Calling all peanut butter lover’s, these are for you. Two kinds of peanut butter in one supremely thick cookie.
That’s better than any Black Friday deal.
If you’re typically plagued by cookies that spread, or bake thin and flat, there’s no chance of that here.
They’re baked in a muffin pan, and they have no where to go but up.
The outer peanut butter cookie layer is made with Skippy Roasted Honey Nut Creamy Peanut Butter. I love baking with honey roasted peanut butter because it adds an extra layer of flavor and sweetness.
And I’m all about the sweetness.
The cookies are stuffed with Skippy Natural Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Spread. For those wondering if it’s like Nutella, no, it’s not. It’s much thicker and it doesn’t have any hazelnut flavor. It’s what you’d get if you infused peanut butter with dark chocolate. It’s much less sweet than Nutella and has 60% less sugar.
Although it’s a ‘natural’ spread, it’s no-stir and there’s no oil slick floating to the top of the jar with dry crumbly bits below, a problem that happens often with ‘natural’ peanut butters, but not this one. Whew.
The recipe for the peanut butter cookie dough is very similar to the Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies in my cookbook, Peanut Butter Comfort. I love those cookies and these are a hybrid of that recipe and Reese’s Pieces Soft Peanut Butter Cookies.
You don’t have to chill the cookie dough before baking, which is a nice time saver, but I strongly recommend putting the Dark Chocolate PB in the freezer for a few hours.
When frozen, it scoops out like mini scoops of ice cream and it’s much easier to work with. If it’s soft at room temperature, it’s a really messy job. So freeze it for your sanity and ease.
After making the peanut butter cookie dough, form it into 12 golf ball-sized mounds. They’ll look pretty enormous, but the dough is very soft and surprisingly lightweight for its size.
Scoop out rounded teaspoons of Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter and place one scoop in the center of each dough mound.
Finesse the sides of the dough up and around the chocolate ball. Take your time and make sure the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter is fully encased so it doesn’t leak while baking.
I’m sure I’ll be asked for substitutions if you can’t find the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter. You can likely stir in melted chocolate, with some cocoa powder, into regular peanut butter until you get the appropriate consistency, but I haven’t tried this. You can also just stuff them with regular peanut butter and a few chocolate chips.
Place the stuffed mounds into a muffin pan and bake until the tops are domed and set, and are slightly firm to the touch. Testing with a toothpick is a futile job because you’ll hit melted chocolate. Oh darn. Even if they look underdone, that’s okay because they firm up as they cool.
Don’t be surprised if the tops fall a bit while the cookies cool. The rich cookie dough is just settling down into the squishy, chocolate peanut butter layer.
After cutting into these oozing beauties you can see how soft, squishy, and melty they interiors are.
I baked all 12 at once, but if you don’t need a dozen of these tempting double-peanut butter treats around at once, you can keep the stuffed dough mounds in the fridge for up to 5 days before baking, or in the freezer for up to 4 months, and bake just what you need because fresh, warm cookies are always best.
The cookies are plush, soft, and thick enough that you can literally sink your teeth into them for big, rich, satisfying bites.
They’re soft with slightly chewy edges, they’re buttery and moist, and are more rich than they are overly sweet.
The peanut butter intensity is strong and robust. You know you’re eating peanut butter cookies. Nothing wimpy or lackluster about the peanut butter flavor, which is to be expected when using two types.
Chocolate and peanut butter are made for each other.
And who can say no to peanut butter and chocolate and warm cookies. I can’t.
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Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter-Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookie Cups
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup Skippy Roasted Honey Nut Creamy Peanut Butter
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 12 rounded teaspoons Skippy Natural Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Spread
Instructions
- Place jar of Skippy Natural Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Spread in the freezer to chill for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a Non-Stick 12-Cup Regular Muffin Pan extremely well with cooking spray; set aside. I don’t like the cosmetic look of paper liners because of ridges they leave, and haven’t tested the recipe with them and am unsure if they will stick.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large bowl and electric hand mixer), cream together the first 6 ingredients (through vanilla) on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, baking soda, optional salt, and mix on low speed until just incorporated, about 1 minute; don’t overmix.
- Using a 1/4-cup measure, portion out the dough, into 12 equal-sized mounds. Dough is very soft, squishy, and the mounds look large, but are lightweight for the size.
- Roll each mound between your palms to create round, smooth globes, and set them on a plate or flat work surface.
- Remove Skippy Natural Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Spread from freezer and using a 1-teaspoon measure, scoop out rounded teaspoons, and place one teaspoon of chocolate on top of each mound of dough.
- Gently push the chocolate peanut butter down into the dough mound, and use your fingers to carefully stretch up the sides of the dough to fully encase the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter. Make sure it’s fully encased so it doesn’t leak while baking. Repeat for all 12 mounds.
