The Fifth Day of Christmas Cookies: Alisha's Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

There might not be another cookie in the Clark household as consistently popular as the chocolate peanut butter cup cookie. My sister Alisha used to make these, and it’s only in the last 5-6 years that I took up the recipe myself.

I’ve since made some tweaks.  

First, I make these cookies big, using the 2” ice cream scoop to portion and shape them. At this size, the recipe will make about 22 cookies.

Second, the original recipe called for cutting up 8-10 full-size Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and mixing them into the dough. That’s fine, but I now use the smaller-sized cups and simply push one cup into each scoop of dough after you’ve scooped it but before dropping the dough onto the cookie sheet (so the cup ends up hidden in the bottom center of the cookie). This allows the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup to hold its form (it always made me a little sad when the cut-up Reese’s would further break apart as they were mixed into the dough). It also ensures an equal distribution of Reese’s across the cookies.

Finally, after years of experimentation, I decided to take the recipe one step further: adding Reese’s Pieces to the top. Just about everyone I've polled prefers the crunchy addition of these candies to an otherwise soft cookie. [In fact, only one person doesn’t prefer the Pieces -- I think we all know who that is.]

I like to undercook these at about 8 minutes per cookie sheet. I also like to give these cookies extra time to cool on the sheet (15-20 minutes) before removing them to a rack. Otherwise, the Reese’s on the bottom of your cookie will leave chocolate streaks on your Silpat/parchment and spatula.

These cookies are at their best if you can bring yourself to wait an hour or two before eating (allowing them to fully cool).  

Alisha’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup peanut butter chips

22 small-size Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Directions

1. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats.

2. Whisk the flour, cocoa, baking powder together in a medium-sized bowl.

3. In a separate mixing bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth (about 2 minutes). Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl each time. Mix in the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips.

4. Use a 2” ice cream scoop to portion the dough. Into each scoop of dough (while it’s still in the ice cream scoop), insert a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Then place the cookie dough on the cookie sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart.  

5. Bake one sheet of cookies at a time for 8-10 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet halfway through. Afterward, let the cookies cool on the sheet for 15 minutes before removing them to a rack [this might be a good time to do your dishes].