Choco-Peanut Butter Cups are from my friend Ronna Farley, whom I met years ago at one of the Pillsbury Bake-Offs. We sat together on a bus and talked about cooking and how much we loved coming up with new recipes. These little peanut butter cookies, which you shape in mini muffin tins, were her latest creation. They're an excellent way to use refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough.
Choco-Peanut Butter Cups Photos
I made mine with refrigerated dough and the cookies were just as good as I'd hoped. If you are a purist, you might want to try them with a homemade shortbread dough -- peanut butter or plain. I'm definitely going to do it that way when I have more time.
The original recipe is on the Pillsbury site. I had to improvise a little. H.E.B. was out of Pillsbury peanut butter cookie dough rolls, so I used Pillsbury's pre-formed Reese's Pieces peanut butter cookie dough. The pre-formed cookie dough pieces are bigger than what you'd get if you cut the dough as directed, which is why my cookies (especially with the Reese's Pieces)look like Ronna's in a funhouse mirror.
The dough puffed up, but it deflated again pretty quickly. Time for the filling!
Ronna melted her chocolate over the stove. I like melting chocolate in the microwave, so that's what I did and it worked just fine. I didn't even really need to wash out the bowl after doing the peanut butter/white chocolate layer. You'll know what I mean when you make these. Here's a picture of the first layer.
And the final product! Choco-Peanut Butter Cups are pretty firm when cold, but if you serve them at room temperature, they are soft and rich.
Anna says
Caitlin, you could definitely use homemade dough. The problem is, I wouldn't now exactly which homemade peanut butter cookie dough would work the best. There are so many types. Obviously, you'd want one that wouldn't spread too much. I think a shortening based recipe without too much egg might work best.
That said, Pillsbury's peanut butter dough is pretty good. The latest million dollar cookie recipe was made with their dough, so a bunch of food pros obviously liked it! But if you can't find it, you might as well make it yourself.
Caitlin says
I have a question-- can I use homemade cookie dough for these, or does it have to be packaged?
Anna says
Hi Cookie Monster,
Sure, these can be made ahead of time. They'll probably stay good for 3 days if you store them in a closed container. You could also freeze them.
cookiemonster says
Anna, can these be made ahead of time? How would you store them?
Thanks!!!
Lauren says
i love sugar cookie dough. i eat it raw all the time!!!!!!!!!
ronna says
Thanks for the nice review, Anna! I hope everyone enjoys this recipe as much as I do! I sure hope I can create some else just as good one of these days!
Erika says
Anna, you're killing me here... these ones look great too!
Chloe says
Thanks for answering the questions. I should start practicing! I did enter last time... but I think my recipe had WAY too many steps... keep it simple is my motto this year! 🙂
Helene says
These are also on the dessert tray for this weekend. Thanks! I prtinted the recipe but why oh why did I torture myself by clicking on the "nutrition information" link?!
Anna says
Chloe, the documentary was not done by Pillsbury. I believe it was done by an independent film maker who got permission to do the film. This year there was no documentary, but there are plans for a FoodTV special.And no, I will not be able to enter the next one. Boo hoo hoo. You'll have to enter for me.I don't know when the next one opens, but sign up for Pillsbury's email newsletter and when the next one is afoot, you'll get an email notice. I doubt the eligible products will change too much. They're still on the website in case you want to start practicing now.
emily says
Yum!Looks wonderful.
Chloe says
Those look so good! A couple of questions.. or a few on the BakeOff... There was a documentary done a couple of years ago following some of the contestants and who won. Did they do something like that this year? Will you be able to enter the next BakeOff? And have you heard when they will start the entry period for the next one? I think that is it :)Chloe
Roybn says
Wow. Those look yummy!
Amy says
I really paid attention when i saw those in Wednesday's paper, because they sound like something I'd like. Thanks for the step-by-step!