Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies - made dough May 16, 2015 from Crazy for Crust

The only reason I made these cookies is so I could use those mini peanut butter cups from Trader Joe’s. It isn’t like I love peanut butter cups either because I could take or leave them. Usually I leave them. But these mini ones are cute and I pick up a package once in awhile because I know I want to make some kind of cute cookie with them. That’s pretty much all it takes for me to try out a new cookie recipe.

These are literally chocolate cookies with peanut butter cups in them. Not to be confused with a chocolate peanut butter cookie or a peanut butter cookie with chocolate in it. Nope, it’s a chocolate cookie that contains peanut butter cups. Which means if you’re indifferent to peanut butter but don’t mind it, this is fine because it’s also a good chocolate cookie. Soft, chewy, chocolaty. I gave my nieces a goodie bag of them and one said she inhaled two. While already full from dinner. Let’s hear it for millennials and metabolism.

If you like cookies that bake up thicker, as always, portion the cookie dough into dough balls and freeze them for at least several hours before baking. I also like to hold back some of the mini peanut butter cups when I make the dough and when I portion into dough balls, I press the mini peanut butter cups on the outside so they’re more prominent rather than hiding within the dough. If you don’t have access to mini peanut butter cups, you can use regular-sized peanut butter cups and just cut into chunks. If you want a pure chocolate cookie with nothing to interfere with chocolaty goodness, you can leave off the peanut butter cups, mini or otherwise, and just use chocolate chips. They won’t look as cute though but chocolate is chocolate after all.

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 box (3.4 - 3.9 ounces) instance chocolate pudding mix (not sugar-free)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cold brewed coffee or water
1 1/2 cups mini peanut butter cups plus more for garnish

1. Cream butter and both sugars in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix in vanilla and egg. Add cocoa powder and dry pudding mix; mix until smooth,
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients and coffee or water to the creamed butter mixture and mix until just combined.
3. Add mini peanut butter cups to cookie dough and fold in. Scoop dough into golf-ball=size dough balls, pressing mini peanut butter cups on the outside, cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
5. Bake 11-12 minutes or until middles no longer look wet and edges are done. Cool cookies on cookie sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.