Peanut butter fudge puddles are delightful 2-bite peanut butter cookie cups baked in a mini muffin pan and filled with a rich chocolate cream—a pairing of complementary flavors and contrasting textures for chocolate-peanut butter lovers only! I got this recipe from a friend, and the whimsical name makes these sweet treats even more irresistible.
One reader, Karin, commented: “These turned out beautifully! There was no problem getting the cookie out of the tin. A gentle twist when they cooled and they popped right out. The filling was nice and creamy, and the mascarpone added an indulgent taste that I like to have with a Christmas cookie! ★★★★★“
When I think of the variety of flavors that simply must be included in my holiday cookie trays, the assortment always includes traditional favorites like sugar cookies, spiced gingerbread cookies and molasses cookies, and peppermint mocha cookies. But I also need to have a chocolate-peanut butter combo in there. Because… do I really need a reason?
Chocolate + peanut butter IS the reason.
While I love classic peanut butter blossoms, today’s cookies are a little different because we’re making our own filling instead of pressing in a store-bought chocolate candy. But I promise it’s easy to make! It’s a silky-smooth, oh-so-creamy chocolate filling, similar to chocolate ganache, that stays soft.
Peanut Butter Fudge Puddles Recipe Snapshot
- Texture: A slightly crisp peanut butter cookie cup contrasts nicely with the soft, silky-smooth chocolate filling. A sprinkle of toffee bits on top adds a little crunch.
- Flavor: Chocolate. Peanut butter. Next question.
- Ease: Beginner bakers can definitely handle this recipe.
- Time: The dough needs to chill for 1 hour. Everything else moves pretty quickly.
Fudge Puddle Ingredients You Need & Why
- Butter: Butter adds flavor and structure. Make sure you have proper room-temperature butter, so it aerates and creams with the sugar. If you’re a beginner baker, I have a full tutorial on how to cream butter and sugar.
- Sugars: We use a combination of granulated sugar and brown sugar in this recipe. Both for sweetness, and brown sugar for extra moisture and flavor.
- Peanut Butter: The most important ingredient! For best results, use processed peanut butter like Jif or Skippy—the same I recommend for my peanut butter balls and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.
- Egg: One egg binds everything together and keeps the peanut butter cookie cups from crumbling apart in your hands.
- Vanilla Extract: For flavor.
- Flour: All-purpose flour forms the base of these peanut butter cookie cups. You don’t need a lot; did you know that nut butters act as a binder and can actually replace some or all flour in cookie recipes? See these flourless monster cookies! Using more flour will dry out the cookies, so stick with the recipe below.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda helps the dough expand in the oven.
- Salt: To balance all the flavors.
And for the chocolate filling, you need just 3 ingredients: chocolate, mascarpone cheese, and a little oil to keep it smooth.
These Step-by-Step Photos Will Help
To make the peanut butter cookie cups, combine the wet ingredients and then add the dry ingredients. This is an easy 1-bowl cookie dough. An electric mixer is key. Expect a very soft and creamy cookie dough:
Refrigerate the cookie dough for 1 hour. It will still be quite soft after this hour, but it will be easier to mold and shape. Scoop the chilled dough with a Tablespoon measuring spoon, and roll into balls. Place the cookie dough balls into a greased mini muffin pan. This is the mini muffin pan I use and love. If you don’t have more than 1 mini muffin pan, you can bake these in batches—just keep the 2nd batch of dough balls cold.
Use your thumb to press down in the center of the cookie dough ball and mold the dough up the sides of each cup. Like this:
Bake at 325°F (163°C). (Baking them at 350°F gave us hard, over-baked cookie cups.)
They puff up in the oven, so use a rounded spoon like a teaspoon to lightly press down the center of each cookie cup again when they come out of the oven. Let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then transfer them from the pan to a cooling rack to cool completely before filling. A butter knife may be needed to help you remove them from the pan.
Success Tip
Do not under-bake these cookie cups. If they’re extra soft, they’ll completely crumble when you try to remove them from the mini muffin pan.
Fudge Puddle Filling
You need just 3 ingredients:
- Chocolate: Chop up 8 ounces (226g) of quality semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, which is 2 standard bars of baking chocolate. Because we’re melting the chocolate, avoid using chocolate chips, which contain stabilizers that prevent them from fully melting.
- Oil: A splash of vegetable oil helps the chocolate melt even more smoothly, and stay soft when it cools.
- Mascarpone Cheese: Mascarpone is an Italian cream cheese. Unlike the American-style cream cheese we use for cheesecake, mascarpone is a little softer, and is made from heavy cream rather than whole milk. We use it in this tiramisu recipe. Where I live, I can find it in the grocery store near the ricotta cheese, and this recipe conveniently uses 1 standard-size 8-ounce tub of mascarpone.
