Homemade Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

In my quest to experience joy, I often turn to cooking and creating in the kitchen, especially with my kids.  It’s a great way to connect doing something we all love, with treats to follow. 

I love peanut butter cups, but I don’t like all the additives that many brands have. Making your own is SUPER EASY and a lot of fun.

INGREDIENT CONTROL 

The most important reason to consider making homemade peanut butter cups is ingredient control. When we have a choice about the inputs into a meal or snack, we tend to make a better decision for ourselves. Choosing a clean type of dark chocolate without additives like soy and lecithins, and a nut butter that’s organic with just nuts and salt in the ingredient label can make for a snack that feels both delightful and satiating.

Prep Time 40 minutes, active time 15 minutes

Makes 24 treats

Ingredients

• 2 (85 gram) bars 85% dark chocolate (like Alter Eco Dark Blackout or Theo 85% Dark Chocolate)

• 1 tablespoon unrefined virgin coconut oil

• ⅓ cup peanut, cashew, almond, or seed butter 

• Sea salt crystals and cacao nibs for dusting, if desired

Directions

1. Line a mini cupcake pan with 24 parchment liners.

2. Melt a little more than half of the chocolate chunks using a double boiler with just over ½ tablespoon coconut oil. When smooth,  drop about 1 teaspoon of the melted chocolate into each liner and lift the liner, twirling it so that the chocolate goes up the sides. Place the tray into the freezer for about 10 minutes to set.

3. Then add about 1 teaspoon of nut butter into each chocolate cup and return the tray to the freezer for another 10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, melt the remaining chocolate with ½ tablespoon of coconut oil.  Remove the tray from the freezer and use the remaining chocolate to create the top layer of the nut butter cup. Sprinkle the tops with some coarse sea salt (if your nut butter is unsalted, otherwise omit) and cacao nibs, if desired. Let them harden in the refrigerator for 1 hour, and store in an airtight container for up to 1 week in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!