Buckeye Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Peanut butter and chocolate. Chocolate and peanut butter. I don’t foresee any point in my life where I will be able to pass up that combination. My favorite candy has long been peanut butter cups, and my favorite holiday treats have always been buckeyes – those awesome peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate. I can’t be trusted around either one – I’ll down more than I can count. When I saw these cookies on Pinterest, I fell in love immediately. They’re essentially the cookie version of a buckeye or peanut butter cup. A chewy chocolate cookie with a fabulously creamy peanut butter center, these are absolutely irresistible.
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These cookies don’t take very long to mix together and are ready in no time. I couldn’t help sampling them warm, fresh from the oven. They’re great at room temperature, too and I can tell you from experience that they make excellent road trip snacks if you find yourself driving over 1,000 miles. Chocolate and cookies are always a requirement ;-)
One year ago: Triple Chocolate Oreo Chunk Cookies
Two years ago: Pan-Fried Onion Dip
Three years ago: Potato Salad with Herbed Balsamic Vinaigrette
Five years ago: The Chocolate Chip Cookie
Buckeye Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 1½ cups (187.5 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (43 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) salt
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
- ½ cup (110 g) light brown sugar
- ¼ cup (64.5 g) creamy peanut butter
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Filling:
- ¾ cup (193.5 g) creamy peanut butter
- ¾ cup (90 g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
- With an electric mixer on medium speed, cream together the butter, sugars and peanut butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat to combine. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture and mix until combined.
- In a separate medium bowl, mix together the peanut butter and powdered sugar for the filling until smooth.
- In a small bowl, put some extra granulated sugar for rolling the cookies.
- Use a medium cookie scoop (or heaping tablespoon) of cookie dough and flatten it with your hands. Take about 1 teaspoon of the peanut butter filling (or a small cookie scoop) and place it in the center of the chocolate dough. Wrap the chocolate dough around the peanut butter center, pressing to seal. Roll the cookie into a ball and roll in the sugar. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Flatten each cookie slightly with the palm of your hand.
- Bake for 7 to 9 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Amazing cookies!!! Would it work if I make dough ahead of time and put it in the fridge?
Fill them the next day I’m going to bake them?
Love your recipes! You have a beautiful family!
Thank you for all your hard work! 💕
Aw you are so sweet, thank you for the kind words. Yes, you could make the dough ahead of time and then fill/bake the next day. Enjoy!
If you love chocolate and peanut butter, watch out. These are very addictive. Easy to make. This is definitely a keeper.
I just made a double batch of these cookies and I must say they came out beautifully! You definetly need to “flatten” them a little, it makes them look even more amazing. Can’t wait to give them a try. I’m making a big batch fir the holidays, thanks Brown Eyed Baker!!
Followed the directions to the letter, until I got to the part about using a small scoop roll the chocolate dough into balls. I knew I’d never be patient enough to roll the cookies into the right shape, as described in the recipe. I started thinking that I’ve made bar cookies before from other cookie recipes. So, I started thinking, if I divide the chocolate dough in half, spread it out in an 11×9 pan, top it with the peanut butter mixture & finish with the remainder of the chocolate dough. I baked them for 20 minutes & they’re SO good! Now I feel kind of bad for being lazy but they’re really good!
My mother made these when I was a kid, and now every year I have to make at least a double batch. They never last long!
I have a question. Is there anyway to substitute white chocolate for the cocoa powder? Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Tiffany, No, there definitely is not a way to substitute white chocolate for the cocoa powder.
I’m not a huge peanutbutter cookie fan, but I love the combo of chocolate and PB, preferably with a higher chocolate to PB ratio. So, I tried these, and they are wonderful. Right up my alley:)
Made these cookies for the holidays…put them in the freezer so we didn’t eat them all before Christmas! They were absolutely fabulous! Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe! Also, made the nut roll and the walnut pillows – spectacular. The thumbprints were a little hard and I even baked them a minute or two less than the time suggested. But the taste was still good. Thank you for your wonderful recipes!
