Peanut Butter Cups

With no funny ingredients, these super easy peanut butter cups are healthier than packaged ones (although there’s always a time and place for a bag of Reese’s) and just as delicious! If you’re a regular here, you might remember an older version of these I’d posted a few years ago. I made a few small changes to the recipe, updated the photos and they’re the perfect snack to keep in your fridge or freezer to satisfy random cravings!

When I made these this time around, I used a natural style peanut butter which is runnier and so needs to be chilled in the fridge for a bit before adding it to the cups, and definitely needs some sugar for balance, which a regular processed peanut butter doesn’t. And while I used 75% dark chocolate here, you can really use any kind you like, adjusting the sugar as needed. It’s all super flexible!

I have mini cupcake liners which are perfect for these, but you can just as easily use regular ones for larger peanut butter cups, no problem at all. They peel away easily once the cupcakes have been frozen to let them set. There is a little bit of freezing time involved, to let the top and bottom layers of chocolate firm up before adding the peanut butter, but it’s just about 30 minutes, so these will be ready quick!

Once set, they’re crunchy, chocolatey, nutty and so good. I prefer to store them in the fridge at all times so that they don’t melt, but if it’s very cold where you are, they should be ok at room temperature too. I hope you enjoy these 🙂

Peanut Butter Cups

Homemade, super easy peanut butter cups with dark chocolate!

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 2 minutes mins

Total Time: 17 minutes mins

Makes: 12 mini cups

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Ingredients

  

• 180 gms dark chocolate (70% to 75%), finely chopped
• 1 tbsp butter, at room temp (15 gms)
• 1/3 cup creamy natural peanut butter, at room temp (90 gms; see notes)
• 2 tbsps icing sugar, sifted

Instructions

• In a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate, butter and 1 tbsp sugar until smooth and combined. Alternatively, melt it in the microwave in 10 second increments, stirring between each one to melt down any lumps. Do not over heat the chocolate. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
• Stir together the peanut butter and sugar. If using a natural style peanut butter ( as I did here), it tends to be runny especially at room temperature. Stick it in the fridge for 20 minutes before using.
• Place 12 mini cupcake liners (I have a set from Ikea, roughly one inch wide) on a freezer-proof tray or plate. If you don't have mini cupcake liners, about 6 to 8 regular ones should do too.
• Pour about 2 teaspoons of the melted chocolate mixture into the bottom of each liner. Make sure half the mixture is reserved for the topping.
• Tap the tray firmly on the kitchen counter to get rid of any air bubbles and smoothen out the chocolate, then freeze for about 15 mins until firm.
• Remove the tray from the freezer, and place 1 tsp of the peanut butter in the center of each cup, straight on top of the chocolate. Press down lightly with a spoon to flatten. Freeze again for 10 minutes. A runny peanut butter may spread to the edges a bit even after chilling, which is really ok 🙂
• Now spoon the remaining chocolate around and on top of the peanut butter, distributing it evenly among all the cups. Take care not to let the chocolate reach the rim of the liner, or peeling it off may become difficult. Tap the tray firmly on the counter to smoothen out the top.
• Freeze for 30 minutes until firm, then carefully peel off the liner, it should be very easy. Bite into cruncy, chooclate, nutty goodness 🙂 Keep them in the fridge in an airtight container for about 2 weeks and in the freezer for longer. Happy eating!

Notes

*Watch these peanut butter cups come together on Instagram!

*You can use a sweeter chocolate, or even milk chocolate if you prefer, adjusting the sugar in the peanut butter if needed. As written, these are bittersweet peanut butter cups.

*I used Butternut Co peanut butter here which is a natural, unsweetened one. I've also used Sundrop peanut butter which is thicker, sweetened and more processed and doesn't really need much chilling before adding to the chocolate. If using this kind of peanut butter, you can also reduce the added sugar to your preference. You can see a photo of that version below.

*Prep-time does not include chilling/freezing time.

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