I strongly encourage you to use this if you can! The flavor and consistency is simply incomparable. If you absolutely cannot use it, you can try replacing it with one 8-ounce block of full-fat cream cheese, though the chocolate will have more of a cream cheese flavor. Or you can make chocolate ganache. Wait for it to cool and thicken until spoonable consistency.
If you’ve ever made my recipe for chocolate ganache, you may remember that, to make ganache, we pour warm heavy cream over chopped chocolate to melt it, and then stir. For today’s filling, we’re sort of going in reverse. Melt the chocolate (with the oil) first, then fold the mascarpone into the melted chocolate.
Using a teaspoon, spoon the filling—as much as you can fit—into each cookie cup.
For extra texture and flair, sprinkle the tops with some crushed toffee bits. I use the Heath brand of toffee bits, found in the baking aisle near the chocolate chips. These are also fantastic sprinkled on top of chocolate chip cookie bark. You could also top these peanut butter fudge puddles with chopped peanuts, sprinkles, or flaky sea salt instead. Or don’t sprinkle them with anything at all, they’re perfect all on their own!
This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page.
Peanut Butter Fudge Puddles (Cookie Cups)
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours (includes cooling)
- Yield: 36-40 mini cups
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These delightful 2-bite peanut butter cookie cups are known as peanut butter fudge puddles. They’re baked in a mini muffin pan, then filled with a rich chocolate cream. The secret ingredient is mascarpone cheese, which keeps the fudge-like chocolate filling super soft and creamy. Note that these bake at 325°F (163°C) and not 350°F.
Ingredients
Cookie Cups
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup (156g) creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/4 cups (156g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Fudge Filling
- 8 ounces (226g) semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (see Note)
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil or coconut oil
- 8 ounces (226g) mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
- optional: 1/2 cup (120g) Heath toffee bits or chopped peanuts, for topping
Instructions
- Make the cookie cups: In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium high speed until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the egg and beat until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed. Add the peanut butter and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt to the wet ingredients and beat on low speed until the dry ingredients are incorporated, and then increase to medium speed and beat until well combined. The dough will be very creamy and soft. Cover and chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, and up to 3 days.
- Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Grease 2 mini muffin pans (or bake in batches if you have only 1 pan) with nonstick spray, or line with mini cupcake liners. I prefer these without liners; the dough is easier to “thumbprint” without liners. Set aside.
- Scoop and roll cookie dough, about 1 Tablespoon/20g of dough each. Place the dough balls in the prepared pan. With your thumb, press down in the center of each dough ball, to make an indent, and press the dough partway up the sides of the muffin cup. (If you only have 1 mini muffin pan, refrigerate the 2nd batch of dough balls until ready to bake.)
- Bake for 14–15 minutes or until the edges appear lightly browned. Do not under-bake these. The cookie cups will puff up in the oven; that’s ok and expected.
- Remove from the oven and place the mini muffin pan on a cooling rack. Let the cookie cups cool in the pan for just 5–10 minutes. During this time, use the back of a rounded teaspoon to lightly press into the center of each cookie cup to make the indent deeper again. After 5–10 minutes, carefully remove cookie cups from the pan. Use a butter knife to help, if needed. Place cookie cups on a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Make the fudge filling: Melt the chopped chocolate and oil together in a double boiler or use the microwave. For the microwave, place the chocolate and oil in a large heat-proof bowl. Melt in 20-second increments, stirring after each increment until completely melted and smooth. Let slightly cool for 3 minutes. With a silicone spatula or a spoon, gently fold the mascarpone into the melted chocolate until combined.
- Spoon a heaping teaspoon of the filling into each cooled cookie cup. Top with toffee bits or chopped peanuts, if using.
- Cover and store at room temperature for up to 1 day, or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Baked cookies, with or without filling, freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. Unbaked cookie dough freezes well for up to 3 months. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Rounded Measuring Spoons | Silicone Spatula | Mini Muffin Pan | Cooling Rack
- Peanut Butter: Creamy peanut butter is ideal for this cookie dough because crunchy peanut butter creates an overly crumbly cookie. For this particular recipe, it’s best to use processed peanut butter such as Jif or Skippy. If you decide to use natural peanut butter, make sure it’s at room temperature, stirred well, and expect a slightly crumblier cookie.
- Can I Use Almond Butter, Another Nut Butter, or Sunflower Seed Butter? Yes, you can use almond butter or another nut butter or sunflower seed butter in this cookie recipe; however, expect a crumblier cookie. Sunflower seed butter may give your cookies a slightly greenish hue after baking, caused by a chemical reaction with baking soda, but they will be perfectly fine to eat. I have not tested this recipe with Nutella and am unsure of the results.
