Made with natural peanut butter and dark chocolate chips, these homemade dark chocolate peanut butter cups are easy to make and a good-for-you candy treat.
Chocolate and peanut butter go together like Batman & Robin, Bert & Ernie, or Chandler Bing & Joey Tribbiani and, when I was a kid, I used to love Reese’s peanut butter cups. Oh, the joy they would bring me. Not only is chocolate and peanut butter a delicious combination but poking your little finger through the middle of the cup made them oh-so-fun to eat!
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And while the options for pre-made chocolate peanut butter cups have grown, with so many new brands now available, making them at home is SUPER simple, easy, and fun. Whether you’re making them for yourself or getting the kids involved (this is a super kid-friendly recipe) this dark chocolate peanut butter cups recipe makes the perfect sweet treat.
Ingredients for Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
You’ll need the following ingredients to make these homemade no-bake peanut butter cups:
- Dark Chocolate: You can use dark chocolate chips, dark chocolate baking chunks, or break up a bar of dark chocolate.
- Peanut Butter: While any peanut butter will work, I think smooth, natural peanut butter works best. If using sweetened peanut butter, reduce the amount of added honey.
- Honey: To sweeten the peanut butter. Maple syrup also works.
- Coconut Oil: To ensure the chocolate is smooth enough to bite into. Feel free to use butter if you don’t have or don’t like coconut oil.
- Vanilla Extract: To enhance the chocolate flavor.
- Coconut Flour: To thicken the peanut butter mixture ever so slightly and give it a fudgy texture. You can also use almond flour or peanut flour.
- Sea Salt: Some for seasoning and some for topping.
And although these are designed to be dark chocolate cups, you can certainly use milk chocolate if you prefer, or any other percentage of chocolate that you enjoy.
Dietary Adaptions
To Make them Gluten-Free: No adaptations are needed, this recipe is gluten-free.
To Make them Dairy-Free: Use dairy-free chocolate chips.
To Make them Peanut-Free: Swap the peanut butter for almond butter or sunflower seed butter.
How to Make Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
These healthy chocolate peanut butter cups require no cooking or baking and are very easy to make. Here’s what you’ll do:
- Combine the peanut butter mixture. Add the peanut butter, honey, coconut flour, and salt to a bowl and stir until well combined.
- Melt the chocolate mixture. Warm the chocolate chips, coconut oil, and vanilla in a bowl and stir until smooth
- Fill the muffin liners. Once the peanut butter mixture and chocolate mixture are ready, spoon a layer of melted chocolate into a muffin liner, add a dollop of peanut butter filling, and top with more melted chocolate.
- Refrigerate until solid. Once all of the muffin liners are filled, transfer them to the fridge or freezer to solidify.
- Enjoy! Once solid, remove them from the fridge or freezer, remove the paper liners, and dig in.
Note: You can find the full detailed instructions in the recipe card below.
While you can certainly buy chocolate peanut butter cups, making them at home allows you to control the quality of ingredients and amount of added sugar and, quite honestly, they taste just as good if not better than store-bought.
Prefer mini chocolate peanut butter cups? Just use mini cupcake liners instead, this recipe will make approximately 24 mini cups.
Red’s Nutrition Tip
If you’re thinking about swapping the peanut butter for almond butter because you think it’s “healthier”, I’ve got some interesting news for you. Serving per serving, almond butter vs. peanut butter have very similar nutrition profiles; peanut butter contains slightly more protein and more fiber, almond butter contains less sugar and more nutrients, and they both contain a very similar amount of calories, carbohydrates, and fat. So, unless you have a peanut allergy, there is no need to avoid natural peanut butter.
FAQs
Homemade dark chocolate peanut butter cups are a healthy treat that can be included in a healthy diet. Dark chocolate is a natural source of micronutrients and antioxidants, while peanut butter is a good source of fat with a moderate amount of protein. By making chocolate peanut butter cups at home you are able to limit the amount of sugar, as well as unnecessary additives and preservatives.
One dark chocolate peanut butter cup contains 209 calories.
If you’d prefer to buy chocolate peanut butter cups, Justin’s and SkinnyDipped are some of the healthiest whole-food-based store-bought options.
Storage
Once solidified, these chocolate peanut butter cups can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week or in an airtight container or freezer-safe bag in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Chocolate and Peanut Butter Recipes:
Print
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
These healthy homemade dark chocolate peanut butter cups are easy to make and store well in the fridge and freezer so you can enjoy them as sweet candy treats for days to come.
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Prep Time: 10 minutes -
Total Time: 45 minutes
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Yield: 12 cups 1x
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Category: Dessert
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Method: By Hand
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Cuisine: American
Prep Time:
Yield:
Category:
Method:
Cuisine:Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups dark chocolate chips
- 2 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter, smooth
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
- Flaky sea salt (optional)
Instructions
- Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper or silicone muffin liners.
- In a medium bowl, combine the peanut butter, honey, flour, and sea salt and stir until well combined, then refrigerate for 5 minutes or until firm enough to shape.
- Once the peanut butter mixture has firmed up, scoop 1 tablespoon of the mixture and shape it into a small disk or patty, slightly smaller in diameter than the muffin liner. Repeat until you have 12 patties.
- In a heat-safe medium bowl, combine the dark chocolate chips, coconut oil, and vanilla extract and heat over a double boiler or in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, stirring the mixture every 30 seconds or so, until melted and smooth.
- Spoon 2 teaspoons of melted chocolate into a muffin liner, spreading it out to cover the bottom, top with a peanut butter patty, and cover with 1 tablespoon of melted chocolate, ensuring it’s completely covered. Then repeat until all 12 muffin liners are full.
- Optional: Sprinkle the top of each muffin cup with a pinch of flaky sea salt.
- Transfer the muffin tin to the freezer for 15 minutes or to the fridge until all of the chocolate has solidified.
- Once solidified, remove them from the fridge or freezer, let sit for 1-2 minutes, remove the wrapper, and enjoy. Any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for one week or in the freezer for 3 months.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 209 calories
- Sugar: 11 grams
- Fat: 15 grams
- Carbohydrates: 15 grams
- Fiber: 2 grams
- Protein: 4 grams
What is coconut butter / cream?
Can you make this and if so would it be dairy free?
Hey Kim!
Coconut butter/cream is made from the ground flesh of coconut. As opposed to oil, it is thicker in consistency and sometimes called coconut butter or cream, but mean the same thing. It’s commonly found in the international aisle of a grocery or health food store, and this happens to be the brand I like: http://www.artisanaorganics.com/coconut/coconut-butter/
And yes, it’s completely dairy-free! I know people have made the recipe with all coconut oil and it still works, its just a little softer in consistency.
Excellent. I used natural crunchy peanut butter, my favourite, and it turned out amazing.
Literally just made this one with my son and it’s AWESOME! Can’t wait to make many more instead of buying them from the store :). Thanks Red!
Awesome! Happy you like them – thank you for sharing. 🙂
Delicious and so simple and quick to make
Happy you liked them, Brenda! 🙂
These were delicious and easy to make. A big hit at a recent family gathering, and at home as well! Will definitely be making this again!
Happy you liked them!