Crumbl Snickers Peanut Butter Cookies
Crumbl’s Snickers Peanut Butter Cookie was one of the first Crumbl flavors I tried and it’s absolutely a winner. These copycat Crumbl Snickers Peanut Butter Cookies feature a peanut butter cookie filled with candy pieces topped with a swirl of caramel frosting and a sprinkle of Snickers pieces on top. Irresistible!
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These cookies start off with a soft and chewy peanut butter base. You can opt to use a smooth peanut butter or something chunky like (my favorite) Skippy Extra Chunky. Chopped candy pieces of fun size Snickers bars are mixed into the dough and generous scoops of dough are baked until just beginning to turn golden.
Once the cookies are cool, we frost. The caramel buttercream frosting is quite sweet, but the pairing of the peanut butter cookie and the frosting mimics a Snickers bar and it’s just, well, yum. Note that the plain cookies are fantastic in their own right, so if you want to trim down the calories, you can skip the frosting.
Can’t get enough cookies? Don’t forget to check out my growing list of Crumbl Copycat Recipes.
Do These Cookies Taste Like Crumbl’s?
Of course, this is the all-important question! I’d say yes! But maybe even a little better.
I changed up a few things from the Crumbl cookie, namely making the cookies smaller. You can opt to use a big 1/3 cup cookie scoop if you want Crumbl-size cookies, or stick with the smaller scoop in the recipe for more reasonably-sized cookies.
Crumbl’s buttercream was very sweet, but lacked flavor in my opinion. The fluffy texture of the homemade buttercream (made with butter, powdered sugar, and a high-quality thick caramel sauce) is a huge improvement I think!
I opted to use larger Snicker chunks both to top the cookie and to mix inside the dough. I suggest sticking with the size of pieces that I instruct in the recipe. Larger pieces of candy will cause caramel melts inside the cookies and deform them.
I will note that Crumbl has done a “Snickers” cookie and a “Peanut butter cookie ft. Snickers” which are both quite similar, but this recipe is essentially the marriage of the variations.
Ingredients You Will Need
You’ll need some basic baking ingredients for these cookies:
- unsalted butter
- light brown sugar
- granulated sugar
- smooth or chunky peanut butter (use conventional peanut butter, not “organic” or “natural” styles)
- vanilla extract
- egg
- all-purpose flour
- baking soda
- salt
You’ll also need a few special ingredients:
- a bag of fun-size Snickers candy bars (or about 7 ounces of any size Snickers bars)
- jar of thick caramel sauce (not the kind that comes in the squeezable bottle–I highly suggest Mrs. Richardson’s Caramel Sauce, see more details below)
Let’s Talk About Caramel Sauce
When I was growing up we would occasionally purchase Mrs. Richardson’s Caramel Sauce to top ice cream. It’s truly the best. Ultra-thick, full of flavor, and the smoothest texture. I couldn’t find Mrs. Richardson’s when I went to test this recipe and much to my chagrin, my second choice (Smucker’s) just didn’t measure up.
Now, if you (like me) are forced to choose, any thick (not “squeezable”) caramel sauce will do. Smuckers will be fine. However, the stronger flavor of Mrs. Richardson’s or another top quality brand will make all the difference in the caramel frosting. If using Mrs. Richardson’s caramel, you will likely need only the smaller quantity of sauce called for in the recipe.
The peanut butter flavor of the base cookie is so strong that you may lose the caramel flavor in the finished cookie, but it still has that classic Snickers flavor in my opinion!
How to Make Crumbl Snickers Peanut Butter Cookies
This is a super simple cookie recipe–you can even skip the frosting if you want a quick Crumbl Snickers Peanut Butter Cookie ASAP.
Cream: First we’ll use a hand mixer on low speed to cream together softened butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the peanut butter and vanilla extract. Add the egg and beat until just combined.
Mix in dry ingredients: add the flour, baking soda, and salt to the dough and mix on low until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.
Add the candy pieces: Use a spatula to fold in the candy bar pieces until combined. I suggest cutting up the candy bars into relatively small pieces as the larger pieces of caramel will melt and deform the cookies as they bake.
No chilling is necessary for these cookies! Scoop the cookie out and bake as directed in the full recipe.
Cookies will be puffed, lightly crackled on top, and just beginning to turn golden brown on the edges.
Cool cookies completely before frosting.
How to Make The Frosting
Make the frosting: Use a hand mixer to beat the softened butter until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar in two or three batches until incorporated. Mix until light and fluffy. Add in the caramel sauce, starting with the smaller amount suggested.
Adjust flavor by adding more caramel sauce to taste.
Frost: Frost each cooled cookie with a large swoosh of frosting or pipe it on using a large piping tip. You will have enough frosting to frost these generously.
Frosting Optional
With the addition of the caramel sauce, the frosting is quite sweet. Some may prefer to skip it all together and just enjoy the cookies plain. They are excellent cookies with or without the frosting! If skipping the frosting, I suggest still using the Snickers pieces reserved for topping the frosted cookies. Simply press a few pieces into the tops of the freshly baked cookies when they are still warm from the oven.
