This peanut butter-packed Reese's Pieces Cookie Cake is more chewy and delicious than your average batch of peanut butter cookies. It's filled with Reese's Pieces and peanut butter chips and topped off with chocolate frosting!
Is candy compatibility a thing? I hope not because my husband and I have some seriously differing interests when it comes to candy. And never has it been more apparent than on Halloween when I had him go out to buy the candy. First of all, he bought a lot of candy. Which I have absolutely no problem with. But the problem is... He bought a whole lot of fruity/sugary candy and was seriously lacking in the chocolate department. It's not even that I don't like fruity/sugary candy. It's just that given the choice, I'm pretty much always going to choose chocolate. It's the higher-value option, right? I can only eat so many Nerds (unless it's Nerds Rope!) and Laffy Taffies before I get a sugar migraine. But I can house Twix, Reese's, Butterfingers, Mounds, etc. etc. like there's no tomorrow. And yes, Mounds is one of my all-time favorite candies. Do you have a problem with that? My husband does.
Not only did we buy way too much candy this year, but we also didn't have as many trick-or-treaters as we have in the past, so basically we have a ridiculous amount of candy in our house right now. Candy that I'm not even really that into. But I mean, it's candy. And it's here. Just staring at me. So, I did what any reasonable person would do. I bought more candy. And then I turned it into a giant cookie cake. Because I mean, you can't really make a cookie cake out of Everlasting Gobstoppers. But you certainly can with Reese's Pieces.
REESE'S PIECES COOKIE CAKE RECIPE
And so I did. I also added peanut butter chips into my Reese's Pieces cookie cake. Because I'm not planning to come down from this sugar high any time soon.
OK, so you're probably wondering why a cookie cake over a couple dozen cookies, right? I'm having trouble really putting it down into words, but this cookie cake was way more delicious than any cookies I've ever had. I think it has something to do with the fact that the cake is thicker than the average cookie and it's moist and gooey and cakey. I mean, you can kind of tell from the photos, right?
Plus, you can cut yourself a giant slice of cookie and say, "I only had one piece!" which sounds a whole lot better than saying, "I had thirteen cookies."
Other than the frosting, this cookie cake contains no chocolate. Did you know that Reese's Pieces don't actually have chocolate in them? It feels like they should, but they're really just little peanut butter candies covered in a crunchy candy shell. And I have to say that they're one non-chocolate candy I fully support.
If you do want to add more chocolate to this (and I don't blame you if you do!), feel free to replace the peanut butter chips with chocolate chips. I went back and forth on which to use, but peanut butter ultimately won out.
If you have a ridiculous amount of Halloween candy left over, you could use that instead, too. A Snickers or Butterfinger cookie cake would also do the job quite well. If the job refers to making people ridiculously happy. I'll give you extra bonus points if you can tell me how to make a cookie cake with Lifesavers' Gummies or Laffy Taffy.
Even more points if you can tell me how to unwrap a piece of Laffy Taffy without the plastic wrapper sticking to it. The people want to know.
I usually have pretty good self-control around the desserts I make, but I didn't stand a chance around this one. I had a nice big, thirteen cookies worth slice pretty much every evening until it was gone. And I ate it on the couch, while my dog sat and simultaneously gave me judgy eyes and cried out of pure sorrow that she's a dog and not allowed to have a slice of cookie cake. Though she did try to reason with me that since Reese's Pieces don't contain chocolate and most dogs are allowed peanut butter, she should be offered a bite or two. But I was too busy stuffing my face to pay attention.
You should probably make this while you're still coming down from your Halloween candy high.
Do you have candy compatibility with your significant other? Are you into the fruity/sugary candy or chocolate candy?
If you like this Reese's Pieces Cookie Cake, be sure to check out my Chocolate Coconut M&M Cookie Cake or my Reese's Pieces Peanut Buttery Brownies. I'm also obsessed with this Funfetti Cookie Cake from Sugar Spices Life!
