Mini peanut butter cookie cups taste great all on their own but are even better topped with chocolate frosting, peanut butter, or jelly. These cookies are easy to make using a bowl and spoon so you'll have more time to add your favorite toppings.
Do you love the combination of peanut butter and chocolate, peanut butter and jelly or do you prefer straight-up peanut butter?
No matter which flavor profile you like best, peanut butter lovers will go nuts for these cookies. Each bite-sized cupcake-shaped peanut butter cookie is made using our Classic Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe, has a soft and chewy texture, and is packed with peanut butter flavor.
The cookie cups are perfectly shaped vessels for toppings or even fillings.
The cookies bake up with an indentation on the top which can simply be filled with frosting, peanut butter, or jelly. Or you can make the indentation even bigger so you can add even more filling.
What filling will you choose? Let's bake some cookies while you decide.
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Ingredients
- unsalted butter - Butter adds a rich flavor to these peanut butter cookies.
- creamy peanut butter - Use your favorite jar or peanut butter like Jif (my favorite), Skippy, Peter Pan, etc. This recipe does not work as well with natural peanut butter because the oil tends to separate which can cause peanut butter cookies to spread too much. It may also give your cookies a gritty texture.
- light brown sugar - Brown sugar gives your peanut butter cookies a nice chewy texture and a hint of caramel flavor.
- granulated sugar - Adds sweetness to your cookies and enhances browning.
- eggs - One large egg will add stability and moisture to your cookies.
- all-purpose flour - Flour provides the structure for your cookies. I always recommend weighing flour to get the most accurate measurement. If you don't have a scale, you should spoon the flour into your measuring cups then use a straight edge to scrape across the top to remove any excess flour.
- baking soda - When baking soda is combined with an acid like brown sugar, it creates carbon dioxide gas, providing lift, and making your cookies puff up so they aren't flat.
- baking powder - The baking powder will help to neutralize the acid and create lift.
- salt - Balances out the sweetness and enhances the peanut butter flavor.
See the recipe card for quantities.
Toppings
I topped my cookie cups with a variety of ingredients including creamy Jif peanut butter, homemade chocolate ganache frosting, and strawberry preserves.
- creamy peanut butter - For those of you that just can't get enough peanut butter, simply pipe your favorite creamy peanut butter on top of the cookies. Then, sprinkle on some chopped peanuts, chocolate jimmies, or Chocolate Crispeals (which is what I used). Crispearls are chocolate-coated crisp rice cereal balls. They add a nice flavor and crunch to these cookies.
- fruit preserves, jam, or jelly - PB&J is a classic flavor that tastes great. Use your favorite fruit topping to make delicious cookie cups.
- chocolate ganache frosting - Take your peanut butter cookie cups to the next level by adding swirls of rich and creamy chocolate ganache frosting on top. Yum!
There are many other toppings you can use like Cream Cheese Frosting, Salted Caramel, and even Chocolate Mousse.
Equipment
- a mixing bowl (I use a Pampered Chef Large Batter Bowl)
- a silicone spatula or wooden spoon (I love my sprinkles silicone spatulas)
- 2 mini muffin pans - I used a 24-cavity non-stick mini muffin pan.
- mini cookie scoop - You'll need to scoop out about a tablespoon-size ball of cookie dough for each cookie. I used a mini OXO cookie scoop.
Instructions
Heat the butter in the microwave for 45-60 seconds on high power or on the stove over medium-low heat until melted.
Combine the melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and peanut butter together. Then, stir in one large egg.
Sift together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt using a whisk or fork.
Stir the flour mixture into the peanut butter mixture just until blended. Do not overmix.
The cookie dough will be soft enough to easily scoop.
Scoop 1 tablespoon of cookie dough into 40 mini muffin cups.
Roll the cookie scoops into balls.
Then flatten them into an even layer.
Bake the cookie cups for 10-12 minutes until the edges turn golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then remove and cool completely.
To make double peanut butter cookie cups, pipe a swirl of creamy peanut butter on top of each cookie. Then sprinkle on some chocolate Crispearls, chopped nuts, or jimmies.
If you want to add a filling inside, use the handle of a wooden spoon to make a well in each cookie.
Pipe your favorite filling, like creamy peanut butter, inside each well. You'll need about ¾ teaspoon per cookie.
Pipe a topping like chocolate ganache frosting over the peanut butter filling.
Add toppings like chopped peanuts, sprinkles, or Crispearls over the frosting.
Check out our PB&J Cookie Cups recipe for details on making cookie cups filled with peanut butter and topped with jelly.
Variations
You can even make Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookie Cups!
Stir mini chocolate chips into the peanut butter cookie dough before baking the cookie cups.
Then add a swirl of peanut butter and more mini chips on top.
