It’s no secret that we love a good cookie recipe! We have been baking these particular peanut butter cup cookies ever since my kids were little. We love Reese’s (hence the reason we have recipes for Homemade Reese’s and White Chocolate Reeses Fudge), so of course we love stuffing a Reese’s cup in the center of a soft and chewy peanut butter cookie!
Reese’s peanut butter cups add a little extra something to any dessert. If you’re a fan, you’ll also like these favorites: Candy Bar Brownies, Oreo Peanut Butter Delight, and Frozen Peanut Butter Pie.
Why we think you’ll love it:
- PB lovers. They are perfect for the chocolate + peanut butter lover in your family!
- A simple batter. Start with a basic peanut butter cookie recipe and simply press the Reese’s cup into the center!
- Ready to enjoy in no time. From start to finish, you will be enjoying this easy cookie recipe in under 30 minutes!
Peanut Butter Cup Cookies Ingredients and Substitutions
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour – How to Measure Flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 cup brown sugar – light or dark brown sugar
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter – Use regular peanut butter like JIF or Skippy.
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup butter, softened – How to Soften Butter Quickly. If you use salted butter, then omit the added salt.
- 2 large eggs – Room temperature eggs will incorporate better than cold eggs.
- 1 (10.5-ounce) bag Mini Reese’s peanut butter cups – You will need about 18-20 unwrapped mini Reese’s. Instead of Reese’s, try Mini White Chocolate Reese’s, Hershey Kisses (any flavor), Rolo, or Mini Snickers.
How to Make Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
- PREP. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the wrappers from 18-20 peanut butter cups.
- BATTER. Combine all-purpose flour, baking soda, brown sugar, peanut butter, vanilla, salt, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs in a mixing bowl or stand mixer. Mix on SLOW until everything is well combined.
- SHAPE. Form the cookie dough into 1-1½ inch balls and put the cookie dough balls in a greased mini muffin tin. Use the back of a spoon to make a little indent in the top (this will help the cookies bake perfectly to add the candy).
- BAKE. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350°F.
- REESE’S. Once removed from the oven, put an unwrapped peanut butter cup in the middle of each cookie and press lightly. Let cool before removing from the pan. ENJOY!
Kristyn’s Recipe Tips
- Letting them cool in the pan helps them firm up and prevents them from falling apart when you try to transfer them.
- If you don’t have a mini muffin pan, make these on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. They’ll be flatter, more like a “blossom style” cookie, but just as delicious.
- Instead of classic mini Reese’s, try Mini White Chocolate Reese’s, Hershey Kisses (any flavor), Rolos, or Mini Snickers.
Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Soft and decadent peanut butter cup cookies are stuffed with a Reese's center for a sweet and salty bite in under 30 minutes!
Equipment
Video
Ingredients
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 (10.5-ounce) bag Mini Reese’s peanut butter cups
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Combine flour, baking soda, brown sugar, peanut butter, vanilla salt, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs in a bowl and mix on SLOW until well combined.
- Form dough into 1 – 1½ inch balls and place in greased mini muffin tin. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
- Once removed from oven, put an unwrapped peanut butter cup in the middle of each cookie and press lightly. Let cool before removing from pan. ENJOY!
Notes
Recipe Tips.
- Letting them cool in the pan helps them firm up and prevents them from falling apart when you try to transfer them.
- If you don’t have a mini muffin tin, make these on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. They’ll be flatter, more like a “blossom style” cookie, but just as delicious.
- Instead of classic mini Reese’s, try Mini White Chocolate Reese’s, Hershey Kisses (any flavor), Rolos, or Mini Snickers.
Nutrition
Calories: 335kcal, Carbohydrates: 39g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 18g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Cholesterol: 45mg, Sodium: 435mg, Potassium: 137mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 24g, Vitamin A: 340IU, Calcium: 25mg, Iron: 1.2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe FAQ
Prep ahead of time?
Store the dough covered in the fridge for 1-2 days before baking, or freeze the cookie dough for about 3 months before baking.
How to store?
