Fudge Puddles

My husband and I love to make desserts together, especially on Sundays.  One Sunday my husband asked me what we were going to make and I said, well, I don’t think we really have the ingredients for anything.  He replied with, “sure we do!”  He went to work looking online for a recipe and came across allrecipe.com where you can type ingredients you want to be included.  He typed in peanut butter, chocolate chips and flour and this was one of the recipes that came up.  As soon as I tasted them I knew they would become a regular for us.

Fudge Puddles
Adapted slightly from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Chocolate filling:
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cream butter, peanut butter and white and brown sugars. Mix in egg and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.  Add flour, baking soda and salt and mix until combined.  Shape the dough into about 24 balls (about 1 1/2 inches). Place each ball in one compartment of a muffin tin.

Bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and immediately make wells in the center of each using a melon baller or small measuring spoon (a small spoon actually works too).  Let cool for 5 minutes and then carefully remove cookies to wire racks (I use a spoon for this a well).

When cookies are almost done cooking, start on filling.  Place chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a medium saucepan over low-medium heat.  Stir until well melted.  Add vanilla and stir.  
Fill each shell with the chocolate mixture.

Notes:
--The original recipe actually uses a mini-muffin tin.  But I don’t have one and that’s why I make them in a regular muffin tin.  I think they would be great in a mini tin.  Just cook for less (probably about 12 minutes…keep an eye on them) and of course it makes 48 that way.
--You can use whatever proportion of chocolate chips you want.  The first time we made them we didn’t have milk chocolate chips so we used all semi-sweet and they were great that way.  My favorite way is with 1/2 cup milk and 1 1/2 cup semi.  But I like my chocolate a little dark :).

-Paula