These dark chocolate peanut butter cups are incredibly easy to make with just three simple ingredients—and they taste even better than store-bought. You can stick with the classic peanut butter filling or switch things up with pumpkin seed butter for a nut-free twist. Perfect for satisfying a chocolate craving, these homemade peanut butter cups are a healthier treat you’ll want to keep on repeat.
Treat yo' self!
Listen, I love Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups as much as the next Nutrition Lady, but holy moly are they ever sweet. Even better? These Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups! I love making these because I know for sure they're made with really good ingredients, and they're sweet, but not too sweet.
You know what else? When you make your own, you’re not limited to peanut butter inside. As you can see, I’ve already diverged from the brief and made good use of my homemade pumpkin seed butter to make Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Seed Butter Cups.
Which is better? Both!
Pumpkin seed butter has a rich, earthy taste that pairs beautifully with dark chocolate, whereas peanut butter is a little more mellow and familiar tasting, and the sweet/salty contrast with the chocolate is always a delight. If you want to get fancy, sprinkle a little homemade vanilla salt on top. Ohhhh baby.
Let's make dark chocolate peanut butter cups together!
Ok, my friend, you'll find detailed instructions in the printable recipe card at the end of this post, but for now let's walk through it step-by-step.
Step 1: melt the chocolate
Combine your chopped dark chocolate with the coconut oil in a microwave-proof bowl. Nuke it in 30-second increments, stirring each time, until it is all melted and completely smooth.
Step 2: fill the cups
Put your silicon muffin cups into a muffin tin or on a tray that will fit into your freezer. Pour a small amount of chocolate into the bottom of each cup – just enough to coat the bottom, it shouldn’t be too thick – and then place the tray into the freezer for 5 minutes.
Once the chocolate is firm, spoon a tablespoon of natural peanut butter or pumpkin seed butter into the center of each round. Use your spoon to flatten the nut butter down a little bit, but don’t push it to the edges.
Step 3: finish & freeze
Pour the remaining chocolate over the nut butter just enough to cover it. Sprinkle with vanilla salt, nuts, or seeds if you’d like a topping.
Place the tray back into the freezer for one hour, or until firm.
Step 4: Enjoyyyyyyy
Pop your homemade peanut butter cups out of the muffin liners, and enjoy!
DIY Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Ingredients
- 12 oz dark chocolate I used 70%
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil
- ½ cup natural peanut butter or nut butter of your choice
Instructions
- Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Combine in a microwave-proof bowl with the coconut oil, and microwave in 30 second bursts until the chocolate is melted and smooth.12 oz dark chocolate, 2 tablespoon coconut oil
- Line a muffin tin with 12 silicon muffin liners. Pour a small amount of melted chocolate into the bottom of each liner.
- Place the tray in the freezer for 5 minutes to let the chocolate firm up.
- Scoop a scant tablespoon of nut butter into the center of each cup, and use spoon to flatten slightly.½ cup natural peanut butter
- Pour chocolate over the top just enough to cover the nut butter.
- Sprinkle with salt, seeds, or cocoa nibs if desired.
- Place into the freezer for one hour to firm up.
Notes
- Nutrition values are an estimate only and will vary depending amount and type of chocolate and nut butter used.
- Be sure to allow peanut butter cups to thaw for 10 mins before biting into them!
- Because we’ve melted the chocolate together with a bit of coconut oil, these become very, very soft at room temperature. I store mine in the freezer. Note! If you store your peanut butter cups in the freezer, please remove one from the freezer and wait 10 minutes before eating. Otherwise you’re liable to break a tooth because the chocolate will be so hard! You can also store your homemade peanut butter cups in the fridge in an air-tight container. But please do not store them at room temperature – it’ll just make a mess and be a shameful waste of good chocolate.
Nutrition
HeatHer says
Something to treat ourselves with at the end of a day of social distancing, handwashing and disinfecting. And all the ingredients are in my cupboard.!
pamela says
Sooooo good!
I didn’t have coconut oil, so I just left it out. It was thicker melted chocolate, but in the end tastes great! I definitely ate too many of these last night.