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Peanut Butter lovers, this is the perfect cookie for you. These Reese's peanut butter cookie cups are homemade soft peanut butter cookies with a mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cup in the center and drizzled with melted milk chocolate. The perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter. These bite-size cookies are the perfect sweet treat to add to your cookie plate at Christmas or to deliver to family and friends.
On my way to 100 recipes in 100 days. Here is recipe 74: Reece's Peanut Butter Cookie Bites!
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- Equipment Needed:
- Ingredients:
- Secrets to Success: full instructions and notes in the recipe card below.
- Instructions: Be sure to see below the detailed instructions in the recipe card.
- Chocolate + Peanut Butter = cheap therapy!
- Reece's Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Bites
Everyone in my family loves peanut butter desserts. It's fun to make these for birthday parties and backyard BBQs. Making these ahead of time and freezing them is a real time saver around the holidays. And if you want a truly decadent treat, pop one in the microwave for 8 seconds and enjoy!
Table of Contents
Equipment Needed:
Electric mixer. A hand mixer or a stand mixer both work great for this soft dough.
Cookie Scoop. I use a 1 tablespoon size cookie scoop for these.
Mini muffin pan: I prefer the sturdy non-stick metal ones as the silicone ones often have a smaller cup size. Spray your pan well with nonstick cooking spray as well to ensure your cookies won't stick around the edges or the bottom of the cups. If you need another reason to buy this specific pan, I also use a mini muffin pan for myPeppermint Brownie Bites.
Ingredients:
The ingredients here are simple and produce the softest peanut butter cookies. See the exact measurements below in the recipe card.
- Flour: I use all-purpose flour for a soft and sturdy cookie
- Baking Soda
- Salt: I almost always use table salt when baking
- Butter-flavored shortening: Shortening will result in perfectly soft cookies while not becoming dry or crumbly. Crisco makes this in sticks for easy measuring
- Creamy Peanut Butter: I have found that Jif is the best for baking. Natural peanut butter won't work in this recipe.
- Granulated Sugar
- Vanilla Extract
- Large Egg
- Miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cups: Use the miniatures that are individually wrapped and freeze them to make them easier to press into the dough.
- Milk Chocolate Chips: these get melted and drizzled over the top of the cooled cookies.
*Pro tip: with baking recipes, I tend to be more specific about brands. This recipe falls into that. Jif peanut butter has always had wonderful results and using a good milk chocolate chip really makes all the difference. The chocolate drizzle melts easily and is silky smooth. Additionally, the peanut butter cups also matter. I have tried these with Trader Joe's peanut butter cups, and while the candy is delicious, the baking results just didn't hold up in testing. Reese's, Jif, Ghiradelli.
Secrets to Success: full instructions and notes in the recipe card below.
1. Roll cookie dough balls in granulated sugar before putting them in the muffin tin. Traditional peanut butter cookies are also rolled in sugar and so delicious.
2. Use shortening instead of butter. Butter has water in it which causes the cookies to crumble. The butter-flavored shortening is the key to soft cookies that are not dry and crumbly.
3. Do not overbake. These cookies will not get brown at the edges. 8-9 minutes is the perfect amount of time. If you are not sure, bake 2 or 3 as a test and once they are cooled and removed, adjust your baking time as needed.
4. For the best results, freeze the miniature peanut butter cups before pressing them into the dough. I have found that these may crack or squish if you press them in the dough at room temperature. Perfectly fine, but freeze them first if you want picture-perfect cookies.
*Pro Tip: Let cookies cool completely on the counter before removing them. Once all the way cool, remove the cookies to a cooling rack to drizzle with melted chocolate. I put my melted chocolate in a ziploc bag and cut the corner to make the perfect drizzle over the cookies.
Instructions: Be sure to see below the detailed instructions in the recipe card.
*Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray your mini muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray. Get both the cups and the flat rims.
*Put your miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in the freezer while you make your dough.
1. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set it aside. In another bowl, use an electric or stand mixer to cream together shortening, peanut butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla until nice and fluffy. Add in the dry ingredients (flour mixture) and mix well. Scoop out dough in 1 tablespoon amount and roll into a ball. Roll each ball of dough in granulated sugar and place in the greased mini muffin tin.
2. Unwrap your frozen mini peanut butter cups and press in each ball of cookie dough. The edges of the dough should push up the sides of the muffin pan cup.
3. Bake cookies and then let them cool completely. Do not take the cookie cups out of the pan while still warm. Letting them cool in the pan will allow them to keep their shape.
4. Melt milk chocolate chips and drizzle over cooled cookie cups after you remove them from the pan. Let the drizzle set and dry before storing these.
*These cookies freeze perfectly. Place parchment paper between layers of cookies and freeze in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks.
*Pro tip: try this recipe using Reese's white chocolate peanut butter cups. White chocolate and peanut butter is the combo you didn't know you needed. I could go on and on about my love for white chocolate with peanut butter.
Chocolate + Peanut Butter = cheap therapy!
If you love peanut butter treats as much as I do, be sure to try my recipes forNo Bake Peanut Butter BarsandMonster Cookies with Butterscotch Chips.
Reece's Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Bites
By Alexis
Soft Peanut Butter Cookies with Reece's. Peanut butter cups made in bite size cups
Servings 24 cookies
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all puropose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter flavor shortening I use Crisco
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter don't use natural. Jiff is best
- 1 cup sugar plus ¼ cup for rolling
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 24 mini Reece's Peanut Butter Cups unwrapped
- 1 ½ cups milk chocolate chips Ghiradelli is my favorite
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease mini muffin pan and set aside.
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together shortening, peanut butter, and sugar until fluffy and light in color. About 90 seconds.
Add egg and vanilla extract to creamed peanut butter mixture. Mix well.
Slowly add in the flour mixture to the stand mixer and mix on low to combine well.
Using a 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop out dough and roll in a ball. Roll each ball in sugar then place in greased mini muffin pan.
Press one unwrapped mini peanut butter cup in to each cookie dough ball in the muffin pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 9-10 minutes. Cookies will look set on edges but not brown up in color. Remove from oven and let cool completely in the pan. Once completely cool, remove cookies to a cooling rack.
Melt 1 ½ cup milk chocolate chips in 30 second incriments in the microwave stiring after each increment. Once smooth, transfter to a ziplock bag and cut off the corner to pipe on a drizzle of chocolate to each cookie after completely cooled and removed from muffin pan.
Store in air tight container at room temperature for 3-5 days or freeze up to 2 weeks.
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Liked my Reece's Peanut Butter Cookies? Try Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars
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