Being from Seattle, one of my very favorite places to visit for the weekend is Leavenworth, WA.  My grandparents have a cabin there, and I love to walk around in the little barvarian village.  One of the things I NEVER miss in Leavenworth is a visit to Das Sweet Shoppe, where they sell the very best chocolate peanut butter ice cream EVER.  You can get the same brand of ice cream here in Seattle, but there is something about getting it from Das Sweet Shoppe that makes it even better.

These cookies remind me of that ice cream.

Brownie-like, fudgy cookies filled with peanuts and peanut butter cups.  Can you think of anything better?  Take these to any function, and they will be gobbled up in minutes.

Recipe adapted from Annie’s Eats

Ingredients

1½ cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
6 tbsp. Dutch-process cocoa
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. coarse salt
¾ stick (6 tbsp.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup plus 2 tbsp. crunchy peanut butter
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. milk
2 cups coarsely chopped peanut butter cups, divided –  (freeze in freezer for 30 minutes before chopping- it will make them easier to cut and help them not to fall apart when you mix them into the dough)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, peanut butter, and sugars. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Add in the egg, vanilla extract, and milk. Blend until smooth.

With the mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Add in 1½ cups of the chopped peanut butter cups and fold in gently with a spatula.

Use a large dough scoop (about 3 tablespoons) or your hands to drop rounds of dough onto the baking sheets, spacing 2-3 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. You don’t want to overbake them.) Let cool on the baking sheets about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.