Holiday Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• Soft, chewy peanut butter cookies. Brown sugar keeps the cookies moist and soft instead of dry and crumbly.
• Chocolate and peanut butter in every bite. A Reese's Thin Peanut Butter Cup melts onto each freshly baked cookie.
• Four easy decorating ideas. Make reindeer, gingerbread men, Christmas lights, or sprinkle-covered cookies using melted almond bark and simple candies.
• A big batch. The recipe makes approximately 45 cookies, making it a great choice for cookie exchanges and holiday treat platters.
• Quick and easy. The cookies take about 10 minutes to prepare and 7–8 minutes to bake per batch, before decorating and cooling.

Tips and Tricks

• Use Reese's Thin Peanut Butter Cups. I prefer the thin cups because they provide a better balance of peanut butter cookie and chocolate. Regular peanut butter cups work, too, but make a thicker topping.
• Skip rolling the dough in sugar. These cookies are already sweet and develop a lovely crackly surface without an extra sugar coating.
• Press the peanut butter cups into the cookies immediately after baking. The heat softens the chocolate so the cups adhere to the cookies and become glossy.
• Decorate while the peanut butter cups are soft. You generally have about 20–30 minutes before the chocolate firms up, depending on your kitchen temperature. Add sprinkles or other decorations while the surface is still soft enough for them to stick.
• Make the decorations ahead. The reindeer antlers can be piped onto parchment paper in advance. Let them harden before gently pressing them into the cookies.
• Use a very small opening when piping almond bark. A tiny cut in the corner of a plastic bag makes it easier to create neat antlers, gingerbread details, and strands of Christmas lights.
• Let the cookies set before storing. Allow the peanut butter cups and decorative chocolate to harden completely so the designs don't smear or stick together.

Ingredients

• Butter: I always bake with salted butter, but you can use unsalted butter if you'd like.
• Sugar: I use a combination of brown sugar and granulated white sugar (mostly brown sugar for moisture and chewiness).
• Peanut Butter: You can use creamy peanut butter or crunchy peanut butter. I use creamy. I haven't tried making these with natural peanut butter, but I'd imagine they'd be delicious with natural peanut butter as well.
• Egg: For richness and flavor.
• Milk: You can use any kind of milk.
• Vanilla: Have you tried making your own vanilla extract or homemade vanilla paste? It's easy!
• Baking soda, baking powder and salt: for texture and leavening.
• Flour: all-purpose flour works great.
• Thin peanut butter cups: As mentioned before, you can use regular cups, but the flavor and texture will not be the same.
• Sprinkles, almond bark, candy: You'll need a variety of sprinkles and candy to create holiday designs.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How To Make Holiday Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Step 1: Cream butter and sugars together until smooth. Beat in peanut butter, egg, milk, and vanilla, and mix until smooth and creamy. Add dry ingredients and mix just until dough forms.

Step 2: Scoop dough into 1 tablespoon-sized balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake cookies at 375 degrees for 7-8 minutes.

Step 3: Immediately press a thin peanut butter cup onto the top of each cookie as soon as they come out of the oven. Allow cookies to stand for a few minutes to allow the tops to get glossy and soft before decorating.

Reindeer Cookies Part 1: Melt chocolate almond bark and spoon it into a plastic baggie. Cut a TINY piece off the corner of the bag to create a tiny hold. Gently squeeze to make antlers on a piece of parchment paper. Antlers will set up within a few minutes.

Reindeer Cookies Part 2: Use black edible pearls (sprinkles) for the eyes and a red M&M candy for the nose. Gently press antlers onto the top of each cookie. Allow the cookies to cool completely, and the peanut butter cup to harden before storing.

Sprinkles Cookie: Add holiday sprinkles to the top of each cookie. Allow the cookies to cool completely, and the peanut butter cup to harden before storing.

Gingerbread Man Cookie: Melt white almond bark and spoon it into a plastic baggie. Cut a TINY piece off the corner of the bag to create a tiny hole. Gently squeeze to make the squiggle and mouth. Use black edible pearls (sprinkles) for the eyes. You can also add mini M&M red cheeks if you'd like, or a candy bow (the little red bows came in a sprinkle kit that I purchased a couple of years ago. You can also use red melting chocolate).

Holiday Lights Cookies: Melt white almond bark and spoon it into a plastic baggie. Cut a TINY piece off the corner of the bag to create a tiny hole. Gently squeeze to form a strand of lights across each cookie. Cut mini M&Ms in half. Press mini M&Ms onto the cookie to make lights.

Allow the cookies to cool completely, and the peanut butter cup to harden before storing.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies FAQs

More Holiday Cookies To Make

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