Chocolate Cookies Stuffed with Peanut Butter Cups

It is snowing in Seattle. For those of you who do not know- it does not snow in Seattle. So what else would I do in a storm but bake? The girls are bundling up to play with their cousins, and when I realized that I was going to have lots of hungry nieces and nephews, (from all of the snowman making)- I thought about cookies.

I recently read a post by Recipe Girl,
in which she stuffed a chocolate chip cookie with a peanut butter cup. What!!?? How could there be such a thing? My brain had never gone there before- but it was happy to oblige immediately.

It is no secret that I have a thing for Peanut butter and chocolate (sorry if you are tiring of it!) But because enough is never enough for me, I had to switch it up a little bit. I had to add more chocolate, and I had to create some new texture. The solution was a thin and chewy chocolate cookie that reminded me in texture of a brownie. And then there was the edge of the cookie, which got slightly crispy. And then there is the center, oh sweet heaven the center! Stuffed with a salty and sweet peanut butter cup, it elevated this cookie to drool worthy and sent us all running for a glass of milk!

So if you want a cheap thrill- scoot down to the corner store, pick up some Reese’s peanut butter cups, and in 20 minutes you will have some awe inspiring chocolate peanut butter goodness.

Notes for success:
These cookies are huge. Be smarter than me and SERIOUSLY only bake 6 at a time. They spread like no one’s business- so unless you want the beehive effect (shown below) don’t over crowd the pan.

Another thing- I am always harping about using a “good quality”, “”Dark” cocoa powder. I didn’t have any of that today. I had Hershey’s, which is lighter in color and flavor- and you know what? It was really good and well suited to this recipe. It gave the cookies more of a “milk chocolate” flavor as apposed to something really strong and dark.

Chocolate Cookies Stuffed with Peanut Butter Cups, makes 20 cookies
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbs Vanilla
2 cups four
1 ½ cups cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream together the butter and the sugar until fluffy.

Add the eggs and the vanilla and cream together.

In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and combine to make the batter.

Scoop the batter onto a silpat or parchment lined sheet pan.

Press a peanut butter cup into the center of the scoop of batter.

Place another (slightly smaller scoop) on top of the peanut butter cup.

Using a clean finger and spread the cookie dough down around the peanut butter cups, (although I suspect that even if you didn’t it would spread properly).

Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Remove form the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes.
***Please see my note about NOT overcrowding your cookies! (like I did)

(If for some reason you did not listen to my advice and you overcrowded the cookie pan! Than using a paring knife, slide the cookies apart while still hot).

Remove to a cooling rack.

Oooh! Doesn’t it look like a luscious chocolate ravioli? I guess it is in some ways…