Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Egg Cookies

A soft & fudgy double chocolate, peanut butter cookie topped with a chocolate peanut butter egg that just melts in your mouth!

This is the time of year when I’m probably most excited about when it comes to candy. Now I’m not a huge candy person per se but I do have my a couple that I LOVE. And Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs are one of them.

I mean, is there anyone that doesn’t like them?

These just bring back so many childhood memories for me as these were ALWAYS in my Easter basket.

Peanut Butter Cup vs Peanut Butter Egg

Growing up my sister would only eat the peanut butter cups while I only ate the eggs (or later years, the trees).

From what I’ve read the are the same ingredients of peanut butter filling and chocolate coating. However, the difference (other than the shape) is the amount of each.

I want that thicker bite like how they are with the eggs. I want just a tad more peanut butter than chocolate.

What about you? Which do you prefer (if you had to pick just one)?

Ingredients Needed to Make These AMAZING Cookies

The list is pretty basic as they should all be pantry ingredients.

• Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs – Go with the mini size eggs
  
• Creamy Peanut Butter – I’m a JIF girl so I use that
• Chocolate Chips – I LOVE these dark chocolate chips in the recipe
• Chocolate extract
• Dutch Processed Cocoa powder
• Typical cookie ingredients – eggs, sugar, flour, salt, leavening agents, butter
• Espresso powder – espresso powder with chocolate adds such incredible depth of flavor

Let’s Make Cookies!

This cookie dough is crazy easy to make. It’s even so easy you don’t have to use a stand or electric mixer if you didn’t want to.

I use this hand mixer as I’m still recuperating from hand surgery. Plus since Mr. Fantabulous is doing almost all of the kitchen work and cooking (with MAJOR supervision), he wants to do it as easily as possible.

1. In a bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. This helps to ensure that it’s all incorporated correctly.
2. In a larger bowl, mix the sugar, egg yolk and whole egg. The extra yolk is what helps keep these cookies fudgy and soft!
3. Once the sugar mixture is creamed, add in the peanut butter till blended.
4. Add the dry mixture to the creamy mixture and mix just until combined. You’ll want to scrape down the sides. to ensure it’s all blended.
5. Add in the melted butter and chocolate chips and fold just until combined.
6. Now you’re ready to bake! Yep, for real!  You don’t have to chill this!

No Chill Required = Faster Cookies To Your Mouth!

Yes, you don’t chill the cookie dough, unlike most other cookie dough recipes.

These cookies don’t spread much and the extra egg yolk helps to not only keep them fudgy but also their shape.

What if I do Chill the Cookie Dough?

Nothing bad. It’s just super hard to scoop and shape into a dough ball. Plus it will take a little longer to bake. But if you can, bake them right away or freeze the unbaked dough balls for later.

Let’s Add The Reese’s Peanut Butter Egg  

So I’m sure you’re wondering about when you add the Reese’s Peanut Butter Egg. You can’t add them before you bake as they will melt everywhere.

When you pull the cookies out of the oven, you’ll leave them on the baking tray for about 3 minutes or so.  You want the cookies to cool slightly but still be warm enough for the candy to stick to it.

Unwrap the candy (rule of thumb is one for the cookie and one for your mouth – at least that’s my kitchen motto), and gently place the candy to the middle of the cookie pushing down lightly.

You want to gently push the candy into the cookie so the cookie puffs up around it. This will ensure that the candy will stick to the cookie.

Cookie Waiting Game

Not going to lie, this is the HARDEST part with these cookies. WAITING…

They have to cool on the pan and then on the cooling rack (FYI… I LOVE this cooling rack!!!) for at least 15 minutes or so. They will be super soft when they come out of the oven and even when you take them off of the baking pan.

They will firm up to perfect fudgy fudginess (go with it) in no time.

How to Store These Chocolate Reese’s Peanut Butter Egg Cookies

Once the cookies are completely cooled AND the candy is no longer “melty” around the edges, place in an airtight container.

These will stay fudgy-fresh for about a week though let’s be real here. They won’t last very long as you and your family will inhale these!

Cookie Add-ins & Substitutions

Gosh… I always tell folks to go with what they like

• Crunchy Peanut Butter for Creamy
• Chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups IN THE COOKIE DOUGH
• M&M candies in the dough
• A mixture of Milk, Dark & Semi-Sweet chocolate chips
• Toasted Pecans
• Top with Fleur de Sel a minute after you put on the peanut butter egg

 

These Cookies are Huge!

Yes, yes they are. You read the recipe right, it really only makes 8 cookies. But these are HUGE cookies.

I did this because I wanted the peanut butter eggs to fit in the middle of the cookie with some puff all around it.

You could make these smaller using the medium cookie scoop (I used the large scoop on mine).  Bake a minute or two less than listed in the recipe below.

Now depending on the size of your cookie, your egg may not fit in the middle or it may be odd shaped (meaning more puff of the cookie on one side than the other).  So you have 2 options:

1. Cut the egg candy in half OR use mini peanut butter cups
2. When you scoop the dough, shape it as an egg (oval-shaped) and bake. When it comes out of the oven, put the egg in the middle. The cookie shape should match the shape of the egg.

Freezing Cookie Dough

This is one of those cookies that I have under my “Emergency Cookies” dough category.

Emergency Cookie dough is frozen little cookie dough balls that I keep in my freezer for when:

• Surprise guests stop by and I NEED a dessert ASAP
• I had one hell of a day and NEED dessert
• When I just want a cookie. Just. One. Cookie

Chef’s Tip on How To Freeze Cookie Dough

1. Scoop the dough and shape into a ball
2. Place on a parchment-lined pan and freeze until firm enough to place into a freezer-safe bag. Typically about an hour.
3. These will last for about 3 months in a freezer-safe bag.
4. To bake them from a frozen state, just add another 2-3 minutes to the overall baking time.

 

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