These Most Spook-tacular Halloween Peanut Butter Cookies are dense, moist and bursting with flavor. Packed with both chocolate chips and peanut chips, these cookies are easy to put together and please those near and far.

Insomniac Cookie Copycat

There is a little cookie store here in Champaign, IL called Insomnia Cookies. These were quite the discovery in college, and my most favorite cookie is called the Deluxe Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup cookie. During my second year in college, I decided to live off-campus and found myself outside of their delivery boundaries. This was a huge disappointment, and I worked very hard in the kitchen to make the perfect copycat. Now it’s been quite a few years since college and I have adapted and improved this recipe for roughly 15 years. It is, amazing!

What Makes These Different?

First off, they are giant. There is no point in making these cookies normal size, because it will only leave your audience wanting MORE. Give the people what they want – a giant cookie. It’s also a beautiful site to behold – perfect for a potluck or holiday! There isn’t anything insanely outside-the-box about the way these cookies are made, but they are salty, sweet, soft and gooey. The way I get them that way is by underbaking them! I am a big fan of underbaking my cookies. I don’t want them to be raw, but I want them to stay gooey on the inside, while being fully cooked, with a teeniest crunch on the outside. The oven temperature and baking time are a big deal, so make sure that you know your oven and how it translates with various recipes!

The Halloween Take

If you want to add a little Halloween theme to these guys – add some Reeses Pieces on top too! They make them really pop! You can also add any type of chocolate candy on top – Rolos, Milky Way, Snickers…yum! And luckily, if it’s close to Halloween, you may have a variety on hand to choose from and can try a little of each!

Tips and Tricks for Making The Most Spook-tacular Halloween Peanut Butter Cookies

• It’s a pain to unwrap Mini Reeses or Regular Reeses, but opt for these thicker variety. I used a bag of the thin ones (that you don’t have to unwrap) and the chocolate melted and didn’t maintain the pretty edge. The peanut butter flavor lacked from them as well.

• Don’t forget to let these sit after you bake them. Since we underbake, they will be soft/crumbly until they are fully cooled.

• Prep the Reeses cups during the baking time! Then you can press them into the baked Cookes before the cookies cool too much. This will make them melty and seem a part of the cookie.

• For any other type of holiday, you can use various colored M&M’s on these cookies – turn them into Christmas Peanut Butter Cookies, Easter PBC…etc.

• On a whim, I bought one of these Airperfect Insulated cookie sheets, and they are amazing. They help the cookies rise each and every time and leave them with the BEST bake! These pans even allow for dough to rise well without sitting overnight.

• I usually don’t measure my peanut butter out because I don’t like the dirty an additional measuring cup. Obviously if you aren’t confident in the amount, you can measure, but if you want to eyeball it, I think it should still turn out okay!

• If you don’t want Gluten Free, just replace the almond flour and King Arthur flour with 2 cups of regular white flour. Honestly though, no one will know the difference between the GF version and the regular one. They’re both equally fantastic.

If You Like This, You Might Also Like:

• Easy-Peasy and Pleasing Chocolate Almond Biscotti – Gluten Free
• Sweet and Crisp Schaum Tortes with Toasted Coconut Whipped Cream
• World’s Best Cheesecake on World’s Best GF Crust

The Most Spook-tacular Halloween Peanut Butter Cookies

5 from 6 votes

Course: DessertDifficulty: Easy

Servings

18

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

12

minutes

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup 1/2 Salted Butter, softened (1 Stick)

• 1/2 Cup 1/2 Smooth Peanut Butter

• 1/2 Cup 1/2 Brown Sugar

• 1/2 Cup 1/2 White Granulated Sugar

• 1 1 Egg, Large

• 2 tsp 2 Vanilla

• 1 Cup 1 Almond Flour

• 1 Cup 1 King Arthur Measure 4 Measure GF Flour

• 1 Tbsp 1 Corn Starch

• 1/4 tsp 1/4 Himalayan Sea Salt

• 1 Cup 1 Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

• 1 Cup 1 Peanut Butter Chips (Reeses Preferred)

• 12 12 Large Reese’s Cups or 24 Mini

• Optional: Reeses Pieces

Directions

• Preheat Oven to 350°. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper for mess free baking!
• Cream together butter, peanut butter, white sugar and brown sugar in a large bowl. Add egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Sprinkle both flours, corn starch, and salt evenly over the top of the bowl and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and peanut chips. Roll into large 2 inch balls and space them out about 2-3 inches apart (there should be 9/cookie sheet). There should be roughly 18 cookies.
• *While being baked, unwrap and slice Reeses into large chunks (cut mini’s in half and whole into 3-4 pieces). Bake for 12-14 minutes. When the cookies are done, they will be slightly browned on the outside and flattened out from the original ball form. Once they turn light brown, take them out immediately – you don’t want to overcook them or they will become crumbly. Once you take cookies out of the oven, immediately top with 3-4 pieces of Reeses and optional, Reeses pieces.
• Let cookies sit and cool completely. The reeses on top will harden enough that you can stack them (lightly). Enjoy!

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