- Can I Use Another Cookie Dough? Yes, I’m sure you can. You can try this sugar cookie dough or this chocolate chip cookie dough without the chocolate chips. I would chill either dough for 1 hour before shaping, as instructed with the peanut butter dough recipe.
- Chocolate: You can also use bittersweet chocolate if needed. You need 2 standard bars (4 oz./113g each) of baking chocolate. I like Ghirardelli, Baker’s, and Guittard brands, which I find in the baking aisle of my grocery store, near the chocolate chips. Because we’re melting the chocolate, avoid using chocolate chips, which contain stabilizers that prevent them from fully melting.
- What Can I Use Instead of Mascarpone? Mascarpone is an Italian cream cheese. Where I live, I can find it in the grocery store near the ricotta cheese, and this recipe conveniently uses 1 standard-size 8-ounce tub of mascarpone. I strongly encourage you to use mascarpone if you can! The flavor and consistency is simply incomparable. If you absolutely cannot use it, you can try replacing it with 8 ounces of full-fat cream cheese, though the chocolate will have a cream cheese flavor. Or you can make chocolate ganache. Wait for it to cool and thicken until spoonable consistency, about 2 hours.
- Can I Make These in a Standard Muffin Pan? Yes, you can bake these in a standard 12-cup muffin pan. I would use 2 Tablespoons of dough per cookie cup. I’m unsure of the best bake time. Should make around 20 cookie cups.
Recipe from my dear friend Erin, who got it from an old issue of The Baltimore Sun.
Reader Comments and Reviews
These are such a special treat! I made 26 “mini muffin” sized puddles with this recipe. Delicious! I just used semi sweet chocolate chips and recipe turned out great imo. Will make again… thank you!
These were heavenly. Definitely don’t skip the mascarpone. I couldn’t find toffee bits but topped them with a bit of the butterfinger bits. They were surprisingly easy and are just delightful.
I made these for my Christmas cookie plates this year, along with 7 other recipes from your blog. They all turned out beautifully, just as I expect with any of your recipes. With these, I decided to bake the dough balls in the mini muffin pan and then pressed them after baking instead of pressing them before and after baking. It worked like a charm! Then, after I had them filled, I used a little bit of flaky Maldon sea salt on the chocolate. Heaven! Thank you so much for all your wonderful recipes and baking advice.
I loved this recipe. A few people commented that the chocolate overpowered the peanut butter. Wondering if I could mix chocolate chips & peanut butter chips or maybe add melted peanut butter. Not sure which would maintain the texture of the filling.
You could try subbing half of the mascarpone with creamy peanut butter. I think that would be delicious, and provide more peanut butter flavor.
Wowza! These are delicious Sally. A great mixture of flavors and texture. Thank you for another wonderful recipe.
Would a GF peanut butter cookie mix work for the base? Alternately, can a good GF flour be substituted for regular flour in the recipe?
Hi Cecelia, we haven’t tested these with GF flour, but many of our readers have good results with using a 1:1-style GF flour in many of our recipes. You could certainly try making these with a GF peanut butter cookie mix, but I don’t know how many it would yield. Let us know what you end up trying!
I see the note that these will stay good at room temp for a day. I’d love to include them in cookie boxes but seems these aren’t a option for gifting? Do you think they’d hold up in a cookie box?
Hi Stacy, it would depend on how you store your cookie boxes and for how long. If you gift them right away, you can certainly tell the lucky recipients they should refrigerate them to extend their shelf-life. (Or eat them right away!)
I made these and they were a big hit. I was lauded for my cookie baking skills.however, I didn’t use a toffe sprinkle, I use the peanuts.
Turned out great! Made them for a Christmas luncheon. Lots of comments on how good they were…
These cookies brought rave reviews with family and co-workers. A bit labor intensive but worth the work. Filling is over the top & compliments cookie very well.
They were delicious and were easy to make
The cookies came out great. They were delicious
The cookies were delicious and easy to make. They came out perfectly
These look so delicious! What do you think of using a tub of spreadable cream cheese in place of the mascarpone? Maybe then the filling would be softer than using a block of cream cheese.
Hi Julie, I think the chocolate filling would be even softer then. But you can certainly try it! I haven’t tested it.
My family has our own slightly different version of this recipe I’ve been making for years. They are always a hit. We don’t fill them with fudge anymore though. We love peanut butter, so we started filling them with mini Reese’s. You have to push them into the wells while still hot. So much peanut butter and so delicious.
These look so good, I really want to try making them! I see it says you can store at room temperature for a day – can marscapone cream be left out at room temperature and still be safe to eat for that long?
Hi Katherine, feel free to refrigerate them if you’d like! I usually keep them out for up to a day.