- Place one mound in each of the cavities of the prepared pan.Bake for about 14 to 16 minutes (I baked for 14 1/2), or until tops are just set; making sure not to overbake because cookies will continue to cook in pan (carryover cooking) while they cool. Allow cookies to cool in pan for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until firm enough to remove.
- To dislodge cookies if you’re having any trouble, gently run the tip of rubber spatula or plastic knife around the rim of the cavity; a sharp knife will scratch your pan. Or, invert the pan and tap the bottom and they’ll pop out. Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Unbaked cookie dough mounds can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or frozen for up to 4 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
- Adapted from Reese’s Pieces Soft Peanut Butter Cookies, Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies in Peanut Butter Comfort, and Caramel-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This post has been brought to you by Skippy Brand Peanut Butter. Recipe and all opinions are my own.
What’s your favorite kind of peanut butter or peanut butter cookie?
I’m pretty much drooling over these right now! After 30 years I’ve just come to like peanut butter (gasp!), so I’m totally feeling these right now!
Well thank God you’re on board now! My first cookbook was 100+ PB recipes so I am a big fan to say the least :)
As Meg Ryan so eloquently put it: “Yes, yes…yes!” :D
That tower of cookie cup goodness is going to be in my dreams tonight – I’m sure of it! I’ve really got to try baking with this dark chocolate peanut butter ASAP :) Pinned! Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Averie!
Thanks for pinning it to BHG :) I just got you back with those cookies. They look incredible!
It’s officially holiday baking season!!! I will definitely be looking to your site for some fun new ideas :)
ohhh peanut buttery goodness times a million!!!
All that gooey chocolate and peanut butter….in a soft and chewy cookie cup?! These look insanely good Averie!
These look incredible! yummmm! Dark chocolate and PB were just meant to be together, and stuffed in a soft PB cookies? OMG!!
I am literally drooling on my keyboard. Averie, did you make these with my in mind? You know I’m going nuts over them! The two peanut butters, the buttery, soft, chewiness… there is just so much to love. I have to try that dark chocolate peanut butter. I always see it on the shelved but never actually throw it into the cart. That’s changing now!!
Hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving with the fam!
Well I cooked for the fam and they loved it :) And you would love this Choc PB, Sally! It’s not overly sweet, it’s thick so it’s nice for baking, and it’s got a nice punch of chocolate, unlike some other choc PBs Ive tried that aren’t very chocolaty!
And I just pinned a few of your recipes to a group board party I was on today and I saw your cheesecake bars exploded!!!! in like…2 days! congrats :)
These look fantastic! I am craving some of these now with my coffee :)
Oh yum! I have been wanting to try this dark chocolate PB everyone is raving about and I think this finally compels me enough to do it. I know if the jar sits in my cabinet without any recipe destination, I’d be doomed. But this looks like the perfect use! :)
Great and enjoy!
Why does this scream out of this world? Dark chocolate…peanut butter..stuffed..cookies..cups…what…I have to make this today. Today is the day. But these seriously look amazing for some holiday treats!! Thanks for sharing Averie!
LMK how they turn out!
These look amazing and they look so easy to make. Plus they free up your cookie sheets for other treats during the holidays. Nothing worse than having to stop because of cookie sheet clean up :)
Exactly! Or wait for them to cool down to bake another batch!
Maybe I’m the first reviewer of this recipe. I tried it out today. It was AMAZING. It was so rich. The only thing I had trouble with (a lil bit) was forming the mounds around the center-maybe my hands were too warm? It’ doesn’t matter because the end result was loved by all.
**And also Averie, I used nutella in the middle filling (I had to freeze it like u suggested) but it was sinful. Thank you
Hi Iram thanks for trying the recipe the same day I posted it! So far you’re the first who’s said you’ve tried it.
Nutella is MUCH softer than the PB I used. Having used them both, I can say that Nutella is wayyyy softer and squishier and that’s why you had issues. Sounds like you worked it out though and everything ended up fine! Glad you’re loving them :)
Be still my peanut butter-loving heart!
I think I’m in love Averie!
The chocolate pb looks like little smiley faces in there! I have seen this stuff, and I just assumed that it was like nutella, but great to know it isn’t as sweet. As much as I love cookies and sweets, nutella is usually too much for me, and when I want pb, I want pb. Not sugar.
My favorite part of this post? “I’m all about the sweetness.” NO! You?!?!
I think that “natural” just refers to there not being any HFCS in there. At any rate, that doesn’t mean anything about the oil slick, but I’m sure you already know that. And the term isn’t regulated at all, so anyone can call anything natural. Total crap.
You would love this PB. It’s not overly sweet. It’s chocolate + PB.
Not like sugar + chocolate + PB
It’s also thicker too – which for baking in this application was perfect!