Recipe Burglar and Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

So, now that I have a working computer, albeit a dinosaur, I thought it was time to share the lovely (and seemingly the favorites around the neighborhood), peanut butter cup cookies. Well...that was the idea anyway but, when I went to find my lovely recipe the other day, it had vanished along with two other ones! I think my wee "kitchen helper" absconded with my recipe cards! So, I will share my back up recipe from Joan over at Chocolate, Chocolate and More.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Her recipe makes about 2 to 2 1/2 dozen, if I remember correctly. It has been a while since I made hers but, trust me, they are delicious! I will share the original version of hers and then how I altered the directions a bit. That's just me, always tweaking, changing and modifying, or so I've been told!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (I add about a full tsp or a smidge more)
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
24-30 mini Reese's peanut butter cups

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar together. Add in peanut butter and beat again until combined. Add egg and vanilla. In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add in flour mixture until they're all combined. Roll into 1 inch balls.
Her directions: Place each ball into the cup of an ungreased mini muffin tin.
What I did: I made 2 inch balls in a regular ungreased muffin tin! 

Bake for 12-14 minutes.
What I did: Bake for allotted time or until just barely turning golden and then removed from the oven. They will look almost undercooked but, keep in mind they will continue cooking as they sit there.

Her directions: Immediately after removing muffin tin from oven, press one Reese's cup into the center of each cookie.
What I did: I inserted Reeses mini PB cups. I let them cool only for anywhere from 2-4 minutes to the aforementioned 10 minutes depending upon how "done" they looked when I removed them. (In other words, how distracted I got before I removed them from the oven! lol)
She had a great notation to put the Reeses in the freezer about 20 -30 minutes prior to start and it is a great tip but, if you don't do this, it's not the end of the world. It just makes things easier. Also another tip I remember was that if you were having difficulty removing them, to use a butter knife to remove them. I believe that is where I got the idea to use it from.

Anyway, either way you make them, they are amazingly delicious. Albeit not diabetic friendly or probably not really healthy but, I can tell you that they are a crowd pleaser. I almost always have to make a double or triple batch...which I don't recommend! It's harder to mix completely the more ingredients you have in one bowl! They're super good though, I am NOT a peanut butter fan at all, never have been and I would make and eat these without the peanut butter cups! Yes, oh yes, it's that good!

Hope you enjoyed her recipe and/or my take on it. If you do, pop by her page, which I've linked above and check out her other goodies! Now, off to find the kitchen helper's hidy holes...I'm not sure I'll ever find them all until he's grown and gone! :)