I have been eyeing chocolate and peanut butter recipes for some time, thinking that I need to try making a similar dairy-free treat. What better time to do it than for Valentine’s Day.
I know, it’s still a week away, but I had to experiment first and then share it with you all in time for you to make these for your Valentine.
Actually, my husband has a peanut intolerance, so he can’t eat these treats, but the kids and I enjoyed them. My picky eater said they might even be better than Reese’s. Now that I have my recipe worked out, I’ll try making them with almond butter for my Valentine.
To make these dairy free, all you need to do is be sure to use dairy free chocolate chips. Since the chips get melted, Enjoy Life chocolate chunks should work.
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 12 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips
- 2 Tablespoons shortening (I use Spectrum organic shortening)
- Cut 15 full size foil cupcake liners to about half their height.
- In a small bowl, stir together the peanut butter, powdered sugar, and salt. Knead it slightly with your hands until all the sugar is moistened.
- Melt the chocolate chips and shortening in the microwave according to package instructions. Or, put them in a microwave safe dish and heat on 50% power for 1½ minutes. Stir, and heat in 15 second intervals, stirring after each, until melted and smooth.
- Put one teaspoon chocolate in each foil liner and tilt the liner so that the chocolate covers the bottom and a little bit of the sides.
- Place them on a plate or in a muffin pan and put them in the freezer for 5 minutes.
- Roll 1½ teaspoons of the peanut butter mixture into a ball and flatten it with your hands. Place it in the bottom of a chocolate lined cupcake liner. It should not touch the edges. Repeat with all 15 liners.
- Add 2 teaspoons of chocolate on top of the peanut butter and spread it with the spoon out to the edges of the liner, letting it fill in around the peanut butter.
- Store in the refrigerator. Eat cold or at room temperature.
Wow, you did a good job on cutting those foil liners, Linda … I thought you’d purchased them that size! Such cute liners and such luscious peanut butter cups.
Pinned!
Happy Valentine’s Day a week or so early!
Shirley
Shirley, the liners were very easy to cut. Thanks for the pin, and Happy Valentine’s Day to you too!
Wow. I think I could eat my screen right now.. Those look really good.
Lol! I know what you mean. I love chocolate peanut butter.
Oh, yum! Those look perfectly delicious. I’ve got a jar of Sunbutter I might use to try these.
Heather, I bet your kids would enjoy these. I also bet they will work well with sunbutter.
I’m with the Sunbutter camp since PB is off my list. These look great. Just in time for Valentine’s Day!!
Hi Ellen! I’m glad there are options like Sunbutter for people who can’t have nuts. I bet this recipe would work well using it.
Why, I do believe you just made my husband’s kryptonite!
Lol! You’re funny, Katrina. Chocolate and peanut butter is a powerful combination!
They looking good, was wondering if i could use hazel nut spread.
I haven’t yet tried anything but peanut butter in this recipe. If it’s similar it will probably work.
thk u for the reply
These look delicious! I have never thought to use shortening with my chocolate when melting it. Does it keep it soft?
The shortening makes the chocolate a little smoother when coating things, and yes it does make it softer too. I first tried this recipe without the shortening. The chocolate was too hard, and my pb center was too soft. It ended up making a mess when you took a bite.
Everyone thought the chocolate was better with the shortening.
I made these for our family for St. Valentine’s Day yesterday with both peanut butter and sunflower butter for those who can’t eat peanuts. It was a HUGE hit with everyone and they turned out simply awesome. Thank you so much for this great recipe!!!!
Cari, thanks so much for telling me! I’m glad the sunbutter worked well.
Mmmmmmm! The only thing that I a missing to do this right now is the foil liners, do you think paper ones would be ok?
I have done it with the paper mini cupcake liners once. It will probably work, but be sure they are good liners. I have used cheaper ones in the past (for cupcakes) and they did not work as well.
Glad I waited and got foil liners, I think it would be difficult to peel a paper liner off. I may experiment with trying to find ways to get the chocolate to stay softer. Yummy recipe, thank you!
Adding the shortening softens the chocolate so you could try adding additional shortening if you want it softer. They can also be kept at room temperature which results in softer chocolate. My kids like them cold.
Love this recipe! Easy to make… I have a peanut allergy in my family, so I used a mix of other nuts ground into butter.
I LOVE making my own peanut butter cups! Thank you for sharing your recipe.
I think you might like these Tahini Teff Flour chocolate chip cookies, as well.
http://bubblechild.com/2012/07/09/tahini-teff-flour-chocolate-chip-peanut-butter-cookies/
Oh these look delicious indeed!
I’ve been searching for a treat to send to school with my son’s valentine cards and this is perfect! One of the kiddos in his class has a peanut allergy so I’m going to do the sunbutter version. Thank you! So much better than buying those artificially flavored candy hearts!
Must you use tin foil liners or can you use regular cupcake liners?
I can’t remember if I’ve tried the peanut butter cups with regular liners. I think it will work as long as they are good liners. I’ve used cheap ones that didn’t even work well with cupcakes!