Extra Creamy Peanut Butter Cups

I’m no stranger to making pb cups at home. In fact, I feel like I invented them because I make them for all people and all occasions… and whenever a “new” person tries them, I’m reminded of how amazing (and easy) they are. I often eat them for breakfast (with coffee), and they can be tailored to fit all kinds of dietary wishes.

The original recipe contains coconut oil and peanut butter (and chocolate! and maple syrup!), but it can be done with any nut butter (or tahini), or you can go totally rogue and use jam to make the neopolitans.

Last week, someone commented on the original pb cup post and asked if there was a sub for coconut oil. One person suggested cocoa butter, which I think is an amazing idea (but I haven’t tried it yet). I had something else in mind… and they came out SO creamy, I decided they deserve their own post.

Extra Creamy Peanut Butter Cups

Peanut Butter layer:
4 Tbsp peanut butter (I use this)
2 Tbsp melted butter (I use organic grass fed)
1 Tbsp maple syrup (I use this)
pinch sea salt

Chocolate layer:
4 Tbsp peanut butter
2 Tbsp melted butter
1 Tbsp cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1-2 Tbsp maple syrup (taste test this part–how dark do you want it?!)
pinch sea salt

Directions: Mix peanut butter layer ingredients together and chocolate layer ingredients together in separate bowls. Be sure your butter is pretty warm (even hot) so it mixes and then pours easily). Choose which layer you’ll put on the bottom, and spoon about 1 Tbsp into each mini muffin wrapper (I use silicone ones, but any will work–adjust amount of batter used depending on the size so they are half full). Put these in the freezer for about 10 minutes, until firm. Remove from freezer and add second layer. Return to freezer or fridge. Serve chilled!

Please keep these in the fridge or freezer or they will melt!

Note: You can sub in a different sweetener if you like. Also, I often mix the second layer while the first layer is hardening in the freezer. This makes the time pass… and it ensures the batter will still be melted when you’re ready to add it. It’s not a problem if the batter isn’t super runny, it’s just that the less runny it is, the more air bubbles and spaces you will get in the final product (you can see some air bubbles in mine–I was impatient and didn’t heat the butter enough!).

In one version of these that I’m still perfecting… I used mac nut butter as the base but made the entire thing chocolate (instead of layers), and I added a couple drops of essential oil—can you guess which oil I used??

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