Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

You know how you're supposed to bring new parents stuff like casserole?

That's not how I roll. Unless its my dad's awesome hash brown casserole, or has the words french toast in its immediate vicinity, casserole is usually not my thing.

However, friends of mine just had an adorable new baby, and when I went over to their house a couple weeks ago to snuggle her, and pet her soft hair, and inhale her new baby smell I wanted to bring them something edible. So, I brought them cookies using two of the most delicious flavors known to humankind: chocolate and peanut butter.

Thank God I gave these cookies away. You may not be able to tell from the photos, but that's a regular sized Reese's cup in the center of the cookie, and tiny peanut butter cups in the cookie itself. These suckers are 4-5 inches across each. Ginormous. If I'd made these for the heck of it without having a recipient in mind, it would've been super dangerous to have these sitting around.

P.S. If you like these, you may want to check out my small-batch peanut butter cupcakes with fudge frosting, peanut butter and fleur de sel brownies, and my peanut butter cheesecake swirl brownies!

P.P.S. This is completely unrelated to cookies, but if you need a laugh, go read this hilarious post from Don't Quote the Raven. I found this a few weeks ago, and have been meaning to share it with you guys ever since. I sent it to one of my friends, and she started laugh-crying so badly that she had to leave her office. You've been warned.

P.P.P.S. I'm writing this at 11 p.m. Tuesday night, and I keep peeking out the window looking for snow. DC is about to get its first significant snowfall in 2 years, and I'm vacillating between excitement and annoyance. Mostly annoyance, since I'm mentally ready for spring, and don't feel like dealing with the power outage that will most likely accompany this storm. I wanted snow in December, not now! Blergh. I know this snowstorm is supposed to hit a lot of areas, so stay warm, friends!

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (8 ounce) bag Reese's Mini Peanut Butter Cups
16 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, unwrapped*

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a large bowl, cream the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

Gradually add the dry ingredients, beating on low speed until a dough forms.

Stir in mini-peanut butter cups by hand. Divide the dough into 16 equal balls of dough. Flatten slightly with your hand, forming a thick disc. Place 5 or 6 dough discs on the prepared baking sheet, evenly spaced. (These will spread about an inch in circumference.)

Bake for 8 minutes, and remove from the oven. Immediately place a Reese's cup in the center of each cookie, and return to the oven to bake for 3 minutes more. Remove from the oven, and cool for 5-10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Bake the remaining dough discs in the same fashion, being careful not to put them too close together!

*I bought the Reese's cups that came 8 to a pack in the candy aisle at Target. I might be crazy, but I think they're slightly smaller than the kind that come in a 2-pack at the grocery store checkout.  I think they're cheaper anyway, so buy the 8-pack kind.

Yield: 16 cookies

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Source: The Novice Chef