Place cooled cookies in an airtight container on the counter for 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Like This
Peanut Butter Cookies
Peanut Butter Desserts
Peanut Butter Cupcakes
30 mins
Peanut Butter Pie
2 hrs 20 mins
Peanut Butter Brownies
1 hr 20 mins
Peanut Butter Balls Recipe
55 mins
Collections
This recipe was originally published March 2019.
I’ve always made these cookies for my husband. It had been awhile and I needed the recipe again. This is the best recipe I’ve ever used! It makes a lot of cookies. I did have to use a bag of kisses and make blossoms because the holiday bag of Reese’s cups only had 24 cups. I sent this recipe to my daughter already! We love it!
I’m so disappointed! They were not even close to being done following the bake time listed in this recipe. Since they had to cool for an hour before removing from the pan-I didn’t realize it before it was too late. Tried to salvage them but it didn’t work.
I had the same problem! I’m getting ready to make more so I’ll extend the time and hope that does it!
These are a FAVORITE at our house! I always include them on the cookie plates I make for neighbors for Christmas and they love them!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
We make these every year for Christmas and love them! They are so addictive!
I have made these peanut butter cup cookies and I love them as well as the family. I will be making them again for christmas.
OMG yummmmmmmmm, these were too good for words.
Oh my goodness, drooling! Is there anything better than chocolate + peanut butter?! These won’t last long in my house!
These are some of the best cookies ever! I have to give them away, because I simply can’t resist eating them when I know they’re in the pantry. 🙂
These are my favorite cookies to make, always a hit when I take them to friends houses
My husband is a huge fan of these. Easy to make and taste delicious!
Love making these.. I might cheat a little and use a box mix for the cookie part but I love those Pb cups!!
Hey, boxed cookie mix totally works on these too and turns out yummy! So glad you enjoy the cookies. 🙂
I love this recipe and really liked the suggestion to put other mini candy bars in the center. Mini milky way bars were a perfect substitute to Reese’s. Great way to finish off the remaining holiday candy laying around!! So good!
Thank you so much for sharing this peanut buttercup cookies! Really easy to make and tasty!
These are so fun to make with the kids! They look more difficult to make than they really are too. I love that they are bite-sized. My favorite combo Peanut Butter and Chocolate!
Oh, yes! These are the best!! The recipe makes so many, so they are great for taking to parties.
These sound on the order of a recipe I had years ago and Lost 🙁 The cookies were called Drop Filled Sugar Cookies and you could use anything for the filling that you wanted. Mine didn’t have peanut butter in the dough. I used to put a few peanut butter chips and a scant teaspoon of raspberry jam in the indentation before baking, and they were put on a baking sheet. That combination was a real winner (peanut butter and jelly sandwich flavor). My husband loved them and all of the men he worked with at the railroad loved them too. I’m going to try it and maybe others might like to as well. Of course, I’m also going to make them with the Reese’s cup in them too. I have a GREAT pan that I can finally put to use. It is made to hold the amount of cupcakes that a cake mix produces (24). It is also stick proof. I don’t know if I can mention company names but it is made by the Wilton Company and can be found in their online store.
Oh that sounds like a fun combo with the raspberry jam and the pb chips! Hopefully you (and your husband + his coworkers) will enjoy these ones as well. The pan sounds like the perfect tool to bake these!
Made for the perfect Sunday Treat! 🙂
Love anything reeses! And THEse cookies are no exception. They are a fun alternative to peanut butter cookies. So good!
Peanut butter cups are my favorite!! I was so excited to try these & let me say, they are my favorite!!! They are so soft & pretty easy to make. I will be adding these to my goodie plates this Christmas!
Hi, I just made these today. They were really crumbly when I tried taking them out of the pans. I let them cool in the pans, but I think they needed to stay in the pans a lot longer than what I had done. The ones I left in the pans the longest did come out better, but still kind of crumbly. Maybe chilling them in the pans next time would work better.
Hi Julie! I’m sorry you had problems with the cookies. 🙁 We’ve made these several times without issues so I’m trying to think what would cause them to be crumbly. Was your butter softened? That may have played a role. :/
EXAct same, very crumbly and dont TASTE as expected