Homemade candy anyone? Made with semi-sweet chocolate, crunchy peanut butter, and topped with crushed peanuts, these all-natural 2 ingredient Homemade Peanut Butter Cups are the perfect sweet treat!
What better way to start a Friday, and prelude to the weekend, than with a plateful of these tasty desserts. Delightful little mini treats that are practically guilt-free!
A healthy copycat of a Reese’s peanut butter cup!
I LOVED Reese’s peanut butter cups when I was younger. Ate them all the time, until I got older and realized there were way better tasting candy options out there.
By using high quality ingredients in this recipe, these mini chocolate cups are a wonderful healthier version of the popular candy (without all the weird stuff, like PGPR emulsifier, TBHQ, and palm oil, just to name a few).
They are even better after they’ve been sitting around for a few days. The peanut butter filling dries out a bit and ends up having the same taste and texture of a Reese’s cup.
My favorite shelf stable peanut butter is Santa Cruz Organic Dark Roasted Peanut Butter. I really dig the crunchy variety, but I will do the creamy one if that’s the only one available. Some peanut butter is better than no peanut butter, right?
Step-by-step making of the chocolate candy
As you can see in the photo above, I like to load up my chocolate cups with lots of crunchy peanut butter. I like to have a thin layer of the chocolate on the sides, top, and bottom, but you can adjust the quantities to personal preference.
My go-to chocolate is ALWAYS the Enjoy Life brand.
The ingredient list is very, very short (evaporated cane juice, natural chocolate liquor (non-alcoholic), non-dairy cocoa butter). These vegan peanut butter cups will fit into any clean eating diet!
Looking for an easy guide on how to melt chocolate? The brilliant Alice Medrich tells you how here. I’ve always followed her way and it’s definitely the BEST foolproof way.
Want to make crispy chocolate cups instead? Try this recipe of mine that’s just as easy as this one! Leave out the tahini if you want crispy chocolate that is just like Crunch bars, but cleaner.
So make these 2 ingredient Homemade Peanut Butter Cups for the perfect no bake dessert and healthy chocolate treat. Make extra to give away as gifts too!
Homemade candy anyone? Made with semi-sweet chocolate, crunchy peanut butter, and topped with crushed peanuts, these all-natural 2 ingredient Homemade Peanut Butter Cups are the perfect sweet treat! RECIPE VIDEO BELOW
- 2 cups chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life chocolate chips: dark and semi-sweet)
- 1 cup all-natural peanut butter , creamy or crunchy (If there is any standing oil on the top of the peanut butter, drain it off & don't mix it in, so the peanut butter will be thicker)
- 1/4 cup cocktail peanuts , finely chopped
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Line a standard 12-cup mini muffin tin with paper liners.
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Melt the chocolate chips using a double boiler or in the microwave (put in a microwave-safe proof bowl and heat at medium heat for 1 minute. Stir, then continue to heat using 30 seconds intervals, until chocolate is almost completely melted). Be careful not to overheat the chocolate because it will burn.
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Using a teaspoon measuring spoon, add 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of melted chocolate into each muffin cup and use the spoon to lightly coat the sides of the liner. Freeze for about 5 minutes to harden.
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In the meantime, reheat the remaining chocolate for the topping. Remove pan from the freezer and place a small spoonful of the peanut butter into each chocolate cup. Top each with a layer of the melted chocolate, then sprinkle with the chopped nuts. Can leave out at room temperature or freeze again for 5 minutes to harden the chocolate.
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Repeat process with remaining chocolate and peanut butter. Store at room temperature for up 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Recipe Video
Reese’s was a fave of mine growing up too. Who doesn’t love chocolate + pb?! And they are so easy, they practically make themselves, lol. I’m just gonna have to trust you when you say they taste better after a few days…they aren’t going to last very long in our home These and a glass of vino tonight and I’m set! Happy weekend to ya! XOXO
Yes, Karrie!! These homemade peanut butter cups are calling mine and Loreto’s name! They look fantastic and I do like that they are loaded with good ingredients. We would need a lot of self-control to stop eating them!
You made these just for me, didn’t you? PB cups are one of my all-time favorite treats and I could eat them day and night–so I love that these don’t have all the weird junk in them. That means it’s totally OK to eat them day and night
Homemade PB cups are simply the best! I love easy yet mouthwatering desserts and your looks amazing!! Awesome photo btw!!!
I never tried Reese’s when I was a kid (there wasn’t those sweets in our area when I was growing), and I tried them relatively recently, but I clearly see the ones you’ve cteated are much better (cause omitting some suspicious ingredients makes everything better haha)!
OMG yummylicious!! I just saw Kelsie’s post on PB cupcakes and I was drooling over those and thinking about making them with homemade PB cups and then I saw this!! These look amazing, Karrie and I love that they have fewer ingredients and no chemicals/additives like they add to the chocolate bar. SO much tastier and better for you, there’s nothing like homemade. Plus I love PB but I can’t go overboard or I pay for it dearly so I sometimes sub in cashew butter which is really close taste-wise. Definitely trying these. I might have to make two batches because the first will get eaten before I even attempt to make the cupcakes haha 😀
These peanut butter cups are so easy and delicious!