Brown Butter Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies are the ultimate fudgy, rich, ridiculously delicious cookie to bake for the chocolate peanut butter lover in your life. They’ll go crazy for these cookies – they’re soft, deeply chocolatey, perfectly sweet, and they have a unique richness and depth of flavor from the brown butter. You won’t be able to get enough of them!
(This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill. Thank you SO much for reading and supporting the brands I love!)
Raise your hand if you’re a chocolate + peanut butter lover. 🙋🏻 That’s definitely me. These cookies are decadent in the best way. Mouthwatering, really. Especially when they’re still warm from the oven. Think: brownie-like fudgy texture, dark chocolate chips, and chunks of melty mini peanut butter cups. Seriously, need I say more?!
It all starts with the most addictingly delicious cookie dough – which doesn’t require ANY dough chilling!
If you’re anything like me when it comes to wanting warm, straight-from-the-oven cookies the minute your craving hits, these peanut butter cup cookies are for you. No dough chilling required, just a little brown butter, and a lot of chocolate.
I find it difficult to make any cookies with regular ol’ butter these days. Brown butter makes everything it touches a million times better, cookie or not. It just adds an extra layer of caramelly richness underneath all of the chocolatey goodness.
The other thing that makes these peanut butter cup cookies exceedingly better is my favorite flour from Bob’s Red Mill.
Bob’s Organic All-Purpose Flour is my go-to for everyday baking. The quality is unmatched, and I can always count on it yielding the best possible baked goods in terms of taste and texture.
You will always find multiple bags of it in my cupboard, especially during the holiday season. This flour is my favorite to use for cookies, cakes, pancakes, brownies, and even roux for sauces. It’s simply the best!
Although these cookies don’t require any dough chilling, you can certainly roll your cookie dough balls, and freeze them on a sheet pan like in the above photo. Once they’re frozen, you can toss them in a freezer safe zip-top bag, and keep them in the freezer! That way, you’ll have peanut butter cup cookies, whenever your heart desires. No need to thaw or anything, just add a few minutes onto the baking time!
The ingredient list for these cookies is pretty minimal. Here’s what you need:
- salted butter (unpopular opinion, I always use salted butter in my cookies. More salt = more flavor. And I still add salt to the batter also!)
- light brown sugar
- granulated sugar
- eggs
- vanilla extract
- Bob’s Red Mill Organic All Purpose Flour
- unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- baking soda
- salt
- mini peanut butter cups
- dark chocolate chips
You want to make sure you use a great quality cocoa powder for this recipe. Since we’re using a lot of it to get that rich chocolatey cookie flavor, we want it to be a really good cocoa. As far as the chocolate chips go, you could also use milk chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips. Whatever you love! I’m just a dark chocolate kind of girl.
Here’s a quick rundown of how you actually make these delectable peanut butter cup cookies:
- Brown your butter. If you’ve never done this before, don’t be scared! It’s super easy to do, it just requires your attention because it can burn quickly if you’re not watching closely. Once you’ve melted the butter, it will begin to bubble, get a little foamy, and develop a golden brown color with a nutty aroma. Once the little brown bits start to appear, you just keep cooking it, whisking constantly for about a minute, until the butter is golden brown. It’s the most wonderful smell.
- Chill your brown butter. I don’t always re-chill my butter for my cookie recipes, but for this one I like to. It yields a bit of a softer cookie, which I love here. You only need to chill it for about 30 minutes, which gives you time to prep the rest of your cookie ingredients, i.e., chopping up your peanut butter cups, whisking together your dry ingredients, etc.
- Make your cookie dough. Once the brown butter has chilled and solidified, we want to cream it in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for a minute or so, and then add both sugars, and cream the brown butter and sugars together. Next, in go the eggs and vanilla, and we mix for another couple minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy. Then, we add the dry ingredients, carefully and gradually, being careful not to over-mix. First, I add the chocolate chips, mix for a few seconds, then the chopped peanut butter cups, and mix for barely a few seconds, until just incorporated.
- Scoop your cookie dough. I like to make 1 1/2 tablespoon balls for these cookies – there has to be enough surface area to stud the cookies with extra chocolate chips and chopped peanut butter cups!
- Bake. These cookies are perfect at 10 minutes. No less, no more. You don’t want to over-bake them, because they can dry out. They will set as the cool. But, you have to promise to enjoy one warm. 🙂 The best!
I mean, just look at that cookie texture! We’ve got melty chocolate chips, slightly melted peanut butter cups, and brownie-like cookie dough. It doesn’t get much better than that.
If you love these peanut butter cup cookies, you will love these recipes:
Brown Butter Chai Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies
Ultimate Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies
Healthy Monster Cookies
Chewy Tahini Gingersnaps with Dark Chocolate Drizzle
Mango Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Chocolate Mocha Pecan Salted Caramel Cookies
Brown Butter Dark Chocolate Cranberry Walnut Cookies
Salted Triple Chocolate Pistachio Cookies
Don’t forget to share a photo on Instagram and tag me @spicesinmydna if you make this recipe! Nothing makes me happier than seeing what you create in the kitchen!
Brown Butter Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Brown Butter Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies are the ultimate fudgy, rich, ridiculously delicious cookie to bake for the chocolate peanut butter lover in your life. They'll go crazy for these cookies - they're soft, deeply chocolatey, perfectly sweet, and they have a unique richness and depth of flavor from the brown butter. You won't be able to get enough of them!
Ingredients
- 12 tablespoons salted butter
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar, loosely packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill Organic All Purpose Flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, plus extra for topping
- 1 cup quartered mini peanut butter cups (about 17 mini cups), plus extra for topping
Instructions
Begin by browning your butter. Melt the butter in a medium sacepan or skillet over medium heat. Once it has melted, start whisking constantly for 3-4 minutes. Watch carefully, as it can burn easily. The butter will begin to bubble, get a little foamy, and develop a golden brown color with a nutty aroma. Once the little brown bits start to appear, keep cooking for about a minute, until the butter is golden brown, but not too dark. Remove from heat immediately and transfer to a heat-safe bowl. Let cool for several minutes, then transfer to the freezer to chill for 30 minutes, until the butter solidifies.
Preheat oven to 350℉. Make the cookie dough. Add the chilled butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment - be sure to scrape all of those beautiful brown bits into the mixer, you don't want to miss any! Beat for 1 minute on medium-high speed. Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar and cream together with the butter for another couple minutes, until combined, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat on medium speed for another 1-2 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
In a separate medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing on low to medium speed, until incorporated. Do not overmix. Add the chocolate chips and mix for a couple seconds. Add the chopped peanut butter cups and mix for a couple seconds, not even, until just mixed. You can use a rubber spatula to fold the dough together the remainder of the way, if needed.
Scoop your cookie dough in 1 1/2 tablespoon sized scoops, rolling with your hands to create dough balls. Place 2 inches apart on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. Stud the tops of the dough balls with extra chocolate chips and peanut butter cup pieces, if desired. Bake for 10 minutes or until just set - be careful not to over-bake. They will set up as they cool. Repeat with reamaining dough and enjoy! Cookies will stay fresh at room temperature in a sealed container for one week.
Recipe Notes
*Cookie dough can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for 2 days. Let the dough come down to room temperature before scooping and baking.
*Cookie dough balls can be made ahead of time, frozen on a sheet tray, and then added to freezer safe zip-top bags and kept in the freezer for cookies anytime! Just add a few minutes on to the baking time, no need to thaw.
These were incredible! Can’t wait to share with my family
So happy to hear that! Thanks so much Hope! 🙂