Can I Make the Cookies Larger?
One of the hallmarks of Crumbl Cookies is the large size. You can use a 1/3 cup scoop to make large Crumbl-size cookies (this amount of dough should yield about 7-9 larger cookies).
The larger cookies will need to be baked about 2-3 extra minutes.
How to Store & Freeze the Cookies
Store frosted cookies in the fridge for up to 4 days. Use an air-tight container. Unfrosted cookies can be stored at room temp or in the fridge, whereas the frosting should be stored in the fridge. For long-term storage, cookies can also be frozen (frosted or unfrosted) for 1-2 months in freezer-safe packaging.
How to Freeze Cookie Dough for Later
After portioning out scoops of cookie dough, “flash freeze” them by arranging the cookies on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and freezing until solid (or at least hard on the outside). Then you can add all the cookie dough balls into a gallon size freezer safe storage bag (don’t forget to date and label) and save for 1-2 months.
To keep things simple, I usually take out the bag of frozen cookie dough and allow to thaw in the fridge overnight before baking as the recipe instructs.
Troubleshooting Cookies
Two of the most important things when you are baking cookies are to measure the flour correctly and to bake the cookies at the appropriate temperature for the required time. Cookies with too much flour added become dry and crumbly. Overcooked cookies are dry and lose their irresistible chewy texture.
Weighing the flour with a kitchen scale is preferred, but you can also spoon it into a measuring cup and level it off with a butter knife. I gently aerate the flour by mixing it briefly with a whisk before even spooning it into the cup measure to make sure it’s not overly packed.
As for overbaking, since every oven is different, I offer guidelines in the recipe of when the cookies will appear done, so you can check them and pull the sheet pans when they appear ready–even it’s a few minutes before or after the stated timing.
If you notice your oven consistently overbakes or underbakes, it’s advisable to get an oven thermometer to see if the temperature of the oven is off.
If you loved this recipe, leave a 5-star rating! I would so appreciate it!
More Crumbl Recipes
- Crumbl Birthday Cake Cookies
- Classic Peanut Butter Cookies
- Crumbl Triple Chocolate Cookies
- New York Cheesecake Cookies
- Crumbl Vanilla Sugar Cookies
Crumbl Snickers Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter room temp, 4 ounces
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar 3.5 ounces
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar 2.5 ounces
- ½ cup smooth peanut butter 4.5 ounces
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg room temp
- 1 ¼ cup flour 6.25 ounces
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cup chopped Snickers Bar pieces (see notes) divided
Caramel Buttercream
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter 6 ounces, room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar 8 ounces
- 4-6 tablespoons thick caramel sauce (Mrs. Richardson's preferred, but any extra-thick caramel sauce will work–not the kind you can squeeze from a bottle)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Snickers Peanut Butter Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, use a hand mixer with beaters to cream together softened butter and the sugars. Beat until totally combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add peanut butter and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add egg and beat until just combined.
- Sprinkle the flour, baking soda, and salt over the mixture and use a spatula to fold everything together until combined and no streaks of flour remain. The dough will be soft and a bit sticky.
- Use a spatula to gently fold in 3/4 cup of the chopped Snickers candy bar pieces.
- Use a 3 tablespoon cookie to scoop roughly 16 cookies. Since the dough is sticky, I do recommend using a cookie scoop if you have one! Place on cookie sheets 2" apart.
- Bake cookies one sheet at a time until the cookies are lightly crackled on top and the edges are turning golden, about 10-12 minutes. Don't overbake.
- Cookies will be puffy and then flatten as they cool. Cool on the cookie sheets for about 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Caramel Buttercream
- Use a hand mixer to beat the softened butter until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar in two or three batches (mixing in each addition) until incorporated. Beat until light and fluffy. Add in the caramel sauce, starting with the smaller amount suggested and mix until incorporated.
- Adjust flavor by adding more caramel sauce to taste. You can adjust the final texture by adding more powdered sugar (to thicken) or a little whole milk or cream (to thin). If adding whole milk or cream, add in small increments like 1-2 teaspoons.
Frost the Cookies
- Frost each cooled cookie with a large swoosh of frosting or pipe it on using a large star or round piping tip. Sprinkle candy pieces on top of the cookies and store frosted cookies in the fridge. Storing the cookies: Until the frosting is set/chilled, the cookies will squish slightly if stacked, but after they are chilled you can stack two layers of cookies in a storage container with wax paper in between.
Notes
Nutrition
I made these for a class event and they were very much enjoyed. I loved the chopped snickers pieces in the peanut butter cookie. The caramel sauce in the buttercream was my favorite. They were very sweet, and still balanced and lovely.
These cookies are delicious! I was worried the frosting would make them too sweet (they are great without the frosting too) but it added a wonderful creamy element since the cookies are a little on the drier side as peanut butter cookies usually are. I will definitely make these again! Thank you for sharing the recipe.