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?
Made these yesterday. I thought I’d have to beat off my hubby as he was circling around the PB dough after I used the mixer on it. :) I seem to have over-frozen the chocolate PB as it was TOO hard to get out and needed softening in the microwave. I did the rounded teaspoon but think I would use a tablespoon next time as somehow my filling seems a little wimpy. I LOVED the honey-roasted PB. Another win!
My definition of a rounded tsp was basically to the max of what I could insert inside the dough and still get it to seal. There’s no way I could have gotten a full tbsp in there without seepage, but if you could have, go for it next time! The more, the better :) Glad you liked them and yes to honey roasted PB!
I made these for my Christmas, and my family loved them! Scooping out the dark chocolate peanut butter was tricky, so I enlisted the help of my husband. They baked and set up perfectly. Thanks!
Glad you guys had a successful tag-team effort :)
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter-Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookie Cups!! Oh Gosh
I will have to give it a try. Its mouth watering. I am not a chef but I love cooking and I will definitely try to make it . Wish me luck!
I wonder if they sell these Skippy versions of PB in Canada because I want to recreate these cookies NOW! Averie, you’re killing me here. Every photo showing the molten chocolatey-peanut-buttery innards are making me drool. I’m especially in love with the photo of the two spoons full of peanut butter. So gorgeous and artistic. Thanks for the tip on freezing the PB first and the photo showing how you made each cookie. Very helpful!
Glad you like the step shots and I hope you can find some PB up there, too!
Is this even LEGAL!?!?!?!!?!!?
Peanut butter cookie cups are looking really nice and tasty, along with unique shape . Awesome dessert. I really love the stuffed dark chocolate in it. I wish I could eat them as early as possible :) :)
Why don’t I live inside your mouth? No seriously.
The queen of pb & chocolate you have done it again!! That skippy spread sounds delish- I must pick it up next time as the store. Love how buttery, chewy and the ooze factor of these cookie cups.
the ooze factor is where it’s at :)
OMG ~ can someone please bring me these into my bed right now!
And I love that you’re in bed at 7:55pm. Add 8 or 9 hours to that for my bedtime :) xo