These Peanut Butter Cookie Cups with Dark Chocolate Ganache are truly peanut butter cookies at their finest. You get a peanut butter cookie that’s crunchy on the outside and soft in the center, with a swirl of silky dark chocolate. They’re quick, shareable, and packed with flavor and texture contrasts – sweet & salty, crunchy & creamy.
Ready in under an hour and yielding a dozen and a half indulgent cookie cups, this recipe brings serious wow factor with minimal fuss. Whether you want to show off at a potluck or just treat yourself after a long day, these are guaranteed to deliver.
Why you’ll love these cookies
- Textural masterpiece. A crunchy cookie outside gives way to a tender, chewy center. Crunchy roasted nuts, crispy flakes of sea salt, creamy peanut butter chocolate ganache. So many textures rolled into one tiny cookie.
- Party perfect. The little cookie cups are party-ready and perfect for sharing.
- Self-contained indulgence. A true grab-and-go treat.
- Peanut butter meets dark chocolate. Sweet and salty, nutty and decadent. Peanut butter & chocolate lovers, rejoice!
- Elevated cookies, quickly. Simple to make, quick to bake, and even faster to disappear.
Recipe overview
⏱️Prep: ~20 min • Bake: 10-15 min • Total: Under an hour with cooling time
🍴Yield: Makes about 18 cookie cups
💪Skill level: Beginner. Just be sure to follow the recipe tips below if you’ve never made ganache before!
How to make peanut butter cookie cups
For full ingredient measurements and recipe details, scroll down to the recipe card toward the bottom of this post. Here’s a quick overview on how to make these cookie cups:
- Preheat your oven to 350° F. Butter/grease a mini muffin tin.
- Make cookie dough: Whip softened butter until fluffy. Add sugars until fully combined. Stir in creamy peanut butter, then mix in eggs and vanilla. Blend in the dry ingredients.
- Scoop dough into the tin, pressing each mound lightly to flatten.
- Bake for 10–15 minutes, until tops are golden.
- Immediately press a shot glass into each cookie to form a ~½-inch well. Let cool completely before removing from the tin.
- Make ganache: Place chopped bittersweet chocolate in a bowl. In a small saucepan, warm heavy cream, peanut butter, and salt just until bubbling at the edges (don’t boil!). Pour over the chocolate, add vanilla, let sit for a minute, then whisk until smooth.
- Once ganache has cooled, pipe or spoon it into the cookie cups. Finish with chopped salted peanuts and a sprinkle of coarse sea salt, if desired.
Top tips for success
Soften butter well. Creaming soft room temperature butter with the sugars creates the perfect texture for these cookies.
Flatten before baking. Flattening the dough before baking ensures a smooth surface for even rising.
Indent cookies while hot. Pressing a shot glass into warm cookies is essential to create the shape of the cookie cup.
Heat the cream gently. When making the ganache, overheating the cream can cause separation and make a grainy ganache. Heat the cream over gentle heat and turn the heat off immediately once tiny bubbles form around the edges. Do NOT let it simmer or boil.
Ganache troubleshooting
If your ganache separates and breaks, you can still fix it! Whisk in a little cold cream, a tablespoon at a time, until it comes back together.
Garnish. Topping the peanut butter cookie cups with sea salt and chopped peanuts doesn’t just look pretty, it adds flavor and texture.
Variations & substitutions
Try a different nut butter: Swap almond butter or sunflower seed butter for the peanut butter. Just note that almond butter is less oily and may make a slightly drier cookie.
Chocolate alternatives: You can make the ganache with a lighter (sweeter) chocolate, but you may have to decrease the heavy cream slightly. Or you could swap this peanut butter ganache out for Salted Ganache instead (double the salted ganache recipe).
Ganache alternatives: Instead of chocolate, you could fill the peanut butter cookie cups with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting, Raspberry Buttercream, or even a berry jam or compote.
Crunchy topping substitutes: Use chopped pretzels or crushed graham crackers on top for texture in place of the roasted peanuts.
Serving & storage
Serve peanut butter cookie cups on a dessert platter, alongside coffee, or packaged in little boxes for sweet gifting.
Stored in an airtight container at room temperature, they’ll stay fresh for 3-4 days, although I don’t expect them to last that long! You can also store them in the refrigerator, but you may want to let them warm up to room temperature before serving so the ganache softens.
To freeze, scoop cookie dough balls onto a sheet pan until solid, then place in a freezer bag. Place frozen cookie dough balls in a greased mini muffin tin and let warm up to room temperature before baking.
More delicious cookies
If you make these Peanut Butter Cookie Cups with Dark Chocolate Ganache, I’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a star rating and comment below.
Peanut Butter Cookie Cups with Dark Chocolate Ganache
Equipment
- Mini muffin tin
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Cookie Dough
- 8 ounces unsalted butter, very soft
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons vanilla
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Garnish
- Chopped salted peanuts & coarse sea salt flakes
Instructions
For the peanut butter cookie dough:
- Preheat oven to 350°F and butter a mini muffin tin.
- Whip butter until soft and fluffy; add sugars and beat until well combined.
- Stir in peanut butter and beat until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, stirring until fully mixed in. Add vanilla.
- Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; blend.
- Scoop cookie dough into a buttered mini muffin tin. Press down lightly on each cookie dough ball to flatten. Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until golden on top.
- As soon as they come out of the oven, use a shot glass to indent each cookie. Gently press the shot glass into each cookie until you feel a little resistance – you should end up with about a 1/2" indent.
- Allow to cool completely and then remove cookies from the muffin tin.
For the peanut butter ganache:
- Add chopped chocolate to a medium bowl.
- In a saucepan, combine heavy cream, peanut butter, and salt, whisking until peanut butter melts. Heat on low just until bubbles start to form around the edges of the pan – do not boil!
- Pour hot cream mixture over chocolate and add vanilla. Allow to sit for about one minute. Whisk to combine, starting in the center and slowly working outwards as ganache comes together. Mixture should be smooth and shiny with no chocolate lumps. If your ganache curdles and the fat starts to separate, it likely got too hot. Add a little cold cream, a tablespoon at a time, and whisk until it comes back together.
- Allow ganache to cool completely.
To assemble the cookie cups:
- Pipe ganache into indents made in cookies. If you don't have a piping bag, you could also scoop the ganache in, or warm it up and pour it in. Decorate with chopped peanuts and coarse sea salt flakes, if desired.
Did you try this recipe?
Be sure to leave a comment below!
