Peanut Butter Cups are easy to make yourself from scratch and they can be made healthier than store-bought cups, especially if you make your own peanut butter and chocolate or use high quality versions you buy.
Stuff your freezer with these high-protein peanut butter cups. They are easy to make whether you make your own peanut butter and chocolate or use store bought. The peanut butter chocolate combo is also featured in my dark chocolate peanut butter bars, my peanut butter oatmeal bars and my peanut butter fudge, and just as nourishing.
I made the peanut butter by processing fresh nuts, and made the chocolate from scratch, but these cups are easy to assemble using store-bought peanut butter and commercial chocolate bars as well.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Easy to Make: Melt the chocolate, melt the peanut butter and put them together in a cupcake pan. I give you a way to make your chocolate and peanut butter from scratch or use quality store-bought.
Wholesome & Nourishing: With no preservatives, these homemade peanut butter cups are far healthier than the commercial versions with chemical additives and preservatives.
Control Sugar & Salt: By making your ingredients or buying high quality versions, you can control the levels of sugar and salt.
Ingredients
Peanut Butter
Homemade: To make peanut butter from scratch, you'll needs a strong 7-cup food processor and 3 cups of fresh dry roasted peanuts. Simple add the peanuts to the food processor and process for about 10 minutes or until the peanut butter appears as you want it, smooth and creamy. Stop the food processor about every 2 minutes to scrap down the sides. This recipe makes about 1 cup of homemade peanut butter. I use ½ cup for the peanut butter cup recipe and store the other half in an air-tight jar in the refrigerator for two months.
Store-bought: Buy organic, creamy peanut butter with only peanuts as the ingredients, no oil or sugars. To prepare this for making peanut butter cups, microwave it in 15-second intervals and stir until creamy.
Chocolate
Homemade: To make chocolate from scratch, you'll need cocoa powder, coconut oil, maple syrup and cacao butter. Cacao butter is yellow chunks that smell like chocolate and come in paper containers. To make chocolate, melt the yellow chunks of cacao butter in a double boiler (or in a glass pyrex measuring cup sitting in boiling water). Then add in coconut oil, cocoa powder and maple syrup. Stir until combined.
Store-bought: Buy high-quality chocolate bar or chips (60% cacao or higher), and melt in a pyrex measuring cup in the microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring until all are melted.
When you have creamy peanut butter and melted chocolate ready, assemble the peanut butter cups.
How to Make Peanut Butter Cups
step 1. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
step 2. Pour the melted chocolate into cupcake cups, filling about 1 third of the way. The chocolate will harden at room temperature, but you can speed the process by refrigerating for about 15 minutes.
step 3. Spoon soft peanut butter on to the hardened bottom layer. Drop the pan twice to level off the soft peanut butter surface.
step 4. Pour the melted chocolate on top. If you want to top the cups with flaky salt or crush nuts, do it now.
step 5. Chill the cups in the refrigerator to be able to peel off the papers.
Substitutions
Peanut butter. You can use any nut butter. If you want to make your nut butter from scratch, then obviously food-process your chosen nut, almond for almond butter, cashews for cashew butter. Depending on the nut, you might have to add a teaspoon of melted coconut oil to encourage creaminess.
Chocolate. You can use any chocolate bar ranging from 60% cacao to 92% cacao. I prefer Ghiradelli or Hu or other quality brands.
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Recipe Tips
Can I sweeten the peanut butter layer?
Yes, combine ½ cup of creamy peanut butter with ¼ cup sifted confectioner's sugar and 1 tablespoon of melted coconut oil in a bowl and stir, using that instead of plain peanut butter for the middle center.
Can I make the chocolate cup soft to bite?
Yes, add 2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil to the liquid chocolate and stir until combined.
How to make the chocolate layers hard and middle pb soft?
Create chocolate disks by spooning chocolate into bottom of cupcake papers and chilling until they are hard. Then assemble cups by adding a spoonful or two of peanut butter on one layer, and topping that with a chocolate disk.
How to hide the middle peanut butter layer?
When you add the peanut butter layer, spoon it in the center and don't tap the pan so it leaves a well around the sides. Then add the melted chocolate on top, it should drip down the sides and encase the peanut butter.
FAQS
Are peanut butter cups good for you?
This recipe is with no preservatives, controlled sugar and salt, and 6 grams of protein. These are an energizing nutritional snack that can be stored in the freezer and available as a grab-and-go snack.
How do you store Peanut Butter Cups?
Keep them in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for two weeks.
Can you freeze Peanut Butter Cups?
Yes, store them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. To thaw, leave at room temperature for 15 minutes.
More Peanut Butter Recipes
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
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📖 Recipe
Peanut Butter Cups
Ingredients
Homemade Peanut Butter (or store bought)
- 3 cups peanuts dry roasted
- ½ teaspoon salt
Homemade Chocolate (or store bought)
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- ⅔ cup cacao butter
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- pinch salt
Useful Equipment
- 1 2-cup pyrex measuring cup
- 1 6-cup muffin pan
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Instructions
To Make Homemade Nut Butter
- Add the peanuts to a food processor and process for about 10 minutes, stopping the food processor about every 2 minutes to scrap down the sides. This recipe makes about 1 cup of homemade peanut butter.3 cups peanuts, ½ teaspoon salt
To Make Homemade Chocolate
- Combine homemade chocolate ingredients in a sauce pan and melt on very low heat. Do not burn. To be safe, instead of melting directly in a sauce pan, melt them instead in a 2-cup pyrex measuring cup sitting in a boiling water bath but do not let water enter the measuring cup or the chocolate will seize.½ cup cocoa powder, ⅔ cup cacao butter, 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, ½ teaspoon vanilla, pinch salt
To Make Cups
- If you opt to use store-bought, melt the chocolate in a microwave at 30 second intervals, adding a tablespoon of coconut oil per bar. Once you have melted chocolate ready (either homemade or store bought), pour a thin layer on to the bottom of six cupcake-sized paper cups and set each paper cup into a 6-cup muffin pan.
- Put the pan in the refrigerator for 30 min or freezer for 10 min.
- Meanwhile prepare the nut butter. If it is stiff from the refrigerator or if your store bought nut butter is stiff in the jar, melt it gently in the microwave in 10 second intervals (or in a 2-cup pyrex measuring cup in a water bath on the stove).
- Spoon this glossy nut butter into each cup and return the pan to the refrigerator for 30 minutes (or freezer if you want that layer hard, we did not).
- Then pour on second chocolate layer and set in refrigerator or freezer until the cups are ready for you to eat!
Bianca Zapatka says
They look so delicious, Dee! Love this recipe!
Lots of love,
Bianca ❤️
Dee Dine | Green Smoothie Gourmet says
Thank you so much Bianca! So kind of you to stop by, Love Dee xx