The Ultimate Reese’s Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies: Soft, Chewy, and Peanut Butter Perfection

Prepare for an extraordinary treat that will delight every peanut butter and chocolate enthusiast! This incredibly easy recipe takes classic, irresistibly soft, and perfectly chewy chocolate chip cookies and elevates them to a new level by stuffing each one with a full-size Reese’s peanut butter cup. These Reese’s stuffed cookies aren’t just a dessert; they’re an experience – a warm, gooey, and utterly satisfying indulgence that promises a hidden surprise in every bite. They truly are the perfect treat for anyone who adores the timeless combination of chocolate and peanut butter.

For many years, my traditional chocolate chip cookies have been a cherished favorite among readers. I always believed that recipe was perfect in every way, a testament to simplicity and classic flavor. It delivered exactly what you expect from a great chocolate chip cookie: golden edges, soft centers, and plenty of melty chocolate.

That was, of course, until I experimented with stuffing them with Reese’s peanut butter cups. And let me tell you – it was a game-changer! The moment I pulled those golden, plump cookies from the oven, anticipating the explosion of flavors within, I knew I had stumbled upon something truly special. It has officially become my absolute new favorite way to bake cookies, transforming a beloved classic into an unforgettable, decadent masterpiece.

The foundation of these magnificent cookies is a rich and tender cookie dough base, thoughtfully adapted from my original chocolate chip cookie recipe. This particular rendition is slightly scaled down, yielding between 15 to 16 generously sized, impressive cookies. Each one bakes up beautifully, achieving that coveted balance of perfectly soft and wonderfully chewy textures, adorned with delicately golden brown edges and incredibly tender, melt-in-your-mouth centers. And the best part? Every single cookie is generously filled with a whole full-sized Reese’s peanut butter cup, ensuring that you get an abundant burst of rich chocolate and creamy peanut butter flavor in every single bite. If you’re on the hunt for a fun, creative, and utterly delicious twist on the classic cookie, a recipe that promises to impress and satisfy, then these Reese’s stuffed cookies are an absolute must-try!

Key Ingredient Insights

Every ingredient plays a vital role in crafting these exceptional Reese’s stuffed cookies. Understanding their purpose will help you achieve baking perfection:

• Unsalted Butter: For optimal control over the cookie’s final salt content, I consistently use unsalted butter in my recipes. It allows you to fine-tune the flavor balance. Ensure your butter is softened to room temperature – this is crucial for properly creaming it with the sugars, which creates air pockets, resulting in a light and fluffy dough that bakes into soft cookies. If salted butter is your only option, simply reduce the added salt in the recipe to a mere ⅛ teaspoon to prevent your cookies from becoming too salty.
• Sugar: This recipe employs a harmonious blend of granulated sugar and brown sugar. Granulated sugar contributes to the cookie’s beautiful spread in the oven, creating those slightly crisp, golden edges, and adds a clean, sweet flavor. Brown sugar, on the other hand, is rich in molasses, which not only imparts a deeper, more caramelized flavor but also adds essential moisture, ensuring a remarkably soft and chewy interior texture that is characteristic of a truly great cookie.
• Egg + Egg Yolk: The combination of one large egg and an additional egg yolk is a secret weapon for enhanced richness and chewiness. The whole egg provides structure and binds the ingredients, while the extra egg yolk dramatically increases the fat content without adding too much liquid, resulting in a more tender, almost bakery-style cookie with an incredibly satisfying chew. Don’t let that extra egg white go to waste; it’s a perfect excuse to whip up some delicious candied pecans or add it to an omelet!
• Flour: All-purpose flour is the primary structural component of our cookies. Achieving the correct measurement is paramount for success. To avoid dense or dry cookies, it’s extremely important to measure your flour accurately: first, lightly stir the flour in its container to aerate it, then spoon it gently into your measuring cup, and finally, level it off precisely with the flat back of a knife. Never scoop flour directly from the bag with your measuring cup, as this compacts it and will lead to an excess amount, resulting in dry, crumbly cookies.
• Cornstarch: A fantastic addition for maintaining softness, cornstarch acts as a tenderizer. It helps to inhibit gluten development, which can make cookies tough, and also absorbs a bit of moisture, contributing to that desirable melt-in-your-mouth texture. If you don’t have any on hand, don’t worry, you can omit it, and your cookies will still be delicious, though perhaps slightly less soft.
• Baking Soda and Baking Powder: During extensive recipe testing, I discovered that using only baking soda caused the cookies to spread a little too much around the full-sized peanut butter cups, making them flat. The ingenious solution was to slightly reduce the baking soda and introduce a touch of baking powder! Baking soda reacts with the acidic brown sugar to encourage spread and browning, while baking powder provides additional lift, ensuring the cookies rise beautifully and remain thick enough to perfectly encase the Reese’s. This combination guarantees that your cookies spread just enough but maintain a magnificent thickness, baking perfectly around their delicious peanut butter centers. For my fellow baking enthusiasts who love to delve into the science, I have an entire detailed post that explains the crucial difference between baking soda and baking powder and how they impact your baked goods.
• Chocolate Chips: While I opted for classic semi-sweet chocolate chips, the beauty of this recipe is its versatility! Any kind of chocolate chip will work wonderfully – feel free to experiment with milk chocolate for a sweeter profile, dark chocolate for a richer intensity, or even white chocolate for a different flavor dynamic. For an ultimate peanut butter flavor explosion, you could even swap out all or some of the chocolate chips for peanut butter baking chips, creating an even more harmonious blend with the Reese’s center.
• Reese’s: Unlike my peanut butter cup cookies, where smaller cups are used, for this recipe, we’re going big with full-size Reese’s peanut butter cups inside each cookie. This ensures a substantial, gooey peanut butter surprise in every bite. Snack-size Reese’s will also work if that’s what you have, but be mindful that they are a little smaller and will result in a slightly less dramatic peanut butter core. Remember to unwrap them all before you start, and freezing them is a non-negotiable step for successful stuffing!

