These buckeye cookies are made with a fudgy chocolate cookie that is topped with a creamy peanut butter topping, and topped with more chocolate!
These cookies are the cookie version of the popular Buckeye candy which is made with a creamy peanut butter ball covered with melted chocolate.
This cookie recipe is the perfect recipe for peanut butter and chocolate lovers. This is one of the most delicious flavor combinations and will satisfy your sweet tooth craving.
They are often enjoyed during the holiday season or as a sweet indulgence any time of year.
If you like chocolate and peanut butter desserts, check out my peanut butter brownies, healthy peanut butter cups, peanut butter balls with Rice Krispies, and scotcharoos.
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Why this recipe works
- Peanut butter and chocolate flavor- this is one of the most delicious flavor combination, in cookie form! This cookie recipe is perfect for peanut butter and chocolate lovers.
- Texture- these cookies have a fudgy and chewy texture just like a brownie, then, they are topped with a creamy layer of peanut butter filling, and a creamy chocolate topping.
- Ease- these are super easy to make and use melted butter, so you dont need to wait for the butter to be at room temperature!
- Buckeye candy in cookie form- if you are a fan of the classic buckeye candy, you will love this cookie recipe!
- Perfect for the holidays- if you need a fabulous cookie recipe for this years cookie exchange, this one will blow people away!
Ingredients
Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
Butter- use unsalted butter for this recipe. Only butter will work for this recipe, no margarine, and no coconut oil. Margarine has a weird taste and can ruin the flavor of these delicious cookies.
Dutch cocoa powder– we like to use Dutch-process cocoa powder for our brownies because we like the deep and rich chocolate taste, but the natural cocoa powder will work great as well!
Flour– we used all-purpose flour for this recipe. cake flour will work great as well.
Baking soda – baking soda helps the cookies rise and spread. Make sure that your baking soda isn't expired. Don't replace baking soda with baking powder!
Granulated sugar– we like to use granulated sugar, also the most common sugar used in baking. Caster sugar will work great as well.
Brown sugar- adds a caramelly flavor and chewy texture to the cookies.
Eggs- you will need 2 large eggs for this recipe. Make sure that your egg is at room temperature.
Vanilla extract- adds extra flavor.
Kosher salt- you will need about ½ teaspoon of kosher salt for this recipe.
Dark chocolate- use the best quality dark chocolate or semisweet chocolate for the best flavor. We chop the chocolate bars into chunks but you can use store-bought chocolate chunks as well!
Chocolate chips- we used semisweet chocolate chips for this.
Peanut butter filling
Peanut butter- and peanut butter will work for this recipe, natural, processed, chunky, or smooth. The results will be different for each peanut butter kind. We prefer to use smooth store-bought peanut butter.
Powder sugar (optional)- you will need powdered sugar to sprinkle over the pastry. you don’t have to buy powdered sugar, you can simply make it at home by blending granulated sugar in a blender or food processor.
Vanilla extract- vanilla extract adds extra flavor.
Kosher salt- you will need about ½ teaspoon of kosher salt for this recipe.
For the chocolate topping
Dark chocolate- you can use your favorite kind of chocolate for these. I used dark chocolate, but you can use semisweet chocolate, white chocolate, or milk chocolate!
Heavy cream- use your favorite brand of heavy cream for this.
Instructions
Into a large mixing bowl, add the cooled melted butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and kosher salt, and mix with a whisk until well combined.
Add the eggs, and mix until well combined and smooth.
Sift the cocoa powder into the mixture and mix with a whisk until well combined.
Add the flour and baking soda and mix until almost combined.
Add the chocolate chunks and mix until just combined and there are no lumps of flour showing. Do not overmix the dough to keep these cookies fudgy!
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest in the fridge for at least an hour.
Meanwhile, make the peanut butter filling. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add the peanut butter, softened butter, powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla extract, and mix with a spoon until well combined and creamy.
Preheat an oven to 180c (350f) and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Use a cookie scoop to scoop out the cookies or scoop the cookies with a regular tablespoon, 1 ½ tablespoons at a time.
Place the cookie dough balls onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 12-14 minutes.
Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
While you allow your cookie to cool, make the chocolate topping. Melt dark chocolate and heavy cream in a small to medium mixing bowl in the microwave for about 50 seconds.
Let the chocolate and the cream sit for 10 minutes for the chocolate to melt, then mix until is smooth and silky.
Assembly
Scoop the peanut butter mixture with a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop and roll it into a ball with your clean hands. Then flatten it out into a disk and layer each cookie with a disk of peanut butter. Press it down so it will stick to the cookie.
Then, top the peanut butter layer with 1 teaspoon of the melted chocolate mixture and spread an even layer of it. Garnish with flakey salt if desired and serve!
Expert Tips
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly.
- Don’t overmix the dough, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cookies and not dense and dry cookies.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Line your sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat! This step helps the cookies to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your brown butter chocolate chunk cookies release easily from the pan.
- Use a cookies scoop to scoop out the cookies, that way you will have even-sized cookies, plus it ensures that your cookies bake evenly.
- Chill the dough! This step is crucial and prevents the cookies to spread out too much. After making the cookie dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean towel, and chill the dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- Be patient! I know it’s incredibly tempting to eat these cookies as they are pulled out of the oven, but let these cookies cool for at least 15 minutes so they will be more firm and won’t crumble up.
