These Chocolate Cookie Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting combine a soft chocolate cream cheese cookie with a swirl of creamy peanut butter frosting. Baked in mini cupcake liners, they have all the classic chocolate and peanut butter flavor you love in a fun bite-sized treat that's perfect for sharing. If you're a chocolate lover, be sure to browse my Chocolate Cookies collection for even more chocolate cookie recipes.
The cream cheese in the cookie dough helps create a soft, tender texture, while the cocoa powder provides rich chocolate flavor without making the cookies overly sweet. If you enjoy the combination of chocolate and peanut butter, you might also like my Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies or Peanut Butter Stuffed Chocolate Cookies. A simple peanut butter frosting and a sprinkle of chocolate jimmies finish these mini cookie cupcakes, making them a great choice for parties, bake sales, or whenever you're craving a chocolate and peanut butter dessert.
A Quick Look: Chocolate Cookie Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
Recipe Name: Chocolate Cookie Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
Ready In: About 1 hour
Yield: About 45 cookies using a small cookie scoop
Texture: Soft, tender chocolate cookie with creamy peanut butter frosting
Flavor Profile: Rich chocolate paired with classic peanut butter
Difficulty: Easy - piping the frosting adds a few extra minutes
Why You'll Love This Cookie
- Rich chocolate flavor paired with creamy peanut butter frosting.
- Cream cheese in the dough helps create a soft, tender cookie.
- Makes a large batch, perfect for sharing with family and friends.
- Great for bake sales, parties, and holiday cookie trays.
- Easy to make, with only a little extra time needed to pipe the frosting.
- A fun twist on the classic chocolate and peanut butter combination.
Mini Cupcake Wrappers and Pan
These Chocolate Cookie Cupcakes are baked in mini cupcake wrappers, which give them their fun cupcake appearance and make them easy to serve. I used plain white wrappers, but decorative wrappers work just as well.
For baking, you'll need a mini muffin pan. I use a 48-cup pan, but a 24-cup pan will work if you bake the cookies in two batches.
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- Cream Cheese: I use full-fat block cream cheese for the best texture and flavor. Let it soften before mixing so it blends smoothly with the butter.
- Cocoa Powder: I used Guittard Cocoa Rouge Dutch-process cocoa powder for these cookie cupcakes. Before baking, I did a quick taste test with a small amount of Jif peanut butter and compared it to another cocoa powder. I liked how the richer chocolate flavor of the Cocoa Rouge paired with the peanut butter, so that is what I used in this recipe.
- Kosher Salt: I bake with Diamond Crystal kosher salt. If using table salt, reduce the amount since it is finer and more concentrated.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Peanut Butter Frosting
- Peanut Butter: Okay, I am a one-brand peanut butter person - there, I said it. I prefer Jif Creamy Peanut Butter for the frosting, but Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter will also work well.
- Chocolate Jimmies: I used chocolate jimmies to decorate the frosting, but feel free to use any color sprinkles to match a holiday, party, or special occasion.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Chocolate Cookie Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
Prep
Step 1: Weigh or measure the white and light brown sugars into a bowl and set it aside. Step 2: Weigh or measure the flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder into a bowl and run a whisk to blend.
Mix the Dough
Step 3: Add cubed butter and blocks of the cream cheese into a mixer bowl.
Step 4: Mix the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until blended (about a minute).
Step 5: Add the sugars and mix on a medium mixer speed for 3 minutes.
Step 6: Next, add the egg and the vanilla extract and incorporate.
Step 7: Next, scrape down the bowl and add the flour mixture about a third at a time on a low mixer speed until blended.
I do not refrigerate the cookie dough since I want it to spread in the mini wrappers.
Fill the Mini Cupcake Wrappers
Step 8: I used a 48-cup mini cupcake pan and placed a wrapper in each cup since this recipe makes enough dough to fill nearly all of them.
Step 9: Using a small cookie scoop, add one scoop to a mini wrapper. You can use a medium scoop but be careful not to overfill.
Step 10: Fill as many mini wrappers as you have dough for. I made 45 cookie cupcakes from one batch.
Bake the Cookie Cupcakes
Step 11: Heat your oven to 350°F (175°C or 180°C) and bake for 11-13 minutes. Since these have wrappers, you do not have to worry about the cookies sticking to the pan. I leave them in the pan for about a minute to finish baking.
Step 12: I use a butter knife and lift them up and over to a cooling rack. Let the cookies cool before making the peanut butter frosting.
Make the Peanut Butter Frosting
Step 13: Weigh or measure the powdered sugar and place it right into the mixer bowl.
