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Peanut Butter Cup Cookies Recipe

Peanut butter lovers will rejoice over these Peanut Butter Cup Cookies. You'll rejoice over how easy they are.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies are one of those cookies that I love to eat … when someone else makes them.

My friend Jennifer at Cook Eat Go gave me her Peanut Butter Cup Cookies recipe a few years ago. The recipe is delicious, but it makes 70 cookies.

And that means unwrapping 70 individual mini peanut butter cups. That’s a lot of effort, especially if you’re making these as part of a cookie platter.

So keep that in mind when you’re making these.

You need to unwrap the mini peanut butter cups before the cookies come out of the oven or you’ll never be able to get them unwrapped in time. So, if you having a little kid who is looking to help with these, that’s a great place to start.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies Recipe

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies Ingredients:

How To Make Peanut Butter Cup Cookies:

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Unwrap the mini peanut butter cups. Set them aside.

Add peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla to the bowl of your stand mixer.

Mix on medium speed until the ingredients are combined.

Then, add the eggs to the mixer’s bowl, and mix on low until just blended.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix on low until just combined.

A cookie scoop with dough in it.

Use a cookie scoop to drop a rounded tablespoon into the cavities of a mini muffin pan, filling about 3/4 full (If you roll them into balls first, you’ll get a better shape).

Bake for eight to nine minutes until the cookies are just barely brown. The cookies will be fragile, so be careful removing the tray from the oven.

Peanut butter lovers will rejoice over these Peanut Butter Cup Cookies. You'll rejoice over how easy they are.

Quickly take the mini peanut butter cups and press one into the center of each cookie.

This is why you need to unwrap beforehand.

Cool the cookies in the mini muffin tin for about five minutes, then remove the cookies.

Place the peanut butter cup cookies on wire rack to cool completely.

Bake subsequent batches while the first batch is cooling. This recipe should yield about 70 cookies, so if you only have one mini muffin pan, you’ll need to bake three batches.

Melt your chocolate chips in the microwave. Microwave them for 30 seconds, stir, then melt at 30 second intervals until the chocolate is completely melted.

Peanut butter lovers will rejoice over these Peanut Butter Cup Cookies. You'll rejoice over how easy they are.

Cut a small hole at the end of a plastic bag. Fill the plastic bag with the melted chocolate and drizzle it on top of the cookies.

Set the cookies aside and allow the chocolate to cool completely before serving.

What size peanut butter jar should I buy?

You need to use 1.5 cups of peanut butter for this recipe. Which seems all well and good until you get to the grocery store and realize that peanut butter jars are not sold by cups.

Depending on how tightly you pack the peanut butter, an 18 oz. jar of peanut butter will yield you between 1.5 and 2 cups of peanut butter.

When you’re shopping for ingredients for peanut butter cup cookies, look for the larger (20 oz.) jars of peanut butter. If you can only find 16 oz. jars of peanut butter, you’ll be cutting it close, but you should be fine.

Can I use chunky peanut butter?

Personally, I wouldn’t suggest that you use chunky peanut butter in this Peanut Butter Cup Cookies recipe.

The peanuts will take up a lot of the volume when you’re measuring the peanut butter for this recipe. So, when you’re putting the recipe together, your ratio will be off and your cookies won’t taste right.

If you really need peanuts in this, you can chop some and add them to the batter when you mix in the dry ingredients.

Do I have to use shortening?

Butter and margarine are shorting substitutions, but I wouldn’t suggest you substitute them in this recipe.

Butter and margarine have water in them, which will bake differently than shortening will. That could result in your cookies melting and not holding up when you bake them.

What’s the neatest way to drizzle the chocolate?

After the peanut butter cup cookies have cooled completely, move them to paper towels lining your counter. Leave them on the paper towels as you drizzle the chocolate on top.

Let the chocolate dry completely.

When it has, transfer the cookies to an air tight container and throw the paper towels in the garage.

Can you freeze Peanut Butter Cup Cookies dough?

If you don’t feel like baking all 70 cookies at once, you can freeze peanut butter cup cookies dough.

Roll out the dough balls, and put them on a cookie sheet. Put the cookie sheet in the freezer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. The dough will harden, and you’ll be able to put them in a freezer-safe bag and keep them in the freezer until you’re ready to bake them.

