Giant Peanut Butter Banana Bullseye Cookie Cups

Remember how I said I'd revolutionize the cookie cup? Well, I wasn't kidding. I figured if one cookie cup was good, then two cookie cups put together must be even better. So, I decided to put a cookie cup into a cookie cup. Neat, huh?


To make these, I first baked up some peanut butter cookie dough in a regular sized muffin tin. those would be for the outside cookie cups. Then, for the middle cookie cup, I baked some banana chocolate chip cookie dough in mini muffin tins. The key for these cookie cups is to have two different contrasting flavors that still go together with each other. After baking them, I made dents in the middles, making sure that there was enough space in the giant cookie cup for the mini cookie cup to fit snugly. Finally, after cooling them completely, I popped the mini cookie cups into the giant ones and filled the minis with some peanut butter cream cheese frosting. Then, I drizzled the whole thing with some chocolate.


And OMG were these ever good! You take one bite and you taste the peanut butter cookie. Then, as you get closer to the center, you get a bite of peanut butter cookie and banana cookie at the same time. Finally, when you reach the middle, you get all that peanut butter banana goodness AND the added bonus of some creamy frosting. Not only does varying the flavors give you this wonderful harmony of different tastes, but you also get that triple toned look which is what led me to give these the name of "Bullseye Cookie Cups," since each one resembles a giant bullseye.


I'm already dreaming of the other flavor combos that I'm going to try this with - chocolate/vanilla, snickerdoodle/pumpkin, chocolate/orange, chocolate/Nutella, s'mores and more - the possibilities are endless and totally fun.


Giant Peanut Butter Banana Bullseye Cookie Cups (created by Sweet as Sugar Cookies)

Peanut Butter Cookie Cups (adapted from Beantown Baker and Magnolia Bakery Cookbook)

1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
1 c. peanut butter
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. light brown sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp. milk (I omitted this)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. chopped peanuts (I added this)

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Beat the butter and peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix well. Add the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in the chopped peanuts.

Grease a 12-cup muffin tin. Scoop up the dough, 3 Tbsp. at a time, and fill each muffin cup. Bake for 20-25 min. until a toothpick comes out clean (the time may vary, depending on your oven).

Remove from oven, and, while still warm, make a dent the size of a mini muffin in the center of each one with a spoon or your finger. Chill the muffin tin in the fridge for at least 30-60 min. before removing the cookies.

Makes 12 cookie cups

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups (adapted from The Kitchn)

1/4 c. unsalted butter
1/2 c. sugar
2 Tbsp. egg
1/2 c. mashed bananas
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. flour
pinch salt
mini chocolate chips (however much you want)

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the bananas and egg and mix well. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix till combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Grease mini muffin tins. Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full with the cookie dough. Bake at 350F for 10-12 min. until a toothpick comes out clean.

Remove the muffin tin from the oven. If the cookies have risen above the muffin cup, simply use a spoon to flatten them down so they are level with the muffin cups. While still warm, make a small dent in the center of each one with a spoon or your finger. Chill the muffin tin in the fridge for at least 30-60 min. before removing the cookie cups.

Makes approximately 18 cookie cups (you'll have a few extras to enjoy)

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting (Sweet as Sugar Cookies)

2 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. peanut butter
1/4 c. powdered sugar

Beat the cream cheese and peanut butter together until smooth. Beat in the powdered sugar until light and fluffy.

To assemble the bullseye cookie cups:

When all the cookies have cooled, remove from the muffin tins. Take a mini banana cookie cup and put it into the dent you created in the large peanut butter cookie cup. Make sure that there is enough room for it to fit in completely (you may have to push the top of the banana cookie to flatten it a bit more so it doesn't stick up too much). Once the mini cookie cup is wedged firmly in the big cookie cup, you can use your finger or a spoon to deepen the dent in the mini cookie cup if you so desire.

Pipe the peanut butter cream cheese frosting into the mini banana cookie cup. Drizzle with melted dark chocolate and store in the fridge until ready to serve.