Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

I’m particularly excited to share today’s recipe for the holiday series for several reasons.

First, it features one of my favorite flavor combinations: chocolate and peanut butter.

Second, it’s a pretty cool play on one of the only candy’s I still like to eat: Reese Peanut Butter Cups.

Third: it’s completely flourless.

Flourless baking is something I have very limited experience with, but these sugar cookies that are made with masa harina gave me a very pleasant and tasty introduction to it, and made me curious to see what other ways I could practice.

When I was a kid, I loved candy, but nowadays chocolate is the only kind that I still have a taste for. Most of the time if I do eat it, it’s because it’s in something I’m baking. But there are exceptions: Snickers bars, Hershey’s bars with toffee bits, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups being three of them.

I don’t know very many people who don’t like chocolate, peanut butter, or the combination of the two, same as I don’t know very many people who don’t like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

(If you don’t, I don’t understand it, but no judgment; today’s recipe just probably isn’t for you.)

These babies come together in less than an hour, and chances are you already have most of the ingredients laying around your house. The ‘batter’ consists of peanut butter, egg, sugar and vanilla. That it. It’s pressed into individual muffin cups, then a peanut butter cup is pressed into the middle, after which they’re topped with raw peanuts and sea salt.

After just ten minutes in the oven, they’re ready. And are you in for a treat.

Guys, these are like Peanut Butter Cups on steroids. The cookie itself is chewy and dense, and the peanutty flavor is only further enhanced by the chocolate peanut butter cup that gets baked right inside. As you can see from the photos, I used mini-PB cups on this first go because I wanted to be able to taste the cookie and I was worried the candy would overwhelm it, but feel free to use regular size ones if you prefer. The extra sprinkling of peanuts and sea salt on top balances out the sweetness perfectly.

These are perfect for your holiday cookie jars/boxes/platters, parties, spreads, or all for yourself. They’re delicious and failproof, so there’s really no excuse for not giving them a try.

You’re welcome in advance.

We’re over halfway through this year’s 12 Days of Christmas. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the recipes that have come before this one–there’s still plenty of time left to get in your holiday baking!

Day 1: Holiday Style- Biscuits & Gravy

Day 2: Cranberry Pie Bars

Day 3: Pryaniki

Day 4: Iced Lemon Gingerbread Cakes

Day 5: Peanut Butter & Chocolate Biscotti

Day 6: Gingerbread Fudge

Day 7: Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Recipe Adapted from Food Network

Ingredients

1 cup creamy peanut butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
Coarse sanding sugar, for rolling
12 mini peanut butter cups (or full size, it’s up to you)
1/4 cup chopped honey-roasted peanuts
Holiday colored sprinkles and coarse sea salt for sprinkling, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.

Beat the peanut butter, granulated sugar, light brown sugar and salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and egg on high until the dough comes together in a mass.

Pour some sanding sugar in a small bowl. Form the dough into 12 balls and roll to coat in the sugar.

Put a dough ball in each muffin cup. Press the dough about 1/2 inch up the sides to make a shell. Fit a peanut butter cup into each dough shell.

Top the peanut butter cups with a sprinkling of the peanuts.

Bake until the edges of the cookies are set and golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the tin to a cooling rack. Use a butter knife to loosen the cups from the tin (just to make sure they don’t stick)

Cool 15 minutes, then use the butter knife to remove the cookies to the wire rack to cool completely.