Bake or Break
New to BAKE or BREAK? Start Here!

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

These soft, chewy peanut butter cup cookies are topped with a peanut butter cup for double the deliciousness. Not only are these cookies irresistible, they’re also incredibly easy!

Plate of peanut butter cup cookies

Peanut butter cup cookies are definitely a must-bake for all you chocolate and peanut butter fans. If recipes like chocolate peanut butter tassies and chocolate peanut butter swirl cookies make your heart skip a beat, you’ll swoon for these cookies, too!

  • A Reese’s lovers’ spin on peanut butter blossoms. If you love classic peanut butter blossom cookies, these cookies have a similar flavor—but even more peanut butter goodness!
  • Lightly crisp, sweet exterior. One of my favorite aspects of these cookies is the coating of sugar each cookie gets before they are baked. It really ups the sweetness and gives them a little something extra.
  • Easy to make—and make ahead. Not only is this a simple recipe, you can also make a batch of these cookies ahead of time and freeze them for later. Simply thaw on the counter whenever you want a little treat.
Overhead view of ingredients for peanut butter cup cookies

What You’ll Need

Scroll down to the recipe card to find the ingredient quantities and recipe instructions.

  • All-purpose flour – Here’s how to measure flour for baking cookies.
  • Baking powder
  • Salt
  • Creamy peanut butter – I prefer using creamy peanut butter instead of crunchy, but if you’d like a little nutty texture in these peanut butter cup cookies, feel free to go with crunchy.
  • Unsalted butter – Learn more: Unsalted or Salted Butter: Which is Better for Baking?
  • Light brown sugar – Wondering why this recipe calls for light brown sugar? Here’s more info: Light Brown Sugar vs Dark Brown Sugar: What’s the Difference?
  • Eggs
  • Vanilla extract – You can use store-bought or homemade vanilla extract.
  • Granulated sugar
  • Mini peanut butter cups – Use miniature peanut butter cups, not the chocolate-chip-size cups sold in the baking aisle. I usually go with Reese’s peanut butter cups, but another brand with a similar size works, too.

What’s the Best Peanut Butter to Use in Cookies?

I always recommend skipping the natural peanut butter for baking, as it can be a bit unpredictable since the consistency varies from one brand to the next and the peanut butter at the top of the jar tends to be more oily, while the bottom is harder. If the peanut butter doesn’t need to be stirred before using, that’s what you want here!

How to Make Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

  • Prepare. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.
  • Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. 
  • Cream the butters and sugar. Use an electric mixer to mix the peanut butter and butter until smooth. Add the brown sugar and beat until combined. 
  • Finish the dough. Beat in the eggs and vanilla, then gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing just until combined.
  • Form the cookies. Scoop a tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball. (A 1-tablespoon cookie scoop will make portioning quick and accurate.) Roll the ball in the granulated sugar to coat completely. Repeat with the remaining dough and place the balls 2 inches apart on baking sheets.
  • Bake. Bake one pan at a time for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the cookies begin to puff slightly. Remove from the oven and press a single peanut butter cup in the center of each cookie. 
  • Continue baking. Bake the cookies for 5 to 6 minutes more, or until they are golden brown and the chocolate has begun to melt.
  • Cool. Let the cookies cool on the pans for 10 minutes. Then, transfer them to wire racks to finish cooling. (Learn more: Why Every Baker Needs Wire Cooling Racks)
Wire rack of peanut butter cup cookies

Tips for Success

  • Soften the butter. This ensures that it mixes evenly into the peanut butter cookie dough and it also helps it hold more air when beaten, giving your cookies the perfect texture. Learn more: How to Soften Butter
  • Let the baking sheets cool between batches. If you need to reuse the same baking sheets, make sure you let them cool completely before placing more cookie dough on them. If the baking sheets are still warm, the cookies are likely to be flat, crispy, and over-baked on the bottoms.
  • Chill the peanut butter cups. Chilling the peanut butter cups beforehand helps prevent them from melting too much during baking. It also makes it easier to press them into the center of the warm cookies without getting melted chocolate everywhere.
  • Don’t overbake. These cookies should be soft and slightly underdone when you take them out of the oven. They will continue to bake and set as they cool, so be careful not to leave them in the oven for too long.
  • Know the basics. New to baking? Read over my baking tips for beginners for more advice.
Box of peanut butter cup cookies with wrapped Reese's cups

Variations

You can use dark or white chocolate peanut butter cups instead of traditional Reese’s miniatures—and you can also use a different brand of peanut butter cup if you’d like, as long as it’s a similar size.

To give these peanut butter cup cookies a little extra flair, you can drizzle them with melted white chocolate for some visual contrast.

How to Store

Store peanut butter cup cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Plate of peanut butter cup cookies

Can I Freeze This Recipe?

To freeze these cookies, place them on a baking sheet in the freezer until the peanut butter cups are frozen solid. Then, transfer them to an airtight container or zip-top bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.

Hand holding peanut butter cup cookie

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Yield 36 cookies
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 13 minutes
Total Time 33 minutes

These easy peanut butter cup cookies are soft, chewy cookies with a mini peanut butter cup pressed right into the center. A guaranteed hit!

