Peanut Butter Honey Cookie Cups

I don't think I ever tried the combo of peanut butter and honey in a sandwich until I was around 19 years old. Before that, peanut butter and jam or peanut butter and chocolate chips were the only PB sandwiches I had ever eaten or liked. As for honey, I tried it once, found it to be odd, and didn't ever intend to eat it again (now I use it so much, I can't live without it). But, that first PB honey sandwich was an eye-opener for me. It was so good! And, with that, I added a new flavor combo to my repertoire of faves.


So, when I found myself with some leftover peanut butter cookie dough from my last cookie cup experiment, I felt inspired to do a peanut butter-honey combo. I whipped up a honey buttercream frosting, used it to fill my cookie cups, and dug right in. The honey flavor is not at all overpowering and adds a light sweetness to the frosting. Add that to a super peanut buttery cookie and it's mmm, mmm, good. Granted, it's not as awesome as peanut butter and chocolate (few things are), but it's still got a special place in my heart.


Peanut Butter Honey Cookie Cups (created by Sweet as Sugar Cookies)

Peanut Butter Cookie Base (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)

Honey Buttercream Frosting (Sweet as Sugar Cookies)

6 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. honey
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

For the cookie cups:

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 mini muffin tins. Fill each muffin cup 3/4 full with the cookie dough. Bake for 10 min. until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake or cookies will be too hard.

While still warm, make a well in the center of each cookie cup using a small spoon or your finger. Chill the muffin tins in the fridge for at least 30-60 min. before removing the cookie cups.

For the buttercream frosting:

Cream the butter with the honey. Beat in the powdered sugar until light and fluffy.

For the assembly:

Remove the chilled cookie cups from the tins. Pipe in the honey buttercream frosting. If you so desired, you could also sprinkle on some chopped honey roasted peanuts (I would have done it if I had any at the time).