Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups

Hey, guys! Remember the chewy chocolate chip cookies I made recently? They were absolutely delicious! However, I have a mixed track record when it comes to cookies: I love to eat them, and sometimes when I make them, they turn out well; but overall, I don't have very good luck when it comes to baking them! For whatever reason, they tend to spread much too thin for my liking, even after refrigerating the dough.

So I found a solution: bake them in muffin tins! That way, they have no chance of spreading! They're trapped and have no choice but to bake up into a dense, delicious, buttery cookie. That's what happened with these--and man, they are tasty!

As I've mentioned before, I love, love, LOVE peanut butter and chocolate together, so I decided to go ahead and add some peanut butter to these cookies. I don't think I'm experienced or seasoned enough a baker to take the liberties I took with this recipe, but I'll give it to you anyway and then tell you what I should have done differently or will do differently next time! : ) I adapted this recipe from Averie over at Averie Cooks!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed (I had dark brown, so that's what I used.) 
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
• 1 1/2 cups flour  
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, optional and to taste 
• 1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 12-count standard-sized muffin pan; set aside. 

Cream butter and sugar until smooth. Add vanilla, egg, and peanut butter, and whisk to combine until smooth. Add the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, optional salt, and stir until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips. Distribute dough equally among the 12 muffin pan cavities; each will approximately be filled to between two-thirds and three-quarters full. The cookies don't rise much (not like a muffin or cupcake would), so it's okay to fill the muffin tins.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or just until tops have set and are golden. Don't overbake--cups will firm up more as they cool. Allow cookies to cool in pan for at least 15-20 minutes before removing them.

Remove and serve immediately. I was feeling indulgent, so I added some whipped cream for fun and for the photo shoot ; ) Store leftovers for up to 5 days in an airtight container at room temperature--or freeze them for a quick and easy dessert!

*Changes:
 These cookies are rich and very sweet, thanks to the dark brown sugar and abundance of butter. Next time, I may use a combination of white and light brown sugar--maybe something like 3/4 cup light brown and 1/4 cup white sugar. If I make them using only dark brown sugar, I think 3/4 cup would be plenty.

Additionally, I would probably use 1/3 cup of butter instead of an entire stick, as the addition of creamy peanut butter contributed moistness and richness to these cookies.