Reese's Pieces Cookie Cake
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup Reese's Pieces candy
- ¾ cup peanut butter chips (or chocolate if you prefer)
Chocolate Frosting
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 2 ½ cups confectioners' sugar
- 1-2 Tbsp whole milk
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-inch cake pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs and vanilla and mix to combine.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Fold in the Reese's Pieces and peanut butter chips.
- Press cookie dough into the prepared pan, as evenly as possible.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes, until edges are turning golden, but cookie is still nice and gooey in the middle.
- Remove from oven and set on a wire rack to cool. Once cooled, use a knife to loosen edges of cookie and turn out onto a cake plate or platter.
- Put frosting in a pastry bag and pipe along the edges. Add additional Reese's Pieces if desired.
Chocolate Frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy, occasionally scraping sides of bowl with spatula.
- Mix in cocoa powder and then mix in confectioners' sugar one cup at a time, until well-blended.
- Mix in milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, only adding in second tablespoon if necessary.
Justine says
I did not know Reeses Pieces don't have chocolate in them.....Kind of disappointing, but still delicious! I love that you put them in this cookie cake!
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice says
Mmm now this is my kind of cookie cake! Reese's ANYTHING are a favorite of mine so this was made for me. Such a great way to use up that leftover candy!
Cheyanne @ No Spoon Necessary says
LOL! I don't think candy compatibility is a thing... or if it is I don't really care because the hubs and I eat different types of candy too. Now while I AM a fruity/sugary (or sour) type of candy girl, it is only because I'm allergic to cocoa. Before my cocoa allergy Mounds were my all time FAVORITE candy EVER. So I am totally over here high fiving you for that one! One thing I think everyone can agree on is that cookie cakes rock the dayum house! And this one is like whoa!! LOVE the reeses in here (another one of my favs from back in the day). I wish I could eat this whole bad boy all by myself, because I SO would! Cheers, girlie!
[email protected]'s Recipes says
The giant cookie looks sensational. I love the soft chewy center and golden crisp edges...absolutely heavenly.
Katrina says
Cookie caaaaake!! Such a yummy treat!
sarah k @ the pajama chef says
i totally get candy compatibility. my husband and i agree on some things...but not on others. and i guess i knew...but never really acknowledged...that reese's pieces don't have chocolate in them. whoa! this cake looks great!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food says
My hubby doesn't really care for candy. Well, sugary candy and I guess I don't either. But, like you, chocolate candy and peanut butter stuff like Reeses? Gimme! I think Reeses is the one that hubby really enjoys too. Mounds? It's be so long, but coconut flavoured stuff (and scented stuff) is my jam! Have to get one soon 🙂 We have SO much candy and potato chips left over it's freakin' unreal! We didn't get a lot of trick or treaters this year either. Maybe 'cause it was raining a bit. Who knows? This cake would be so awesome to make use of the leftover candy we have. I would be stuffing my face with this too! It's just too good!!
Pam says
My kids would gobble that cookie cake right up! It looks tasty.
Kellyl says
This cookie cake would be devoured in no time at our house too! Especially since they are stuffed wit Reese's - our favorite! We are team all chocolate at our house but I had no idea Reese's had no chocolate too. So interesting 🙂
Susan says
I'm not sure it would work out the same but I have a lot of Reese's Peanut Butter cups left from Halloween that I could chop 🙂 It sounds delicious!
GiGi Eats says
This is what my dreams are made of. No joke.
Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop says
Definitely need chocolate in the Halloween mix! This cookie cake looks amazing!
Amanda says
That sounds like my boyfriend, except his favorite candy is probably black licorice. (Just imagine me doing an involuntary shudder there. Black licorice! Nope. Can't do it.) But this is my kind of dessert. As someone who might actually consider eating thirteen cookies, it's probably a better idea for me to just have a huge slice of this!
Kevin @ Closet Cooking says
I so want a slice of this cookie!
Christine says
This looks so delicious! And thanks so much for sharing my funfetti cookie cake! 🙂 I think we all need more cookie cakes in our lives!