Tips
- Be sure to lightly spray your non-stick mini muffin pan with baking spray. Try to aim the spray inside the cavities instead of over the entire pan. If you get baking spray on the outside of your pan, wipe it off using a damp towel.
- Use a small cookie scoop to make evenly-sized cookies. Scoop out 1 tablespoon of cookie dough for each cookie. You don't have to roll the dough into balls if you don't want but it will give the edges of your cookies a smooth appearance.
- If you don't have a scoop, just fill the cavities halfway.
- The cookie dough will puff up during baking but will sink slightly in the middle making the perfect divot for adding toppings.
Substitutions
You can use dark brown sugar in place of light brown sugar if you prefer a stronger molasses flavor and margarine can be used in place of butter. If you use salted butter, eliminate the salt in the recipe.
Storage
Store your plain peanut butter cookie cups in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Or you can freeze them in an airtight container or large zip-top bag for up to 3 months.
If you add chocolate ganache or jelly to the cookies, they will keep at room temperature for 3 days. Peanut butter-topped cookies will keep for 5 days.
Related
Looking for more peanut butter cookie recipes?
Recipe
Peanut Butter Cookie Cups
Soft and chewy peanut butter cookie cups taste great on their own but are even better when topped with chocolate ganache frosting, jelly, or creamy peanut butter.
Ingredients
- ½ cup (114 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup (120 grams) creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup (106 grams) light brown sugar
- ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 192 grams (1 ½ cups) all-purpose flour (see notes)
- ½ teaspoon (3 grams) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (2.84 grams) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3.5 grams) table salt
- Optional Toppings: 1-2 cups chocolate ganache frosting, peanut butter, or jelly with chopped peanuts, mini chocolate chips, or chocolate Crispearls
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Prep your pan by spraying non-stick baking spray into 40 mini muffin cavities.
- Melt the butter in the microwave for 45-60 seconds on high power or on the stove over medium-low heat then pour it into a mixing bowl.
- Stir the peanut butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar into the melted butter until smooth.
- Add the egg and mix until well blended.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together, then pour it over the peanut butter mixture.
- Mix just until blended. Do not overmix the flour or your cookies can become tough.
- Scoop out forty 1-tablespoon-size balls of dough.
- Roll the dough into balls then press one ball into each of the 40 mini muffin cups in the pans.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges of the cookie cups turn golden brown.
- Remove and let the cookies cool in the pan for 15 minutes.
- Then, carefully turn the pan upside down and allow the cookie cups to fall out.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely for about 40 more minutes.
- Once cooled, you can pipe frosting, peanut butter, or jelly over the cookie cups. To add fillings inside the cookies, create a well inside each cookie by inserting the handle of a wooden spoon into the middle of each cookie.
Notes
Weigh your flour.
When baking, it is always best to weigh your flour. You'll get the most accurate measurement that way. If you don't have a scale, spoon the flour into a dry measuring cup. Then, scrape across the top of the cup removing any excess flour.
I recommend weighing all your ingredients if possible but I have included cup measurements as well as weights.
Toppings
Peanut Butter - Fill a pastry bag that's fitted with a large open star tip (Wilton 1M) with creamy peanut butter and pipe a swirl on top of each cookie. Add a sprinkling of Chocolate Crispearls.
Chocolate Ganache Recipe:
Finely chop an 8-ounce chocolate bar, then pour the chocolate into a small saucepan.
Pour heavy whipping cream (36% fat cream) over the chocolate.
Set the pan over LOW heat.
Stir often until about 75% of the chocolate has melted. This is very important. You do not want to overheat the chocolate or your ganache can become greasy or grainy.
Remove the pan from the heat and let it sit for about 3 minutes, then stir the chocolate until it’s melted and smooth. If all of the chocolate does not melt, you can heat it on low heat for a few more seconds.
Pour into a glass bowl, cover, and let rest at room temperature for about an hour until it becomes thick.
Spoon into a pastry bag fitted with a large 1M open star tip.
Pipe onto the cookie cups and immediately sprinkle on chopped peanuts.
Jelly - Spoon jelly, preserves, or jam over the top of the cookies. See our PB&J Cookie Cups recipe for more details - https://howtomakeeasycookies.com/pbj-cookie-cups/
Storage
Store your plain peanut butter in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or place them in a zip-top bag, then freeze them for up to 3 months. Once topped with ganache frosting or jelly, the cookies will keep at room temperature for 3 days.
Calories
The calories are calculated for the cookie cups only. The toppings will add additional calories.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
40Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 81Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 11mgSodium: 70mgCarbohydrates: 10gFiber: 0gSugar: 5gProtein: 1g
HowToMakeEasyCookies.com offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients you use to create this recipe.
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