Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies | Cookies and Cups

These peanut butter and chocolate cookies are soft chocolate cake mix cookies filled with melt-in-your-mouth gooey peanut butter cups. They’re the easiest cookies I’ve made in a long time, with only 4 ingredients!

Why I Love These Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookies

These peanut butter and chocolate cookies turn an iconic flavor combination into what might be the easiest cake mix cookies ever! Rich, fudgy, and packed with peanut butter flavor, they’re everything I could want in a cookie and more. This recipe is:

• Soft and chewy. These chocolate cookies are soft and fudgy in the middle with chewy-crisp edges, filled with gooey melted peanut butter candy.
• Super easy. These cookies need only 4 ingredients, starting with a box of chocolate cake mix. They satisfy a chocolate and peanut butter craving without the time commitment of a from-scratch recipe.
• Filled with peanut butter cups. Possibly my favorite ingredient of all time. You might be able to tell from my swirled peanut butter cup cookies, or most of my peanut butter desserts. Reese’s Cups are kinda a big deal around here, and these peanut butter chocolate cookies are bursting with them!

What You’ll Need

I love making cookies from cake mix because it cuts down on a lot of cupboard raiding! I make these easy peanut butter chocolate cookies with just 4 ingredients. You’ll find some notes below. Scroll to the recipe card after the post for a printable list of ingredients with the amounts. 

• Chocolate Cake Mix – Choose your favorite brand and flavor of chocolate mix. Technically, you could make these cookies with any cake mix you’d like, even vanilla or yellow cake.
• Eggs – You can bring these to room temperature if you’d like.
• Oil – I recommend vegetable oil since it has a neutral flavor that won’t overpower the cookies.
• Peanut Butter Cups – I use Reese’s Minis but feel free to use store-brand and/or full-size peanut butter cups (in this case, chop them into halves or quarters).

Can I Substitute Butter for Oil in These Cookies?

I almost always make these peanut butter chocolate cookies with oil, since the cake mix calls for it, and because it keeps the cookies extra soft and moist. However, if you’d prefer to make these with butter, they’ll still turn out great. You’ll want to melt the butter and let it cool a little before using it in the recipe in place of oil.

How to Make Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies From Cake Mix

These cookies are super simple, and one of my favorite last-minute desserts. Serve these with a glass of milk on any occasion. Parties, holidays, cookie exchanges… I bet Santa wouldn’t say no to a plate of these at Christmas! Here’s how to make them in 3 short steps:

• Mix the cookie batter. Starting with your chocolate cake mix, mix in the oil and eggs. Next, fold in the peanut butter cups. I dump in the whole bag of Reese’s Minis, but you can use your discretion. 
• Scoop the cookies. Portion the dough into tablespoon-sized balls and set them on a lined baking sheet. These cookies spread a bit, so leave a couple of inches in between.
• Bake. Bake your cookies at 350ºF for 8-9 minutes.

Tips and Variations

• Keep the peanut butter cups intact. If you use your mixer to beat in the peanut butter cups, they tend to break apart. This is fine, just be careful that you don’t overdo it! You want the chocolate to break apart a little but still have some chunks remaining. In a pinch, fold in the candy by hand.
• Don’t overbake. The trick to keeping these cake mix cookies tender and chewy is to leave them slightly underbaked. Take them out when they’re just set at the edges, and soft (but not shiny or wet) in the center.
• Rest on the baking sheet. Let the freshly baked cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before you move them to a wire rack. This way they can set a bit before you lift them.
• Use brownie mix instead. Make a variation of brownie mix cookies packed with peanut butter cups.

How to Store

• Room temperature. These cookies can be stored in an airtight container and kept at room temperature for up to 4-5 days.
• Freeze. You can freeze your peanut butter cup cookies in a freezer-safe container or freezer bag for up to 2 months. Thaw the cookies at room temperature before serving.

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