Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookie Cups

It’s spring break for me this week, but I didn’t have any travel plans. I have had an enjoyable week at home annoying the kitties, working on puzzles, reading, and doing some work around the house. I had all the time in the world to bake, and since I wasn’t going into work, I could bake one of those recipes that made a small batch. This recipe had had pinned a little while ago, and it looked great, but only made 10 cookies. I knew they were perfect for this week. I also had heavy cream to use up, bonus!

This made 10 really big cookies! You use a regular-sized muffin tin, which makes a substantial cookie. I think I would prefer them in a smaller size, and when I first found the recipe I had planned to scale it down to work with mini muffin cups. I think that would be best, unless you are serving this as a plated dessert at a dinner party. They are so big that they don’t really work as a pick-it-up-and-eat-it-as-you-go sort of thing. They are certainly very, very good.

The cookies take several steps, but I got them put together in not too much time. The cookies cool quickly, so you can add the jelly and make the mousse not long after they have come out of the oven. The mousse seemed to set well in the refrigerator. I think an hour’s refrigeration is sufficient. I let my husband choose the jelly, and he went with classic concord grape jelly, and it really is the right choice for a PB&J cookie. You’ll want to store these in the refrigerator (if you have any that don’t get eaten right away) but they taste better at room temperature, so take them out of the refrigerator a bit before you serve them.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookie Cups

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter room temperature

1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, cold

3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

Jelly or seedless jam

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a regular sized muffin tins with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a large mixer bowl beat the butter, peanut butter, sugar, and brown sugar on medium until light. Add the egg and vanilla and again stir on medium to incorporate. Add the flour mixture and stir on low until combined.

Scoop the dough into the prepared muffin tins, using 3 tablespoons of dough for each tin. You’ll get about 10 cookies.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, press down the center of the cookies with a tart tamper (or small jar) to make an indentation. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Thin the jelly by heating it in the microwave for about 15 seconds. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of jam into each cookie cup. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

While the cookies are in the refrigerator, make the peanut butter mousse. In a cold bowl with a cold whisk, beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. In another mixer bowl, bear the cream cheese and sugar on medium until smooth. Add the peanut butter and mix on medium until smooth. Add the whipped cream, about ½ cup at a time, mixing on low, into the peanut butter mixture. Stir just until no streaks of whipped cream remain.

Pipe the mouse into the cookie cups. Refrigerate until set, at least an hour. After the mousse is set, warm some additional jelly and spoon it onto the cookie cups.

Store in the refrigerator, but bring the cookies to room temperature before serving.

Recipe from Liv for Cake