Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Chip Cookies

Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Chip Cookies - made dough November 1, 2014 from Wall Flour Girl

When I was in Trader Joe's awhile ago, I came across these mini peanut butter cups. I thought Reese's had cornered the market on peanut butter cups but apparently Trader Joe's came up with a mini version they sell in a pack akin to chocolate chips. I myself am not an eater of peanut butter cups but these mini ones were so cute I decided I had to put them in a cookie. Sometimes that's how I end up deciding what to make - I find an ingredient I want to use and choose a recipe accordingly.

Fortunately I usually have at least a couple of peanut butter cookie recipes to try on my pinterest board. As with chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal cookies, I like to try out different recipes. With peanut butter cookies, I don't go for the crisp (dry) version but I like them chewy, soft and chubby.

These certainly fit the bill. The dough was easy to put together, I added chocolate chips into the batter and half the peanut butter cups then after I'd rolled the dough into balls, I stuck a few more mini peanut butter cups on the outside. These do not spread much or hardly at all, especially when you bake them from frozen dough. They won't look like they're baked at 10 minutes but don't leave them in for much longer than that or you won't get the soft, chewy texture. If you don't want the cookies to be puffy, form them as thick discs rather than mounded dough balls. I like the rounded puffy chubster look. In cookies anyway. Tastewise, these are a good version of a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie with a nice blend of both flavors.

1 egg, room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup heaping cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup mini peanut butter cups

1. In a large bowl, cream together egg, brown sugar, peanut butter, butter, and vanilla. 
2. Add flour, baking soda, and salt; mix in until just incorporated. 
3. Fold in chocolate chips and mini peanut butter cups. Reserve some peanut butter cups to press on the outside and tops of the cookie dough. Scoop dough into golf-ball-size balls and flatten slightly into thick discs or leave rounded. Press mini peanut butter cups into the tops of the discs. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least two hours. 
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. 
5. Place dough discs 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet. Bake cookies in oven for 8-10 minutes, until edges and top of cookies are set but the centers appear slightly underbaked. Remove sheet from oven and allow cookies to cool for an additional 10 minutes.