reese's peanut butter cup

Do you know who Donna Kelce is?

She’s Travis and Jason Kelce’s mom. Which brings me to ask … do you know who Travis and Jason Kelce are?

I understand you may not. If you’re not 1) From Cleveland OR 2) A fan of football OR 3) A fan of Taylor Swift, the Kelce boys may not be on your radar. (And if they’re not – they’re brothers from Cleveland Heights, Ohio who now are in the NFL. Travis Kelce is currently dating Taylor Swift).

But we’re talking about cookies! Not football. Anyway, these cookies went famous after Mama Kelce was seen giving her sons a container of them before last year’s Super Bowl, and also gave the Today Show anchors a sample when she was on air with them. But it wasn’t until my phone sent me a link with the headline to this recipe a week ago that I first heard of them.

My phone suggests links based on my click habits – and surprise surprise, most of the links are baking OR running related. I normally would’ve tossed this recipe aside – who needs another chocolate chip cookie recipe – but I had book club and realized that would be the perfect venue to taste them!

I pretty much made this recipe to the T with the exception of two areas – I didn’t have Ghiradelli chocolate chip cookies (I used a combination of Nestle, Trader Joe’s and Target, because that’s what I had) and I didn’t have cold cream butter – I used Costco unsalted butter. I admit that I was unsure if I’d like them – I’m more of a big doughy cookie fan, and also don’t love cinnamon mixed with chocolate.

What was the verdict from my taste testers – my family and book club ladies?

They were a hit! Some guessed the cinnamon, others couldn’t even tell it was in there. Likewise, I was surprised with how much I enjoyed the texture – they weren’t big doughy cookies but they were crispy and chewy in just the right way.

Would I make them again?

Maybe – they were good but there were a few extra steps and ingredients required that aren’t in my typical cookie recipe AND they require time to sit so they may not become my go-to cookie in a pinch. But they were good enough to share and my kids loved them!

Mama Kelce’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

(originally shared from the Today Show website)

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We had a few rainy days in Cleveland last week, and B was busy, which meant that I was trying to find ways to entertain 3 (!) kids inside our house. One of the things that we all love to do – well, except for GM, but we’ll find out about that soon enough! – is bake. And luckily, I’d been dreaming up these bars for a while, so when we had one rainy day and I asked the kids if they wanted to bake (and they said yes!), I knew exactly what we’d make.

I love the combination of chocolate and peanut butter. Especially when there’s not TOO much chocolate involved. Which is probably why I love Reese’s peanut butter cups and pieces. Thus, this recipe.

This recipe uses my standard blondie recipe, plus a few additional add-ins to make it perfect for peanut butter lovers! If you wanted to use a peanut butter cookie base, you could make this EXTRA peanut buttery! But this is perfect if you want a chocolate chip cookie with some added peanut butter candy.