Overhead view of peanut butter cup cookies piled onto plate

Ingredients

  • 1 & 1/2 cups (180g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (127g) creamy peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup (56g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup (200g) firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar, for rolling the dough
  • 36 mini peanut butter cups, chilled and unwrapped

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.
  2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  3. Using an electric mixer, mix the peanut butter and butter until smooth. Add the brown sugar and beat until combined. Add the eggs and vanilla, mixing until combined. Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until combined.
  4. Scoop the dough by tablespoons and roll into balls. Roll the balls in granulated sugar to coat completely. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets.
  5. Bake one pan at a time for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the cookies begin to puff slightly. Remove from the oven, and press one peanut butter cup in the center of each cookie. Bake for 5 to 6 minutes more, or until the cookies are golden brown and the chocolate has begun to melt.
  6. Cool the cookies on the pans for 10 minutes. Then, transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Notes

Recipe slightly adapted from Everyday Food.

Recommended Products

Bake or Break is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Show off your baking masterpiece!

Snap a pic, tag @bakeorbreak, and use #bakeorbreak on Instagram. Can't wait to see your creation!

Share this:

    35 Comments on “Peanut Butter Cup Cookies”

  1. I saw those in Everyday Food too and was drooling over them. Unfortunately my husband has a mis-placed palate and doesn’t like peanut butter and chocolate together! Right?! I know.

  2. Hi Jennifer

    Is that a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup in the center of the cookie.

  3. I opened my google reader and All I saw was a huge peanut butter cup. This looks amazing.

  4. Too bad my mother-in-law just left. She would have gone wild over these. Maybe I’ll send her some… (she even bought a huge bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups while she was here!)

  5. WOW – Now this is heaven….. I love this! Great post….

  6. I love, love, love…
    It’s printed and ready to go, as soon as I find those mini pb cups.
    Mmmm what Chrismas treat those are going to make!
    Great pics by the way…

  7. Your photos are always amazing.
    My sister-in-law just made these over last Christmas, but she used a pb cookie mix ( 🙁 ) and the regular size Reese’s cups. They were good, but I couldn’t believe she didn’t home make the dough! Gonna have to try these.

  8. Chocolate and PB is the ultimate combo. I grew up with the whole PB cookie and chocolate kiss combo, but the Reese’s sounds delicious!

  9. Love it!! I always look forward to your recipes, especially because your pictures are so great! Peanut butter and chocolate is one of the best combinations, thanks for the post!

  10. so simple and yet so delicious.

  11. Holy crap. I think I’ll have to make these tonight!

  12. Oh I love these! Yummy!

  13. Okay, are you ready?

    Use the peanut butter blossom recipe, but instead of kisses, hide a Nestle treasure inside (I use caramel). They melt inside the cookie – it is hands down my husband’s favorite cookie. At Christmas, we call them Santa’s hidden treasures, but have numerous different (and bawdy) names for them for other times of year.

  14. I’ve seen the refrigerated cookie dough recipe but much prefer this one, thanks!

  15. MMmm…all the brown sugar surely makes ’em good & chewy…yum!

  16. Love these! Anything with peanut butter is a hit with us for sure. I do remember Mama making these for us, and I have always loved them! Thanks for sharing with us. They were great!

  17. I saw these too and wanted to try them, now that I know that they are fabulous, I will give them a try! They look amazing!!!!

  18. Thanks, everyone! 🙂

  19. reese’s are my favorite candy so of course these are gonna be my favorite cookies! i love these things-now i’m gonna have to go make some 🙂

  20. Good for you for staying away from trans fats! If only every consumer could be as knowledgeable as you!

  21. Jennifer, these look so good. I just made a batch of peanut butter buddy bars for my grandson. They got lost by UPS so had to be tossed. I am going to do a remake and send these to him this week. Your recipe will certainly more than make up for his disappointment. Thanks!

  22. That looks heavenly! The “cookie” part so nice and soft! Funny thing is that I don’t really like either one, peanut butter or chocolate on its own but put them together and something wonderul happens, YUM!

  23. YUM!
    This gives me the warm fuzzy’s. My mom never made them but it is what I imagine childhood is like in a perfect world.

  24. Oh goodness I feel like an 8 year old all over again! My mom would make these with a Hershey’s Kiss instead of a peanut butter cup. I’ll just have to make a batch of each to see which my husband and I prefer! =)

  25. what an utterly enticing photo! It borders on cruel!

  26. Delicious! I would like to try but it is quite difficult to find reesies here in Spain. I’m thinking about using something different instead, maybe some “typical spanish” sweet but I don’t what 🙁

  27. Now these are right up my alley! The sugar coating makes all the difference. I’m convinced that if you took 2T of sugar out of any cookie recipe and sprinkled it on top of the cookies instead, it always ends up tasting sweeter.

  28. This is one of my favorite recipes to make.

  29. This happens to be one of my favorite to make now as well….too bad those little peanut butter cups are so expensive!!! You are my new best friend, I am SO happy that I stumbled across your blog while looking for a recipe for garlic knots! Thanks for sharing 🙂

  30. these look so GOOD!
    im going to try them, as soon as i can get my hands on some reese cups. xD

  31. I think my mom made these cookies every year for the holidays. I continued the tradition with my own family and they always disappeared very quickly. They are delicious just out of the oven when they are still warm and the chocolate and peanut butter are soft and melted…delicious with a glass of milk!

  32. Ooh…I’m making these Christmas week. I can’t wait.

    I’m linking, too…I love your blog!

  33. OOOh…these take me back to my childhood! I loved these cookies…thank you so much for the recipe. I’m going to make these for my friends and give as Christmas gifts. Can’t wait to start baking 🙂

  34. how much would a batch of 36 peanut butter cup cookies go for

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *