Double Chocolate Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

I've been on a bit of a peanut butter cup kick lately.

There's my childhood favorite, the Nectar Nugget. It's one large peanut butter cup coated with milk chocolate. It's the perfect balance of sweet and salty. I've been eating them since I can remember, and I'm excited every time I get a package from home and there's one tucked inside.

There's the new kid on the scene, Justin's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. These are just perfect at room temperature, where the peanut butter filling is a little melty. Unlike the Newman's Own Peanut Butter Cups, the chocolate in these tastes high quality, and it melts easily.

But then again, there's always Reeses. I seek these out on road trips, when I've been driving on the highway for hours and the gas station selection is less than ideal. They're a bit too sweet, but they're certainly addictive.

So when I saw a recipe for Salted Chocolate Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cup cookies, I just had to give it a try. I went for Reeses because I couldn't imagine cutting the other peanut butter cups up, though I'm sure they'd be just delicious in this recipe. I omitted the Fleur de Sal on top of the cookies because I found them salty enough without it.

I had one almost straight from the oven and was delighted. They're the perfect mix of salty and sweet, of chocolate and peanut butter. Warm, the chocolate and peanut butter are melty and delicious.

Now I just need to get them out of my kitchen before I eat them all.


Double Chocolate Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cup Cookies 
recipe adapted from Doughmesstic

This recipe yields about 3 dozen cookies. I suggest making a plan of where to bring them, or you'll end up eating more than you like.

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably something dark such as Valhrona
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
6 (or more) Reeses Peanut Butter cups, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and the sugars (this could be done by machine or by hand--my mixer's broken so I tried it!). Add the vanilla, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition.

Add in the flour and cocoa mixture 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition.

By hand, stir in oats and chocolate chunks until combined. Add chopped peanut butter cups and stir carefully.

Place in heaping mounds (mine were about 2 tablespoons) on the prepared baking sheet. The dough is very thick and will not spread much, so you can put them somewhat near each other.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the tops start to crack. Let cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute, and then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. These freeze well.

Pin It