Peanut Butter Cups

These peanut butter cups have about a handful of ingredients and require no baking, and the messier they look, the better they taste! After making a dozen, I became restless and started making peanut butter balls, so it’s really up to you how you want to go about making these sweet & salty, chewy treats.

A few years back, I made a chocolate cake with peanut butter icing for Justin’s birthday. Initially, I thought I would just slap on some peanut butter and call it icing, but after a little research, I realized that sugar was needed. The icing came out delicious, so I kept that in mind this time around. Most of that cake wound up in the garbage, however, since we took it to the beach on a windy, September afternoon to play volleyball. I’ve since learned not to do that…

Ingredients (Makes about 18 cups):

Filling:

• 1 1/2 cups peanut butter (I used salted)
• 1 cup powdered sugar, packed
• generous pinch of salt

Chocolate Shell:

• 1 cup cacao powder
• 3/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup maple syrup

Steps:

1. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake holders or wax paper.
2. Combine the filling ingredients together in a medium sized bowl and mix together so that everything sticks together; I used my hands and the heat helped to bind ingredients together.
3. Combine chocolate shell ingredients together in a medium sized bowl, making sure the coconut oil is in liquid form. It works best when the icing is very thin, which requires re-heating because this mixture tends to thicken quite quickly.
4. Spoon about one half tablespoon of chocolate icing into each cupcake holder and spread evenly against the bottom.
5. Using about one tablespoon of peanut butter filling, roll into a ball, then flatten a little, and press onto chocolate icing, allowing the chocolate to rise up on the peanut butter’s sides.
6. Spoon another half tablespoon of chocolate atop the peanut butter; you may need to re-heat the chocolate mixture before this step to thin it out.
7. I left some of my tops open, and I actually liked them the best (who doesn’t 😉 …) – I thought their peanut butter to chocolate ratio was just right! Justin, on the other hand, liked the cups better when they were covered in chocolate, so whatever floats ya boat. Place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, then enjoy! I keep mine stored in the freezer.