Description
These Peanut Butter Cup Hot Chocolate Cookie Cups are a festive and fun treat perfect for the holiday season. Made with store-bought sugar cookie dough baked into mini cups, filled with miniature Reese's peanut butter cups, and decorated with candy cane handles, white icing, marshmallow bits, and holiday sprinkles, they look like little mugs of hot chocolate that are delicious to eat and charming to serve.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Cups
- 24 pieces store-bought sugar cookie dough (pull-apart cookies)
- 24 miniature Reese’s peanut butter cups, unwrapped
Decorations
- 11 ounces white chocolate chips
- 24 mini candy canes
- 1 tub store-bought white icing
- Marshmallow bits (small quantity as desired)
- Holiday sprinkles (small quantity as desired)
Instructions
- Preheat and Prepare: Preheat your oven to 350°F and lightly spray a mini muffin pan with non-stick spray to prevent the cookie dough from sticking.
- Form Cookie Cups: Unwrap the store-bought sugar cookie dough and place one piece in each mini muffin cup. Use a small square of wax paper and press the center of each dough piece gently with your fingers to form a shallow well to create space for the filling.
- Bake Cookies: Bake the cookie dough in the preheated oven for 13 minutes or until they turn slightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool slightly before handling.
- Prepare Decorations: While the cookies bake, unwrap all miniature Reese’s cups. Using a serrated knife, carefully cut off the hooked handles of the mini candy canes and set aside the remaining straight piece to be used as peppermint stir sticks. Fill a piping bag with the white store-bought icing. Have marshmallow bits and holiday sprinkles ready for topping.
- Fill Cookie Cups: Once the cookies have cooled a bit but are still warm, press one miniature Reese’s peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie cup. Then insert the straight candy cane piece at an angle near the edge of each cookie cup to act as a peppermint stir stick. Set the filled cookies aside to cool completely for at least 20 minutes.
- Melt White Chocolate: Melt 1 tablespoon of white chocolate chips to use as edible glue for assembling the candy cane handles.
- Attach Handles: Use the melted white chocolate to affix the candy cane hooks to the side of each cookie cup as handles. Allow the handles to dry and set for at least 10 minutes to ensure they attach firmly without breaking.
- Decorate Cups: Pipe a small dollop of white icing on top of each peanut butter cup to mimic whipped cream. Sprinkle marshmallow bits and holiday sprinkles over the icing for a festive finish.
- Serve and Enjoy: Arrange your finished hot chocolate cookie cups on a holiday platter and serve immediately for a delightful treat.
Notes
- Store cookie cups in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week; refrigerating is not recommended as it dries out the cookies.
- Do not overbake the cookie dough to avoid dry, crumbly cookie cups.
- Pressing the cookie dough center with fingers or a small cup makes a more symmetrical cup but is optional.
- Use a serrated knife carefully to cut candy cane hooks without shattering them.
- Ensure candy cane handles are completely dry and set before handling them to prevent breaking.
- Use mini marshmallow bits instead of regular mini marshmallows; these can typically be found near the hot chocolate mixes in stores.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie cup
- Calories: 210 kcal
- Sugar: 15 g
- Sodium: 110 mg
- Fat: 12 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 22 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 10 mg