How To Master Reese’s Stuffed Cookies

Follow these detailed steps to create your own batch of these incredible stuffed cookies:

1. Prepare the Cookie Dough: Begin by creaming together the softened butter with both granulated and brown sugars until the mixture is light, fluffy, and well combined. This process incorporates air, essential for tender cookies. Next, mix in the large egg, extra egg yolk, and pure vanilla extract until just incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed to ensure everything is evenly mixed. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add these dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing on low speed until just combined. Overmixing can lead to tough cookies, so stop as soon as no streaks of flour remain. Finally, gently fold in your chosen chocolate chips. Once the dough is ready, cover it tightly with plastic wrap and transfer it to the freezer for a crucial 20 minutes. This quick chill firms up the butter in the dough, making it much easier to handle and shape later.
2. Freeze the Reese’s: While your dough is chilling, unwrap all of your Reese’s peanut butter cups and arrange them in a single layer on a small baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place this baking sheet in the freezer as well. Freezing the Reese’s is a vital step; it helps them maintain their distinct shape and prevents them from melting out too quickly when baked inside the warm cookie dough. This ensures you get that beautiful, intact peanut butter core.

3. Scoop the Cookie Dough: Once the dough has chilled slightly, remove it from the freezer. For consistent sizing and perfect, round cookies, I highly recommend using a 1.5-tablespoon cookie scoop. Scoop out uniform balls of dough and place them onto a separate prepared baking sheet. You should aim for approximately 30 to 32 individual balls of dough, which will be paired up to enclose each Reese’s cup.
4. Stuff the Cookie Dough with the Reese’s: This is where the magic happens! Take one ball of cookie dough and gently flatten it into a disc shape in the palm of your hand. Retrieve a frozen Reese’s peanut butter cup from the freezer and center it on top of the flattened dough. Then, flatten a second ball of cookie dough and carefully place it on top of the Reese’s, covering it completely. Carefully pinch and seal the edges of the two dough discs together, making sure the Reese’s is entirely enclosed and there are no gaps. This meticulous sealing is critical to prevent the chocolate and peanut butter from leaking out during baking. Repeat this process with the remaining dough balls and Reese’s, resulting in 15 to 16 beautifully stuffed, large cookie dough balls.

5. Chill the Stuffed Cookie Dough Balls: Once all your cookies are assembled and stuffed, arrange them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving some space between each. Cover the entire sheet with plastic wrap and transfer it to the refrigerator to chill for at least one hour. This second chilling period is incredibly important. It allows the butter in the dough to firm back up, which is essential for preventing excessive spreading in the oven, ensuring your stuffed cookies remain thick, tall, and perfectly shaped with a delicious, gooey center.
6. Bake the Cookies: Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C) and prepare your baking sheets with parchment paper. Arrange the chilled cookie dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, making sure to leave ample space (about 2 inches) between each cookie to allow for proper spreading. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. You’ll know the cookies are perfectly done when their edges are delicately golden brown, and their tops appear set, no longer looking wet or raw in the center. Don’t overbake, as they will continue to set as they cool, and you want to preserve that soft, chewy texture.
7. Cool and Enjoy: Remove the baked cookies from the oven. While they are still warm and pliable, if any cookies have spread unevenly or lost their perfect round shape, use the back of a spoon or a round cookie cutter slightly larger than the cookie to gently scoot them back into a perfect circle. This quick trick is often called the “cookie scoot” and helps achieve beautifully uniform cookies. Allow them to cool on the baking sheets for 10 to 15 minutes to firm up slightly before carefully transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Serving them slightly warm is highly recommended to enjoy the melty Reese’s center!