- Let these cookies cool for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool for at least 10 more minutes. This step ensures that the bottom of your cookies will not be soggy from the steam.
Faq's
We use all-purpose flour for these cookies. Cake flour will work great as well.
This usually means that there is too much flour in the dough. It is very important to measure your flour correctly. Check out our expert tips for how to measure flour correctly.
I love using Dutch processed cocoa powder for these cookies. Dutch-processed cocoa powder makes the cookies rich and gives them the best chocolaty flavor.
Storing
Store these cookies at room temperature for up to 3 days. Make sure that you store them in an airtight container.
Freezing
Freezing the baked cookies- allow the baked cookies to come to room temperature, transfer them into a freezer-friendly container, and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature for a few hours.
Freezing cookie dough- Follow the instructions as written and make the dough balls, then transfer the dough balls into a freezer-friendly airtight ziplock bag, and freeze the cookie dough ball for up to 3 months.
Bake at the same temperature and add 1-2 additional minutes of baking. There is no need to thaw the cookie dough before baking.
Then, follow the rest of the instructions as written.
Substitutions
Dairy-free- It’s easy to make this cookie recipe dairy-free. Simply replace the butter with vegan butter. Also, swap the heavy cream with vegan heavy cream.
Gluten-free- you can swap the flour with gluten-free flour to make these gluten-free. I never tested this recipe with gluten-free flour, but it should work.
Variations
Chocolate chips- you can add ½ cup of chocolate chips of your choice like regular semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, or milk chocolate chips!
Flakey salt- for extra flavor, add flakey salt on top of the cookies. Add as much as you personally like.
Sprinkles- for a festive look, top these cookies with any theme of sprinkles. Like Christmas sprinkles, Valentine's day sprinkles, easter sprinkles, etc.
Nut butter- if you are allergic to peanut butter but still want to make this recipe, use your favorite nut butter instead like almond butter, cashew butter, etc.
Equipment
- Mixing bowl (set of 3)
- Whisk Set (pack of 3) to whisk the ingredients together
- Baking sheet and rack set (our fave)
- Cookies scoop set of 3 (the best cookie scoop we used)
More cookie recipes
Coconut pecan cookies- These coconut pecan cookies are made with shredded coconut and chopped pecans, resulting in a crunchy and chewy texture.
Chewy peanut butter cookies- These chewy peanut butter cookies are made with creamy peanut butter, extra chewy middle, and lots of peanut butter flavor.
Chewy coffee cookies- These delicious coffee cookies are chewy chocolate chip cookies, loaded with chocolate chunks, and espresso powder.
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If you liked this recipe
📖 Recipe
Fudgy Buckeye Cookies
Ingredients
Cookie dough
- ⅔ cup Butter unsalted, melted and cooled
- ½ cup Granulated sugar
- 1 cup Brown sugar light
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 2 Egg
- ⅔ cup Cocoa powder Dutch processed
- 1 ¾ cups Flour AP
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 cup Chocolate chunks
Peanut butter filling
- ⅔ cup Peanut butter creamy, Jiff or Skippy style
- 1 ¼ cups Powdered sugar
- ¼ cup Butter softened, unsalted
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
Chocolate topping
- 3.5 oz Dark chocolate
- ¼ cup Heavy cream
Instructions
- Into a large mixing bowl, add the cooled melted butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and kosher salt, and mix with a whisk until well combined.
- Add the eggs, and mix until well combined and smooth.
- Sift the cocoa powder into the mixture and mix with a whisk until well combined.
- Add the flour and baking soda and mix until almost combined.
- Add the chocolate chunks and mix until just combined and there are no lumps of flour showing. Do not overmix the dough to keep these cookies fudgy!
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Meanwhile, make the peanut butter filling. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add the peanut butter, softened butter, powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla extract, and mix with a spoon until well combined and creamy.
- Preheat an oven to 180c (350f) and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop out the cookies or scoop the cookies with a regular tablespoon, 1 ½ tablespoons at a time.
- Place the cookie dough balls onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 12-14 minutes.
- Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While you allow your cookie to cool, make the chocolate topping. Melt dark chocolate and heavy cream in a small to medium mixing bowl in the microwave for about 50 seconds.
- Let the chocolate and the cream sit for 10 minutes for the chocolate to melt, then mix until is smooth and silky.
Assembly
- Scoop the peanut butter mixture with a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop and roll it into a ball with your clean hands. Then flatten it out into a disk and layer each cookie with a disk of peanut butter. Press it down so it will stick to the cookie.
- Then, top the peanut butter layer with 1 teaspoon of the melted chocolate mixture and spread an even layer of it. Garnish with flakey salt if desired and serve!
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly.
- Don’t overmix the dough, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cookies and not dense and dry cookies.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Line your sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat! This step helps the cookies to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your brown butter chocolate chunk cookies release easily from the pan.
- Use a cookies scoop to scoop out the cookies, that way you will have even-sized cookies, plus it ensures that your cookies bake evenly.
- Chill the dough! This step is crucial and prevents the cookies to spread out too much. After making the cookie dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean towel, and chill the dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- Be patient! I know it’s incredibly tempting to eat these cookies as they are pulled out of the oven, but let these cookies cool for at least 15 minutes so they will be more firm and won’t crumble up.
- Let these cookies cool for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool for at least 10 more minutes. This step ensures that the bottom of your cookies will not be soggy from the steam.
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