These peanut butter cups are so unbelievably easy to make and are such a speedy snack. They are definitely a new family favourite, I’m lucky if they last 48h! You only need 3 ingredients to make these peanut butter cups; dairy free chocolate, smooth peanut butter and icing sugar. The best part of this recipe is that it is so easily customisable, you can make some simple swaps to suit your own tastes, and you can also make substitutions wherever you like. It is a great base recipe to your own treat imagination!
I find that the best way to melt chocolate is to microwave it in 20 second sessions. After 20 seconds, I remove the bowl and give the chocolate a mix. This way, you ensure that you don’t burn your chocolate! Once your chocolate is almost fully melted, I will put the chocolate back into the microwave for only 10 seconds, just to melt up the last little pieces. You could also add a tbsp of coconut oil to the chocolate whilst melting to help the peanut butter cups stay firmer at room temperature. I usually don’t find this to be a problem, because I tend to store my peanut butter cups in the fridge.
When I was coating my cupcake bases, I ensured that I evenly coated the sides and base. I wanted to ensure that the peanut butter cups looked very neat from the exterior, so that meant that no peanut butter should peek through. To do this, I focussed on having a thick chocolate wall (since the melted chocolate is likely to slide downwards before setting, therefore thinning out the sides). I also made sure to paint the chocolate wall quite tall, as this would make my peanut butter cups look more proportional. This is because the peanut butter layer will be filled to a height that is lower than the height of the chocolate walls.
If you love peanut butter and chocolate, consider check out these recipes too:
- Chocolate and peanut fudge
- Single serve chocolate chip cookie dough
- Peanut oatmeal cookies with chocolate chunks
- Dark chocolate chunk tahini cookies
- Double chocolate orange brownies
- Chocolate chunk sweet potato biscuits
- Sweet potato brownies
- Rice cake Snickers
Of course, if you would like to reduce the sugar content of these peanut butter cups, you do not need to add in the icing sugar. I find that the icing sugar helps to firm up the peanut butter, so that it doesn’t ooze out of the cups when you bite into them. I used Whole Earth smooth for this recipe- an already firm peanut butter. But for other brands that have runnier consistencies, I would really recommend adding in the icing sugar. This way, the peanut butter cups are far less messy to eat. If you are concerned about the icing sugar making the peanut butter cups too sweet, you would switch out the milk chocolate for dark chocolate. Alternatively, you could do a 50/50 milk and dark chocolate ratio, by melting 2 different bars of chocolate together.
Things you could try adding to your peanut butter cups:
- A sprinkle of sea salt on the top
- Almond butter instead of peanut butter filling
- Adding jam in with your peanut butter
- Experimenting with dark and white chocolate bases
- Using crunchy peanut butter as the filling
- Adding a tablespoon of protein powder to the filling to boost the protein content of the peanut butter cups
- Adding berries into the filling, making the cups more refreshing
You will notice that the top layer of melted chocolate will begin to set quite quickly. This is because the cups have been in the freezer. Because they are setting quickly, you want to ensure that the chocolate on top looks neat and even, since this is the first thing that people will see. I use the back of a spoon to smooth out the tops as evenly as possible. But this is usually quite difficult because I always have a little chocolate swoop where my spoon leaves the surface! My main goal is to cover up all of the peanut butter layer, so that my cups look neat. At this stage, you can choose to trim off the excess chocolate around the top of the peanut butter cups. I chose not to, because although I like my cups to be neat, I love that the rough edges give it a more home-made look.
Ingredients: (makes 9)
- 2x 100g dairy free chocolate bars- I use milk chocolate
- 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar
Method:
Step 1: melt 2/3 your chocolate.
Step 2: brush the cupcake cases with the melted chocolate. Ensure these are evenly coated, and you brush up about 2cm from the base of the cupcake case.
Step 3: place your cases in the freezer for 30 mins. You can use a muffin tray to preserve the shape!
Step 4: in a small bowl, mix your peanut butter and icing sugar.
Step 5: remove your now solidified chocolate cupcake cases from the freezer and put approx a tsp of the peanut butter mix into each case. You want to fill them to the top line of your chocolate brushing.
Step 6: melt the remaining chocolate and then pour a layer over the top of the peanut butter, concealing it from view.
Step 7: place back in the freezer for 30 mins, peel off the cupcake cases and then enjoy!
These peanut butter cups will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks in an airtight container.
Make sure to send me images of your own peanut butter cups! My Instagram page is TheLazyLowFODMAP, tag me in your pictures or DM them to me so that I see them!
