Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookie

Chocolate? Peanut Butter? Yup, I loved them! And another week with cookies for the Young Men. John always tells me the boys like the cookies, even when I make ones that I don't post, but the most telling time was when I heard one of the moms say, "Oh, I've heard about your cookies and how great they are".

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUP COOKIES
1 and 1/2 cups plus 2 TB flour
6 TB cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp course salt
6 TB butter, room temperature
1/4 cup plus 2 TB peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 TB milk
2 cups coarsely chopped peanut butter cups, divided*
* Freeze the peanut butter cups before you chop - helps to stay intact while mixing them into the dough.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. In the bowl of the mixed, combine the butter, peanut butter and sugars. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla and milk. Blend until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients until incorporated. Add in 1 and 1/2 cups of the chopped peanut butter cups and fold in gently with a spatula.

Use a large cookie scoop and place them 2 inches apart. Gently press a few pieces of the reserved peanut butter cups into the top of each of the dough balls. Bake 12-14 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. The cookies may seem too soft immediately after coming out of the oven, but they will set as they cool. Don't over bake them. Let cool on the baking sheets about 10 minutes, then transfer to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.