Dorothy Kern
Super soft chocolate peanut butter cup cookies! These chocolate cookies are made with chocolate pudding mix and cocoa powder for the best chocolate flavor and soft texture. Add in chopped peanut butter cups to take them over the top! You will love this soft pudding cookie recipe.
Here we are with one of my favorite combos – peanut butter and chocolate! Of course, you know I love all of my cookie recipes equally, but… well, these soft chocolate peanut butter cup cookies might have just a slight edge over the others.
They’re soft. They’re so chocolaty. And they have chopped peanut butter cups. Plus, Mel loves them, too. Yes, Mr. I Don’t Need a Cookie Thank You has a hard time resisting these soft chocolate cookies, too. That’s a winner in my book.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
These Reese’s peanut butter cup cookies are chocolate pudding cookies based on my Triple Chocolate Pudding Cookies. Which, by the way, are excellent, too.
This time I had Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in the pantry. Match made in heaven, and now we have a new pudding cookie. ALL of my pudding cookie recipes are the best!
- The pudding makes these cookies so soft, and they stay that way for days. Make a batch, and they’ll keep at room temperature for up to five days! And they will still be as soft and decadent on day five as they were on day one.
- They are all about the chocolate – chocolate pudding mix and cocoa powder combine to make a rich and chocolaty cookie.
- They are also easy to make! The only hard part is waiting for the dough to chill, but I can promise you these cookies are worth the wait. They have the most amazing puffy, soft texture.
If you love chocolate and peanut butter candy, you will agree these are the Best. Cookies. Ever.
Table of Contents
Ingredients in the BEST Cookies
- Butter: Use softened unsalted butter
- Sugar: This recipe uses both brown sugar and granulated sugar
- Vanilla Extract: For Flavor
- Egg: For structure – be sure to buy large eggs
- Cocoa Powder: I love using Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa but you can also just use regular cocoa powder
- Instant Pudding Mix: I like chocolate, chocolate fudge, or special dark pudding mix. Be sure to buy instant!
- All-purpose Flour: Be sure to measure it correctly!
- Baking Soda and Salt
- Brewed Coffee – or you can use the same amount of water. The coffee just brings out the chocolate flavor!
- Mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups: Or you can use chopped regular or miniatures
How to Make Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
1. Cream the butter and both kinds of sugar in a large bowl with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Add the vanilla and egg and mix to combine.
2. Mix in the cocoa powder and pudding mix until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients along with the coffee (or water) to the butter mixture and mix until just combined.
4. Add 20 of the mini peanut butter cups to the dough:
- Stand mixer: If you are using a stand mixer, add them whole and mix until they are broken chunks and mixed evenly throughout the batter. You don’t need to chop them first – the mixer will do the work for you.
- Hand mixer: It’s a good idea to cut the peanut butter cups into quarters first and then add them to the dough. Use the mixer to mix them into the dough evenly.
5. Once you’ve added the candy, coarsely chop the rest of the peanut butter cups.
6. To make the dough balls, scoop two tablespoons of the dough and form it into a ball. Place it on the prepared cookie sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough and space the balls two inches apart.
7. To give the cookies a nice touch, I like to press a few chopped peanut butter cup pieces on top of each dough. This is optional but does make the cookies prettier.
8. Cover the cookie sheet with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.
9. Take the pans out of the fridge. Press each cookie dough ball down slightly with the palm of your hand.
10. Bake the cookies for 10 to 14 minutes or until they just start to lose their glossy sheen on top. I like mine slightly underdone, so I cooked them for about 11-12 minutes at 350°F. You might want to cook them a little more. For even baking, rotate the cookie sheets halfway through the baking time.
11. Leave the cookies on the cookie sheet for five minutes. Then, transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
Tips for the Best Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
- For a rich chocolate flavor, I like to use Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder.
- Be sure to use instant pudding mix for the pudding mix, and you don’t need to prepare it. The dry mix is added directly to the dough.
- The coffee is added to enhance the chocolate flavor in the cookies. You won’t taste it, but if you’d rather leave it out, you can use water instead.
- Don’t skip the chilling step! If you do, the cookies will spread too much when they are baked. The chilling step is important for the right cookie texture.
FAQ
Yes, they are freezer-friendly! First, cool them completely, and then freeze them in a freezer bag or container for up to three months.
Pudding mix does two things: it adds flavor and gives the cookies a soft texture that stays soft for days. It’s a great way to make amazing soft cookies.
No, this recipe will only work with instant pudding mix, so double-check the package!
I haven’t tested this recipe with sugar free and can’t say how it will work. I recommend sticking with regular instant pudding mix for this recipe.
Nope!All you do is open the package and add the dry pudding mix right in the batter. You don’t need to prepare it first.
These amazing chocolate pudding cookies won hearts at my house, and I’m pretty sure they will at yours, too! If you’re crazy for peanut butter and chocolate like I am, you have got to try them. I know you will love them, too!
More Pudding Cookie Recipes You’ll Love
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Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter softened
- ⅔ cup (133g) packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons (10g) special dark cocoa powder or regular cocoa powder
- 1 3.4-3.9 ounces box instant chocolate, chocolate fudge, or special dark pudding mix (not sugar-free)
- 1 cup (124g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon brewed coffee or water
- 25 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups unwrapped
Instructions
- Line 2 cookie sheets with a silpat baking mat or parchment paper.
- Cream butter and both sugars in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix in vanilla and egg. Add cocoa powder and pudding mix (the powder) and mix until smooth.
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients and coffee or water to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- If you are using a stand mixer, add 20 of the mini peanut butter cups and mix until they are broken chunks are throughout the batter. (No need to chop them, the mixer does the work for you.) If you’re using a hand mixer, I suggest quartering the peanut butter cups then adding to the batter and mixing until the chunks are more broken up and spread throughout.
- Coarsely chop remaining peanut butter cups.
- Scoop 2 tablespoon sized balls of dough onto prepared cookie sheets, 2 inches apart. Press a few pieces of the chopped peanut butter cups on the top of each cookie ball. (This is not mandatory, it just makes them look prettier.) Cover with plastic wrap and chill the cookies sheets for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Press each cookie dough ball down slightly with the palm of your hand. Bake for 10-14 minutes, until they just start to lose their glossy sheen. I like mine slightly underdone, so I cooked them for about 11-12 minutes. You might want them to cook a little more. I also like to rotate my cookie sheets in my oven halfway through for even baking.
- Cool cookies on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- Feel free to use any kind of peanut butter cup. If you’re not using the minis then you’ll need to chop them.
- These are great as 1 tablespoon size cookies too!
Nutrition Information
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
You will love this soft, chocolatey, pudding cookie recipe. Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies are a winner in everyone’s book!
All text and images © DOROTHY KERN for Crazy for Crust. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be accurate.
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Published on: July 7, 2021
Can you use vanilla pudding mix instead of chocolate?
Yes, but know it will change the look and flavor of the cookies!
Oh my goodness these are the best cookies I’ve ever tasted! Thank you so much for posting the recipe
I just finished making the dough and the sheets are in the fridge. My question is, can they be made with a small scoop and if so, how long should I cook them? I’m making them for my son’s volunteer fire dept and unless I double or even triple the recipe, this recipe just isn’t enough. (BTW, the dough is tasty too!)
Yes, you can definitely make them with a smaller scoop. I’d check after about half the bake time, then every few minutes after that!
Thanks and they were AMAZING! With the little bit of peanut butter from the Reese’s that was mixed into the dough, it was even more soft than I expected.