These are delicious!!
This recipe is fantastic! This is my first cookie palooza and I’m having so much fun!! I accidentally baked at 350 instead of 325,and they still came out delicious
I’m not a big chocolate fan, can I substitute jam instead? Would I need to do anything with the jam before filling the cups?
Hi sally!
I plan to make and freeze these, but you mentioned that the filling remains soft. Would you advise not to fill them prior to freezing?
Hi Annie, you can freeze these either with or without the filling. Enjoy!
Can I use a butter cookie dough for the cups? Need to avoid nuts.
Hi Diane, yes. See recipe Note, or you can use sunflower seed butter.
Hi Sally and team, these cups look delicious. I have been enjoying your cookie paloozas the last few years and M&M cookie bars and Gingerbread bars are a staple in my house now.
With this recipe, while a lot of people love peanut butter, I would love it if it didnot have peanut butter. What can peanut butter be substituted with? Can this recipe be made without peanut butter?
If there isn’t a substitution I will still make it with peanut butter .
Thank you.
Hi Kanthi, you can try another nut butter or sunflower seed butter! Or try another cookie dough, such as sugar cookie dough or chocolate chip cookie dough without the chocolate chips.
Thank you.
Here is a tip if you are using your phone or tablet to follow the recipe while baking and are finding the ads, photos, and pop ups make it almost impossible. Hit the print recipe button.
Thank you!
Can’t wait to try this for friends. What do you think of using graham crackers instead of the dough? I have a lot of graham crackers I want to use up 🙂
Hi Stuart, I don’t think you’ll have enough structure using a graham cracker crust of sorts. I recommend a recipe that uses graham crackers instead.
These look great, and I love your reasonings behind it! Haha
I hate to ask. But I also hate to buy a product and waste it. You say the marscapone is what makes the filling soft & puddly, so I don’t want to use just ganache. But I’m not a fan of cream cheese/cheesecakes. Does the chocolate taste a little like a chocolate cheesecake? Or does it taste more like ganache with structure?
Thanks so much for all your great recipes & roundups! You are my go-to. (:
Hi mpotter, the mascarpone won’t be wasted if you purchase the 8 ounce tub! Because you use the entire 8 ounces. It tastes like a richer, creamier ganache with a slightly tangy flavor. It’s delicious. Let me know what you try!
Would this recipe work in the mini muffin pans with a paper cupcake liner? Recipe looks great! I only bake non-dairy so I could substitute the mascarpone with Tofutti cream cheese which is softer than block cream cheese. Should I use that or should I make it with ganache?
Absolutely. Though I find it’s easier to “thumbprint” the dough when there are no liners in the cups. I haven’t tested these with Tofutti, so I can’t speak on those results! Let me know if you test it.
I just finished making these and they are adorable and delicious. I used Tofutti in the chocolate and it tastes fantastic with just a hint of tang. I did make them in the paper cupcake holders and when they were cool, they popped out neatly. I topped them with a little sprinkle of peanut brittle nuggets that I had in my stash of goodies. They will be a special treat for our Sabbath. How can I send you some pictures? Looking forward to the rest of the cookies.
FYI I ‘thumbprinted’ them with the back of a standard wooden citrus reamer and it was the perfect size. I found it easier than using my thumb.
Any way these can be shipped? It seems they have a short shelf life if not refrigerated.
They do, because of the mascarpone. I don’t recommend shipping them for that reason, and also because the fudge filling stays soft, so it will be a giant mess!
I can’t wait to try these! This recipe and your Oreo truffle recipe specify a chocolate baking bar (such as Ghirardelli) and I’ve wondered what makes a Ghirardelli bar from the candy aisle unsuitable.
Hi Tia! You want to use a high quality baking bar for best results. Milk chocolate bars are usually softer.
Any recommendations for if/how I could replace the egg? Thank you!!!
Hi Leigh Ann, I’m unsure. I haven’t tried any egg substitutes with this particular recipe.
YUM!! This looks so good!!!
For future Cookie Paloozas, can you send an email with a list of ingredients we’ll need that one might not always have on hand? Especially if we’re not bakers? This is Day 4 and I’ve already had to go to the store twice. For peppermint oil and freeze dried raspberries. Now I need marscapone which is not easily found here. I’m really trying to make each recipe as stated. But I don’t want to have to go to the store each day. It would be easier to shop just once.
Hi Kanke, what a nice idea! I suppose we haven’t done that before because not many people make every single recipe. We can certainly consider it in future Paloozas though! What great feedback, thank you!
Thank you! I’m not much of a baker. Although I did try to make sure I was stocked as much as possible before starting. Anyways, your palooza is a good way for me to gain some basic skills. So that’s why I’m making all 10 cookies!