What a delicious combination! Peanut butter and chocolate…peanut butter and brownies. It’s a delicious peanut butter and chocolate lover’s delight. And, every time I make these, I think about Mom. She loved making and She loved making and sharing the old fashioned peanut butter cookies. But, she never made any like these. She would L-O-V-E them!
Mix the delicious brownie cookies, wrap them each around a ball of peanut butter filling - YUM! Then bake. Cool and swirl on the peanut butter topping. Finish them off by topping with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for a full on mouthful of peanut butter goodness! Finally, drizzle it off the chocolate topping.
Put your foot down - these are cookies you do not want to waste on non-peanut butter lovers! Peanut butter filling inside a brownie cookie…and a superb chocolate and peanut swirl on top with a Reese's cup? It’s heavenly!
This recipe serves up one to two dozen cookies, depending on how large you scoop them up.
Preheat your oven to 350F degrees.
Prep your baking pans:
Line your baking pans with parchment paper for easy release and faster cleanup.
Gather up your cookie dough Ingredients:
1 C Butter, soft
1/3 C Sugar
1 ½ C Brown sugar
2 Eggs, room temp
1 T Vanilla extract
2 ½ C Flour
1 C Cocoa powder, sifted
1 t Baking soda
½ t Salt
Gather up the soft peanut butter filling Ingredients:
1 C Peanut butter, creamy
2 T Butter, softened
½ C Powdered sugar, sifted
Gather up the ingredients for two separate swirl toppings:
1 C Chocolate chips, semi-sweet or dark chocolate
1 C Peanut butter chips
1/3 C Vegetable oil, divided
Mix the peanut butter filling:
-In a small mixing bowl, mix the peanut butter, soft butter and powdered sugar. It’s easy enough to mix by hand, but feel free to use an electric mixer, mixing until combined. Don’t overmix. This should not be fluffy and airy.
-With a small cookie scoop or a teaspoon, scoop out 12 to 24 balls and drop onto a parchment paper lined pan.
-Refrigerate for 10-20 minutes while you’re mixing the cookie dough.
-If you like, you can roll into spheres when they are cool enough to roll.
Mix, wrap the peanut butter filling and bake the cookies:
-In an electric stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars on low - medium speed until creamy.
-Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract until well combined.
-Sift in the dry ingredients, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Cocoa powder tends to clump during storage so make sure that gets sifted, too, in order to avoid dry lumps in your cookie dough. Beat until combined but do not overbeat.
-Roll out 12 to 24 cookie dough balls, depending on whether you want extra-large cookies or smaller.
-Flatten the cookie dough balls and wrap each cookie around one ball of peanut butter filling. Make sure there are no seams or holes where the filling can escape during the baking process.
-Flatten to about 1” high, and place onto parchment paper lined baking sheets, giving them space to spread. I like to do a test bake of one or two cookies before I bake the rest of the cookies.
-Bake at 350F degrees for 10-13 minutes. For smaller cookies, bake for 9-12 minutes. Don’t overbake. They may crack a little on top – that’s okay.
Make your peanut butter and chocolate toppings separately:
-In two separate small microwave safe bowls, place the chocolate chips and the peanut butter chips.
-Melt each bowl of chips in the microwave, according to the directions on the package directions. I start by melting for 30 seconds. Stir, then melt again in 10-15 second intervals, stirring after each.
-Add half the oil to each bowl and stir thoroughly. Each chip mixture should be smooth. Whisk or stir until they are smooth.
-When the cookies have cooled completely, spread some of the melted chocolate on each of the cookies. I like to cool the cookies completely or the chocolate and peanut butter toppings could slide off the hot cookies.
-Place a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup on each cookie.
-Then drizzle the chocolate topping over all.
-Set aside to cool. If you’re in a hurry, place in the refrigerator to set the peanut butter and chocolate toppings.
Garnishes:
-How about a white Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup settled in on top? Drizzle more melted chocolate on top. Let people know this is a delicious chocolate peanut butter concoction.
-Or, what about a few peanuts sprinkled on top of that soft chocolate peanut butter swirl?
-Freshen it up by adding a dollop of warm chunky peanut butter on the side just before serving. (Microwave the peanut butter for 5 seconds before dolloping it next to the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.)
Storage:
-Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4-5 days.
-Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
-To freeze, I set the unbaked cookie dough balls (without the peanut butter filling) in an airtight container in the freezer for up to one month. When I’m thinking about baking, I set the number of cookie dough balls to bake, in an airtight container in the refrigerator overnight. (Or, set them out on a baking pan at room temperature
for 20-30 minutes.) Then flatten and roll each unbaked cookie around a peanut butter filling sphere. Bake them at the recommended temp and time mentioned above. When completely cooled, swirl your melted chocolate and peanut butter chip mixtures on top.
I love peanut butter cookies, and these definitely do fit the bill for chocolate and peanut butter enthusiasts. However you garnish them, and whoever you share these with, make sure they love peanut butter and chocolate at least much as you do (and Mom would)… “Bake your own Memories!”
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