ok. If it is too sticky, you can chill it in the fridge for 20 minutes. Place each ball into prepared muffin pans.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, don’t over bake. Remove from oven. The centers will collapse a little and that is ok. Remove the peanut butter cups from the freezer and press a peanut butter cup into each cookie.
- Place the pan in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes so the cookies can cool. This will keep the peanut butter cups from melting and it will make the easier to remove from the pan.
- When the cookies are completely cool, remove them from the pan and place on a cooling rack.
Have you tried this recipe?
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Great tip on freezing the peanut butter cups! I’m going to do that when I make the peanut butter cookies with the Hershey Kisses. Mine always start to melt!
If I wanted to make them bigger in a normal muffin tin with fill sized pens butter cups, how long should I bake them for? Thanks these look amazing!
Im wondering too. Im usingbthe Easter eggs
Oh, WOW!
I just made these, and they are DELICIOUS!!! (I mean, how could they not be, with these ingredients?) Having the pb cups frozen beforehand is such a great idea. 40 cookies didn’t seem like enough for me, so I doubled the recipe, and it worked great. Thank you for another amazing recipe!
they are really good to eat I made them last night
Can I make these with boxed peanut butter cookie mix???
Sounds great! Can I use foil ups in the baking pans .. Baking them for a wedding.
Yes, you can use mini liners if you wish!
oops cups lol
oops….cups
What a fantastic recipe! Easy and makes the perfect amount. We just made these and they are delish! A win for our family.
So glad you loved them!
I’ve made these twice and they are so good, thank you! I appreciate the tips on chilling the pb cups and the cookies once out of oven. My cookies are a little rougher and crumblier because I did use natural pb, but they still disappear quickly.
Can the dough be prepped ahead of time? If so, how many days in advance? Planning a baking day and trying to work through prep.
How long can these be stored?
Store on the counter for 4-5 days or freeze for a couple of months.
I had a question on the cookie dough balls before baking. Do you just put the rounded balls into the mini muffin pan and they bake up the sides of the tin? Or do the cookies become “cups” after baking once the reese’s is pushed into the dough? Thank you!
The mini muffin pan will make them cups after baking.