A classic homemade candy gets a fresh take in these Buckeye Brownie Cookies! This recipe is made easy with fudgy chocolate brownie mix cookies baked around rich peanut butter fudge centers.
It’s hardly a secret around here that I’m a little obsessed with chocolate and peanut butter. Name a better sweet-salty-creamy combination! Oh wait, you can’t.
Recently I had a craving of epic proportions for something chocolatey and delicious. So I did what any reasonable peanut butter and chocolate addict would do. Taking inspiration from my Buckeye Brownies, I doctored up a box brownie mix and finagled these sweet and chewy Buckeye Brownie Cookies!
These easy brownie cookies (“brookies”) are stuffed with a peanut butter ball and topped with chocolate frosting. They might look a bit unassuming at first glance. But on the inside, they’re pretty magical!
In case you’ve never had buckeyes before, they’re a classic no-bake treat made with balls of sugary peanut butter fudge dipped in chocolate (a bit like Peanut Butter Balls!). A circle of peanut butter is left uncovered, which makes buckeyes look a bit like the nuts from an Ohio buckeye tree, named after the eye of a deer!
So, Buckeye Cookies are the baked best of both worlds: a rich chocolatey cookie wrapped around a sugary peanut butter center! I top mine with a layer of chocolate frosting, too, since I can never pass up an opportunity for buttercream.
Recipe Ingredients
Less than 10 ingredients is all you need for these delicious buckeye brownie cookies!
- Brownie Mix: Your preferred boxed brownie mix. You can use any type of chocolate brownie you’d like!
- Butter: Salted or unsalted, and melted.
- Cream Cheese: Let your cream cheese come to room temperature before you start. It’s much easier to mix in this way!
- Peanut Butter: I recommend using a good quality, shelf-stable creamy peanut butter, and not the natural kind (more on this below).
- Egg
- Powdered Sugar
- Chocolate Frosting: I used my favorite recipe for homemade chocolate frosting, but you could also use canned frosting for convenience.
What Kind of Peanut Butter is Best?
For best results with these cookies, I suggest using your favorite brand of creamy or smooth peanut butter. Brands like Jif or Skippy are my go-tos. Avoid natural peanut butters as these tend to have more oil and don’t bake up well.
I’ve never made these cookies with crunchy peanut butter, but I’d imagine they just wouldn’t be the same without that fudgy smooth filling! So definitely stick to classic smooth peanut butter, if you can.
This cookie recipe is so easy to make. Here’s what you do:
Make the Brownie Dough: Mix up a box of brownie mix with the cream cheese, melted butter, and an egg. The texture will be sticky and thick – I actually used my hands to mix it together.
Roll the Dough: Form the brownie dough into balls and place these on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Use your thumb to make an indentation in the top of each dough ball.
Make the Peanut Butter Balls: Next, mix the peanut butter and powdered sugar. Roll the peanut butter mixture into small balls and press those into the indents in the brownie dough.
Bake: Bake the buckeye cookies in a 350ºF oven until the edges are set. These cookies don’t spread very much at all, so they’ll look about the same before and after baking.
Frost: Move the baked cookies to a wire rack. Once they’re cool, I like to spread some chocolate frosting on top and give them a sprinkle with flaked sea salt. Here’s my recipe for Easy Fudge Frosting!
Tips for Success
- Don’t Overbake: These cookies will look almost the same coming out of the oven as they did going in! So be mindful to not leave them in too long, even if they don’t seem especially done. Overbaking will lead to crunchy, crumbly cookies.
- If Your Peanut Butter Filling is Thin: If your peanut butter fudge filling seems a little on the thin and sticky side, add a bit more powdered sugar until you get the right consistency.
Storage Instructions
Keep these buckeye brownie cookies stored airtight on the counter for up to one week. You can also keep them in the fridge if you prefer, but I find the texture is just so much better at room temperature!
Do These Freeze Well?
The unfrosted cookies are a cinch to freeze. You can make a batch ahead and then store them in an airtight, freezer-safe container or freezer bag for up to two months. Thaw the frozen cookies on the countertop so that they can come to room temperature again, and then frost them as usual.
More Chocolate Peanut Butter Treats to Try
- Thick and Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
- Peanut Butter Balls
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Dessert Bars
- Peanut Butter Cup Crack Brownies
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 22 minutes
- Yield: 24 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
A classic homemade candy gets a fresh take in these Buckeye Brownie Cookies! Easy chocolate brownie mix cookies are baked around rich peanut butter fudge centers.
Ingredients
- 1 box (18-19 oz) Brownie mix
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup peanut butter
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 3/4 cup chocolate frosting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°
- Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl combine brownie mix, butter, cream cheese and egg. Stir until dough comes together, it will be very thick and sticky. I used my hands.
- Form rounded tablespoons sized portions of dough into balls, placing on baking sheet about 2 inches apart, making an indentation with your thumb in the center of each.
- In another bowl stir together peanut butter and powdered sugar. Form peanut butter into teaspoon sized balls and press into the indentations in the brownie cookies.
- Press peanut butter down slightly because the peanut butter won’t spread and you don’t want the cookies to be too tall.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are set.
- Transfer to wire rack to cool.
- When cooled top each cookie with about a tablespoon of chocolate frosting.
Notes
I used my recipe for chocolate frosting, but you could also use canned frosting.
Adapted from Pillsbury
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Can these be frozen?
I’m looking to make these Thursday afternoon, but was wondering if you thought it would be ok to make the brownie and peanut butter mixtures a day or so ahead of time and put it in the fridge? Trying to save some time come Thursday.
You could absolutely make the peanut butter mixture ahead of time. I would wait to make the brownie portion, though!
Can I add flour if I put too much butter
You could try that!
This sounds amazing cause nothing bears peanut butter and chocalate together
So i made these with my favorite fudge brownie mix. It made the batter far too sticky. Although what i was able to make some and it was delicious I need a way to make it less sticky. Any ideas?
Oh my goodness your funny walking toward the murderer story made me want to be your friend…and if I’m your friend I will just eat YOUR cookies and I won’t have to bake!
I made these for Thanksgiving this year and they were a big hit!! So delicious!!!
Definitely the most frustrating thing I’ve ever made. So sticky there was no “rolling it into balls”. More of it stuck to my fingers than got on the pan. Used flour on my hands to try to make the stickiness less, didn’t work. Help?
Mine turned out the same way. Found that my issue was not using full fat cream cheese and full fat butter
I made them they were delicious made 2 batches some came out very thin they tasted good what am I doing wrong? Also what shelf in the oven you do put it on. I had it on the 2nd shelf.
That’s strange that some came out thin…did you use a different baking sheet for batches? Light colored, or insulated baking sheets sometimes tend to spread a little bit more. Either that or it seems like the batter might not have been mixed thoroughly.
Made these today.OMG! They turned out great…I added just a tablespoon or two of toffee bits. Unbelievable….
Such a great idea!!