easy Homemade Peanut Butter Cups (healthier)

I love love love all things peanut butter and chocolate. Chocolate and peanut butter. Peanut butter. Chocolate. Any combination of the two is simply life-altering. No, that is absolutely not dramatic.  What I utterly love (okay, maybe I’m a wee bit forth-coming with the exclamative adjectives) about these homemade peanut butter cups is they are all-natural. And I control the amount of sweetness myself.

Oh, did I mention easy? Yeah, that too.

I used all-natural, crunchy peanut butter for these homemade peanut butter cups because it doesn’t have any preservatives, colors, or artificial preservatives and it’s creamy with a bit of crunch which I ADORE for these homemade peanut butter cups. Texture. I can control that too :).

You know how Reese’s peanut butter cups have a center that’s dry and chalky? I LOVE that…when I’m eating Reese’s. In other peanut butter cups though, I like my center to be creamy with a little bit of crunch. With this homemade peanut butter cup recipe, I get to choose the peanut butter, which means I choose the texture.

I also get to decide to add healthier options like coconut oil to this recipe. While butter is a great option if you don’t have coconut oil, I prefer coconut oil to be mixed with my chocolate. It makes me feel like I’m making better life choices.

You start by lining the bottom of silicone cupcake liners or sprayed muffin pans (that works perfectly fine, as well!) with your melted chocolate. Keep your layer of chocolate rather thin and push or swirl it up the liners about 1/3 of the way. It’s not rocket science I just want you to have enough for 6 peanut butter cups, if possible, with leftovers to seal the cups up with. If you are using the sea salt (do it! So good!), sprinkle a bit down into the pans BEFORE you put down your chocolate. It will stick to the chocolate and be oh so tasty!

Tips:

• You can melt your chocolate either in a double broiler or in the microwave. If using the microwave melt it in small increments of about 15 seconds at a time.
• If you don’t have a double broiler create a makeshift one by putting one small pot into a larger pot with water. Put the whole thing on the burner on medium heat and the heating water in the larger pot will gently heat the contents in the small pot (with your chocolate in it). Just be sure you don’t have SO much water in the large one that it overflows :). Yes, I totally have done that!

Your peanut butter center is made up of only peanut butter and… maple syrup. I know, so easy! Again, peanut butter is the star of the show so be sure to get a great one!

I love using peanut butter with texture built right in. It eliminates steps and tastes super tasty! Doesn’t that looks great? Yum.

After your layer of chocolate has properly cooled place a tablespoon or so of the peanut butter mixture into the center wells and spread it a bit to the edges.

Seal up your cups with the remaining melted chocolate (you saved some, I hope and didn’t eat it all?).  Place back into the freezer until set.

How to make mini peanut butter cups?

To make mini peanut butter cups just use the same instructions and ingredients and put them into a mini muffin pan instead of a regular sized! You can use the same amount of ingredients, you will just have more (smaller) muffins.

How long will homemade peanut butter cups keep?

Homemade peanut butter cups will last at least a week or two if kept refrigerated. They will last a few months if frozen. We recommend either of these methods however, because these are best stored in a cool place. Because the chocolate only has coconut oil in it it is easy for it to melt. Storing the peanut butter cups someplace cool helps combat this.

What are some variations of this recipe?

Well, have we got some variations for you…

• Nutella in place of peanut butter
• Butterscotch chips instead of chocolate
• White chocolate chips instead of chocolate
• Ground nuts in place of sea salt
• Cookie butter instead of peanut butter
• Add cinnamon or other spices to the peanut butter
• Sprinkle cayenne pepper or chili powder on the top (be gentle!)
• Instead of a muffin pan, use a fun mold

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

| 6 large cups

Prep Time | 15 minutes mins

Cook Time | 10 minutes mins

cooling | 1 hour hr

Total Time | 25 minutes mins

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easy 4-ingredient peanut butter cups with ZERO refined sugar!

Ingredients

 

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• 1 bag cacao chips or about 10oz dark chocolate
• 2 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 tablespoons maple syrup
• sea salt optional

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Instructions

• Mix 1 tablespoon of melted coconut oil, maple syrup, and peanut butter in a bowl until smooth. 
• Melt the chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until chocolate becomes smooth. 
• Pour the chocolate mixture into a greased cupcake pan (or mini cupcake pan) until about 1/3 full, swirl a bit so they chocolate goes up the side of the pan.
• Pour a teaspoon, or so, of the peanut butter mixture into the center of the chocolate mixture. (if needed, warm the peanut butter mixture so it is a bit runny)
• Top with additional chocolate mixture, until covered. 
• Sprinkle with sea salt. Freeze for about 1 hour or until chocolate has hardened. Eat!

Nutrition

Calories: 225kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 4gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 68mgPotassium: 69mgFiber: 1gSugar: 21gVitamin A: 65IUVitamin C: 0.2mgCalcium: 37mgIron: 0.6mg

These are best stored in the freezer in a plastic container. They can be individually wrapped in wax or parchment paper for individual storage but keep them cool until ready to eat.