When you want to bake them, just take them out of the freezer for about 15 minutes until they come to room temperature. Then, bake according to the recipe.

Can Peanut Butter Cup Cookies be frozen?

I actually really like frozen cookies. So yes, you can freeze peanut butter cup cookies. Just make sure they’re completely cooled when you pack them in a freezer-safe bag.

When you want to eat them, take them out of the freezer and allow them to come to room temperature (about 15 minutes) before eating them.

Pecan Sandies will be your new go to holiday cookie recipe. Find out how to make them on www.drugstoredivas.net.

Do you need to use a stand mixer?

A stand mixer makes your life so much easier. But, if you don’t have a stand mixer, you can use either an electric hand mixer or just a spoon to mix the batter.

How long do Peanut Butter Cup Cookies stay fresh?

As long as they’re in an air tight container, the peanut butter cup cookies should last up to three weeks. You can store that container in the fridge to increase freshness.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies Variations:

If you’re making these for a specific holiday, use candy melts instead of chocolate chips for the drizzle. For Christmas, use red and green candy melts. For a bake sale, use the school’s colors. Get creative.

Add sprinkles to the top to add a pop of color to these.

To add a little crunch, you can add chopped pecans to the batter when you add the dry ingredients. Just make sure to be extra careful when you’re pushing in the mini peanut butter cup because you don’t want a pecan to puncture it.

Make them full size. Instead of using a mini muffin pan, use a traditional muffin pan and full-sized peanut butter cups.

These Mardi Gras Meringues will be the hit of your Mardi Gras party. Get the recipe for this fun Mardi Gras dessert on www.drugstoredivas.net.

Want more cookie recipes?

If you like this Peanut Butter Cup Cookies recipe, you’ll like a few others that we have on the blog.

Meringue Cookies
Happy Cookies
Pecan Sandies
Thumbprint Cookies

Yield: 70 Cookies

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies Recipe

Peanut butter lovers will rejoice over these Peanut Butter Cup Cookies. You'll rejoice over how easy they are.

Peanut butter lovers will rejoice over these Peanut Butter Cup Cookies. You'll rejoice over how easy they are.

Cook Time 9 minutes
Additional Time 5 minutes
Total Time 14 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1.5 cups creamy peanut butter
  • 1 cup shortening
  • 2.5 cups brown sugar
  • 6 tablespoons whole milk
  • 2 tablespoons real vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 3.5 cups flour
  • 1.5 teaspoon salt
  • 1.5 teaspoon baking soda
  • 70 mini peanut butter cups
  • 2 cups chocolate chips (for drizzling)

Instructions

    1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
    2. Unwrap the mini peanut butter cups. Set them aside.
    3. Add peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla to the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix on medium speed until the ingredients are combined.
    4. Then, add the eggs to the mixer’s bowl, and mix on low until just blended.
    5. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix on low until just combined.
    6. Use a cookie scoop to drop a rounded tablespoon into the cavities of a mini muffin pan, filling about 3/4 full.
    7. Bake for eight to nine minutes until the cookies are just barely brown.
    8. Quickly take the mini peanut butter cups and press one into the center of each cookie.
    9. Cool the cookies in the mini muffin tin for about five minutes, then remove the cookies. Place the peanut butter cup cookies on wire rack to cool completely.
    10. Melt your chocolate chips in the microwave. Cut a small hole at the end of a plastic bag. Fill the plastic bag with the melted chocolate and drizzle it on top of the cookies. Set the cookies aside and allow the chocolate to cool completely before serving.

Nutrition Information

Yield

70

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 152Total Fat 8gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 7mgSodium 116mgCarbohydrates 18gFiber 1gSugar 11gProtein 3g

Krista

Sunday 29th of March 2015

Thanks for stopping by MeetUp Monday! Hope to see you again tomorrow!

Amber

Saturday 28th of March 2015

Those look amazing!! Peanut butter and chocolate make the best combo!! Thanks for sharing with us this week at the Best of the Blogosphere! Hope to see you back again next week!

Diane

Wednesday 25th of March 2015

I love peanut butter and chocolate! these look so yum!

Kristen from The Road to Domestication

Monday 23rd of March 2015

These look like half-cookie half-cupcake to me...and that's a winner!!!

Laurie

Wednesday 18th of March 2015

These look great! Thank you for sharing with us on VMG206 Brag About It!

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