Description
These Peanut Butter Cup Hot Chocolate Cookie Cups are a festive holiday treat combining soft sugar cookie dough baked into mini cups filled with a melted peanut butter cup, decorated with candy cane handles, white icing, marshmallow bits, and holiday sprinkles for a delightful and fun dessert perfect for holiday parties.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Cups
- 24 store-bought sugar cookie dough pieces (24 pull-apart cookies)
- 24 miniature Reese’s cups, unwrapped
Decorations
- 11 ounce package white chocolate chips
- 24 mini candy canes, hooks removed and reserved for handles
- 1 tub store-bought white icing
- Marshmallow bits
- Holiday sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat and Prepare Pan: Preheat the oven to 350°F and spray a mini muffin pan with non-stick spray to prepare for baking your cookie cups.
- Form Cookie Cups: Unwrap the sugar cookie dough and place one piece in each mini muffin cup. Using your fingers or a small cup, press the center of each dough piece to create a small reservoir in the middle for filling.
- Bake Cookie Cups: Bake the cookie dough in the preheated oven for 13 minutes or until they are slightly golden brown and set.
- Prepare Decorations: While the cookies bake, unwrap the miniature Reese’s cups. Use a serrated knife to carefully cut off the hooks from the candy canes to create mug handles, saving the remaining parts for peppermint stir sticks. Fill a piping bag with store-bought white icing. Have marshmallow bits and holiday sprinkles ready for decorating.
- Add Peanut Butter Cups and Peppermint Sticks: When the cookie cups are done baking, remove them from the oven and press one miniature Reese's cup into the center of each cookie cup. Insert a peppermint stick angled near the edge of each cookie cup to act as a stir stick. Allow cookie cups to cool for at least 20 minutes.
- Melt White Chocolate and Attach Handles: Melt 1 tablespoon of white chocolate chips to use as glue. Use this melted chocolate to attach the candy cane handles to the sides of each cookie cup. Let the handles dry and set for at least 10 minutes.
- Decorate Cookie Cups: Pipe a small dollop of white icing on top of each cookie cup to mimic whipped cream. Sprinkle marshmallow bits and holiday sprinkles generously over the icing for a festive finish.
- Serve: Arrange the completed cookie cups on a holiday platter and serve for a fun, delicious seasonal treat.
Notes
- Store cookie cups in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week to maintain softness. Avoid refrigeration to prevent drying.
- Avoid overbaking the cookie dough to keep cookie cups soft and tender.
- Pressing the dough to create a cup shape helps achieve symmetry but can be substituted by using a small cup or spoon end to make the indentation.
- Use a serrated knife carefully to remove candy cane hooks without breaking the handles.
- Allow candy cane handles to fully dry after attaching to prevent breakage during handling.
- This recipe uses marshmallow bits, not mini marshmallows; marshmallow bits are often found near the hot chocolate section in grocery stores.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie cup
- Calories: 190 kcal
- Sugar: 15 g
- Sodium: 80 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: 10 mg