Step 14: Add to the powdered sugar the cubed butter and the creamy peanut butter.
Step 15: Start the mixer on a low speed so that the three ingredients can start to merge. Once the powdered sugar is mixed in, increase the mixer speed to medium or medium-high. Mix for at least 3 minutes or until you get a light brown creamy-looking frosting.
Frost and Decorate
Step 16: I used a large open star tip along with a 16" piping bag.
Tip for Piping Tip Couplers
Should you use a piping tip coupler? I usually do because it helps keep the frosting from squeezing out between the piping bag and the decorating tip. The tradeoff is that some frosting gets trapped inside the coupler and tip, making it difficult to use every last bit.
I used a small cookie scoop and made 45 cookie cupcakes. With that many cookies, I had just enough frosting to finish the batch. If you use a medium cookie scoop and end up with 41 or 42 cookie cupcakes, you should have plenty of frosting, even when using a coupler.
Step 17: Add the frosting to the piping bag and pipe a small star swirl onto each cookie cupcake. Finish with a few chocolate jimmies on top.
🫙🍪 Storage
I keep these in an airtight container. If the cupcake cookies dry out a little on the outside of the cookies, you can add a piece of bread into the container. This will add some moisture to the container. They should last for 5-7 days.
FAQs
Yes. Bake the cookie cupcakes 1-2 days ahead and store them in an airtight container. Add the peanut butter frosting and sprinkles the day you plan to serve them for the freshest appearance.
No, but they make serving and handling the cookie cupcakes much easier. The wrappers also help them look more like miniature cupcakes, which adds to their charm.
Absolutely. Chocolate buttercream, vanilla buttercream, or cream cheese frosting would all pair well with the chocolate cookie cupcakes.
Still Have Questions?
Need help with ingredient swaps or wondering if these cookies freeze well? I've added a few extra baking helpers below for common home baker questions.
Other Peanut Butter Cookies To Try
If you tried this Chocolate Cookie Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it goes below. Thanks!
Recipe
Chocolate Cookie Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
Ingredients
COOKIE DOUGH
- ½ cup (113.5 g) Butter unsalted room temperature
- 6 oz. Cream Cheese
- 1 cup (200 g) Sugar white
- ½ cup (110 g) Light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 Egg room temperature
- 2 cup (250 g) All-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (64.5 g) Unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher Salt
PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING
- ½ cup (113.5 g) Butter unsalted room temperature
- ½ cup (129 g) Peanut butter creamy
- 1 ½ cup (180 g) Powdered sugar
- ¼ cup (40 g) Chocolate jimmies
Instructions
COOKIE DOUGH
- Weigh or measure the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk the dry ingredients together until combined, then set the bowl aside.
- Weigh or measure the white sugar and light brown sugar into a bowl and set aside.
- In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed for about 1 minute, until blended.
- Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the sugars and beat on medium speed for 3 minutes.
- Next, add the egg and the vanilla extract until incorporated.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture about one-third at a time, mixing until combined.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C or 180°C). Line a mini cupcake pan with mini cupcake wrappers. A 48-cup pan will hold the entire batch, while a 24-cup pan will require two batches.
- Do not chill the cookie dough. I want the dough to spread in the mini cupcake wrappers while baking. Using a small cookie scoop, add one scoop of dough to each mini cupcake wrapper.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes. The cookie cupcakes will be slightly soft when removed from the oven, so leave them in the pan for 1 minute. Use a butter knife to gently lift each cookie cupcake from the pan, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING
- Weigh or measure the powdered sugar into a mixer bowl. Add the peanut butter and butter, then mix on low speed until the powdered sugar is incorporated. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat for 3 minutes, until the frosting is light and creamy.
- Using a large open star piping tip, pipe a star-shaped swirl of frosting onto each cookie cupcake. Finish with a few chocolate jimmies, or use your favorite sprinkles.
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Notes
- I use a small cookie scoop and typically get about 45 cookie cupcakes from one batch.
- Do not chill the dough. The dough needs to spread while baking to fill the mini cupcake wrappers.
- I prefer Guittard Cocoa Rouge cocoa powder for its rich chocolate flavor, but other unsweetened cocoa powders will also work.
- I use Jif Creamy Peanut Butter for the frosting. Traditional creamy peanut butter works best for a smooth, pipeable frosting.
- If using a 24-cup mini cupcake pan, you will need to bake the cookie cupcakes in two batches.
NUTRITION DISCLAIMER
I am not a certified Dietitian or Nutritionist. The nutrition amounts given below are provided through a program and are only a guideline.
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