Mini Peanut Butter Cup Blossoms

These cookies are evil.  You must make them today.

Reason #1 why these cookies are evil:  They are deliciously irresistible.  They are like a drug.  Once you're hooked, you won't be able to stop eating them.  I blame the perfect ratio of chocolate to peanut butter. The taste of these sweet little treasures will haunt you long after they're gone.  I found a few more of them in a baggie in the back of a drawer after I thought they were all gone and snarfed them down like an addict.  It was sad. Excuse me while I go check that drawer again...

Reason #2 why these cookies are evil:  They are adorably bite-size.  No one will be able to resist their cuteness.  You will keep popping them into your mouth as if they were M&Ms or popcorn.  No matter how many you have eaten, you will feel compelled to eat a dozen more. It's a sickness.

Reason #3 why these cookies are evil:  They are a pain to make.  It's a process that lasts an entire afternoon.  Rolling all those little balls of dough will feel like an endless task.  And after pulling them out of the oven, you have to press a mini peanut butter cup into each tiny ball and then IMMEDIATELY remove it to the cooling rack or the candy will melt and not be cute anymore.  It's really a two-person process--one person presses the candies into the cooked dough balls while the other one scoops them off the tray and onto the cooling rack.  Despite the tediousness of making these cookies, despite the fact that you will probably declare "I'm never making these again!" before the process is completed, you will make them again.  Why? See reasons numbers one and two.

I saw the recipe on Cookies and Cups, and of course, who could resist them?  Even though I vowed never to make these tedious cookies ever again while I was making them, I fell completely in love with the finished product.  I will be making them again, folks.  They were adorable and oh, so yummy! 

I adapted the Cookies and Cups recipe slightly.  I used Hershey's Mini Peanut Butter Cups, which I think were slightly bigger than the Trader Joe's mini peanut butter cups that Cookies and Cups used, so mine came out a tad larger.  Also, I halved her recipe because if I didn't, I'd probably still be rolling tiny dough balls. 

All in all, despite the fact that these cookies are evil, they are delicious and you will love them.

Mini Peanut Butter Cup Blossoms
Adapted from Cookie and Cups

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
mini peanut butter cups
extra granulated sugar for rolling

Cream butter and sugars together on medium.  Add peanut butter and mix.  Add eggs and vanilla, and mix until combined.  Slowly add dry ingredients, and stir until just combined.

Chill dough for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350.  When dough is chilled, remove from fridge and roll into tiny balls about the size of a marble.  Roll each ball in reserved granulated sugar.

Place each rolled dough ball on a baking sheet.  Bake 5-6 minutes or until bottoms get slightly golden and tops just start to crack.  As soon as they come out of the oven, press peanut butter cups into cookie and immediately remove from tray onto cooling rack.  Let cool for 20-30 minutes, then store in airtight container for up to 3 days (if they last that long).