Homemade peanut butter cups are a quick and easy dessert that you can whip up in short time. All you need is peanut butter, some chocolate chips, and powdered sugar!
Not only do they taste delicious on their own, but you can eat these feeling better that you know exactly what’s in them. Bonus; Kids will love getting in the kitchen with you and helping out!
Just like it takes a little peanut butter and a little chocolate to make these delicious treats, both have quite an interesting history.
Tell me more:
First discovered in Central America (along with cocoa beans), peanuts were not really brought to the US until the 1800s. They are often called “goober peas” or “ground peas” in America, although they are known as groundnuts in Ghana. Peanuts are also common and popular snacks in some Asian countries such as China and India.
Dr. John Harvey Kellogg:
Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, after running out of both his corn flakes and oatmeal, created a substance that he called “peanut-butter.” He invented it in 1895 as an alternative to meat for those who wanted their protein without sacrificing the taste of food they were accustomed to. He used peanut flour and boiled peanuts (crushed by hand, not with a blender) to create his peanut butter.
Kellogg’s new product became a part of every meal at the Battle Creek Sanitarium – on toast, with jam, or used as an ingredient in desserts! In fact, over 100 years ago people would come from all over the world to the Battle Creek Sanitarium just so they could have some bread made with peanut butter and served with a syrup made from boiled peanuts.
What about chocolate?
As for chocolate, it was brought to the US by immigrants from South America in the late 1700s and early 1800s. However, chocolate did not really become popular until about 1900 when Milton Hershey founded his famous company. According to one article, he began working on the process of creating milk chocolate in 1894. The chocolate was terrible, so he bought a candy store in order to learn how to make better-tasting treats.
In 1899 his first batch of Hershey’s Cocoa was launched and the company took off from there. He found out that by mixing milk with cocoa you not only made it tastier, but it was also cheaper to make. Thus, Hershey’s Kiss was born.
But if you can’t wait until later for another delicious treat, try out these peanut butter cups! They are so easy to make and will disappear as quickly as you can get them made! Enjoy!
What do I need to make these?
-peanut butter
Peanut butter (peanuts in general) has been known to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease.
They’re a great source of protein which is important for muscle development.
-dark chocolate chips
Contains Antioxidants kill free radicals in your body and so they prevent aging as well as many diseases. For example, antioxidants neutralize toxins in the lungs, increase your immunity, and protect against cancer.
What equipment do I need to make these?
- Pyrex or other microwave-safe glass dish
- Paper candy wrappers
- Muffin pan – I used silicone
How do I make these peanut butter cups?
- -Line a cupcake tin with liners.
- -Mix peanut butter and sugar together until completely incorporated.
- -Let’s get started by melting ½ of your chocolate chips in the microwave for about a minute, okay? Make sure not to overdo it here. You want them just melted and still with some pieces intact which will melt as you stir together.
- -Spoon just enough chocolate to cover the bottom of each of the liners. You’ll want it to touch all edges of the bottom of the liners.
- -Shape about 2 teaspoons of peanut butter mixture into a ball, then press or flatten into a disc.
- -Place the disc of peanut butter in the liner on top of the chocolate.
- ** tip make sure that the peanut butter disc does not touch the edges so that the chocolate can completely cover it.
- -Melt the other half of the chocolate exactly like before.
- -Spoon chocolate over the peanut butter making sure to completely fill the cups.
- -Place in fridge for 2 hours or until completely cooled and formed.
- -serve!
Recipe
Peanut Butter Cups
Ingredients
- ½ cup Peanut butter
- ½ cup Powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon butter separated
- pinch of salt
- 9 ounce dark Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Line a 9×13 cupcake tin with liners.
- Mix your peanut butter, salt, and sugar until completed mixed. It should not really be sticky.
- Make peanutbutter balls of just under 1 tablespoon per ball.
- Place ½ of your chocolate chips in a microwave safe dish with 1 tablespoon of butter for about 1 minute. Don’t let it melt all the way. There should still be chocolate chips visible.
- When your chocolate is melted, spoon the chocolate evenly into the liners.
- Take each peanut butter ball and flatten slightly before putting on top of the chocolate in the tins.
- *Tip* make sure the peanut butter circle is slightly smaller in diameter that the tin.
- Push the peanut butter slightly into the chocolate so that chocolate begins to come up the sides around the peanutbutter.
- Add the rest of the chocolate and melt it just like before.
- Cover the peanut butter with chocolate making sure that it goes the the edges and to the top of the liners.
- Chill for 2 hours to set.
Nutrition
Did you try this recipe? Please be sure to rate it and leave me a message in the comments on what you thought! Also, don’t forget to follow omnomdelicious on Instagram, Pineterest, and Facebook and tag me so I can see what you create!
Variations/Alterations/additions/substitutions:
Try these with white chocolate chips instead
Not a fan of peanuts? Try almond or other nut butters!
You can easily make this low carb/low sugar/sugar free but substituting the ingredients for sugar free chocolate chips, and artificial sweetener.
Storage Instructions:
Store in an airtight container. To stack, place a piece of parchment paper in between layers.
For BEST results, store in the refrigerator, especially in the summer.
And for an extra cool treat, keep them in the freezer!
Make Ahead Ideas:
If you’re making these with small helping hands, it might be helpful to make the peanut butter mixture ahead of time. Shape your peanut butter discs and place them in the freezer. This makes them easier for little hands to manage with less frustration of manipulating sticky peanut butter!
Top tips:
“Be SO careful not to burn your chocolate!” This is a warning that you should take seriously if you’re new to the cooking world. As an alternative heating method, use a double broiler! Be warned though: it takes more time but garners much better control over the temperature and consistency of chocolate concoctions.
Don’t forget to check the expiration date of your peanut butter!
If you’re like us, we don’t use peanut butter a whole lot! For my first attempt to make these, I grabbed peanut butter from my pantry thinking “this hasn’t been here that long”
Well, one batch tasted chalky and weird.
Turns out, we had 2 year expired peanut butter.
What did we learn?
These Homemade Peanut Butter Cups are a great treat to make for your friends and family. They’re easy to put together, delicious, and fun! These cups are also very aesthetically pleasing- they taste good but look even better!
This recipe is simple enough for kids to help out with too- so it’s the perfect project for parents or grandparents who want to spend quality time in the kitchen with their little ones while teaching them how to cook something tasty at the same time.
The best part about this dish? You can customize it however you like by trying different variations such as almond butter instead of peanuts, white chocolate chips instead of dark, sugar free/low carb options etc. We hope this has given you some inspiration – happy cooking!
Meet Jennifer
Welcome to my kitchen! Nothing to see here, just me fumbling around trying to make delicious meals while incorporating “all the things” to improve my health. Join me!