The BEST Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

An easy recipe for soft Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Cookies. Simply bake the cookies in a mini muffin tin then press a miniature Reeses cup into the center of each one.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Cookies

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 8

Total Time 30

Servings

Calories 138kcal

Author Melissa Rose

Ingredients

¾ cup unsalted butter (i.e. 1 ½ sticks) softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
60 miniature Reeses Peanut Butter cups (about 5 dozen) * see note below

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl, cream together softened unsalted butter (¾ cup, i.e., 1 ½ sticks), peanut butter (1 cup), light brown sugar (1 cup), and granulated sugar (1 cup) with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add in vanilla extract (1 teaspoon) and eggs (2 large) and continue to mix for 10 seconds.
Add baking soda (1 ½ teaspoons) and mix on low speed for 10 seconds. Add all-purpose flour (2 ½ cups) and continue to mix until all flour is incorporated.
Scoop & roll dough into 1 tablespoon sized balls and place each in a greased, mini muffin tin.
Bake at 350℉ for 8 minutes.
The trick to making these super soft is to only bake them for 8 minutes. A minute or two longer and you'll have a crunchy, brown cookie (which isn't bad if you like crunchy cookies, but I like mine soft!). If baking the large version of these cookies (3-tablespoon flattened balls, bake for 9-11 minutes).
Remove from oven, and immediately press one mini Reeses peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie.
After inserting the Reeses, allow the cookies to cool on a cooling rack (while still in the muffin pan) for about 20 minutes. At this point, your chocolate will likely still be melted so you should then place the entire pan in the fridge for about 15 minutes or until the chocolate sets. Once the chocolate is hardened, use a spoon to gently "scoop" out the cookies. This is where spraying the muffin tin before baking is crucial, otherwise your cookies will stick to the pan!
If not serving immediately, store in an airtight container for up to 5 days or freeze for long-term storing.

Notes

Miniature Reeses: You need to buy the miniature Reeses that are individually wrapped. Not the newer "Minis" that come in a resealable bag. You can also make these with mini dark chocolate or white Reeses peanut butter cups!

Don't have a muffin tin? If you don't have a mini muffin tin, you can bake these on a normal pan but just keep in mind that they will spread a bit (leaving you without a nice, little cup shape to fit the Reeses cup into). As an alternative, you could make these flatter Reeses cup cookies by using normal sized Reeses (since they're flatter) and pressing them into a larger sized cookie.

Freezing: Tdhese peanut butter cup cookies freeze beautifully so that you can make them ahead of time! After cooling and allowing the chocolate to reharden, place the cookies in an airtight container and freeze (best up to 2 months). I actually prefer these half-frozen, so definitely try that (if you happen to have any left, that is!).

Since they freeze well, they are great for making ahead. And after the chocolate hardens, they are a great cookie to travel with since they don't require messy frosting and won't break apart on the road. I actually like them better when they're slightly frozen since it's basically like a soft ball of cookie dough with a frozen Reeses inside.

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