Healthy Peanut Butter Cups – 5 Simple Ingredients

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These healthy peanut butter cups contain only 5 real food ingredients and are easy to whip up in just a few minutes. What could be better? Let’s get cooking!

Better than Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

We recently celebrated Halloween and out of all the candy options I’d come home with as a kid, I’d choose a Reese’s peanut butter cup every time. 

But, when we began to learn about what was in our food and focus on eating real foods in lieu of packaged, convenience once, it was time to find an alternative to the Reese’s.

Thankfully, these healthy peanut butter cups are a great alternative! After doing a side-by-side comparison this year, to my surprise, I actually found that I preferred the taste and texture of homemade peanut butter cups significantly more than the drier and crumblier packaged version.

These are also one of our favorite healthier options to make for the holidays and Christmastime!

Only 5 Ingredients

Part of what I love about making these is that they feel like an indulgent treat but they are so easy to make and can come together in just 10 minutes. They also contain simple ingredients that we always have on hand so I can whip them up at any time!

What do you need?

Peanut Butter

It wouldn’t be a peanut butter cup without peanut butter. But remember, not all peanut butter at the store is created equal. Opt for the all-natural and ideally organic peanut butter. The only ingredients on the label should be roasted peanuts and salt. Skip anything with added oils, sugars, flavorings, etc.

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is key in this recipe because it turns into a solid when chilled. This is what helps to give your peanut butter cups the perfect texture when stored in the freezer. Liquid oils wouldn’t work because the peanut butter cup wouldn’t firm up like you want it to.

Maple Syrup

Maple syrup pairs perfectly with the peanut butter and cocoa in this recipe as a natural sweetener. Bonus, real maple syrup contains an abundance of minerals and is a healthier option than other refined sugars! You could sub a different liquid sweetener like honey in a pinch but I think the honey can be a bit strong in this recipe and prefer the flavor of maple syrup.

Cocoa Powder

Cocoa powder will help form the chocolatey layer in your peanut butter cup. As opposed to many recipes that call for melting chocolate chips for this, I like to use the less processed, cocoa powder. When purchasing cocoa powder, I look for organic and fair trade certified if possible.

Sea Salt

Sprinkling a bit of sea salt on the top of these is one of the differences that helps tip the scales to put these healthy peanut butter cups above the competition. The sweet and salty combo works so well here! Sea salt is also full of much needed minerals. For sprinkling, we love adding this black Hawaiian sea salt. It tastes great and the color contrast with the peanut butter layer on top adds to the presentation.

How to Make Healthy Peanut Butter Cups

Equipment:

• 12 count muffin tin or mini muffin cups
• Muffin liners (we love the silicone ones for a reusable zero waste option!)

The Process

As opposed to a traditional peanut butter cup with the peanut butter layer surrounded by the chocolate, these peanut butter cups do a layer of chocolate followed by a peanut butter layer. This makes them easy peasy! No 2 cups look exactly alike—some with more chocolate and others more peanut butter. But that adds to their charm and I promise, they all taste good!

First mix up the ingredients in your chocolate layer and peanut butter layer in 2 separate bowls.

Using a small spoon, spoon chocolate mixture into the bottom of your muffin cups, gently spreading out until the bottom layer is completely covered. It can be helpful to shake your pan a bit or tap the bottom of it against the table to help smooth out the layer.

Add your peanut butter layer atop of your chocolate layer by carefully dropping spoonfuls over the chocolate. After you’re finished, again gently shake your pan or tap the bottom down to smooth out the peanut butter layer.

Sprinkle sea salt over the top.

Place in the Freezer for 20-30 minutes until firm. Store in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months (but they never last more than a few days in our house!)

Healthy Peanut Butter Cups Recipe

Yield: 12 Full Size Cups or 24 Mini Cups

Ingredients:

Chocolate Layer

1/3 cup peanut butter*
2 tbsp melted coconut oil
3 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp maple syrup

Peanut Butter Layer

1/3 natural, creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp melted coconut oil
2 tbsp maple syrup
Sea salt (for sprinkling on top)

Directions:

1. In 2 separate bowls, mix the ingredients for chocolate layer and peanut butter layer, except for the sea salt.

2. Using a small spoon, fill bottom of lined muffin cups with chocolate mixture. Shake or gently tap pan to smooth the chocolate layer.

3. Do the same thing with the peanut butter mixture on top of the chocolate mixture.

4. Sprinkle sea salt over the top of the peanut butter layer.

5. Place muffin tin in the freezer for 20-30 minutes until peanut butter cups are firm.

Serve and enjoy!

Keep in a container in the freezer to store long term.

Notes

*It may seem strange for there to be peanut butter in the chocolate layer but I promise, it works here and really gives the peanut butter cup a nice creamy texture!

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For more of our favorite Healthier Chocolate Treats:

Healthy Homemade Chocolate Milk
Pots De Crème
Pumpkin Buckwheat Brownies
Chocolate Beet Muffins

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