Chocolate Double Peanut Butter Cookie Cups

Oh, so you're doing Whole 30? I've got a better idea for you: eat some chocolate peanut butter out of a peanut butter cookie cup. Go ahead, add some salt on top while you're at it. 

While you ponder the pleasure of eating these things, let me explain where I got the brilliant idea for this recipe.

A few months ago I was commissioned to make a recipe for Peanut Butter and Company: peanut butter cookie cups that could be filled with milk. I made that recipe, and it was fantastic.

But in the several times that I made the cookie cups, at a certain point I started to wonder what else I could fill them with. And the best answer was the easiest one: another PB+Co product, their Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter. This stuff is so good that you can go to town with it and a spoon, but it's even better when cradled in a peanut butter cookie cup. 

So basically, what I am saying is that you should make the peanut butter cookie cups from this recipe, and if you feel like you don't want all of them to be used as vessels for milk, do this instead.

Chocolate Double Peanut Butter Cookie Cups

Makes 18 or so

For the cookie cups:

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 
  • 1 cup Peanut Butter & Co. Smooth Operator peanut butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature

To fill:

1 jar (give or take) Dark Chocolate Dreams (chocolate peanut butter)

1. Position two racks in the middle position of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grab two 12-cup muffin tins, and either line 18 cups (you can do 9 and 9 in each tin, or 12 in one tin and 6 in another) of each with cupcake liners, or generously grease and flour the wells, if not using cupcake liners.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Set to the side.
3. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and peanut butter until silky in texture and totally combined, about 1-2 minutes on high speed.
4. Pause to add the two types of sugar, and mix briefly on low speed and then as the sugar is absorbed, increase the speed to high, mixing until the butter and sugar mixture is fluffy and light. Pause to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
5. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing briefly to incorporate each one into the mixture.

6. Add the flour mixture to the dough, and mix until incorporated.

7. Scoop 1/4 cup of dough into each cupcake liner or prepped portion of the tin.

8. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden on top. Remove from the oven and transfer to wire racks. They will look like cupcakes.

9. Let cool for about a minute, and then grab a spoon and do something that feels very strange: press the centers of each cupcake-looking portion in, forming a well in the center. Be careful; the cookies are still hot, but it’s important to do this while they are still soft. If you did not use cupcake liners, also run a sharp knife along the edge of each cookie cup to loosen it from the sides.

10. Let the cups cool completely. Once cooled, either invert the pan to remove the cups (if unlined), or remove the cups and remove the liners.

11. Fill each cup with a generous spoonful of Dark Chocolate dreams..

 then garnish with a sprinkling of salt. EAT. 

How would you fill a peanut butter cookie cup?