For this week’s “A Sweet A Week” (for last week’s post click here) we are talking all about chocolate… and peanut butter… and how amazing the two are together.
I mean, look at these! They look like little truffle gems and they are just as delicious as they look, trust me. (Also, you may or may not be praised forever for making them for your friends and family…don’t say I didn’t warn you ;).
What makes these guys different from the classic (which I love), is the mixture of creamy peanut butter WITH almond butter. It gives them a nice texture that plays well against the dark chocolate shell, and keeps them from becoming “cloyingly” sweet.
Oh, and the white chocolate drizzle is totally optional, but wholeheartedly recommended! Besides being incredibly fun to do, I love the added sweetness it brings to the dark chocolate exterior. So yummy!
And even though this recipe says it takes 50 minutes, it’s 40 minutes of “freezing time” and 10 of prep. So you can do whatever else you need to do while these are setting in the freezer! Easy, peasy. Basically, you need to make these ASAP. Especially since it’s almost the weekend (YAY!) and you deserve it!
By the way, even though I used a “fancy pan” (which I found at a flea market… for 5 bucks!!), a muffin tin filled with cupcake liners works just fine. Now, get to it!
- Shell
- 16 oz. dark chocolate
- 8 oz. white chocolate
- Walnuts to garnish
- Filling
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1 cup almond butter
- 2 TBS. coconut oil
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup almond milk
- In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the filling and mix well. Set aside. Set a medium sized pot with 1 cup of water, over a medium-high heat, and bring to a boil.
- While that is heating, line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
- In a medium sized heat-proof bowl (make sure it fits on top of the pan, without touching the water below), melt half of the chocolate (I simply stir the chocolate pieces until they are almost completely melted, then remove from the heat and continue stirring until the chocolate is completely smooth.)
- Spoon about 1 tbs. of chocolate into each cupcake liner (I went one at a time so the chocolate didn't harden) and using a pastry brush, paint the entire liner. Once finished, place in the freezer for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the freezer and spoon 1 tbs. of the peanut butter mixture into each liner. Place back into the freezer for about 20 min. (this layer takes a bit longer to harden)
- While the peanut butter layer is hardening, melt the other half of the dark chocolate (or re-melt any that wasn't used). See above step for instructions. Spoon the remaining chocolate (about 2 tbs per cup) onto the tops of the peanut butter cups. Pro Tip: To get the swirl, simply place your spoon on top of the cup, swirl in a circle, then lift and drizzle the run-off into a pattern. If you mess up, all you have to do is smooth the chocolate and try again! Place in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes to set, then serve!
