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These Peanut Butter Temptations are about to become one of your new favorite cookie recipes. A tender peanut butter cookie is stuffed with a mini peanut butter cup for maximum peanut butter chocolate flavor. The contrast of textures is hard to resist!
I initially found this recipe on the back of a bag of Reese’s mini peanut butter cups. Over the years, I’ve tweaked it to my family’s tastes, removing the flour and using coconut sugar for a richer, caramel-like flavor.
The resulting peanut butter cookie is naturally gluten-free and egg-free, with more peanut butter flavor. (Since there’s no flour to “mute” the taste!) I can’t wait for you to give them a try.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Featured Review
“I have made these at the holidays for at least 5 years and they are always such a hit at parties and we love them. Must make! They are a great replacement for the traditional PB cookie with the hershey kiss on top that I loved before being more health conscious.” – Leslie
How to Make Vegan Peanut Butter Temptations
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a mini-muffin pan with cooking spray or oil.
In a large bowl, stir together the ground chia seeds and water to make a “chia egg.” It will gel together and thicken as you measure out the peanut butter.
To the chia egg, add in the peanut butter, coconut sugar, vanilla, baking soda, and sea salt and mix to form a thick batter. Stir in the vinegar last; it reacts with the baking soda to help the cookies rise.
Step 2:
Use a tablespoon to drop the batter into each mini muffin well. I like to use a cookie scoop like this so that all of the cookies have the same amount of batter. Bake at 350ºF until the cookies rise and are lightly golden on top, about 10 to 12 minutes.
While the cookies are baking, remove the peanut butter cups from their wrappers. This recipe is time sensitive, so you must be ready to insert the peanut butter cups the moment the cookies come out of the oven.
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So don’t get distracted! (I’ve been known to do that.) It’s helpful to buy a tub of peanut butter cups that aren’t fully individually wrapped; I’ve listed my two favorite brands in the recipe notes below.
Step 3:
As soon as the cookies are done, immediately press a peanut butter cup into the center of each one. The cookies should be soft enough in the center that they are easily pressed into.
Once all of the peanut butter cups have been inserted into the cookies, allow the cookies to cool completely. Once cool, use a knife to remove each cookie, sliding it around the edge to loosen it. They will be fragile if still warm.
Serving Tips
My family prefers these cookies cold, so I place them on a plate and keep them in the fridge to serve. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
(Austin likes them directly from the freezer– but I think the peanut butter cups are too hard that way.) Serving them chilled from the fridge is perfect! But, you can also serve them at room temperature for a softer texture.
Flourless Peanut Butter Temptations (Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
- spray oil , for greasing the pan
- 1 tablespoon ground chia seeds (see notes)
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 cup all-natural organic peanut butter
- ¾ cup coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 24 mini dark chocolate peanut butter cups (see notes)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease a mini muffin pan with spray oil. In a large bowl, stir together the ground chia seeds and water to make a "chia egg." (Alternatively, you can use ground flax seed instead.) It will gel together and thicken as you measure out the peanut butter. To the chia egg, add in the peanut butter, coconut sugar, vanilla, baking soda, and sea salt. Mix well to form a thick batter. Stir in the vinegar last, which will react with the baking soda to help the cookies rise.
- Use a tablespoon or cookie scoop to drop the batter into each mini muffin well. I like to use a cookie scoop like this so that all of the cookies have the same amount of batter. Bake at 350ºF until the cookies rise and are lightly golden on top, about 10 to 12 minutes.
- While the cookies are baking, remove the peanut butter cups from their wrappers. This recipe is time sensitive so it’s imperative that you are ready to insert the peanut butter cups the moment the cookies come out of the oven.
- As soon as the cookies are done, immediately press a peanut butter cup into the center of each one. The cookies should be soft enough in the center that they are easily pressed into. Once all of the peanut butter cups have been inserted into the cookies, allow the cookies to cool completely. Once cool, use a knife to remove each cookie, sliding the knife around the edge of each cookie to loosen them up. They will be fragile if they are still warm, so be patient and don't remove them from the pan until they are 100% cool.
- Enjoy at room temperature or transfer them to an airtight container and store in the fridge to serve chilled. (My family likes them cold!)
Video
Notes
Nutrition
More Recipes to Try
- No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Hearts
- Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix
- Gingerbread Energy Balls
- Crunch Bars Recipe
If you try these peanut butter temptations, please leave a comment and star rating below to let me know how you like them.
Update: I used almond butter for the tart crust version and it was delicious. Made a batch of the peanut butter temptations today and as predicted, my girls had so much fun sticking the peanut butter cups into the warm, soft cookies. They are so go it’s just senseless! Thank you for this incredible recipe!
good not “go!”
We used to make these all the time when I was young! Of course we used refrigerated sugar cookie dough for the base, something I wouldn’t even consider now. I will definitely be making these for my family this holiday season. My girls will love pushing the peanut butter cups into the soft cookie cup:)
I also mixed up the cookie batter and added a bit of melted Earth Balance and some cocoa powder and pressed it into a pie plate…My side of the family is having Thanksgiving this Sunday and I’m going to attempt my own recipe for a salted caramel chocolate tart…but I am going to use your recipe for the crust. It’s in the oven now, smells heavenly!
Wow, these cookies are out of this world! I planned on eating just 2 and ended up eating 4! They are very addictive.
These cookies will definitely become a holiday favorite for my kids. Thank goodness, I have 3 kids to eat them, or I probably would end up gaining weight!
Where can I buy vegan peanut butter cup choclates
I saw the Justin’s brand at Whole Foods– the Dark Chocolate version has vegan ingredients.
Could you substitute the vegan peanut butter cups with your homemade version a couple of posts ago?
Absolutely!
Just double checking . . .
Was that a YES to use a whole egg instead of the chia seed egg?
In theory the whole egg should work instead of the chia egg, but I haven’t tried it myself so I can’t say for sure. I’m guessing the egg will make the cookies slightly more firm than the chia egg.
Can i replace a regular egg with the chia egg?
The ingredients look like they’d even make yummy cookies without the peanut butter cups! Anyone tried that? Maybe just put spoonfuls on a cookie sheet and press each one down a bit?
Yes, they make delicious cookies!
Yes, did by accident. Had too much dough and not enough PB cups. Yum!
Yes! I baked them as written but instead of pressing in peanut butter cups I pressed in with the round back of a wooden lime crusher. In summer we took them straight out of the fridge and filled them with peanut butter an jelly, fresh berries or chocolate spread for a quick desert. I also kept some in the freezer and later filled them with the peanut butter cup filling and poured some chocolate on top. Easy and delicious 😋
And yes, I was to lazy to do both recipes at once 😀
I just made these. Sooo easy and fun to make. Their delish too.
Oh my goodness Hocus Pocus is my favourite Halloween movie too! Barely anyone I know has seen it and I’m like “how have you NOT???”, haha
Everyone else is missing out! LOL 😉
Absolutely! Bette Midler makes me laugh so hard it hurts!!! Our favorite treat is another with peanut butter so we will most definitely be giving these a whirl!!!! No matter how many times we watch Hocus Pocus, it still makes us laugh!!!!
Hello! I would like to make these for my daughter in college and send them to her in a care package. She has a fridge. But would package do okay traveling via 2 day or overnight mail?
They get slightly softer when left at room temperature, but I think if you put them in a sturdy box (so they don’t get squished) they would be just fine. I’d just recommend that she put them in the fridge once they arrive so they can firm up again. I would LOVE to get that kind of care package from my mom! 😉