Description
These Peanut Butter Cup Hot Chocolate Cookie Cups combine festive sugar cookies with miniature Reese's cups, white chocolate, and peppermint candy canes to create a delightful holiday treat resembling hot chocolate mugs. Perfect for Christmas parties or seasonal celebrations, each cookie cup features a creamy peanut butter center, a peppermint stir stick, and festive sprinkles with marshmallow bits for a whimsical touch.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Cups
- 24 store-bought sugar cookie dough pieces (pull-apart cookies)
- 24 miniature Reese’s peanut butter cups, unwrapped
Decorations and Assembly
- 11 ounce package white chocolate chips
- 24 mini candy canes (hooks removed for handles)
- 1 tub store-bought white icing
- Marshmallow bits
- Holiday sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Pan: Preheat your oven to 350°F and spray a mini muffin pan with non-stick spray to ensure the cookie cups release easily after baking.
- Shape Cookie Cups: Unwrap the sugar cookie dough and place one piece into each cup of the mini muffin pan. Using a small square of wax paper or your fingers, press gently in the center of each dough piece to create a small indentation or reservoir for the peanut butter cup.
- Bake Cookies: Bake the cookie cups for 13 minutes or until the edges turn slightly golden brown. Remove from oven and allow them to cool briefly before adding fillings.
- Prepare Decorations: While the cookies bake, unwrap the miniature Reese’s cups. Using a serrated knife, carefully cut the hooks off the mini candy canes to use as mug handles, reserving the straight end for peppermint stir sticks. Place the white icing in a piping bag, and get the marshmallow bits and holiday sprinkles ready.
- Assemble Cookie Cups: Once the cookies are slightly cooled but still warm, press one miniature Reese’s cup into the center indentation of each cookie. Insert the straight peppermint stick at an angle near the edge as a stir stick. Let cool completely for at least 20 minutes.
- Melt White Chocolate Glue: Melt 1 tablespoon of white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl or over a double boiler to create a glue for attaching the candy cane handles.
- Attach Handles: Carefully use the melted white chocolate to affix the prepared candy cane hooks onto the side of each cookie cup as a handle. Allow the glue to set and dry for at least 10 minutes to ensure the handles are secure.
- Decorate With Icing and Toppings: Pipe a small dollop of white icing on top of each cookie cup to resemble whipped cream. Sprinkle holiday sprinkles and marshmallow bits generously over the icing for a festive finishing touch.
- Serve and Enjoy: Arrange the decorated cookie cups on a holiday platter and serve to delight your guests with this charming sweet treat.
Notes
- Store cookie cups in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week; refrigeration may dry out the cookies.
- Do not overbake the cookie dough to avoid dry cups; watch closely towards the end of baking.
- Pressing the centers with fingers helps form symmetrical wells but using a small cup or wooden spoon end is an easy alternative.
- Use a serrated knife for safely cutting candy cane hooks off for handles.
- Handle candy cane handles carefully once glued until fully dry, as they are fragile.
- This recipe uses marshmallow bits rather than mini marshmallows, commonly found near hot chocolate mixes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie cup
- Calories: 180 kcal
- Sugar: 15 g
- Sodium: 100 mg
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 22 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 10 mg
