Add this peanut butter cup stuffed chocolate chip cookies recipe to your gourmet cookie repertoire! Stuff a peanut butter cup in a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough base for a delicious and decadent surprise.
We all agree that cookies are pretty great. But when there’s a surprise inside the cookie, it’s even better, isn’t it? Clearly, the answer is yes, especially given the number of stuffed cookie recipes I have in the queue for you! Today, I’m excited to share this delectable peanut butter cup stuffed chocolate chip cookies recipe with you.
If you’re new to stuffed cookies, a recipe like this one or my oreo-stuffed chocolate chip cookie recipe is a good place to start since the cookie “filling” requires special handling. Peanut butter cups don’t ooze as easily as fillings like jam or caramel.
What is the texture of these peanut butter cup stuffed chocolate chip cookies?
This is its own section because it’s a hot topic in the baking groups I’m in! People are definitely opinionated about their cookies. Each recipe is different, and it’s important to find one that matches your preferred cookie style.
I’m a chewy and soft cookie person, but I want just a little crisp around the edges. Because of the peanut butter, this cookie is definitely on the softer and chewier side. It has enough structure to not need a shaping ring or muffin top tin for baking, though.
As the baker, I’m a bit biased towards this recipe. It was a hit with our small group too, but I think they’re all soft cookie people as well.
Ingredients and stuffed cookie recipe tips and tricks
The ingredients here are very straightforward and there’s really not much in the way of substitutions. When making stuffed cookies, your base recipe needs to be able to maintain a certain height, and not spread too much. This recipe does that.
Unlike peanut butter cookies, where you can let the nut butter add most of the fat and handle most of the binding (like in these vegan peanut butter cookies), you need butter here to help with the structure of the cookie. We use a 50/50 split of peanut butter and butter to make the peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough.
Use a shelf-stable peanut butter rather than natural peanut butter for the least amount of spread. The oil in the natural peanut butter (the kind you have to stir) will result in the cookies spreading more than pictured.
I use store-bought peanut butter cups for simplicity. If you want to get fancy, make your own following this cashew butter cup recipe! The final desired size of the cookie will determine what size peanut butter cup you should use.
I wanted to keep the cookie size manageable, so these cookies are 3 ounces of cookie dough with a mini peanut butter cup in each. To use a full-size peanut butter cup, you may wish to use up to 4 or 5 ounces of cookie dough. This makes the cookies about the same size as what you’d find at bakeries or farmer’s markets.
While those cookies might work for an adult with a sweet tooth, the 3-ounce stuffed cookies were a far more manageable size for our crowd. The nice thing is, that you can easily adjust cookie sizes as you roll. The bigger your cookies, the fewer the recipe will yield.
Finally, I recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh out your dough, especially if you want to make the cookies larger. a 3-ounce cookie was between 1.5-2 scoops of my medium cookie scoop, but it was nice to be more accurate.
The reason you want accuracy in the dough weights is for even baking time. If all your cookies are about the same size, they will bake evenly. If there’s too much variation between the cookies, some will be slightly overcooked and some might be slightly undercooked. So whether you use a scale (love mine!) or scoops, just be consistent and you’ll be good to go.
Do I need to freeze the cookies before baking?
One last thing before the recipe. You don’t have to freeze these before baking! Of course, if you want to prepare the dough in advance and then bake at a later date, freezing is a great option.
But if you’re just making this recipe to bake a batch of cookies, you don’t need to freeze them. This recipe doesn’t spread too much. I do recommend chilling the cookies in the fridge though to help them keep their shape.
I hope you love these stuffed peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, darlings! Happy baking!!!
Stuffed Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Chip Cookies
Add this peanut butter cup stuffed chocolate chip cookies recipe to your bake list! A peanut butter cup in peanut butter chocolate chip dough is a classic gourmet cookie recipe! These stuffed cookies have an inside-out peanut butter cup dough on the outside and the chocolate peanut butter cup on the inside for a delicious, nostalgic treat.
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar (packed)
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 18 peanut butter cups (see notes)
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter, peanut butter, and sugars on medium speed for a minute. Scrape the sides of a bowl.
- In another mixing bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Add the eggs, one at a time. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Stir in the vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients in 3 batches, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Finish the batter by folding in your chocolate chips.
- Portion the cookie dough into 3 ounce balls (see notes). Break each in half and wrap the dough tightly around an unwrapped mini peanut butter cup. Place the balls of dough on a large cutting board or baking sheet.
- If time allows, cover and refrigerate the scooped dough for at least one hour or up to 2 days before baking, or freeze for later. Preheat your oven to 375 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Working in batches, so you leave at least 2 inches of space between each cookie, bake the cookies in a 375 F degree oven for 10-12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. When you see a light golden color along the edges of the cookies, they are ready.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets. Enjoy while slightly warm or at room temperature.
- Leftover cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week, or frozen for up to 3 months. To get that gooey just-baked cookie experience, microwave the cookies on a napkin for about 10 seconds before eating.
Notes
- Mini peanut butter cups fit perfectly in stuffed cookies of the 2.5 to 3-ounce size. If you'd like to use full-size peanut butter cups, increase the amount of dough to 4-5 ounces. You will get fewer cookies per batch.
- To evenly measure out your cookie dough, use a food scale. A scale is a wonderful tool to have in the kitchen and I use mine almost daily! If you don't have one though, just use your cookie scoops. As long as you are consistently measuring, you'll get great results.
- Chocolate chips are a personal preference. The measurement is a suggestion and I believe you should measure based on what you feel looks right to you.
- To help reduce spread, refrigerate the cookie dough at least an hour before baking. It's not required, but it helps.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 18 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 294Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 35mgSodium: 225mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 1gSugar: 20gProtein: 6g
These nutrition values are estimates. Exact values will vary depending on the ingredients, brands, and quantities used.