Treats & Trinkets: Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookie Cups

Do you guys remember when I made that soooper delicious gluten free cookie cake? And I said the one drawback was it was a little bit delicate? Well, I wanted to try the recipe again with a little xanthan gum to see if I could solve that problem. But then it was the holidays and I had a ton of Christmas baking to do. Except, I'm a problem solver.

My mom gives me a list of things to bake every year to give to her coworkers. This year it consisted of Browned Butter Maple Blondies, Zucchini Brownies, and my sort-of famous Cherry Almond Oatmeal Cookies. She puts together a little selection of treats for everyone and I assume it pleases them since she still asks me to do it. But one of her coworkers is gluten free and she only gets the cookies. Don't get me wrong, everyone loves those cookies, but it's gotta be a little sucky when everyone else has all sorts of choices and you've only got the one.

"What about my cookie cake?" I asked. "I want to try making it again and it's gluten free."

My mother had reservations. "But it's a pie. How would I give it out?"

"I could make it into cookie cups." She agreed that sounded like a good idea.

I had all the ingredients to make the cookie cake in my pantry already, I just bought some Reese's to stuff the cookie cups with when I was picking up the ingredients for everything else on my list.

Then I made them with just a couple adjustments, and I had to keep from stuffing all of them in my face they were so good. I managed to keep from eating them all so my mother could give them away as presents, but I made them again to share on ze blog and these are mine-all-mine

These don't taste gluten free at all. In fact, the coconut flour helps make the outside crisp while the inside stays soft and gooey, giving it the ideal cookie cup texture. These aren't delicate the way the cookie cake was, plus they don't have grainy edges like the cookie cake did.

The Reese's on top then gets all melty and biting into it is like an explosion of peanut buttery chocolatey goodness. And just like the cookie cake, these are beyond simple to make. One bowl, one whisk, stuff it with a seasonal Reese's, and you've got a simple and adorable treat perfect for sharing.

Or hoarding. Which is what I plan on doing.

*EDIT: it's been brought to my attention that the seasonal Reese's are not gluten free. However, Reese's cups are GF and actually fit better into the cookie cups. I was just trying to be cute and seasonal. Please always make sure to read the packaging*

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cups

Yield: 3 dozen cookie cups

Ingredients

2 eggs, lightly beaten

6 tbsp. milk

3 tbsp. butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

1 tbsp. maple syrup

1 tsp. vanilla extract

½ cup packed dark brown sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

½ cup coconut flour

1½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ tsp. xanthan gum

1 cup chocolate chips

36 chocolate covered peanut butter candies (like these Reese's hearts), unwrapped and frozen

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Generously grease a mini muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, butter, maple syrup, and vanilla. Add the brown sugar and mix until dissolved. Mix in the peanut butter until smooth. Add the coconut flour, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum and mix until well incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Add 1 tablespoon of dough to each cavity of the prepared muffin tin, pressing it in lightly with your finger. Bake 8-10 minutes, until the edges start to brown and set. Immediately press the candies into the middle of each cup.

Place the tin on a wire rack to cool for a few minutes before removing the cookies to cool completely. If you want the candies to keep their shape, chill the tin in the refrigerator for 10 minutes before removing the cookie cups.

Note: Seasonal shaped Reese' s candies are not gluten free. See more on the Hershey' s website here

Recipe by Kim