Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Kids and adults alike will love these classic peanut butter cup cookies. Miniature Reese’s cups are nestled into peanut butter cookies for an easy recipe that will be a hit all year long.

There are a handful of cookies, like spritz cookies and thumbprint cookies, that are holiday classics. But somehow they get forgotten about the rest of the year.

This year, I think we should be better about treating ourselves to some of those classic “Christmas” cookies throughout the year.

And I think we should start with these peanut butter cup cookies. After all, there’s no reason not to enjoy them in the middle of February or April or September! 

Muffin-Tin Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Have you had peanut butter cup cookies before?

They are a classic at holiday parties and cookie exchanges, along with Peanut Butter Blossoms and Rum Balls.

And honestly, it makes sense why. Peanut butter and chocolate were made to be together, and these cookies are quick and easy to make.

So easy, in fact, that we should be better about enjoying them outside of the holiday season.

Instead of baking the cookies on a cookie sheet, like you would with your other cookie recipes, the dough balls are baked in a mini muffin pan.

The muffin pan mimics the shape of the mini Reese’s peanut butter cups that get pushed into the center of each freshly baked cookie.

The whole thing makes for an adorable cookie cup that can be devoured in one or two bites.

Even better, they’re a great use for any leftover Halloween, Valentine’s, or Easter candy you might have laying around. Or even bags of holiday candy leftover from parties.

How to Make Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

These peanut butter cup cookies are so fun and easy to make. They’re great for beginner bakers and are a fun way to get kids involved in the kitchen!

Ingredients you’ll need

The base for these peanut butter cup cookies is a simple peanut butter cookie dough. The dough is very similar to the one used to make my Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies.

To make this recipe, you will need:

• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup softened butter
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup creamy peanut butter
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 lightly beaten egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 40 unwrapped miniature Reese’s peanut butter cups 

If you are buying the Reese’s brand of peanut butter cups, make sure you buy the ones labeled “miniature cups.” 

Reese’s also makes a size labeled as “minis unwrapped” – these are a tiny version that are loose in the bag. They’re smaller than what you want for these cookies (although they’re great for peanut butter cup rice krispie treats). 

Helpful resources

• Before getting started, make sure you know how to measure flour and how to cream butter and sugar. Both of these things will help these cookies turn out perfect every time.
• If you forget to set your butter out ahead of time to soften, check out my tips for softening butter quickly.
• This recipe uses granulated sugar and brown sugar. Both types of sugar play a role in the texture of these cookies. If you run out of brown sugar, learn how to make a brown sugar substitute that you can use. 
• If you reach into your pantry and find that your brown sugar is hard as a rock, don’t panic! I have several tips for softening brown sugar that will save you a trip to the store.

Making these cookies

To make these peanut butter cup cookies, start by whisking together the dry ingredients. Set those aside.

With a mixer, cream the butter, peanut butter, and both sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla, and milk and mix until combined.

Finally, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

To shape the cookies, grab a small cookie scoop and scoop the dough into the wells of a mini muffin pan. Kids love helping to scoop the dough, so it’s a great way to get them involved in the process.

Don’t add the peanut butter cups yet. Those will be added after the cookies bake!

Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, just until they are set. Use this time to unwrap the peanut butter cups if you haven’t already.

When you pull the cookies out of the oven, immediately press an unwrapped mini peanut butter cup into each cookie while they are still in the pan. 

Set the pan on a wire rack and allow the cookies to cool before removing them from the pan. This will make sure they maintain their cute cup shape.

Recipe FAQs

Can I make a bigger version of these cookies with full-size peanut butter cups?

Yes! You will need to use a standard-size muffin tin and double (at least) the amount of cookie dough that goes into each well. Note that you’ll get about half the number of cookies from the batch.

Bake the cookies for a couple extra minutes, then press in the full-size peanut butter cups and let the cookies cool completely.

Help! How do I get these out of the pan??

I am usually able to get these peanut butter cup cookies out of the pan pretty easily by using a small offset spatula. 

If your mini muffin tin is older and tends to stick, try placing a strip of parchment paper at the bottom of each muffin cup before adding the cookie dough, making sure the parchment is long enough to come above the edge of the cups.

Then, you can use the ends of the parchment paper to help lift the cookies out of the tin after cooling.

Can I make this recipe dairy free?

Absolutely. Use your favorite dairy-free/vegan butter in place of the butter and your favorite dairy-free milk in place of the milk in the dough.

Make sure you look for dairy-free or vegan mini peanut butter cups. There are lots of dairy-free and vegan chocolate options in many grocery stores these days; make sure to check the specialty/health food section of the store.