Soft, chewy chocolate Reese's Pieces cookies packed with peanut butter candy are the perfect cookie for any chocolate peanut butter lover!
These Chocolate Reese's Pieces Cookies are the ultimate treat for anyone who loves a sweet and salty peanut butter chocolate combination. With a rich, chewy chocolate cookie (similar to this double chocolate cookie recipe!) this version has delicious and colorful bursts of peanut butter from the colorful Reese's Pieces.
And, just like Pumpkin Cookies or Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies, these are perfect for Thanksgiving, Halloween, holiday parties, or just as a special fall treat.
Why you'll love them:
- Easy: this recipe has a 20-minute prep time!
- Delicious: These cookies are everything a cookie could be. They're sweet, crispy on the outside, and soft and chewy on the inside, and bursting with delicious peanut butter candy.
- Festive: While these are great any time of year, the red, orange, and yellow colors of Reese's Piece's makes these such a fun fall treat, perfect for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the autumn season!
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour: make sure the flour is weighed or measured using the spoon and level method so you don't get too much in the recipe.
- Unsalted Butter: This recipe calls for unsalted butter, but you can substitute salted butter by cutting the added salt to ¼ tsp.
- Brown Sugar: This recipe calls for dark brown sugar, but you can substitute light brown sugar if desired.
- Reese's Pieces Candy: While these candies are the star of the show, you can substitute peanut butter chips for a similar flavor.
How to Make
Step 1: Prep Sugar and Flour
Mix Sugars: Mix sugar, brown sugar, and molasses in a bowl. It's fine if it's clumpy and not perfectly mixed together. Set aside.
Sift Flour: In a medium bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
Step 2: Make Cookie Dough
Cream Butter and Sugar: Using a standing mixer with a paddle attachment or a hand held mixer with a larger bowl, mix the butter for 2-3 minutes until very creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the sugar mixture and mix on medium-high until fully combined and light and fluffy. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed to combine all the butter and sugar.
Add Egg and Extract: Add the egg and mix until incorporated. Then mix in the mint extract until combined.
Add Flour: Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Do not over mix the dough or it can get tough. You want to mix only until just combined. It should be very thick and fudgy.
Add Candy: Using a spatula, gently fold in the candy.
Step 3: Chill Dough
Pre-scoop Dough: Once the dough is mixed, place 2 tablespoon balls of dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment. You don't have to worry about how far apart they are as we are chilling the cookie dough, not baking it. An ice cream scoop works great for this. Gently press additional candies on top of the scooped cookies.
Cover and Chill: Loosely cover the pan with plastic wrap and chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Alternatively, you can simply chill the entire bowl of cookie dough before scooping, but it makes it a little harder to scoop out the cookie dough and add the additional candy if it has been chilled, so I prefer to scoop it in advance.
Step 3: Bake
Prep: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Place balls of cookie dough on the baking sheet at least two inches apart.
Bake: Bakie 10 -12 minutes in a 325 ℉ in a preheated oven until the cookies are firm around the edges.
Cool: Let the cookies cool before removing from the baking sheet. They will be soft at first, but firm up as they cool. Once cool, enjoy!
Tips and Tricks
- Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature.
- Measure out the flour using a scale or the spoon and swipe method of fluffing up the ingredients and then spooning into the measure cups and swiping the excess off the top with a knife. If you dip the measuring cup directly into the flour it can pack down and you will add too much flour to the recipe.
- An ice cream scoop works great for getting even sized cookies.
- This recipe makes about 18 cookies and can be halved or doubled as needed.
- For perfectly round picture perfect cookies use the cutter hack of turning cookies to perfect circles. You can also use a heat safe bowl or large cup.
Storing and Making Ahead
- Storing: Keep baked Reese’s Pieces chocolate cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freezing: Freeze the dough by scooping into balls, freezing on a baking sheet, then transferring to a zip-lock bag once frozen solid. To bake from frozen, add a few minutes of extra baking time. Baked and cooled cookies can be frozen up to two months.
Looking for More Fun Cookies Recipes? Check These Out!
Chocolate Reese's Pieces Cookies
INGREDIENTS
- 1 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour (160g) weighed or spooned and leveled
- ½ cup cocoa powder (50 g) Dutch processed preferred
- 1 tsp kosher salt or 1/2 tsp table salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 6 oz unsalted butter (1.5 sticks or 12 tbsp) softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 g)
- ½ cup packed dark brown sugar (100 g)
- 2 tsp unsulphured molasses
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1.5 cups Reese’s Pieces Candy 6 oz, plus more for topping cookie dough if desired
Instructions
- Mix sugar, brown sugar, and molasses in a bowl. It's fine if it's clumpy and not perfectly mixed together. Set aside.
- Whisk or sift together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
- Cream the butter for 2-3 minutes until light and very creamy.
- Add the sugar mixture and mix for another 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract. Mix until combined.
- Add the flour mixture, and mix until just combined.Try not to over mix the dough. It should be very thick and fudgy.
- Gently mix in the candy.
- Once the dough is mixed, place 2 tablespoon balls of dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment. You don't have to worry how far apart they are as we are chilling the cookie dough, not baking it. If desired, add more candy pieces to the top of the balls of cookie dough.
- Loosely cover the pan with plastic wrap and chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Alternatively, you can simply chill the entire bowl of cookie dough for at least 30 minutes before scooping and baking.
- While dough is chilling, preheat oven to 325 ℉.
- Once the dough is chilled and the oven has pre-heated, add the cookie dough balls onto a parchment or silicone mat-lined baking sheet, keeping the balls of dough 2-3 inches apart.
- Bake on the middle rack of the oven, one baking sheet at a time, for 10-12 minutes, or until firm around the edges. Watch closely, since they're so dark it can be easy to burn or over bake.
- Let cool before removing from the baking sheet. They will be very soft at first, but firm up as they cool. Enjoy!
Notes
- Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature.
- Measure out the flour using a scale or the spoon and swipe method of fluffing up the ingredients and then spooning into the measure cups and swiping the excess off the top with a knife. If you dip the measuring cup directly into the flour it can pack down and you will add too much flour to the recipe.
- An ice cream scoop works great for getting even sized cookies.
- This recipe makes about 18 cookies and can be halved or doubled as needed.
- For perfectly round picture perfect cookies use the cutter hack of turning cookies to perfect circles. You can also use a heat safe bowl or large cup.
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