Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookie Cups For The Win!

I've been thinking about what to bake and I really haven't baked a classic cookie. I was thinking about either an orange flavored short bread, a lime coconut shortbread cookie, or a peanut butter cookie. I had a ton of peanut butter in the pantry (when it's a buck you stock up) so I decided on peanut butter cookies. I've been craving peanut butter cookies for a while anyways. When I thought about the end result of a peanut butter cookie, I felt like they look too plain (peanut butter cookies aren't the prettiest cookies in the cookie universe), so I decided to go with a peanut butter and jelly masterpiece. I also had raspberry preserves from mother's day that I needed to use because I was tired of seeing a half empty jam jar in the fridge. I think the cookie cups are cute and I tried one last night and they taste amazing. I made a peanut butter cream cheese filling and it's the stuff dreams are made of.  When assembled together it reminds me of my favorite childhood snack, which was these PB&J Oatmeal Pies that Little Debbie made. My mom would have a little snack basket for us when we came home from school which would have all of your 90's essential snacks; Dunkaroos, Gusher's, Fruit Roll Ups, Cosmic Brownies, literally every cool snack but I would always go for those PB&J Oatmeal Pies. I think next time I will make an oatmeal cookie cup and use the same fillings, to recreate them. Back to the Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookie Cups, they are really delicious and fairly easy to make and you probably already have everything in your pantry to make them. Just look at them

Peanut butter cookie cup with peanut butter cream cheese filling and a raspberry sauce

I could have made them look a lot prettier but it was getting late and I was a little tired, but they still look wonderful. Oh and if you did not want to make them into cups you still will have a yummy peanut butter cookie recipe to keep with you.

So Let's get started, here's what you will need:

Peanut Butter Cookie Cups:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter smooth (not natural)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 
• 1 large egg (room temperature)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Filling:

• 8 oz cream cheese softened
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup powdered sugar (depends on how sweet you'd like it)
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (not natural)

Topping:
1 cup raspberry jam preserves (actually whatever jam you have on hand)
Crushed peanuts for garnish

simple ingredients

First preheat your oven to 350°F.

Spray a regular sized muffin tins with cooking spray and set aside for later.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

Beat butter and peanut butter until smooth.

I just zapped the butter in the microwave for about 15 seconds

so creamy

Add in both sugars and beat on med-high until pale and fluffy (approx. 2-3mins).

all fluffy

Reduce speed and add egg and vanilla. Beat until combined.

Add flour mixture and mix until just combined.

start really slow so you don't get flour everywhere then finish mixing with a spatula

peanut butter cookie dough

Using a large cookie scoop, scoop dough into muffin tins, press down to flatten slightly.

the pan looks super oily but I sprayed a lot to insure nothing sticks

Bake for 10-12 mins or until lightly browned and mostly set.

Remove from oven and immediately use a small jar or container to press firmly down in the center to create a well. Cool in pans for 10 mins, then place on wire rack to cool completely.

remember peanut butter cookies are soft and then they firm up, so if they look underdone thats fine

While the cookies are cooling you can make the peanut butter cream cheese filling.

First take your softened cream cheese and peanut butter and blend together for about 3 minutes

Peanut Butter + Cream Cheese

Now start with 1/4 of a cup of powdered sugar and blend until combined. Remember to taste as you go, I didn't want this too sweet because I used a honey peanut butter and wanted to taste the peanut flavor, so if you find you need more sugar add more.

taste and adjust sweetness as needed

When your mixture is sweetened you should place it in a piping bag or a ziploc bag to fill your cookie cups

this filling taste like the inside of a reese's peanut butter cup just smoother.

In a microwave safe bowl, heat raspberry jam to thin out. 20 second intervals. I then strained the mixture to remove the raspberry seeds.

After running this through a fine mesh sieve to get rid of the seeds.

Spoon 1 to 1 1/2 tsp of raspberry jam into each cookie cup. (I used a pastry brush to get the jam all inside each cookie cup) Then place in the fridge to chill for 20mins.

brush on the raspberries

Pipe the peanut butter cream cheese filling on top of raspberry jam.

pipe in the filling

you can eat these as is.

Top with additional raspberry jam and chopped peanuts to complete the Peanut Butter Jelly Cups

I was a little sloppy with the raspberry

top with honey roasted crushed peanuts

So Cute

Place these in the fridge to set for a few hours, I think these taste best cold.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookie Cups

You should probably eat these within 2-3 days. Or freeze them for up to 4 weeks. Again this is a customizable dessert so you could use any jam, or add chocolate on top for like a Reese's cup cookie cup.

So Yummy