After last year’s wild success with Homemade Crunch Bars, I set my sights on peanut butter cups. They’ve always been my favorite, yet as time has passed I have been less and less satisfied. Reese’s cups (or eggs or pumpkins etc) are too sweet and neither chocolatey nor peanutty enough for my current tastes. So I was already thinking about a way to make my own. And then the girls discovered the Great British Bake-Off and they’re hooked. They check out cookbooks and read them for fun and they’re super interested in experimentation. The eldest, in particular, is very excited about using silicone molds for candy making, to the point that she used her own money on our trip to Arizona to see my parents to buy herself a set of sweet little heart molds. This got me thinking and, sure enough, cat-shaped silicone molds do exist! The kids love cats almost as much as they do candy so the urge to put the two together (much like how the “two great tastes” of chocolate at peanut butter taste great together”) was irresistible. The Easter Bunny will gift them the molds as well, so they can have as much cat-shaped fun as they like in future.
I started with a New York Times recipe, mainly because it called for natural peanut butter. Sadly, I didn’t like it (though Evan and my work colleagues were impressed). The filling was too chalky and I didn’t like the flavor of the vanilla extract. Searching around, I found a recipe that cut the peanut butter with butter and also added some brown sugar. Since my ideal pb cup filling would be like egg-free peanut butter cookie dough, the brown sugar seemed a great choice. The author said that natural peanut butter wouldn’t work, but I ignored that and happily my instincts were right. I still don’t love the vanilla extract and think that next time I’d use vanilla powder instead. Other than that, though the filling it lighter, creamier and tastier than the NYT one. I did use 1/4 cup less powdered sugar than the recipe called for—it would have made my teeth ache if the filling had been any sweeter. Instead of the Trader Joe’s pound plus 72% dark chocolate I have been using as my standard, I have switched to the Trader Joe’s fair trade organic 70% which I feel tastes significantly better. It also has a better consistency when melted.
I made the full recipe this time and, because my molds are small, that makes way too many candies. The recipe below has been halved, which will still give the whole family enough chocolate peanut butter goodness to satisfy even though most ardent fans.
IMPROVED IN 2021 with tips from Minimalist Baker. The coconut sugar makes such a difference! And using almond flour to thicken instead of powdered sugar is a huge improvement. I’m going to see if it works in recipes where natural peanut butter is discouraged.
INGREDIENTS
132 g natural peanut butter at room temperature (if using unsalted, add a 1/4 tsp salt to the mixture)
2 TBSP coconut sugar, pulverized in a coffee grinder or blender to make a powder that will more easily dissolve in the peanut butter
6 oz good quality dark or milk chocolate (you may need a bit more or less depending on how thick you like the chocolate layers), broken up or chopped
2 tsp refined coconut oil, if desired, to give the chocolate extra snap
DIRECTIONS
I started with a New York Times recipe, mainly because it called for natural peanut butter. Sadly, I didn’t like it (though Evan and my work colleagues were impressed). The filling was too chalky and I didn’t like the flavor of the vanilla extract. Searching around, I found a recipe that cut the peanut butter with butter and also added some brown sugar. Since my ideal pb cup filling would be like egg-free peanut butter cookie dough, the brown sugar seemed a great choice. The author said that natural peanut butter wouldn’t work, but I ignored that and happily my instincts were right. I still don’t love the vanilla extract and think that next time I’d use vanilla powder instead. Other than that, though the filling it lighter, creamier and tastier than the NYT one. I did use 1/4 cup less powdered sugar than the recipe called for—it would have made my teeth ache if the filling had been any sweeter. Instead of the Trader Joe’s pound plus 72% dark chocolate I have been using as my standard, I have switched to the Trader Joe’s fair trade organic 70% which I feel tastes significantly better. It also has a better consistency when melted.
I made the full recipe this time and, because my molds are small, that makes way too many candies. The recipe below has been halved, which will still give the whole family enough chocolate peanut butter goodness to satisfy even though most ardent fans.
IMPROVED IN 2021 with tips from Minimalist Baker. The coconut sugar makes such a difference! And using almond flour to thicken instead of powdered sugar is a huge improvement. I’m going to see if it works in recipes where natural peanut butter is discouraged.
INGREDIENTS
132 g natural peanut butter at room temperature (if using unsalted, add a 1/4 tsp salt to the mixture)
2 TBSP coconut sugar, pulverized in a coffee grinder or blender to make a powder that will more easily dissolve in the peanut butter
A good shake of vanilla powder
1-3 TBSP almond flour
6 oz good quality dark or milk chocolate (you may need a bit more or less depending on how thick you like the chocolate layers), broken up or chopped
2 tsp refined coconut oil, if desired, to give the chocolate extra snap
DIRECTIONS
- Mix the peanut butter, salt, coconut sugar and vanilla in a small bowl. I didn’t use a mixer this time but you could certainly do so to ensure the best texture
- Add the almond flour a tablespoon at a time and mix until thoroughly combined. When the mixture is reasonably stiff, stop adding almond flour and taste. Adjust as needed, adding more sugar if it doesn’t seem sweet enough. My mixture was about the texture of thick cookie dough and it worked well
- Make little peanut butter patties to go in your molds or muffin cups and have them lined up and ready to go. This can take some guesswork and that’s ok
- If not using silicone molds, line a 24 cup mini muffin tin with paper liners. Otherwise, get your molds ready. Ideally you should put the molds on a baking tray to make transporting them to the freezer easy
- Melt the chocolate over a double boiler or using the microwave (2.5 minutes on 50% power, then stir and cook for a remaining 30 seconds to a minute on 50% power as needed)
- Put a thin layer of chocolate in the bottom of the mold/liner and spread it into the corners and up the sides. I like to do all the chocolate lining first and then I go back and put the patties on top. If you have extra time or are worried that the pb mixture will melt into the chocolate, you can freeze the bottom layer of chocolate before laying in the patties
- Freeze either just the bottoms or the filled cups until firm and set, 20 minutes or more
- Remove from freezer, re-melt the chocolate as needed and put a layer of chocolate on top, trying to get into the edges. Smooth out the top with a small offset spatula if desired
- Freeze or refrigerate again until set, then remove from molds or muffin tin. Keep refrigerated until eating just to help make sure the peanut butter doesn’t get too oozy
I love these Pusheen and kitty molds I got a few years ago. Who could resist a peanut butter Pusheen?
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