Description
Peanut Butter Cup Hot Chocolate Cookie Cups are festive, bite-sized treats combining the sweet comfort of sugar cookie dough with the rich flavor of miniature Reese’s peanut butter cups, topped with festive decorations like candy cane handles, marshmallow bits, and holiday sprinkles. Perfect for holiday gatherings, these delightful cookie cups are easy to make with store-bought ingredients and require simple assembly and decorating steps.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Cups
- 24 store-bought sugar cookie dough pieces (24 pull-apart cookies)
- 24 miniature Reese’s peanut butter cups, unwrapped
Decorations
- 11 ounce package white chocolate chips
- 24 mini candy canes (hooks removed for handles, hooks reserved for stir sticks)
- 1 tub store-bought white icing
- Marshmallow bits
- Holiday sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Pan: Preheat the oven to 350°F and spray a mini muffin pan with non-stick spray to prepare for baking the cookie cups.
- Shape Cookie Dough: Unwrap the store-bought sugar cookie dough and break it apart into 24 pieces. Place each piece into a mini muffin cup. Press the center of each dough piece with your fingers or a small cup to create a small reservoir for filling.
- Bake Cookie Cups: Bake the cookie cups for 13 minutes or until they are slightly golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.
- Prepare Decorations: While cookies bake, unwrap all miniature Reese’s cups. Cut off the hooks from mini candy canes with a serrated knife, reserving hooks to use later as peppermint stir sticks. Fill a piping bag with store-bought white icing. Have marshmallow bits and holiday sprinkles ready for decorating.
- Assemble Reese’s in Cookies: After baking, immediately press one miniature Reese’s cup into the center of each cookie cup. Insert the candy cane handle at an angle near the cookie cup edge. Let cookie cups cool for at least 20 minutes to set.
- Melt White Chocolate: Melt 1 tablespoon of white chocolate chips to create an edible glue for attaching handles.
- Attach Handles: Use melted white chocolate to glue the candy cane hooks to the side of each cookie cup as handles. Let them dry and set for at least 10 minutes to secure properly.
- Decorate Cookie Cups: Pipe a small dollop of white icing on top of each cookie cup to resemble whipped cream. Garnish with marshmallow bits and holiday sprinkles to complete the festive look.
- Serve: Arrange your decorated cookie cups on a holiday platter and enjoy the festive treat with friends and family.
Notes
- Store cookie cups in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week; refrigeration may dry out the cookies.
- Do not overbake cookie dough to avoid dry cookie cups.
- Pressing the dough centers helps create symmetrical cups, but using fingers, a small cup, or wooden spoon end are all good options.
- Use a serrated knife to carefully cut candy cane hooks for handles.
- Allow candy cane handles to dry thoroughly before handling to prevent breaking.
- Mini marshmallow bits differ from standard mini marshmallows and are usually found near hot chocolate mixes in stores.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie cup
- Calories: 190 kcal
- Sugar: 15 g
- Sodium: 110 mg
- Fat: 10 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 22 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 15 mg