Creative Recipe Variations to Explore

While these Reese’s stuffed cookies are divine as is, don’t hesitate to unleash your inner baker and customize this recipe to suit your preferences or what you have on hand. Here are a few exciting ways you can make this recipe uniquely your own:

• Experiment with Different Baking Chips: The base chocolate chip cookie dough is incredibly versatile. Feel free to replace the semi-sweet chocolate chips with an array of other exciting options. Consider using larger chocolate chunks for bigger pockets of melted chocolate, milk chocolate chips for a sweeter, creamier taste, dark chocolate chips for a more intense cocoa flavor, or even a combination of two or three different types for a complex chocolate profile. For an even more profound peanut butter experience, swap some or all of the chocolate chips for peanut butter baking chips – truly a peanut butter lover’s dream!
• Explore Other Nut Butter-Filled Cups: If Reese’s aren’t your favorite, or if you have dietary restrictions, this recipe can be easily adapted. You can readily swap out the classic Reese’s peanut butter cups with almond butter cups for a slightly different nutty flavor, or sunbutter cups for a nut-free alternative that still delivers that creamy, rich core. Many brands now offer a variety of chocolate-covered nut or seed butter cups, so feel free to explore!
• Fill the Cookies with Something Entirely Different: If you’re feeling adventurous and want to diverge from the peanut butter theme, the concept of a stuffed cookie opens up a world of possibilities! Instead of Reese’s, try using whole Oreos (classic, double-stuffed, or even flavored ones like mint or peanut butter Oreos) for a crunchy, creamy center. You could also stuff them with soft caramels, mini candy bars like Snickers or Milky Way, or even a dollop of Nutella for a rich hazelnut surprise. The key is to ensure your chosen filling is relatively solid and, ideally, chilled or frozen before stuffing to prevent excessive melting.

Reese’s Stuffed Cookies

Prep Time: 45 minutes mins

Cook Time: 14 minutes mins

Chilling Time: 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

In this easy recipe, soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies are stuffed with a full-size Reese’s peanut butter cup. These Reese’s stuffed cookies are the perfect treat for peanut butter lovers!

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Ingredients

Servings: 15 cookies

• ▢ ¾ cup unsalted butter softened (170 grams; 1.5 sticks)
• ▢ ¾ cup packed light brown sugar (150 grams)
• ▢ ⅓ cup granulated sugar (67 grams)
• ▢ 1 large egg at room temperature
• ▢ 1 large egg yolk at room temperature
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ▢ 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled (280 grams)
• ▢ 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (270 grams)
• ▢ 15 to 16 full-sized Reese’s unwrapped

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Instructions

 

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer, mix the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together for 1 to 2 minutes or until well combined.
• Mix in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined, then mix in the chocolate chips on low-speed until fully incorporated into the cookie dough.
• Cover the cookie dough tightly and transfer to the freezer for 20 minutes. This is optional, but it will make the cookie dough a little easier to work with!
• Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the unwrapped Reese’s on the baking sheet, then place the baking sheet in the freezer.
• Line a separate large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
• Remove the cookie dough from the freezer. Using a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the cookie dough and drop onto the prepared baking sheet. You should end up with 30 to 32 balls of cookie dough.
• Remove the frozen peanut butter cups from the freezer.
• Flatten one ball of cookie dough and gently press one of the frozen Reese’s into the flattened piece of cookie dough. Flatten another ball of cookie dough, place it on top, and seal the edges together so that the Reese’s is fully covered with the cookie dough. Place the ball of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining balls of cookie dough, you should end up with 15 to 16 large balls of cookie dough.
• Cover the cookie dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.
• Once the dough is almost chilled, preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
• Line two to three large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Divide the balls of cookie dough between the prepared baking sheets, making sure to leave about 2-inches of space between each one.
• Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are lightly golden brown and the tops are set. Remove from the oven and use a spoon to quickly shape the cookies into a circle.
• Allow to cool on the baking sheets for 10 to 15 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

Storage Instructions: Cookies may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

Freezing Instructions: Cookie dough will freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, assemble the cookies, and bake as directed.

 

Cuisine: American

Course: Dessert

Author: Danielle Rye

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