So, so good–and the dough is awesome to sample too! For some reason I had a lot of the peanut butter filling left over. It didn’t go to waste–tastes divine as a pretzel dip! :)
Great recipe! Makes the list for Christmas because it stays moist and will package well.
I just made these with dark chocolate cocoa powder and raw almond butter for the filling. Plus I substituted 1/2 cup of all purpose flour for white whole wheat flour…. they are AMAZING!!!!! Perfect.
These look so amazing! My granny always made Buckeyes and passed the recipe down to all of us. I do both with rice krispies and without every year for the holidays! These cookies will absolutely thrill my family! Thank you!! :D
These are amazing!!! I added a little splash of milk to the dough, and they came out just fine. It made two dozen, and between the company we served them to and ourselves, they are GONE! I do have a bit of the peanut butter filling leftover, and I’m thinking a spoon and some chocolate chips will finish it off! ;-) These are going into the “favorite recipes” notebook!
I just made these and had to sample one warm out of the oven – it melted in my mouth. Delicious!
My friends and I followed your recipe, made these yesterday and they were FAB! I couldn’t believe how could they were! I don’t think they made 2 dozen but doesn’t matter. Will definitely be making these again soon. Thank you! From UK x
I made these several times since you posted the recipe and everyone loves them but tonight I went to make a batch and I didn’t have enough peanut butter so I substituted Nutella… Oh Em Gee! I had to wing the measurements a little bit but they came out a little softer and they taste like a hazelnut brownie. So amazing… I dare say that I liked them better than the peanut butter version!
I made these and they were all gone in a day! Best cookies and they have family approval(:
Made these for the first time tonight, and the prep time was nearly an hour and a half for me, however my boyfriend and I love to make everything perfect when baking… But I can successfully say that these are the greatest cookies I have ever had in my life! Totally worth all of the effort and time put into it. They were absolutely mouth watering when hot, I wonder what they’ll taste like later today after being cooled for a bit. This seems to be the only cookie I can successfully cook at High Altitude, and come out utterly delicious and packed with flavor. Thanks so much for the amazing recipe!! ♥
I just have to say this is one of my favorite. And my fave list ain’t that long. Just love the peanut butter-choco combo in my mouth. So does everyone else in the house!. Great cookie recipe.
My son loves buckeyes. Have to try this recipe for him. Thanks for posting.
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I just made these, and I didn’t change anything to the recipe. They turned out great and were incredibly easy to make. The peanut butter filling seemed crumbly, but in the end it worked out. Thanks!
I made these and they got RAVE reviews from everyone who received one. I did add an egg yolk to the chocolate mixture and that worked well. I also made the peanut butter filling beforehand and froze it as little balls. I took them out of the freezer as I needed them. This made the cookies more rounded, but they still tasted fantastic!
:P I am drooling! YUM!
What an awesome idea… peanut butter and chocolate are the perfect couple!
i just made these and holy cow – they are DELICIOUS. i agree that they need an extra egg – my dough was far too crumbly with just one. thanks for a great recipe!
I made these TWICE in five days. TWICE. So much for losing the baby weight. I was a super star among my friends this week thanks to this recipe. I was worried because I only had crunchy peanut butter but it still worked out. Thanks so much for such a delicious recipe!!
These look and sound delicious. I bet they are amazing if you eat one while they are still warm! Trying soon.
I made these cookies. The taste was good but I did not have the cracks on the sides that enhance the look of the cookie. How to do this?
I put mine in the oven for 9 minutes and also didn’t have the cracks. I left them in for another minute and a half and voilà! They were perfect.
See Sharon’s comment below; also, when you’re flattening the balls of dough, you can gently press on them until they start to crack around the edges.
These look absolutely irresistible! I can’t imagine how good that gooey peanut butter filling tastes hot out of the oven!
Buckeyes are a favorite over here, especially growing up in Ohio and going to Ohio State Univ! Love this twist on a classic. I think I would like these better than the actual buckeye candy.