These Peanut Butter Cup-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies are for serious peanut butter and chocolate lovers. Soft, chewy chocolate chip cookies are filled with a full-size peanut butter cup for a delicious hidden surprise.
I’ve been away for a couple of weeks while handling some personal medical issues and appointments. I also traveled to Los Angeles for a wedding and a music festival, which was fun but exhausting. I’m back now, and despite the heat and low energy, I had to share these cookies because they turned out too good to wait.
The Cookies
These are classic chocolate chip pudding cookies—meaning a box of instant dry pudding mix is added to the cookie dough. The dry pudding powder gives the cookies a light, tender, and exceptionally soft, chewy texture. It really does make a noticeable difference and is simple to use: just add the dry pudding mix with the rest of the dry ingredients.
The dough otherwise uses familiar ingredients: softened butter, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, all-purpose flour, baking soda, cornstarch, salt, and plenty of chocolate chips. Because chocolate is a main flavor, I recommend using a good-quality semi-sweet chocolate chip for best results.
The Filling
The filling is a standard Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup—one regular-size cup per cookie. You can buy party packs at most grocery stores and unwrap them before assembling the cookies. The combination of sweet chocolate, salty peanut butter, and soft cookie is irresistible.
These Peanut Butter Cup-Stuffed Cookies are a must-try. I think you’ll love them as much as I do.
Peanut Butter Cup Stuffed Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks or 16 Tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 3.4 oz (1 small box) instant dry vanilla pudding mix powderjust the dry powdered mix; do not prepare the pudding
- 1¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 16-18 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, unwrapped
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners and set aside.
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In a stand mixer bowl, cream the softened butter with both sugars using the paddle attachment until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each, then stir in the vanilla. Add baking soda, salt, all-purpose flour, and the dry instant vanilla pudding mix; mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
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Using a tablespoon-size scoop, portion two rounded tablespoons of dough. Place an unwrapped Reese’s peanut butter cup between the two dough portions and press the dough around the candy so it is completely enclosed. Place the assembled cookie dough balls on the prepared baking sheets at least 3 inches apart. Repeat with remaining dough and peanut butter cups to make about 16–18 cookies.
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Bake for 10–14 minutes, rotating pans halfway through for even baking. Remove from the oven and let the cookies finish cooling on the baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
These sweet and salty cookies are a crowd-pleaser and perfect for sharing.
Have a super sweet day!
xo, Hayley