Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Stuffed Cookies

Molly and I both love to bake -- no surprise there.  However, its rare that we actually get the opportunity to bake together.  On Christmas Day, we took some down time to do exactly that.

We both noticed (on separate occasions) that my mom had dark chocolate peanut butter cups tucked away in her pantry so of course we decided on peanut butter cup cookies.  Most recipes we found had peanut butter in the dough but somehow there was NO peanut butter in the pantry (crazy, right?!?).  Anyways, we decided we'd just stuff the peanut butter cups in a basic chocolate cookie dough.  Genius.  I have to give all of the credit for the idea to Picky Palate -- she has quite the collection of stuffed cookie recipes.

Crisp on the outside, chewy cookie AND chocolate peanut butter center.  Enough said.

Check out Picky Palate for a great tutorial on stuffed cookies.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Stuffed Cookies
Yields:  approximately 36 cookies
Source:  adapted from Picky Palate

Ingredients
2 sticks softened butter
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
36 unwrapped peanut butter cups

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat liner.

In a stand or electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until well combined.

Place flour, baking soda, cocoa and salt into a large bowl. Add chocolate chips, slowly mixing until just combined.  With a medium cookie scoop, scoop chocolate dough on to prepared baking sheet, top with peanut butter cup and top with another scoop of cookie dough.  With hands (it helps if you grease your hands with a spray of pam), press chocolate dough around peanut butter cup, forming into a cookie shape.  Place onto prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart from each other. 

Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, until cooked through. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.